We are all searching for
something- whether you realize it or not, we all want a purpose for living, we
all want to matter for something or to someone.
What is the point of my life?
How can I know what I am supposed to do?
At some point in life, I am
sure you have asked these questions. I catch myself asking these things on a
regular basis. It is easy to get down or discouraged when you concentrate on
finding the right answers. The discouragement comes because too often, the
answers remain unfound. We find ourselves at the dead end of a long and tiring
search.
Last week, we began a new
series in Ecclesiastes. King Solomon concludes that this life is meaningless-Ecclesiastes 1:2 - “Meaningless!
Meaningless!” says the
Teacher. “Utterly
meaningless! Everything
is meaningless.”
In the opening of King
Solomon’s book, he asks- What is the purpose of life? As we continue through
the next few chapters, we see that his conclusion is this: Life without Christ is a meaningless cycle of
events!
Meaningless
cycles:
As I was preparing for this
lesson, I tried to think of some meaningless cycles in my own life. I could
think of a wide variety of things that I do everyday which ultimately have no
significant value:
1.) Watching TV
2.) checking my
friends face book updates or check ins
3.) Pinterest create
a “dream wedding” board
4.) Trash Talk
Radio Shows- like the Rolla and Ryan’s Roses show. (Don’t be afraid to admit
you know what I am talking about!)
I could think of other cycles
that might have a little more significance- but will be meaningless when we
die:
1) Filling the
car with gasoline- a constant cycle of full to empty
2) Sleeping- a
constant cycle of rested to tired
3) Working-
more like a constant flow to the email inbox!
4) Dating- a
constant cycle of bad to worse date… or awkward to extremely uncomfortable
conversations!! (haha)
My point is that Life is full
of these cycles or these daily habits. We put so much significance on these
things that we can forget these “cycles” are just filling our temporary time on
this earth. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes- We all will pass, and the things we
do will ultimately NOT MATTER- they will be forgotten!
Not to be morbid, but
Christian or non Christian, we all know- ultimately we will die! There is no
way to avoid it. So most of us have thought- “what happens next- after death?”
For Christian’s we find hope in death, because death, to us, is actually life.
When we die, we will be in Heaven with our savior. In Philippians, chapter 1
verse 21 Paul says: “For me to live is
Christ and to die is gain.”
I want you to just think
about these questions: What am I living
for? What meaning do I find in life? What will matter after I die?
It is natural for us to focus
on the here and now. In the moment it is difficult to think about how this
choice will affect my future- does this activity honor the Lord? Yes we should live
IN the present; but many of us live FOR the present- We seek
immediate satisfaction in worldly and temporary pleasures.
As I was driving one day this
week, I heard a really old song on the radio and I thought- What is this? Who
sang this? And it made me think- All these accomplishments like “number one
hit”- these accomplishments may bring us glory but who remembers 1, 2, 10, 50
years later?
For decades, the music
industry has listed the years “top billboard hits” – Can any of you tell me who
sang the following #1 hits and in what year:
·
“Whip it”- Devo (1980)
·
“The Time of my life” from dirty dancing- Bill Medley (1987)
·
“Don’t worry, be happy”- Bobby McFerrin (1988)
It is obvious that the music
industry has drastically changed over the years-
·
1877: the Phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison
o
only good for a one time only playback and the sound quality
was terrible
·
1887: the Gramophone was invented by Emile Berliner
o
He was the first
inventor to start recording on flat discs or records
·
1963- the Cassette player- Made popular by RCN Records
o
You were now able to
listen to music on the go- still had to rewind if you wanted to listen again
·
1982- The first CD (compact disk) was released
o
Does anyone know who was the first artist to
release his single on CD?- Billy Joel’s
“52nd Street”
“52nd Street”
o
Now, who
still buys CDs?
·
1996- Audio
Highway, device called “Listen up”-
the first digital music player
·
2000- Napter allowed people to easily share song files with each other.
This new program led to the music industries drop in recording sales
·
2001- iPod
·
2003- ITunes apple released the online music store to go along with the
new iPod.
·
2013- Now some
of your phones can hold 16GB of music-
40 hours!
So what is next?
You may think- well I don’t
really follow the music industry “top charts” much…. I follow sports or movies
or whatever it may be… and you may be thinking: “I will never forget who_(fill
in the blank)__ is.” Well- What did your great-great grandparents do for a
living, do you know their names? That is your family!!…. So 100 years from now
who will remember you?
It is pretty depressing when you think about
it this way… Ecclesiastes addresses this issue- even the King questioned his
life’s purpose!
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon
realizes that we focus way too much on ourselves. Where are our priorities? A
year from now, who is going to remember our efforts? So if everything is meaningless, how do we find fulfillment?
In chapter 2 we see that the answer isn’t
pleasures: Ecclesiastes 2:10-11: I denied
myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took
delight in all my labor and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing
after the wind; nothing
was gained under the sun.
We see that Wisdom
& Knowledge are not the answer: Ecclesiastes 2:16- For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been
forgotten! Like the fool, the wise too must die!
We see that see that hard work is not the answer: Ecclesiastes 2:21-23- For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they
must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This too is
meaningless and great misfortune. What do people get for all
the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their
days their work is grief and pain; even at
night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.
So then the
question remains…. What is the answer? What is the purpose of our life and how/where
do we find fulfillment? Or simply- how can we just be content where we
are?
Ecclesiastes 3:10-11- I have seen the burden God has laid on the
human race. He has
made everything beautiful in its time. He has
also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God
has done from beginning to end.
This verse tells us that we cannot find fulfillment in
earthly pleasures, in knowledge, or in hard work- we still feel empty once we
attain these things because they are not eternal. Our stuff, our trophies and
awards, they do not come with us when we die. So we feel empty even when we
attain the things we seek.
Emptiness is a symptom of allowing
worldly pressures and pleasures to get a foothold. When we fail to make time
for intimate fellowship with Christ life feels incomplete. Why? We were never
meant to find fulfillment in earthly things. God has set eternity in our hearts- Deep down, we
long for something that will last!
Temporary
“clutter” robs our time- distracts us from the Lord. Instead of pursing a
relationship with him or sharing his love with others, we fall into a
self-centered trap: “Chasing the Wind.”
So how
do we overcome this meaningless habit?? Three things we are instructed to do:
Ecclesiastes 5:1- Guard your steps when you Go
to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the
sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
Guard- GO- Listen
1.) Guard
your steps
·
First and foremost-Worship begins with an
attitude of reverence- our hearts have to be made right before Him; thus we
have to be free from clutter!
·
I believe one way we guard our steps is
by clearing our lives from this clutter and focus on things drawing us closer
to Christ. With reason, we need to remove activities and goals that distract us
from pursuing and deepening a relationship with Him. I am speaking to myself
mostly… my life is full of activities that are meaningless!
Proverbs 4:25-27 “Let your eyes
look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths
for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right
or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
2 Corinthians 5:6-10- Therefore we are always confident and know that
as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we
live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and
at home with the Lord. 9 So we make
it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may
receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or
bad.
2.) Go
to the house of God
·
Secondly, we have to build a relationship
with Him. When we are seeking Christ our focus will shift away from ourselves.
We will trust in His purpose for our lives: 1) Worship Him and 2) Love others.
Matthew
22:34-40: Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in
the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor
as yourself.’ All the Law
and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
·
It doesn’t say our purpose is to make
money, get married, live in a nice house, drive a nice car, or travel the
world. It doesn’t even say our purpose is to go on hundreds of mission trips-
No our purpose, our “greatest command” is to Love God and Love others- no
matter where we are! If we do these two things- then we will have fulfilled the
reason for our existence.
John 17:26 I have
made you known to them, and
will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be
in them and that I myself may be
in them.”
3.) Listen
·
Why are we to guard our steps? And why
are we to go to the House of God? “Go near to listen!”
·
Listen- “Rather
than to offer the sacrifice of fools who do not know that they do wrong.” What
Solomon is saying is this- Foolish people are marked by two things.
1.) First,
they don’t realize worship includes
everything they do!
·
They think worship is
limited- formal gathering/ singing
2.) Second,
they don’t listen
·
They don’t
listen to what God has to say. And because of that, they don’t even know what
they’re doing is wrong.
·
They don’t
know why they feel empty?
·
They
desperately searching for contentment.
Paul says that, “Faith comes
through hearing the Word of God.”
Romans 10:17- Consequently, faith comes from hearing the
message, and the message is heard
through the word about Christ.
When we
Guard our Steps, Go to the Lord, and Listen- we are able to Trust Him! No matter
what life throws at us we will be content! In Philippians 4- Paul says he has
learned the secret to being content- Trusting God!
Philippians 4:11-13: For I have learned to be content whatever
the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I
have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether
well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do
all this through him who gives me strength.
I was
listening to one of Ben Stuart’s- breakaway podcasts the other day and heard a
story about a man (lets call him Joe) who understood the secret to contentment.
Joe had to have his appendix removed- a serious issue, but a routine surgery
for the doctors. Well apparently something went wrong during this surgery and
Joe had to have several more surgeries to correct the issue.
Joe did
not come from a lot of money, he was already working overtime to pay off
student loans, and after these surgeries he found himself buried in debt. One
day, on his drive home, he was overwhelmed with fear- His prayer sounded like:
“Lord, I don’t know how I can pay for all this, I am anxious but God I trust
you- God I trust that you are with me and that you will provide a way.”
Joe
understood that trusting God didn’t mean life is perfect. To be content,
doesn’t mean you will never complain, never be anxious or fearful, and it doesn’t
mean you will never wish you had something more- in Joe’s case he wished he had
more money to pay off his debt.
Contentment
means when fears, burdens, and desires enter our lives, that our first reaction
is to give them to God. When we trust Him, we say Lord- I trust you with this…
you will provide exactly what I need and I need nothing but you.
Contentment
is trusting that God has your best interest- When He is what we long for, we
don’t need anything else!
Anyways,
back to the story- so Joe has this conversation with God, gives the Lord his
burdens and continues driving home. A few minutes later he sees a woman on the
side of the road with a flat tire. Joe decides even though he has his own
problems to worry about that he should still be a kind person and ask if she
needs any help. So he pulls over and offers to change her tire.
As he
is changing her tire they start talking and he discovers that she is in fact
the president of the hospital where he has been treated. That evening he
received a call from the hospital- All his debt to the Hospital had been
cleared-He didn’t owe a single penny! WOW!! CHILLS- GOD IS AMAZING! That cannot
be a random coincidence!
When
we join God’s team- we are content because we know that He is ALWAYS on our
side!
Matthew 28:20- “surely I am with you always”
