A Life Worth Living: Ancient Wisdom from Ecclesiastes
Does it ever occur to you that life hasn’t turned out the way you thought it would? You assumed you’d hit some bumps on the road along the way. You never dreamed the road would be closed. You never imagined you’d end up where you are today. Yet, here you are. Few things slam the brakes on life like unmet expectations.
Some say the Bible is irrelevant to life in the 21st century. Especially the dusty books in the Old Testament. What possible wisdom could we gain today from something written three millennia ago? How could something written so long ago provide help or any guidance for life in 2020?
If that’s what you think, you’ll be surprised to discover the amazingly up-to-date and practical wisdom in one of the most enigmatic books in the Bible. Ecclesiastes is a profound book recording an intense search for satisfaction in life. Despite all the evil, the inconsistencies, the inequities and absurdities of life, the Preacher (traditionally understood to be Solomon) is on a desperate journey to find purpose and meaning. What he discovers along the way is profoundly helpful for navigating today’s chaos and confusion (read: pandemic, protests, and polarized politics).
Simply put, Ecclesiastes shows us what we should and should not expect out of life. Using shock techniques and outrageous honesty, the Preacher bursts our bubbles by showing the emptiness of his pursuits. The key word in the book is “vanity”. After searching high and low for significance, the Preacher declares the futile emptiness of trying to make sense of life without God. Whether through power, pleasure, prestige, or wisdom itself, the Preacher’s pursuit leads only to disappointment and frustration. Nothing, he concludes, fills the God-shaped vacuum in the human heart, nothing except God.
Whether your trip through life is on a level path right now, or if you are at a dead-end, you will find sage advice and sound wisdom from the book of Ecclesiastes.
Philip Ryken offers several good reasons why we should join the Preacher for his journey.
1. Studying Ecclesiastes helps us ask the bigger and harder questions that people have today, questions that lie at the heart of life in our fallen world. Why is there so much suffering and injustice in the world? Does God even care? Is this life even worth living? What is the ultimate meaning of life, anyway?
2. Studying Ecclesiastes helps us worship the one true God. Though it is filled with doubts and dissatisfaction, the book does portray many great truths about God. He is the Mighty Creator, the Sovereign Lord over all. He is the only wise God who powerfully rules over the entire universe. These are vital reminders today when it seems like the whole world is on fire.
3. The message of Ecclesiastes helps us live for God and not only for ourselves. Think about it, Solomon (the author) had more money, enjoyed more pleasure, and possessed more wisdom than anyone else in the world. Yet, it all ended in tragedy and tears. The same thing happens to so many people today. But it doesn’t have to! Why should we learn the hard way when we can learn from someone else’s experience?
4. Ecclesiastes helps us be honest about the troubles and disappointments of life. Many downplay the devastating effects of sin in the world, denying the drudgery of work, the emptiness of foolish pleasure, or the mind-numbing boredom of everyday life. We pretend we will find a way out of the mess, that we will transcend the monotony and meaninglessness of life “under the sun”. The Preacher blows up all such lies. More than any other book in the Bible, Ecclesiastes captures the futility and frustration of living in a fallen world.
What a wonderful, albeit painful, lesson to learn. Life is hard. Life is short. We brought nothing into the world and we carry nothing out of it. Like water filling the space when you remove your hand from a bucket of water, the void left by your death is immediately filled by another who comes after you. In a few brief generations, no one will remember you.
If that depresses you, then you need to learn from the Preacher. In Solomon, we find a man who sought significance and meaning through pursing pleasure, plumbing intellectual depths, and amassing fame and fortune. At the end of his journey, he was a much wiser man with a proper perspective on life.
Have you been detoured by misplaced pursuits in your life? Does true significance seem like a mirage? You see it in the distance, but every time you get close, it vanishes. It’s like chasing the wind.
Solomon has wise words to share with you learned through hard-fought experience. Adopting his final perspective that every day is a gift from God to be enjoyed melts away all skepticism and despair.
You’ll want to be sure to join us as we ride along with Solomon on this epic journey. The sermon series begins September 27.