The Vain Teacher

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 42

Psalm 42 ESV

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah. As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival. Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

Scripture Reading: Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Sermon:

Good Morning Church!

I was Glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Well today is one of probably my two favorite “types” of Sundays that exist sort of in my life. The first type is the final sermon in a sermon series, i love doing that. I feel like you get to tie a bow on everything that you've covered and talked about. You've spent, however long you've been in that series, reading and studying and getting to know a certain book of the bible. And, and so ending, that is one of my great joys.

And the other one is starting a new series, so the very end and the very beginning Of any series are usually my two favorite sermons in any given series. And i always like the first one because it gives you a chance to sort of set the stage and lay the groundwork for everything that you may hope to build on for the rest of the series.

So We are starting Ecclesiastes. So what are The... thoughts or the ideas... the heart, maybe, behind the book of Ecclesiastes that i hope that we will learn to know and appreciate… that I hope speaks to our hearts as we go through this book? As we go through ecclesiastes, what we are learning, what we are being instructed. What we are in some ways going to experience is: How do we live life In a broken world?

That the world IS broken should come at No surprise as no surprise to any of us. There are natural disasters, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, tsunamis, these things that cause death and destruction on a scale, that Sometimes feels sort of unfathomable how bad some of these things can go. Because ultimately, The world is broken.

But we can get more personal: Families are broken. Divorce runs rampant in our culture in our world and sadly even in our churches. there's pain, there's suffering, there's sickness, there is death. We all know this, we all have experienced the pain, in different ways and at different times. The short way that I would say this is that We live in a world that is broken by the effects of sin.

And there's no amount of Well Turn that frown Upside down. Just have Happiness. There's no amount of teaching that can remove the pain and things that you will experience. There's no amount of Anything i can say to you that could change the fact that the world we live in is broken. Yet, we're called to live in it. We're still here. We're still called to be christians. We are called to serve and know and love the lord.

We have promises in scripture that if, if we serve and know and love him, it will go well for us. How do we make those promises mesh with this life that often feels so broken? The book of Ecclesiastes, of all the books in the bible, i would argue, Is particularly well equipped equipped to help us answer these questions and know how we can live This life.

And so today we're going to dive into it… We're going to start with a lot of the introductory matters. Hoping to see how we can get to The hope, and the promises in the midst of, In spite of, and sometimes, even i would argue, Because of the brokenness Of the world. O

Our passage for today will be just looking at the first two verses of this wonderful book to lay the groundwork for us.

Ecclesiastes 1:1–2 ESV

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

These are the words of the lord for us this morning. Let's open with the word of prayer.

Our father in heaven. We do thank you for today. We thank you for your grace and your mercy. Grace that is greater than all our sin. mercy that reaches out and meets us, sometimes, and truly most of the time, in the darkness. We thank you for the precious gift of your son: Jesus christ, our lord, born into This futile world that we live in to redeem us from the curse to save us to give us hope and a new life. Thank you For these precious gifts. Thank you for the Spirit at work within our lives, the comforter who brings hope and comfort to our hearts. In the midst of these dark times, may you speak to our hearts this morning. May you use this time in your word to conform us into the image of your son. And even now, as we begin to start a new series, we do pray that our time in this book of Ecclesiastes would be a blessing to our souls as you teach us, according to your word. Speak through your servant this morning. It's in jesus name that we pray. Amen. And amen.

So as we lay the foundation, my goal is to sort of answer. The classic what we would call “journalistic questions”. The blanks… Well as you can see, There's only three of them, they're all very short and as we get through them guessing the next one might not be too terribly difficult for you to guess. But i think it's good that we ask these basic level questions because, again, this is what i hope to build off of for the next few months as we study the book of Ecclesiastes.

And so the first question that we need to wrestle with and Ecclesiastes is actually rather unique in this is WHO

WHO

Who is the writer? Who is the one speaking? Who is the one who is instructing us as we read through the book of Ecclesiastes. In one sense. It's very easy. We read this in verse 1. These are the words of the preacher.

And that's easy... But it's not quite that easy. This seems very straightforward, okay? It's the preacher. But this is just one way to translate the Hebrew word, that sort of, underpins this all. the word there, in case you're curious is Qohelet

And it's q. I could have put it up here. I can tell you how to spell it… if you want to look it upo: The word is Qohelet q-o-h-e-l-e-t.

And the Qohelet. It means preacher... it definitely means preacher. But it it means often much more than preacher. It also means something along the lines of teacher, of philosopher, of the spokesman, of the one who is called to instruct, teach, train. And give words, in particular, to the assembled people of god.

So The Qohelet, the writer here. Is acting as the spokesperson of god, in some ways to the people, but also acting for the people as the spokesperson for themselves.

And this is what i mean by that as we go through the book of Ecclesiastes. The writer, the preacher whomever, this is in particular... We'll get to some of that later... His goal and his intent is to preach to us. But it is a particular type of preaching. The way we might say this to be real with us. There is no glossing over the difficulties of life in this book. In fact, the preacher here will be sure to explain and Show how he has lived out, all of the pains and trials and troubles that the people he's speaking to have gone through.

So he's not some detached far apart preacher. Rather, he is a preacher who comes and has experienced the same pains as his people and he will not cover them up or shy from them. So part of the Who is Preacher, but there is more here.

The preacher here we read is the son of David, King in Jerusalem.

Does this mean Solomon? Maybe?So if we look back and we look through church history, This book has been attributed to Solomon. I can fairly easily make the case. The main reason is because this writer will claim later to be extraordinarily wise. Maybe the wisest ever. So that title would most appropriately go to Solomon. If we remember, Solomon asked god for wisdom and god said, i will grant you this request and more because you have asked correctly, basically. But also we could look at the Whole book in the context of the Whole Bible.

If we were to go to the beginning of the book of proverbs, It's a little more explicit there that it is Solomon. Proverbs chapter 1 verse 1.

Proverbs 1:1 ESV

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

Here, the words of the preacher Son of David king in jerusalem. There's some parallels. Then We could flip to the next book. A book that almost made the short list of books that i was thinking about preaching through, but decided against it, the song of Solomon.

Song of Solomon 1:1 ESV

The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.

So we had Solomon, explicitly writing proverbs The book right before this one. We have an explicit reference that the book right after this one is written by Solomon. So, here in Ecclesiastes, we have something in the middle.

So did Solomon. Write it? Possibly. He was the son of David truly not just in a sort of lineage sense, the same way. Jesus is the son of David. Solomon was the son of David. Also Solomon was the king in jerusalem, these words apply to him. Church History has said that it was written by Solomon, and we should give that a bit of weight...

This is where i have landed... Just note there is some debate that rages in the intellectual world… people who think through this stuff... Here's David's point of view. I don't know if it matters if it was Solomon or not.

I'm more than happy to say that it was Solomon. I think church history. Should teach us a lot and that people, for thousands of years have thought this was Solomon so there's a good reason to think it's Solomon. But ultimatly, I don't know If it was him or not.

I will probably, as we go through this book, Most often refer to him as the preacher. And that's because, If it was Solomon, it is Solomon with a particular heart. Specifically, the heart here is of a preacher of his people.

In fact, if you look the title “Ecclesiastes” is very interesting. Where do we get that title? It's actually from the Septuagint version of the old testament, which was the Greek translation of the Hebrew old testament. And often the books were named after sort of the first word or thought that you would see there.

And the first thought or the idea Ecclesiastes, these were words to the Ecclesia, the gathering of god's people. And so, for me, the “who” here, Is probably Solomon as a preacher to god's people.

Ecclesiastes Is the sermon. Given to the people of god By One who loved and cared for them and who loved and cared for god. But who was not afraid to get into the nitty-gritty, dirty details of life. So is the the who here. Is the preacher. The preacher Solomon. The preacher Qohelet, the preacher who cares for the people He's preaching too.

But what is his sermon?

WHAT

So there's the “who” Now, we can wrestle with The “what”.

Chapter one verse 2. Is in some very painful sense. The base level what of the entire book is about

Ecclesiastes 1:2 ESV

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

I'm willing to say this is the theme and the thought in the heart, behind the ENTIRE BOOK. Because if we flip to the end, Here's a fun tip for you if you're trying to wonder what a book is about. We call this looking at the tip and the tail. You go to the beginning. Go to the end. Is there something that's repeated? Because the middle probably is the same way

Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verse 8 will get there eventually, but here:

Ecclesiastes 12:8 ESV

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

The “what” of the book of Ecclesiastes is the vanity of life on this earth. It is, in fact, Vanity of vanities.

of the Hebrew words... If you were to read this verse in the Hebrew, There's eight words in verse two, there's more in English but the way Hebrew works, there's only eight words. Of those eight words, five of them are the same word. It's the word for vanity. The word hebel. Basically it is Hebel Hebel says Preacher, Hebel Hebel ALL Hebel.

It is all about how vain this world is. This word vanity that we have translated. This is how the king james is, why we have this traditionally here, it's how the King James translators chose to go with this word. And vanity is fitting. Though, vanity for us, may often have a different meaning.

What He's NOT talking about here is sort of the vanity of self Reflection that overestimates how good and how important you are. The preacher of ecclesiastes messages is not the same as “you're so vain, You probably think this song is about you.” The writer of Ecclesiastes wants us to see vain meaningless. The vain vaporialness, the vain fleetingness, the vain temporary-ness, the vain mist-like attributes of this life.

He starts by saying vanity of vanities. This is the Hebrew way of saying, the most vain things that we could ever think of. It's not just vain. This is the vain thing that this is the most vain of all vain things. We're familiar with this “Something of Something” terminology. Jesus is, we know the “king of kings”, the “lord of lords”. And for thoise we know he is the host kingly king and the most lordly lord. The king that all other kings bow to, the Lord with authority over all other Lords. So then here, to say the phrase In this way means, we are talking about the The most of all vain things.

Everything. The Preacher will get us to see, Is meaningless.

Pointless. Fruitless. Thoughtless. Everything. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher vanity of vanities in case you don't understand what i am saying. I will say it, explicitly ALL… Everything.... Is Vanity.

The preacher will then spend the rest of the book talking about how work-- Meaningless. wisdom -- Meaningless. fun times with your friends and family — meaningless. getting riches — meaningless. everything on this earth that we set our mind and our hands to ultimately Is vanity.

It's a fleeting after the wind. It's a Pointless, thoughtless fruitless exercise to do anything -- He says— On this earth. This is the conclusion. This is the point that the preacher wants us to get to.

Well, that's not very positive and uplifting You might say... You're not wrong.

The book of Ecclesiastes. And i would, i want to be careful how i say this.... It is not written. To butter you up and to make you feel better about your life… It is, i would argue and we will spend the next months seeing... it is written To be honest with you And make you feel better About your god....

Vanity of vanity says the preacher. All is vanities. There is nothing under the sun that can Change your life in such a way as to make it last long enough to not just be temporary and fleeting. There is nothing under the sun, the Preacher will call us to see... There is nothing under the sun that can give your life meaning longer than the 120 years, the you may get here on this earth.

It's vanity. It's fleeting. It's a mist and a vapor. It is quickly Fleeting. That's the “what” Of the book of Ecclesiastes. But then we can ask “Why”?

WHY

Why Do we have to wrestle with this point of view?

I was asked on Thursday night at Grace Group: "So, why are we doing the book of Ecclesiastes?” And that is kind of a loaded question. I think that's an important one.

Fun reminder, I always ask the Elders, so the first “why” is because THEY picked it, though in fairness to them, I campaigned pretty hard to go here… So WHY would I do that?

And the answer here is that Because the why for my heart as to why i wanted us as a church to go through Ecclesiastes is, i believe, the same “why” as to why the preacher gave us this message in the first place. \

To quote from one of my commentaries.

While it is true that the Preacher takes a sober view of life [note, that is probably a bit of an understatement, but we will allow it…], never flinching from any of its complexities and confusions, it is equally true that he has solid hope in the goodness of God as well as lasting joy in the beauty of his many gifts. This is exactly why he has shown the futility of everything earthly: It is so that we will put our everlasting hope in God.

Why do we need this book? It's because the world is broken and nothing i can say and nothing i can do, can change that fact for you. News flash, spoiler alert, this world will be difficult, your life will not always be easy and perfect, there will be challenges, there will be difficulty, there will be pain, there will be hurts, there will be things that cause your heart to break.

Put your hope In the everlasting, god.

We will look at this world. There will be times where you will be laying in bed staring at the ceiling Wondering about the pointless, fruitless, hopelessness of life, turn your heart to god. That is what the Preacher will call us to do.

Why do we need the book of Ecclesiastes? Was because proverbs, Proverbs of Solomon, proverbs 1:7 says, the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Here in Ecclesiastes, the preacher will say that the fear of god is not just the beginning of wisdom, but also the end. It is the goal and the ultimate thought of our existence, turn our eyes, To God.

Why do we need the book of Ecclesiastes? It's because in the middle of life's difficulties at the beginning of life's difficulties and at the end of life's difficulties. The only way, the writer of Ecclesiastes leaves for our heart and soul to find any hope is in god. The one Who loves and cared for us.

But the ultimate “Why” of the book of Ecclesiastes Is to point us to jesus.

True. The name. Jesus will not once appear in any text that we're reading. Nowhere in here. Will we read explicitly of his work of his miracles of his teachings. But every word of every verse of this book is saturated with our hope in our savior.

These are dark pieces to the puzzle. They constitute the black border that connects to the dark grey pieces of death, injustice and other bleak realities. And yet like a beautiful painting, in which darkness and light play off each other and bled together in seemingly inexplicable ways, those grey pieces of Ecclesiastes do eventually connect with God, who is at the center of the picture and is bright in all his incomprehensible glory and wisdom.

And that is where we see the beauty of jesus shining through.

The Preacher Solomon refused to shy away from the difficulties of life.

Our lord and savior Jesus christ refused to shy away from the difficulties of life.

As we read about the brokenness, the futility, the vain-ness of this world, may we never forget that God himself deemed fit to enter into this same vain world. He entered into creation to redeem us -- his people. So what is my hope When all seems vain? My hope is that god knows, god hears, and he understands. This is what the writer of Hebrews draws our attention to. We just spent our advent series in the book of Hebrews.

I Just want to remind us of one thought: Jesus Entered into creation So that he could be our Great High priest.

Hebrews 4:14 ESV

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

As we read, as we spend time in the admittedly dark places of Ecclesiastes. Remember these words, Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15,

Hebrews 4:15–16 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Every pain You go through Jesus knows

every sorrow You experience our great high priest can sympathize with

Every temptation We have — temptationss to feel the Weight of the pointlessness of life, and turn our back from god. We have a high priest who knows those feelings yet He did not sin.

And we now can with confidence hebrews for 16 says draw near to the throne of grace.

That is our hope in a broken and Painful world, that the throne of grace, jesus, our great high priest, our savior, and our king forever is able to come comfort to deliver to care for to be with to save us. That is the “why” Of ecclesiastes.

Let's pray.