Jan. 11th 2026

Saddest day of the year is?

Blue Monday, 3rd Monday in Janaury,

bills come due after Christmas spending

New Year's resolutions are obsolete

Natural gloom of a long dark winter taking it’s toll

Marketing ploy to get people to take winter getaway trips.. but there is the ring of truth in it of January can have a lower feeling to it.

I noticed something this last week, that when reading the Biblical text for today over and over, studying it, listening to teachings on it…

I wasn’t feeling very good.

Not physically, just mentally and emotionally. Feeling dragged low.

And it was not because I sense the Scripture convicting me in overt ways… or because it raised a certain issue for me...

It was just… sad.

The book of Ecclesiastes has a lot of sadness in it. The author, likely Solomon, is despondent and crying out through the short book trying to gain a foothold to why he should live?

I’ve heard it said that when reading the book of Ecclesiastes it is wise to first hide all the dangerous sharp objects in the house. Meaning if this book is read in isolation from the rest of Scripture… it can leave one feeling extremely hopeless.

Why study it then? If it seems just doom and gloom.

Because two things, from last week it pointed out that life is meaningless on this earth if we think we are the centre of the universe. We are not. God is.

And secondly it points us to look not just to the earthly things in front of us for the point of living, but to God Himself for our purpose.

Last week I mentioned a spoiler alert of where the book does goes by the end. And I give this reminder because the book feels so despondent.

The book acts as an arrow that is launched.. and if we follow the trajectory of the arrow it lands at the place of trusting God and obeying his commands. that is the best option we have in this life, says solomon

This sermons series is called

What’s the point? Ecclesiastes

Today the author pursues to main themes of trying to find a point in life: pleasure, and work. Which is beyond accurate to today in our culture. If I just had more, experienced more… if I just accomplished more… then this internal conflict would go away, be at peace, be satisfied…

He begins with:

Ecclesiastes 2:1–11 “I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness.

When restrictions of covid-19 pandemic started in Canada, where did our money go? According to stats taken by government of Canada, liquor when up 30% and weed went up 40%

Looking to numb, escape, and hide away from the problems and pain around us. It was a very very stressful time with countless unknowns of what life would like on a week to week basis.

And sure. It works to nuumb the pain in the short term.

But not long term. Not processing through the pain in a healthy way.

We have this green bin out there that collects empty bottles for Loaves and Fishes. They pick it up and turn the bottles into money to buy food for people in need.

Next to the bottle bin we have the food locker, which is a beautiful thing where many of you place non-perishable food in. I see many young moms pushing a stroller open it throughout the week to get food.

One time I was out in the parking lot and I saw a woman I didn’t know donating tonnes food in the food locker. I thanked her for donating…

She said “ya know.… thank you and this church. During covid I was filling that green bin with the wine bottles all the time… and when I needed food I got groceries from this food locker.

I’ve quit drinking.… and now I want to give back to this same food locker that helped me when I needed it.”

(pause)

God on the move!

Solomon goes on to describe trying to find meaning in work, and still more pleasure:

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 by 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 large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had 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, and had many beautiful concubines.

I had 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 was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.”

Woooof.… You would not Solomon as a life coach or a counsellor.

Here we see honesty that he has tried to be intentional with his hedonism, and with his accomplishments. Building homes and parks… He’s like a rich person who is also a philanthropist. He’s got the mansions around the globe and his name is on fancy hospitals.

Still concludes… unhappiness. Chasing the wind.

There is nothing really worthwhile anywhere..…

Phew like I mentioned last week in chapter 1… that verse would not usually be anyones favourite bible verse… but it might be one’s experience from time to time. And that’s why it is valuable to have this written in our Bible. But some people will get to this place of hopelessness and just stay there.

One such person was Sigmund Freud. The Austrain founder of psychoanalysis.

Freud was perfectly willing to say, you know, our origin is insignificant. Our life has no point to it. Therefore, our life is insignificant. You are a mindless self driven by subconscious desires.

Now, one of his young students, Carl Jung, in his autobiography, Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, talks about the horror of finally meeting Freud for the first time and seeing up close pure hopelessness.

He says, When I met him, he was a tragic figure, a man in the grip of his own demon. He said, Whenever he saw a person or a work of art or an expression of spirituality that came to light, he suspected it and insinuated that it was merely repressed sexuality.

I protested that this hypothesis carried to its logical conclusion would lead to an annihilating judgment upon our culture. Culture, life, would then appear to be a mere farce, the morbid consequence of repressed sexuality. Yes, he assented, so it is.

And that is just the curse of fate against which we are powerless to contend.

You wonder the only book of the Bible Freud read was Ecclesiastes?

Solomon then goes on to describe his pursuit of wisdom in light of mortality:

Ecclesiastes 2:12–23 “So I decided to compare wisdom with foolishness and madness (for who can do this better than I, the king?). I thought, “Wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is better than darkness. For the wise can see where they are going, but fools walk in the dark.” Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share 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 the foolish both die. 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 have earned. 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, 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 do people get in this life for all their hard work and anxiety? Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.”

He hated life. Who hasn’t been there before?

When we suffer, when we experience pain. There is the desire to just get out of this life and stop it all.

Derek Kidner writes:

“If there is a lie at the centre of existence, and nonsense at the end of it, who has the heart to make anything of it?”

Derek Kidner, The Message of Ecclesiastes

Meaning if the foundation of our life is based on the pursuit of pleasure and distraction, or the accomplishment of what we produce… both are a lie that will not satisfy.

And that’s the task of every follower of Jesus as we look to love God and love other people… that we are tasked with :

Discerning the lie that doesn’t satisfy

That if we aim our lives like Solomon at pleasure, or aim it at accomplishment as our standard for Ahhhhhh we are ok… we have have relief.… the knot that is tied up tight within can unwravel and feel ok for one more day...

That lie… won’t satisfy.

Solomon gives a smaller glimmer of hope near the end.

Ecclesiastes 2:24–26 “So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized 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.”

Solomon finds that some pleasure, some work, is worthwhile… but then has the epiphany that these gifts are sourced in God Himself.

And that's wisdom knowledge and joy are sourced from God.

And then closes this section that even a sinner (someone rejecting God in this case) gets wealth, they will one day die and God can repurpose their wealth).

So for a moment here… Solomon surfaces above the drowning desponcdency of trying to find a point to living…

and takes a breath… ahhh… there is a source to my positive experiences.… God Himself.

There’s a lot of back and forth, up and down, as we read Solomon in Ecclesiastes.

It reminds me of what the prophet Jeremiah said:

Jeremiah 17:9 ““The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

While we may feel something doesn’t mean it's true and will last. I have days when I'm grumpy or sad...

Does that mean I am meant to live a grumpy and sad life? Nope. Why is that?

Because God's Word teaches us that we are to live by His Holy Spirit and have an attitude of Christ . We must align our thoughts and feelings to the Word of God. When we neglect to do that, we susceptible to focusing pleasure or projects to satisfy our deepest longings. Like SOlmon, we are

Discerning the lie that doesn’t satisfy

or as paul said into the New Testament:

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”

Not trusting every thought in our head… but laying it before Christ and His Word to explore if there is His truth in it.

On Solomon's worst day… he’d say life is always meaningless.

But elsewhere in proverbs which he wrote he said:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3.5-6 NLT

Your life is not meaningless.

It can feel that way when we pursue pleasure and accomplishments as the end goals of our lives.

You and I were called to live today.

To live in the truth of what Jesus has done for us. That He has died for our sins for all time. That he has defeated death and invites us to walk in the strongest power in the world, His love and forgiveness, washing over us and blessing us with His presence.

You are called to live today.

If you’ve never wrestled out what you believe about Jesus.. do it. It’s the most worthwhile pursuit you can chase after. Study, read, explore, ask questions, pray!

And when you do He will respond in powerful ways.

If you are ready to embrace Jesus as Lord and Saviour, to invite Him into your life for the first time, to surrender your decisions, heart, mind to Him.... I invite you to pray this in your heart and mind as we close our service:

Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me on the cross for my sins. Please come into my life and fill me with your goals, your purposes, and most of all your Presence. Thank you for loving me. Amen.

Benediction:

Ephesians 3:20–21 “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”