Our text for today is from the book of Ecclesiastes and whenever someone undertakes to read the book of Ecclesiastes I always suggest that you read it to the end, otherwise, if you stop in the middle you might end up being depressed. With that said, let me begin by reading to you the last two verses of this book which, in essence, summarize this book. “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecc. 12:13-14).
The book of Ecclesiastes is a book in which the writer, the preacher or teacher, whom we believe to be King Solomon, the wisest man ever known, sets out to help us to understand the meaning of life. He looks at the futility of chasing after even the good things in life such as wisdom, work, pleasure and wealth. And he realizes that no matter what happens, no matter what we may amass, have or not have, no matter what goes on in this world, it will all end in physical death. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, human beings will pass on from this world. We will one day die and everything we have will be passed on to the next generation. All this reminds us that nothing is permanent, that nothing is truly ours, that we are born with nothing and we will leave this world with nothing, because all things begin with God, are given by Him and will eventually be returned to Him. And I would add Paul’s reminder that the momentary pains of this world will be nothing compared to the glory which is ours in heaven, in other words, compared to our real life, our eternity in heaven, our lives in this world are but a blip, a snap of the fingers and yet we spend how much time and energy on this world? But, let us get to our text for this morning, which is a bit of wisdom from the teacher.
We begin with what might be called the tragedy of gaining quick wealth, verse ten, “10He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep” (v. 10-12). One of the problems of wealth is that it may cause covetousness, that is it may cause us to think that we do not have enough. Certainly we all see this, especially in children when they start to amass a pile of toys. It is never enough. We can see this happening in our world as it seems that some people gain wealth, but their life’s drive is to amass even more because what they have is not enough.
The teacher tells us, and rightly so, that better than amassing much wealth and having a full stomach and not getting any sleep is to work as a good laborer and be able to get good sleep. Those of us that have trouble sleeping because of age, chronic pain and the like, certainly can understand the desire to get a good nights rest. Here the teacher helps us to understand that contentment helps relieve the anxiety of stress which might be one more thing to keep us from getting good rest.
Our text continues with the teacher helping us to understand what we might title, the tragedy of a scheme gone array. We pick up at verse thirteen, “13There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger” (v. 13-17). The teacher helps us to see that those who fail to share their blessings only bring more trouble upon themselves. Here we are reminded that as the Lord blesses us, so we are to be a blessing to others. What God gives to us is not something we have earned or deserved, as we might think, but everything we have is a gift given by God and a gift He expects that we rightly administer as a good steward. Remember, we are to live in our vocations, as priests we are to offer our lives as living sacrifices to the Lord, we are to serve God by serving others.
The teacher also warns against those who scheme to gain wealth. Here again, how often do we see, hear and read about schemes and con games that go on in our world today as people plot and plan to get wealth from someone else. Whole cities are built where these schemes are legally lived out in our country and in our world. And, as the teacher reminds us, all of this is to no avail.
Certainly we would do well to remember the bottom line that is that we were born with nothing and will die with nothing. As the sayings go, “You never see a U-haul trailer behind a hearse.” And, “You can’t take it with you.” Although we might imagine and claim “things” in this world as our own, my house, my car, my possession, nothing is truly ours. Everything belongs to God and is given to us or better said, lent to us until we pass on from this world and then it is lent to someone else for their time on this earth.
Finally, the teacher helps us to understand the proper use of God’s good gifts and blessings. We pick up at verse eighteen, “18Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart” (v. 18-20). Now, we might, at first, think that his advise is not too wise or too Christian, that is that we should eat, drink and find enjoyment in work, because maybe that sounds too much like the fatalistic attitude, “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die,” but that is not what the teacher is saying. The teacher is simply encouraging us to enjoy the good gifts and blessings our Lord gives to us while we are on this earth, but also to be good stewards of those gifts and blessings, returning a portion to the Lord and sharing a portion with others.
The teacher encourages us to work and when we work we are encouraged to work as if we are working for the Lord. God gives each of us gifts, talents and abilities. God gives us a job, a career, work to do. We are to work and live in our vocations, not working for a boss, but working for our Lord. Thus, when we work we do our best because we are working for the Lord. And we find fulfillment because we are working for the Lord.
A result of our work is that through our work the Lord provides for us to earn a living, to earn a way to be able to put a roof over our heads, clothes on our backs, shoes on our feet and food on our tables. Thus, work and wealth are gifts from God and they are to be used appropriately. We are to be good stewards of all that God gives, returning a portion to Him as well as sharing with those in need. This is not socialism by no means because socialism is a forced government construct, rather this is Christian charity, this responsive action is a response of faith.
In the end, the teacher reminds us that in heaven, compared to eternity, this life will seem as nothing. Thus, the most important thing is this life is not an amassing of wealth, possessions and things, but making sure we have our real life of eternity secure. As I said earlier, our time in this world is but a blip compared to our real life in heaven.
So, what does this mean? What do we take from our text for today? God gives us gifts, talents and abilities as well as a job, a vocation to work to make a living, to provide for ourselves and our families. These are gifts from God given to us, not because we have earned them or deserved them, but because God loves us and because He is gracious and generous. God is the prime mover. God gives and we are given to. Certainly we might even go back and remind ourselves that God is the one who gives us life in the first place. God gives us life at conception. Unfortunately, we are very much like David, “conceived and born in sin.” Unfortunately, we are like all people, after the fall, “every inclination of our heart is evil all the time.”
Thanks be to God, that not only does He give us life at conception, He also given us new life by giving us faith and for most of us that faith was given to us at our Baptism. God gives, strengthens and keeps us in faith through the means of grace He has also give to us; His Word, Confession and Absolution, and His Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. God gives us faith and forgiveness earned and paid for by Jesus. The price for sin is eternal spiritual death and temporal death. Unless the Lord should return first, we will all leave this world through the process of temporal death. Yet, by faith in Jesus, faith given to us by the Holy Spirit, we will never suffer eternal spiritual death. The price for sin had to be paid and it was. It was paid for by Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, this too is a gift from God, the greatest gift, even forgiveness of sins, because, with forgiveness is life and salvation. As we said, God gives faith and this faith is what helps us discern what is right and wrong concerning how we use the gifts He gives to us such as tithing and proportionate or percentage giving.
The teacher helps us to rightly understand that what we are born with into this world and what we take with us from this world is truly ours, meaning that nothing is truly ours. Instead, God gives us all we need to use while we are on this earth and God gives us more than we need so that we might share from our bounty with others. Thus, we can and we are to use and enjoy what He gives.
Again, repeating what we said at the beginning, the summary of this book is this, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecc. 12:13-14). So, the best thing we can do is give thanks and enjoy.
Love of wealth never satisfies because material possessions are only useful in this world and our time in this world is short, very short compared to eternity. Honest labor brings peaceful rest. The most advisable approach is to work hard, to work like you are working for the Lord and to enjoy the good gifts and blessings He has to give, which is the fruit of your labor while in this world. May the Lord bless you with all that you need and even more so that you might be a blessing to others. May He also, strengthen and keep you in faith through His means of grace so that you might have the hope, that is the certainty of your eternal inheritance in heaven knowing that with your sins forgiven you have eternal life. And may the Lord stir in you to rejoice and give thanks and praise to the Lord for all His good gifts and blessings. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.