Pastor Nathan Strutz will preach this Sermon in Arcadia - Sunday August 8, 2010.

************************************************************************************

² Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless...

 ¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. ²⁴ A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House) 1984.

************************************************************************************

Grace and peace are yours through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

When you tell a story, have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener. Ever listen to a story and there's no point? Ever wake up in the morning and think, "What's the point of getting up today?" Some old stuff. Same old job. Same old breakfast. My husband won't love me any more today. My kids won't listen any better. Same garbage. Different day. What's the point?

A few years ago, the best selling book in the world was one titled, The Purpose Driven Life. It was a best selling book because everybody was asking, "What's the point?" And here's a book that can tell me the purpose of life, finally someone who can tell me, "What's the point of getting up and going to work and doing this same stuff every day?" The Purpose Driven Life was actually written by a pastor, Rick Warren. The Bible doesn't agree with everything he says, but he had the main point right. I read the book and its main point was, "The point of life is to live for God." I thought, "That's a big revelation? That makes this a best selling book?" But it's what people were searching for. It's what we are all searching for. Don't worry, you don't have to go out and buy The Purpose Driven Life to find the answer to the question, "What's the point?" Listen to Ecclesiastes. The Teacher will tell you, "Without God, there is no point. With God everything has a point."

Meaningless. Meaningless. Meaningless. Meaningless. If there's one word that defines the book of Ecclesiastes it's this word: meaningless. Everything is breath, vanity, a vapor, it quickly disappears. It has no point. Please understand the point Ecclesiastes is making. The Teacher, the one who wrote Ecclesiastes, is talking about life under the sun. Life on this earth without God is meaningless.

I work hard. I do my job. I show up every day. On time. My back aches putting furniture together. I've got carpal tunnel from typing on a computer all day. I work and I slave and what do I get? Another day older and deeper in debt. It all seems so meaningless. What's the point?

And here's a great misfortune, literally a great evil. No matter how hard I work, no matter how skilled I am, now matter if I make 200% piece rate, all I'm going to do is get older and then have to leave it to someone else who might be an idiot! Sorry to get worked up. I think that's how the Teacher felt. We've seen this. A man or woman works super hard, builds a business from the ground up. The son or daughter takes over. Sometimes the business keeps growing. Sometimes the spoiled brat who didn't have to work for it ruins it all. The Teacher knows the feeling. We can't say for sure who the Teacher was. The best guess is Solomon. He was probably the richest man who ever lived. He was wiser than anyone had ever been. His son, Rehoboam? Not so smart. As soon as he became king, he listened to his peers and lost ten of the twelve tribes over which Solomon ruled. Was Solomon thinking about his foolish son when he wrote the words, "I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to one who comes after me and who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?

Another option for the writer of Ecclesiastes is Hezekiah. He was a wonderful and god-fearing king. He was stricken with an illness and told he would die. Did he write this rant looking back on his life, facing death? His son, Manasseh, was worse than Rehoboam. Manasseh was so wicked, the final two tribes left over were sent into exile because of his horrible wickedness and idolatry. Either way, the Teacher wondered, "what's the point?" I just have to leave this all to some idiot who's going to throw it away. What a great evil. What a chasing after the wind. How meaningless. What's the point?

And even when I'm doing my work, what does it get me? Pain and grief and sleepless nights. During the day, my mind is going crazy. People don't listen. Things don't get better. Work stinks. At night my body is plenty tired, but I can't get to sleep. My mind is racing. I didn't get this done today. I've got this to do tomorrow. There's not enough time. There's not enough money. There's too much pressure. And what does all this thinking and worrying and chasing after the wind get you? You're just more tired for the next day. Your worrying didn't solve it. Your mental pain and anguish didn't fix it. What's the point? It's all meaningless.

This might sound strange at this point, but Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books of the Bible. We feel what the Teacher feels. He struggles with our struggles. This is a real down to earth book, written for people who live under the sun. And under the sun, life without God is meaningless. What's the point?

And how often don't we make it worse by living or at least trying to live our lives under the sun without God? We set the alarm and hit the snooze so that we can get out of bed at the last possible minute. We have the shower and the dressing and the getting the kids off down to a science, down to the second. The biggest selling items are breakfast foods you can eat in the car. We slide in right at the bell. We work and come home and cut the grass and get the kids to practice and gobble down subway on the way and come home and pay bills and do homework and maybe we find ten minutes for the computer or 30 minutes for the news before we're asleep on the couch and not ready or rested to do it all again tomorrow. Prayer? Who's got time? Bible reading? Are you crazy? Church? If I get there at 9:05 most weeks, that's doing pretty well. Even our young people in high school said, "We need to talk about finding time for God." But where? When? How? We live without God. We're too busy for the Bible and then we wonder why it's all meaningless, why there's no point. Living without God? That's the greatest evil. Eternally without God? That's hell.

What's the point? Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Jesus always lived for God, as more than an example, as our Substitute. Listen to Jesus. Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. What's the point? Live on God's Word and you'll know. The point is Jesus. The point is you are perfect in God's eyes. God directed the entire history of the entire world to just one point: the cross. At that point, when Jesus died, he said, "It is finished." We are washed. We are cleansed. We are pure in the waters of baptism. Baptism, at that point, our whole lives got meaning. We no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died for us and was raised again. We are no longer slaves to sin, but we live a new life. Here's how Jesus describes that life. I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Wow! I'm going to heaven. There's a point. I'm never going to die. That's something pretty cool. When someone says, "Life stinks and then you die," Say, "No way! My life rules and then I'll live some more." With Jesus, everything has a point. With God, everything has a purpose.

Again, I love Ecclesiastes because it's so down to earth. Put God in the picture and everything has meaning. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his labor. This, too, I see is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? The simple things of everyday life give enjoyment with God. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Maybe it is a sandwich gulped in the car on the way to work. Gulp it to the glory of God. You have a job to go to. Maybe it's a subway while chasing between school and practice, but that subway is a gift from God. You don't have to climb Mount Everest to see the point. You need to see God and enjoy God in the little things. Cutting the grass can be very satisfying. You see the progress. It's done. Putting together that furniture can be enjoyment. There's satisfaction in producing that product to the glory of God and for the benefit of others. With God, the simplest things have a point. You are giving glory to God. You can't do better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in your labor.

Look at the big difference between life with God and life without. To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Now the meaningless part is the storing it up to hand it over to someone else. It's the sinner who has the meaningless life. He works and slaves and just has to hand it over. But before we go any further, we should really examine who are these people? Who's the sinner? Aren't we all sinners? Well, the word implies the one who lives in sin, who keeps on sinning without repentance or faith. Romans 14:23 says very clearly, Whatever is not of faith, is sin. The sinner is another title for the unbeliever. No wonder his life seems so meaningless. What's the point of storing up all this stuff just to lose it like the rich fool in the Gospel reading? Who's the one who pleases God? Let's let Hebrews 11:6 answer that, Without faith it is impossible to please God. The one who pleases God is another way to say, "A believer in Jesus, a Christian." What a different life. The believer has wisdom, knowledge and happiness. He can use God's gifts to God's glory. He knows his work and sandwich come from God so he can truly enjoy them. The believer is done chasing after the wind. Good luck catching it. He's chasing after heaven, a gift he will certainly enjoy.

Do you want your work to mean something? Do you want to make a difference? Work for God. God gives our lives eternal meaning. God gives eating and drinking and work an eternal purpose. We get to glorify God! Put together that furniture for God's glory and see if it's not so hard to get up in the morning. Type away on that computer like you're an angel typing a report for God, because you are, and see if life has a point. Set your alarm five minutes earlier, or don't hit the snooze. Wake up and say, "Thank you God, for another meaningful day." Pray for a safe drive. Thank God for that sandwich. Thank God for the job you have. Maybe you don't need to google seven things, so you have time to read your Bible and remember what the real point is. Maybe you don't need one more TV show. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. Put God first and everything else will take care of itself. Maybe one less practice would mean you could have five minutes with Meditations after supper and remember what's the point? The point is Jesus. With Jesus, everything has meaning. With God, everything has a point. Amen.