“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction - Work”
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Each day across the USA 50,000 people quit their jobs. In a recent survey of workers across the USA, nearly 85% said that they could work harder of the job. More than half claimed they could double their effectiveness "if they wanted to." Why do we not give everything we have at our jobs? Maybe we all know something deep down inside.
Oh the day to day grind. All work and no play…and for many of us it is not by choice. I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. The cycle. The dreaded treadmill. The merry-go-round and round. Albert Camus - in his book the myth of Sisyphus He describes the normal routine of many people… “Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday according to the same rhythm.” He describes … We are born, then the merry-go-round of life, then we die. He declares that this life is absolutely absurd.
Albert Camus - in his book the myth of Sisyphus He describes the normal routine of many people… “Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday according to the same rhythm.” He describes … We are born, then the merry-go-round of life, then we die. He declares that the life is absolutely absurd.
But this goes a bit further. Do we really gain anything? Is there really such a thing as getting ahead? Do we really find satisfaction from our work? We go to work day after day and what do we really have to show for our efforts? Did we just waste another day? Many of us may feel like no matter how hard we work we just cannot seem to get ahead. No matter how high we climb, we never make it to the top. Maybe we make it to the top and surprisingly it is just not satisfying. If anything feels like chasing the wind, it is the day to day labor and travail of everyday work. Under the sun, we still can’t get no satisfaction. The futility of life continues… meaningless, all is meaningless.
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.
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.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
You Can’t Take It With You
Take This Job And Shove It
Take This Job And Love It
The Word And Work Of Christ
The first thing we will look at today is how now matter what we do in life, when we die, we can’t take our possessions that we worked so hard to get with us. Second, we will see that in the end in some way we all will sound like the disgruntled employee that said “take this job and shove it.” Third, we will find that when we do work under the Son of God we see that it is a gift and we will not only take the job, but we will love it. Finally, we will see the greatest gift of work ever given by God was the Word and Work of Jesus which will truly bring life and life more abundant.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to lose hope in finding satisfaction in our work and efforts here under the sun, it is the word and work of Christ that will open our eyes to see that to see the wonderful gifts that the Lord has given to us and that our work in Christ is not meaningless, but meaningful all for the Glory of God.
I. You Can’t Take It With You
Preaching the Word: Ecclesiastes—Why Everything Matters You Can’t Take It with You
The first is that in the end someone else will profit from all our hard work.
- In the end someone else will profit from all our hard work.
Preaching the Word: Ecclesiastes—Why Everything Matters You Can’t Take It with You
The first is that in the end someone else will profit from all our hard work.
Preaching the Word: Ecclesiastes—Why Everything Matters You Can’t Take It with You
The first is that in the end someone else will profit from all our hard work.
A. Solomon uncovered the failure of wisdom and knowledge to uncover the meaning of life. He sought out pleasure and came up empty. He decided to give wisdom another try and juxtaposed it with mad folly and yet again came up empty handed. So now Qoheleth decides to find out if our heard work brings a different result.
B. Wisdom and pleasure may be quickly understood by us and its futility, but our work is something else. We all expect our work to give us a sense or purpose in life. Do you know that thats the reason why of the first things people ask when they meet someone who we did not know before is, “What kind of work are you into?” or “What do you do for a living?” Our identity is defined by our jobs. We are defined by our jobs.
This explains why one of the first things people ask when they meet someone new is, “What kind of work do you do?” or “What do you do for a living?” We are defined by our jobs.
C. But there are a lot of difficulties in our jobs. So frustrating on so many levels. Weak work ethics, undervalued results, workaholism and its affirmation, alienation from employers goals which cause resentment toward employer, working for companies with bad ethical standards, constant feelings of job insecurity with no desire from company to gain employee loyalty, employees are treated like tools and or product not people.
D. They continue… the over and over again monotony of doing to the same thing over and over again. All the times we are inconvenienced or disciplined because of another employees laziness or incompetence. All the times our personal lives and our family suffer because of the demands of the job or our boss who should have planned better. All the times our boss made us do unethical things. Employees do unethical things. Employees do not do a good job or work hard enough. When we just cant get more business drummed up, when competition continues to get the better of us, possible going out of business. Others get the promotion. I never get a raise. I never have enough money. No Christmas bonus this year. Too much month at the end of the money. I hate my job. It goes on and on.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 68). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
E. But what is worse, to top it all off… In the end someone else will profit from all our hard work.
I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned.
The first is that in the end someone else will profit from all our hard work.
F. All the frustrations we experience in making a living. Acquiring possessions. Saving all our money. You can spend your whole life gathering a collection of some kind, cards, stamps, paintings or building a lucrative business or making a home nice and comfy or establishing a school or amassing a large fortune… thats great but we can’t take it with us when we die. Sooner or later, one day we will have to leave it all behind.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 68). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
G. We see it all the time don’t we. Your collection will go to a dealer. The contents of your home will be sold at auction. Someone else will manage your portfolio and money. Then everything that you have worked a lifetime to gain and to maintain will be gone.
You can spend your whole life gathering a collection of some kind or building a business or making a home or establishing a school or amassing a large fortune, but you can’t take it with you. Maybe you will lose it before you die, through some misfortune (the collapse of a financial market, for example). But whether it happens sooner or later, one day you will have to leave it all behind. Your
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 69). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 68–69). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
H. It would be nice if we left it behind and it went to a good cause or a good person for good things in good hands, but maybe they wont. This is the frustration… we just don’t know.
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!
I. As difficult as it is that we will lose it all and we can’t take it with us, we might feel some solace in knowing that it will all go to a good cause. But the problem is, we cannot know for sure. And to top it all off, think about this.
J. Even if your possessions go to a wise and honorable person, there are so many fools and deceivers in this world, chances are, in the end, everything is gonna eventually fall into the wrong hands. The futility continues.
K. Even if the person is wise and good, they are getting it all and they did nothing to get it. What is the reward for all our hard work? Someone who did not work for it, is gonna get to enjoy it.
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.
L. One man does the work and another man gets all the wealth… it just does not seems fair at all. Remember Solomon. All of his hard work. All the building of homes and gardens, the palace of abundance, the huge workforce that he built and had and supervised. The huge fortune that he accumulated was grand, he got it all using wisdom and skill. The scriptures describe Solomon as being an amazing business man. Ask the Queen of Sheba.
M. And when Solomon died he had left all that he had and all that he had done to his son Rehoboam. No Solomon may not have known if his son would have been a wise king, but we know… don’t we. He was such a fool that he lost 75 percent of Solomon’s kingdom.
N. Dr Phil Ryken - Here is one of the great frustrations of our existence. We are born with a longing for permanence, a deep desire to do something that will endure or to make something that will last. Yet the under-the-sun reality is that we will spend our whole lives working to gain something we cannot keep. It was enough to drive the Preacher to despair.
Here is one of the great frustrations of our existence. We are born with a longing for permanence, a deep desire to do something that will endure or to make something that will last. Yet the under-the-sun reality is that we will spend our whole lives working to gain something we cannot keep. It was enough to drive the Preacher to despair.
II. Take This Job and Shove It
- There is no rest for the weary.
A. I have heard this or even variations of this in my life growing up as a part of the American workforce. What this shows us is that the frustrations of work are not just that we cannot take our reward with us, but the frustration of work itself. Hard work is actually that hard. Tired, tears, toil, trouble, traffic, trauma…erggh.
Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night their minds cannot rest. It is all meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 2:
B. The Preacher declares it… ma-kov and Kah-ahs. Pain and grief. Toil and striving. Anxious striving. The picture that is given here is one who is working hard under the sun with blood sweat and tears in the awful heat. But we all know that its not just with jobs like that. The sense of striving of heart illustrated the mental demands of our jobs.
C. Qoheleth is making clear that every occupation has its own unique set of problems and demands, but no matter what kind of work we do, it always takes its toll on us. Hard work can be exhausting for the mind as well as for the body.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 70). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
D. We all get the physical toil of some jobs. Our bodies just give out at the end of the day and deep deep sleep. But the mental strain? Are we doing enough or working hard enough to support our family and pay the bills? Do we worry about getting all our work done? Worry about meeting our deadlines? Work conflicts? Are we gonna get fired? Tossing and turning all night long and not getting a good night s sleep. So much anxiety that we cannot sleep at night. Ever have that problem?
E. Yet again, even after labor day weekend. There is still no rest for the weary. All of the days are like this. It is all meaning less so hear Solomon here… Therefore, work is as empty and vain as every other aspect of our existence. If we try to find significance or vain satisfaction in our work, it will only end in disappointment. Here is a key point. If you make your work your life, it will leave you empty and unsatisfied.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 70–71). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
F. It is all meaningless. What kind of difference have we really made? Do we have anything to show for all your work? Qoheleth would have given the same answer as Warren Schmidt.
What kind of difference have you made? Do you have anything to show for all your work? Qoheleth would have given the same answer as Warren Schmidt. When he considered what a man gains from his labor under the sun, the Preacher came to this conclusion: “all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation” ().
G. Warren Schmidt learned this lesson in the 2002 film About Schmidt. After retirement, as Schmidt looks back on his life as an actuary for an Omaha insurance company, he realizes that he has little or nothing to show for all his hard work. Here is what he writes to the poor, needy child he has started to sponsor in Africa:
Warren Schmidt learned this lesson in the 2002 film About Schmidt. After retirement, as Schmidt looks back on his life as an actuary for an Omaha insurance company, he realizes that he has little or nothing to show for all his hard work. Here is what he writes to the poor, needy child he has started to sponsor in Africa:
I know we’re all pretty small in the big scheme of things, and I suppose the most you can hope for is to make some kind of difference. But what kind of difference have I made? What in the world is better because of me?… Once I am dead and everyone who knew me dies too, it will be as though I never even existed. What difference has my life made to anyone? None that I can think of. None at all. Hope things are fine with you. Yours truly, Warren Schmidt.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 71). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 71). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
III. Take This Job and Love It
- These are the pleasures from the Hand of God.
A. Wow things just took an interesting turn here. Something positive?
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?
B. Now this is not a giving in to just trying to find something good in this world. This is not the Preacher falling into delusional thinking. It is not the preacher trying to change the subject. It’s not the Preacher simply trying to look on the bright side of life. The Preacher is understanding the difference it makes to live with God instead of without Him.
C. All is vanity under the sun but He is beginning to show how meaning comes from the hand of God. Notice what brings the joy. In verse 24 the Preacher embraces some of the very activities that he has already rejected as failing to bring meaning to life. Earlier he concluded that work was a total drag and that even the pleasures of food and drink could not satisfy his soul. But now he eats and drinks and finds enjoyment in his toil.
D. So can we have joy in this life. Yes we can. But it is with our Lord. God’s presence makes all the difference in the world. For who can do anything or enjoy anything apart from the Lord. V.25 makes it clear… if anyone is having trouble finding enjoyment in life, it must be because God is not at the center of their life.
Notice what brings the joy. In verse 24 the Preacher embraces some of the very activities that he has already rejected as failing to bring meaning to life. Earlier he concluded that work was a total drag and that even the pleasures of food and drink could not satisfy his soul. But now he eats and drinks and finds enjoyment in his toil.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 72). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
So if anyone is having trouble finding enjoyment in life, it must be because God is not at the center of things.
E. This is not an eat drink and be merry passage. This is not a license. It is a statement that we need to see life, not as the end of it all, but that life is a gift from God. When we do, we will find satisfaction.
F. Ray Steadman writes, “Isn’t it strange, that the more you run after life, panting after every pleasure, the less you find, but the more you take life as a gift from God’s hand, responding in thankful gratitude for the delight of the moment, the more that seems to come to you.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 72). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
“Isn’t it strange,” asks Ray Stedman, “that the more you run after life, panting after every pleasure, the less you find, but the more you take life as a gift from God’s hand, responding in thankful gratitude for the delight of the moment, the more that seems to come to you.” It is strange, but true: when we learn to receive the good things in life as gifts rather than taking them as entitlements, we experience genuine joy and true thanksgiving. “So, whether you eat or drink,” the Scripture says, “or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” ().
G. It is strange, family but it is so true: when we learn to receive the good things in life as gifts rather than taking them as entitlements, we experience genuine joy and true thanksgiving.
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 73). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
H. Work is also a gift from God. This has been true since the very beginning. Sometimes we imagine that Adam and Eve had nothing to do in the Garden of Eden, but in fact God gave them good hard work to do. Work is one of the ordinances in the creation mandate.
“So, whether you eat or drink,” the Scripture says, “or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” ().
The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.
Work too is a gift that we receive from the hand of God. This has been true since the very beginning. Sometimes we imagine that Adam and Eve had nothing to do in the Garden of Eden, but in fact God gave them good hard work to do
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 73). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
I. The problem is, because of Adam’s sin in the garden our work, our toil is cursed. Our labor is not trouble and frustration. But we must remember…we were made in the image of a working God, and thus we have the capacity to find his pleasure in work itself, even apart from anything that we gain by working. According to Dorothy L. Sayers, “Work is the natural exercise and function of man—the creature who is made in the image of his Creator.” When we work, therefore, we feel his pleasure.
J. The way to experience this pleasure is to work for God and not simply for ourselves. It is so easy to get caught up in our career ambition, our work schedule, and our paycheck without ever stopping to consider whether our work is pleasing to God—both what we do and the way we do it. Difficult work is more satisfying and even more enjoyable when it is done for the greater glory of God.
We were made in the image of a working God, and thus we have the capacity to find his pleasure in work itself, even apart from anything that we gain by working. According to Dorothy L. Sayers, “Work is the natural exercise and function of man—the creature who is made in the image of his Creator.” When we work, therefore, we feel his pleasure.
K. For the believer in Christ, our true Boss and ultimate Master is the Savior who gave his life for our sins. Whatever our job happens to be—whether we work as a teacher or a student, a homemaker or a cabinetmaker, a buyer or a seller, an office worker or a factory worker, in food service or financial services, we are working for Christ and for his kingdom. To put this another way, we are working under the Son, and not simply under the sun.
The way to experience this pleasure is to work for God and not simply for ourselves. It is so easy to get caught up in our career ambition, our work schedule, and our paycheck without ever stopping to consider whether our work is pleasing to God—both what we do and the way we do it. Difficult work is more satisfying and even more enjoyable when it is done for the greater glory of God.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 73). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 73). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
For the believer in Christ, our true Boss and ultimate Master is the Savior who gave his life for our sins. Whatever our job happens to be—whether we work as a teacher or a student, a homemaker or a cabinetmaker, a buyer or a seller, an office worker or a factory worker, in food service or financial services, we are working for Christ and for his kingdom. To put this another way, we are working under the Son, and not simply under the sun.
Colossians 3:
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (pp. 73–74). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
IV. The Word and Work of Christ
- Our hope is found in the Word of God and the work that Christ did on the cross.
A. We see here in verse 26 something vivid.
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.
B. There are two kinds of people in this world. Qoheleth makes a clear distinction between two kinds of people: those who are under the favor of a gracious God and those who are lost in their sins.
C. It may seem like works righteousness here… those who do good things and those who do not. But it is not. What we see here instead is a careful distinction between people who live under the mercy of God and people who persist in their sins. In other words. Those who live under the sun and those who live under the Son of God. Those who work for themselves because they are of themselves and those who work for the Lord because they are of the Lord.
Here the Preacher makes a clear distinction between two kinds of people: those who are under the favor of a gracious God and those who are lost in their sins.
D. The reality is that by nature we all desire independence from God and so we live, move and have our being, in ourselves. Rebellion is in our hearts. We work but we work for ourselves. We study, but we study for ourselves. We look to find pleasure, but it is for ourselves. We work but we work for ourselves. We do this because of sin. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 74). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
But what we see here instead is a careful distinction between people who live under the mercy of God and people who persist in their sins.
E. Many of us despair. We despair because we find no satisfaction in life. We are walking though life with no answers. Everything is meaningless. But the answer is right in front of us today. The answer is found in Christ and in Christ alone. Because it is Christ and Christ alone. There is hope for us today.
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 74). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
F. We can have life and life more abundant today because He has brought it to us. He makes all things new. Forgiveness for sins. Divine Mercy and Compassion for us today. Jesus died for our sins and he was buried...
G. We can be saved from the lostness and emptiness of life. We can be saved from judgement for our sins and eternal wrath. All who call upon the name of the Lord. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord...
H. And all of this is possible not because of what we do, but because of what He has done. And the work that He continues to do for us.
But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”
Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.
I. And we continue to work with the Lord today. We share in that good work by giving people the gospel, by singing God’s praise, by loving our neighbors, by praying for God’s kingdom to come, by giving generously to Christian ministry. We also share in that good work by doing our own ordinary daily tasks in a way that gives glory to God. This, too, is kingdom work.
J.
We share in that good work by giving people the gospel, by singing God’s praise, by loving our neighbors, by praying for God’s kingdom to come, by giving generously to Christian ministry. We also share in that good work by doing our own ordinary daily tasks in a way that gives glory to God. This, too, is kingdom work. As Martin Luther once said, “The entire world [should] be full of service to God, not only the churches but also the home, the kitchen, the cellar, the workshop, and the field.”
J. Martin Luther once said, “The entire world [should] be full of service to God, not only the churches but also the home, the kitchen, the cellar, the workshop, and the field.”
Ryken, P. G. (2010). Ecclesiastes: Why everything matters (p. 76). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.