Ecclesiastes Part 1: Digging for Truth

Well, good morning, great to be with you on this beautiful day.

Tom Proctor in the room. He's out. I was going to ask him if this picture look familiar to him because about three summers ago, he helped me dig up my septic system. Hi Tom. Talking about the septic system in digging. We were digging for truth and we found some truth. That's for sure is good times. Well, there were two archaeologist. We're digging somewhere in the Middle East, and they were looking for a city that they believed was buried under years of dirt and debris. And they had some good information which led them to believe. They may have narrowed down the location of these ancient ruins. And they started digging him. Sun was Blazing down was hard work. And after several hours when archaeologists said to the other, how much longer should we do this? You know, we haven't found anything difficult and his partner assured him that they needed to continue. Now, before you become too invested in this story, please know that I made this whole thing up. So early you might be trying to figure out which city it is. They discovered it's made up but after a while their Spirits were lifted and they found a Shard of pottery, Which look like it came from the type of civilization, they were searching for and this gave them some impetus to dig a little faster with more hope and then they found a coin and it was the points which might have been used from the people from the city they were looking for. But then several more hours went by and nothing was uncovered in the first guy started. Once again, questioning the wisdom of what they were continuing to do, you know how much longer we going to dig? Can't we give this up and be happy that we found two artifacts that we could put in a museum? And his partner said, no we need to keep going. We have evidence. This could be the right area, we must persevere so they continue to dig. And after a few moments, one of the archaeologists struck, something small. And it sounded metallic and kind of crunchy with his shovel and much of their shock and disappointment. They had found an old soda can end. This was too much for the wine archaeologist, he called it quits. You said we spent all day digging. We don't know for sure if you're in the right place and now nothing makes sense. Why would there be a soda? Can be nice fragments of ancient Pottery. I don't get it. It's too difficult and I can't continue with the possibility that there's nothing down there and His companion pleaded with him. He said that. I know it's true. I'm also confused by the soda can but we still have good evidence. This is the place we need to dig. This is our job and we will never know if this city is here unless we persevere. But the first archaeologist packed his bags and went home. I want to begin this morning with a question to you that you can think about as we go, how precious is the truth to you. Is the truth something that you will sacrifice for. Will you pursue it even if the road becomes dark and frightening, will you dig for truth? Even if it's hard work? And even if at times the things you find don't make sense?

Today we're beginning a two-part miniseries in the Book of Ecclesiastes. And if you have your Bible, please turn there The book was written by King Solomon. He was king of Israel after his father, David died. Solomon was a deep thinker. He was not content to live a life of distraction he wasn't content to just put a positive spin on things. It wasn't enough for him to be the richest man, the wisest man the most powerful man. He wanted to know that it all meant something in the end. He was hungry for truth. What good are any of the Pursuits of life? If it just ends in death? Empty thinkers are generally not popular people. We tend to keep them boxed away somewhere and they get pulled out when a crisis arises in their kind of pastors. You know if you're going to throw up big party with dancing and music, you probably aren't going to say. I'll make sure you invite those pastors cuz they know how to bring a good time. People go running to the pastor's when there's an emergency right somebody dies, we need a pastor. Somebody wants to get married. We need a pastor. All the Deep thinkers in the pastures in the prophets, they're no fun. Because they tend to remind us of things. We would rather not think about there. Always wanting to point us toward the truth and we have a tendency to want to escape from truth because truth can be unpleasant Truth can be difficult and confusing and think about the lengths that we go to, to avoid truth. This is why we have Netflix. This is why we have junk food and alcohol and parties in vacations because we want to get away from thoughts which trouble us. It seems that Solomon wrote this book later in his life. He'd already been raining as king for a long time. Let's begin our study by reading chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes. These are the words of the teacher King, David's son, who ruled in Jerusalem. Everything is meaningless as the teacher completely meaningless. What do people get for all their hard work Under the Sun Generations, come and generations, go, but the Earth never changes the sunrises and sunsets and then her he's around to Rise Again, The Wind Blows South. Then turns North around and around it goes blowing in circles, rivers run into the sea but the sea is Never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the Sea. Everything is wearisome beyond description, no matter how much we see We are Never Satisfied. No matter how much we hear we are not content. History, merely repeats itself, it's all been done before. Nothing Under the Sun is truly knew. Sometimes people say here's something new but actually it is all nothing is ever truly knew. We don't remember what happened in the past and in future Generations. No one will remember what we were doing now. Why the teacher was king of Israel? I lived in Jerusalem, I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom. Everything being done under Heaven. I soon discover that God has dealt a tragic existence of the human race. I observed everything going on Under the Sun and really it is all meaningless. Like, chasing the wind. What is wrong? Cannot be made, right? What is missing? Cannot be recovered. I said to myself look I'm Wiser than any of the Kings who ruled in Jerusalem. Before me, I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them. So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to Madness and Folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind, the greater my wisdom, the greater my grief to increase knowledge, only increases sorrow So he begins with this basic summary of his life up to this point. He said after becoming a very knowledgeable ruler after acquiring all the riches, anyone could imagine having after working accomplishing, great building projects after having all the pleasure that this world offers my conclusion is that it's all meaningless and inverse. 12 Solomon said I devoted myself to search for understanding. He's been digging for truth. He's a devoted archaeologist. And at this point, where we find him in chapter one, he hasn't found what he's been looking for, but he's not going to quit digging, he's going to search until he finds the true meaning of life. If there is a meaning to be found, And it struck me a little bit odd that a person like Solomon. Wouldn't know the truth about the meaning of life, and if you think about who he was, he was David's son. His father had walked with the Lord, all his life, David instructed the Nation about who the Lord is, he wrote most of the Psalms which declare the truth about God, and how our purpose is to serve, God and fear, God and love God with our hearts. How is it that Solomon seems confused about all these things. Why did he spend so many years experimenting and searching and digging trying to figure it all out? Didn't David? Teach you about the one true God and his plan. Call Solomon reminds me of some young people who grow up learning about God, about the truth. They come to church and youth group, and they have good parents who teach them about the Lord, and God's plan for his creation for our lives. And then they grow up, they become adults. Some of them go to college, some of them enter the workforce and now they have the freedom and responsibility to make their own choices. And this is often the time, we see how deep The Roots have grown, are they True Believers or did they just kind of do what they had to do growing up? Did they ever have a personal walk with the Lord? Or was it just a routine for them? Do they ever ask the deeper questions themselves about life and godliness? And not all these people who drift away completely disowned God. I've heard many people say all, I still consider myself a Christian, but I'm open now to some things that probably my parents wouldn't approve of and they don't always become a theist or change their religion, but they might explore other philosophies and other lifestyles. They might say, my parents brought me up in the church, but I don't know if that's really my expression of My Religion. I've been interested in other world philosophies, some of my friends have been reading about Buddhism and they have some beautiful ideas. And I think Solomon might have been one of these people. His faith had shallow roots. He didn't walk deeply in the Lord with the same devotion. His father had yet, he never gave up the basic belief, about the existence of God. And even in his darkest moments Solomon, acknowledged that God created the world and rules over it. Installing them was wise and he saw beyond the common law by which most of us spend our lives. Believing that there is something here on Earth which can bring ultimate fulfillment purpose. I just have to get my hands on it. Many of us spend our lives, chasing this lie, it's easy for most of us to be fooled by this lie because most of us do not have everything. There is to be had in this world. We know we're missing something. We feel. So we think we just need to figure out what that is and chase after that thing. For some of us it's money. If only I had more money, I would feel fulfilled. My life would make sense. Or maybe it's if only I could meet the right person, my life would be complete or if my career was more rewarding, it would make sense for me. Betsy Sullivan had what most of us don't have. Everything he had wisdom wealth women and wine. He had power and popularity, he had time to spend. However he wanted to, he had everything most of us live believing that if only we had that thing that we don't have our lives will be complete and I think sometimes that thought is the only thing that keeps us going. Maybe someday, I'll get that thing that. I think I'm missing. But Solomon's problem is that he has everything and it having everything doesn't bring meaning and contentment, what hope is there? Solomon sums up his whole life in this first chapter, it's all empty. What do people get for all their work? They spend their wheels, they live. They die. They go into the ground and they're forgotten. I think about this on my daily commute to work. I set my alarm tonight for the same time. I drag myself out of bed much earlier than I want to same cup of coffee, same road to work. Once in awhile, I've even sat down over the years in calculated. How many times I've taken that same trip?

I sit at the same traffic lights with the same people. All of us, staring Straight Ahead, like zombies, all of us grumpy. And we do this over and over and over and over. Why? But you see why is a question? We're not supposed to ask. People don't want to go there. It's too complicated and depressing. Don't go down that road. Just see if there's any good series on Netflix. Of course, if you're a person who is cheerful and optimistic, you'd say, oh Micah get a life, it's not that bad. You know why you do this over and over so you can earn money. That's how life works. So then I think, okay, I drive my car to work so I can make money so I can put gas in my car, so I can drive to work so I can end that's my life until I die. Who invited Michael to the party, right? But there is some truth here, isn't it? Solomon saw this truth, which most of us spend our lives avoiding We avoid thinking these thoughts by distracting herself constantly, I have never seen such a distraction like I currently see in our culture. Today everyone on their devices constant motion constant texting music movie, meme Sound Bites, video clip. We don't even have the capacity to watch a whole movie anymore. We watch these. Do a five-second clips. Scrolling through social media, we can't be disciplined to have real conversations with one another without three devices in our hands to be distracting us. Lest we actually have a deep thought. And has all of this distraction made, like better. No. But at least, it keeps us from thinking about things, like death things, like damn, I really accomplishing anything. Meaningful with my life, things like obedience to God and sacrifice things. Like, what is the condition of my soul right now? Whenever these deeper kinds of thoughts crossed our mind, we can always go online and buy something or check Instagram, or pour another drink or stuff ourselves with cheap trash food. Will Solomon was not content to live in a state of distraction or denial. He was determined that. If there was a chance of deliverance from a meaningless empty life, he was going to dig until he found it. He was going to ask the deep in dark questions. He was going to face the truth that all of us must die. He was going to be truthful about his own discontentment and he was going to keep seeking the truth until he found it. Let's read some more about some of the places that sell a man search for meaning. If you look at chapter 2 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said I said to myself. Come on, let's try pleasure. Let's look for the good things in life. What I found. This too is meaningless so I said laughter is silly. What good is it due to seek pleasure after much? Thought I decided to cheer myself with wine and while still seeking wisdom. I clutched. It foolishness in this way. I tried to experience the only happiness, most people find during their brief life in this world. I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and planting beautiful vineyards. I made Gardens and Parks filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing. Groves I bought slaves, both men and women and others were born into my household. I also owned a large herds and flocks more than any of the Kings with lived in Jerusalem before me. I collected great sums of silver and gold. The Treasure of Many Kings and provinces. I hired, wonderful singers, both men and women that had many beautiful concubines. I got everything a man could desire. So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me and my wisdom, never failed me anything I wanted. I would take. I denied myself. No, pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work. A reward for all my labors but as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish. It was all so meaningless, like chasing the wind, there is nothing really worthwhile anywhere. So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and Madden for, who can do this better than I, the king. I thought wisdom is better than foolishness just as light as better than Darkness for the wise. Can see where they're going. But fools walk in the dark. Yet, I saw the wise and the foolish are the same fate. Both will die. So I said to myself, since, I will end up the same as the fool. What's the value of all my wisdom? This is all. So, meaningless for the wise and foolish both died, the wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool in the days to come both will be forgotten. So I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless like chasing the wind. I came to hate all my hard work here on Earth for. I must leave to others. Everything I ever learned. And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish. Yet, they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work Under the Sun, how meaningless. So I gave up in despair questioning the value of all my hard work in this world. Some people work wisely with knowledge and skill and then must leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn't worked for it. This too is meaningless a great tragedy. So what did people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? Their days are filled with pain and grief and even at night, their minds cannot rest, it's all meaningless. So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realize that these Pleasures are from the hand of God for who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him God gives wisdom knowledge and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. This too is meaningless, like chasing the wind. The Solomon start. Specific Pursuit one at a time. He's going to find the truth by the process of elimination. So first he says, I'm going to do it. Let's try pleasure. He said I'm going to dig deeply into pleasure. Let's see if pleasure is the secret ingredient for meaning and satisfaction and he wasn't messing around. He dug deep. at one point, Solomon had 1000 wives and concubines imagine preparing his income tax return, married and filing jointly 90 M heartlight by drinking wine, and then he tried, I'm going to stop being so heavy in in Honduras. And he tried to be more jovial and silly and lighthearted. And then he found out hard work. Could even produce pleasure, any took pleasure in his work, he enjoyed building. Great structures and acquiring servants and herds. He loved gardening, and creating irrigation systems, he found pleasure in using. He surrounded himself with singers. He said a ten. Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself, no pleasure. And at the end of this, deep dive into pleasure, his conclusion is, it was all so meaningless. There was nothing worthwhile

We continue to read then how Solomon began digging for truth and other places and we find that he began to find these little fragments of Truth. Much like the two archaeologists found that Shard of pottery in the coin. He starts finding little glimpses of things, which have some meaning, which is encouraging.

He starts comparing wisdom with foolishness and he says, wisdom is better than foolishness. Aha something that means something. He says, I have observed. It's better to be a wise person in a foolish person because then you will live your life with light. Not in darkness and ignorance, you can avoid silly mistakes. If you have some wisdom this is good. We're finding a couple things that makes sense. What's on Solomon finds a soda can and he remembers that both the wise and the foolish person are going to die in the end. So really, who cares? How they live How many find some more fragments of Truth? He sees that work is good. Work is something that produces useful things and it also gives us a sense of purpose and satisfaction but in the end we're going to die and all those things. We worked for will be given to people who didn't do any of the work and saw him and said, as he thought about this, he began to hate the work that he had done because ultimately it was meaningless. One of the things Solomon repeat over and over in this book is that there is nothing new Under the Sun. Everything we can do is already been done before. There's nothing original being attempted by anyone that we might hear this and protest a little bit Surely in this age of technological advances, we show that we have evolved as a species, we're pushing forward in the realm solemn and never could have imagined. Let me give you an example of something that we think is very new. And speaking of some of the things Pastor Keith referenced in his sermon last week, the questioning of gender identity. This is new, right? Like this is something we're kind of Christians a little shocked that we can't believe we've come to this point, so this must be something new, right? And Pastor Keith also mentioned, people were even claiming now to identify not as human. But as animals Well this has to be something new Under the Sun and I've seen posts on social media. Claiming that all of this cultural shift in this direction is the next step in our Evolution as a species. This is our race moving forward. Pressing toward the next upward step As We rise and let me show you how this is, nothing new nor is it evolutionary to travel quickly and briefly back to the beginning of human history, in the garden. That God created the beautiful place of Harmony and fulfillment. God, establish order there. Everyone had a job to do, not a difficult kind of job that they dreaded, but something that gave them purpose and delight and he created plants and he created animals. He made a man and then gave the man, a woman who had a special role as a helper to the man, and he give the humans dominion over all the animal kingdom. And he gave them the job of tending, the plants and trees of the garden. Will Satan came to the Garden to destroy the harmony of what God has set up and notice how he did it. He took the form of an animal. And remember animals were supposed to be submitting to the humans. and the serpent, the animal told the human Eve, to disobey God And then a woman who is supposed to be submissive to the man told the man to join her in. Disobeying God the man obeyed. The animal and the woman and isn't it interesting that the murder weapon was a fruit part of the plant kingdom. is the push to disrupt God's plan for gender and even the plant and animal kingdom something brand new to our present Society. Not at all. Dakota song from a cartoon Musical. It's a Tale As Old As Time. There really is nothing new here under the sun. Later in the last verses of chapter 2, Solomon, start finding more fragments of Truth after he experiments with pleasure and work and other things. He reaches a conclusion and he says after all of this basically the best life you can live in this world is to have a good balance between work and pleasure, work, hard, and then enjoy food and drink. That's about the best you can do in this world. Ultimately your life is still meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But this is the best life you can have in your short time on Earth that work and food and drink are gifts from god. Wow. I think he's getting closer to the truth. He hasn't put it all together yet but now he's realizing that God has given man gifts, which are best enjoyed in a certain kind of Harmony. Solomon is making progress as he digs deeper and deeper. His determination seems to be paying off. You know, people avoid digging for Truth for many reasons. One reason is some people think it's impossible to find the truth. Who knows? Which path is the right? How could, you know, what the truth is and why waste your life digging? When there might not be anything down there to find? Other people find it too confusing so they don't look for the true that all. They might say I'm just not a deep thinker. I'm just a simple purse, maybe smarter people can find the truth. I just do fun things. Other people know the truth and they willfully turn away from it. and they often do this because embracing the truth would mean changing their lifestyle and priorities, like the woman at the well, I met Jesus, and she didn't like how Jesus was getting personal about the truth. He was pointing out sin in her life. And she changed the subject in Jesus kept coming back to the truth, which is the sin in her heart, which needed to be dealt with, by a savior. There was a rich young ruler. Who came to Jesus? He seems like a real seeker of Truth. He asked Jesus what he needed to do to have eternal life. In Jesus said, why you need to keep the Commandments and the ruler says, I do keep them. What else do I need to do? And Jesus said, well give away all your money and follow me in the Bible said the ruler just walked away. Sadly because he was very rich, what happened? Jesus expose the ruler for who he really was. He claimed to be a dedicated seeker of Truth. Oh really? How much does a truth mean to you? Jesus knew this man loves his money more than you love the truth. And that's why Jesus said, give your money away. It was to show the man who he really was. He was like the archaeologist who was content just to dig far enough to find a few trinkets. In John chapter 18, Jesus was on trial before Pilate and pilot was trying to figure out who Jesus was why he was causing such a commotion pilot said. So you're a king. And Jesus responded, you say, I'm a king actually, I was born and I came into this world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth? Recognize that what I say is true? What is truth pilate said? I think Tyler was perhaps, like many people, we know, they kind of dismissed the whole search for Truth by saying, who knows? Everybody's got the truth. There's so many versions of it. How do you live your life? Is your light. Just a constant effort to distract yourself from truth. Do you avoid dealing with the things? You know, are in your heart? Maybe there are things which need addressing, what you don't want to think about, because change is uncomfortable and perhaps you might feel even impossible. Do you love the truth enough to seek for it? Even when a truth seems confusing? Maybe you've made efforts to follow God before. But things didn't work out very well and left you feeling. Disappointed in confused. You love the truth and have to persevere and press on anyway. Do you have a personal relationship with Christ? Who is the way the truth, and the life? Do you love the truth of God's word? Even though you don't understand it? All of the time, one of my favorite passages in the New Testament is found in John 6. Jesus had become very popular at this time and had huge crowds following him around because of his healings. And then the feeding of the 5000 in just after the 5000 were fed, miraculously, Jesus began to speak to the people.

And he was using the illustration of bread to teach them truth. He told the people that just like God sent their ancestors bred years ago, when they were wandering in the wilderness, Jesus said, I have also been sent down from heaven, And this statement raised a few eyebrows. He's the bread Sent From Heaven. Don't we know? This guy's parents. Didn't he grow up locally? But Jesus didn't stop there. He made things even more Awkward. He said no one will have eternal life unless they eat my flesh and drink my blood. Okay, this is crazy park. Now he does impressive Miracles but now he's saying stuff, that's really odd. I think we're done here. And the scripture says that many people stop following him at that moment and went home. And Jesus turned around to his little group of 12.

Who traveled everywhere with him, who had given up their jobs and their homes, their comfort to follow Jesus because they believed he was the truth. And Jesus asked the 12, do you want to leave also? And Simon Peter, one of the disciples answer. Where would we go? You have the words of eternal life we believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. I'm sure Peter and the other disciples also wish that Jesus wouldn't say things like this. Things that were weird, things that were hard to understand that made the crowds feel awkward and angry. Why can't you just keep doing the miracle that seems to bring out the numbers? Maybe teach nice easy to understand Concepts. But Peter loves the truth, Above All Else. He knew that even though these teachings were confusing, Jesus was their only hope for eternal life. It was only by following Christ. They had any hope of finding something to rescue them from a meaningless life and an eternity of separation from God. So as difficult as it was, he continued to follow Jesus. How precious is the truth to you? Have you let some difficult experiences and life keep you from continuing to walk with Christ. Have you let some other Christians get under your skin to the point? You're not really pursuing God in your life anymore. Has your Christian Life. Been frustrating and painful. And you wonder what is the point of doing the right thing? Do you feel like you've been let down when you didn't see results you expected from following the Lord? Are you willing to move forward in your Pursuit Of Truth? By being honest about things, you need to address in your heart and in your behavior. Are you a diligent archaeologist? Like Solomon, who sought for the truth? No, matter the obstacles or are you distracted archaeologist? Who will only dig for truth? If it's not too difficult. Maybe you haven't even found the truth yet and I invite you to meet him today. His name is Jesus Christ. He is the only way to God the father and to a meaningful existence here on Earth and into eternity. In the book of Jeremiah God said, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart, you can find the truth. The truth can set you free. It can continue to set you free. Each day until you are completely free forever in your Eternal home. Invite you, please come back next week for part 2 of Ecclesiastes because next week all the lights. Come on for Solomon. Let's sing together.