Made to Last Forever
Text: Ecclesiastes 3:9-12
Title: Made to Last Forever
Thesis: Although life changes, God will permanently be with us.
Time: Sermon Series –Purpose Driven Life
My family and I spent most of this past week with a couple of other clergy families in Destin, Florida. We had a relaxing time. All of us preachers swapped preacher stories, the preacher wives swapped preacher wife stories, and the preacher kids, I’m not sure what they did.
I haven’t driven through the Gulf Shores/Pensacola area of Florida since Hurricane Ivan hit back in 2004. Even though it’s been a couple of years ago, there is still evidence that a major hurricane hit, causing thirteen billion dollars in damage. There are still buildings with roofs torn off, trees and signs angled over, and lots abandoned from their buildings having been wiped away. The most vivid image to me of the force of the hurricane was noticing the bridge that once connected the mainland to the island where Pensacola Beach is located. Most of the bridge was completely missing. The massive steel and concrete sections were picked up by the hurricane and forever thrown into the Gulf of Mexico. Seeing the few fragments left of that bridge made me wonder who safe the bridge I was driving across was. It also made me realize that nothing lasts forever, not even a strong steel and concrete bridge. It wasn’t only roofs on buildings and road signs that were damaged by the storm. Many lives were also changed as a result of Hurricane Ivan.
In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon takes a critical look at the frailty of human life. It seems to him that a human life is so easily torn apart. Bad things can and do happen. He begins to wonder if there is any meaning to life. Solomon wonders, what is the point of working hard, or seeking after happiness, or building relationships if there is any chance that something bad can come along and tear it all apart. By the end of Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon wonders if there is any purpose of life at all.
If there is anything a human can do to ensure earthly security and happiness, Solomon had it. Solomon did everything in his powers to gain security and happiness. Listen to a few verses about his life in Ecclesiastes 2:4-8. Solomon has immense power, he is the king. He has material resources, he has a lot of money. He lives on the good side of town, in a large mansion. Solomon creates the kind of life we see on those television infomercials, promising we can make $100,000 from the comfort of our own homes –they often show people living in expensive beachside homes with several expensive cars, surrounded by beautiful people, a sailboat in the dock, and wearing expensive clothing and jewelry. But like those infomercials, Solomon finds out that having these things comes with a lot of hard work, and they don’t provide the lasting happiness we are seeking. Bad things can still go wrong. The motor in the car might break, or the car might get stolen. If the book of Ecclesiastes stopped after Ecclesiastes 2, we would conclude that Solomon throws his hands up in the air, yelling out “It’s all hopeless and meaningless. What’s the point?”
Ecclesiastes 3 can be called a critical reflection. Solomon thinks through the issue once again. Again he evaluates what is the purpose of life. But this time, instead of starting with everything he has done to ensure that nothing bad will ever happen, Solomon starts with the very basics of what life is all about. Listen to Ecclesiastes 3:2.
Solomon thinks about the everyday things of life, the good and bad things that humans experience. By the time he gets to Ecclesiastes 3:9, he concludes that life is not about ensuring nothing bad will ever happen. Instead, the purpose of life is to enjoy life. The New American Standard Version translates it, “To rejoice.” To rejoice is an attitude. It’s a way of being that is content and holds up, no matter what may be going on. Be it a day of planting or a day of sowing, a good hair day or a bad hair day, a day of good health or bad, to rejoice means making the most of everyday. To rejoice means that our sense of contentment and peace is not based on outward circumstances. Instead, rejoicing is based on our relationship with God. Solomon says in 3:14, “I know that whatever God does endures forever.” It means that no matter what is going on, good or bad, we are experiencing the joy of being alive.
It seems that one of Solomon’s fears is that he will permanently find himself in some bad situation and he will never be able to move beyond it. It seems that he is afraid something could happen where he will get stuck and not be able to move forward. That’s one of the reasons he’s tried to stack the deck in his favor with all the power and wealth he has accumulated. That’s why he lives on the good side of town with plenty of money in the bank and the best job around –so that if something goes wrong, he can buy or command his way out of the problem. But, of course, even as the wealthy king, he can’t always control his external circumstances.
Like Solomon, we can feel that life’s circumstances are such that we have little control over our ability to move forward. We may sometimes worry or be afraid of what will happen next. But in the Christian faith, we have a solution. We have a way of transitioning. We have a solution to move from planting to sowing, from war to reconciliation, from fighting to embracing. In the Christian faith, we do not live with worry or fear that some external situation will be bad and will be irreversible, forever robbing us of our joy.
What is this solution? The solution is that God has made for us a bridge. We have a bridge that is strong and secure. Nothing can tear down this bridge. We have a bridge that can span any gulf. There is no problem so wide that the bridge cannot cross. This bridge is God’s grace. It’s a bridge that God has provided free-of-charge to us. It’s not a toll bridge, grace is freely given. It’s a bridge that is permanent, never can grace be taken over or thrown down by the world. It’s been paid for and made eternally secure through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The bridge of God’s grace is explained like this in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved, and this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God –not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” The way we transition, moving forward in life, is by applying God’s grace.
If there is ever a place, ever a situation, ever a feeling that leaves us in worry or believing that live has no meaning, all we have to do is apply God’s grace. If we have faith in God’s grace, we will move forward. God will never leave us in a place that robs us of our joy. God will always lead us to a place where we can experience his presence and blessings.
Do you need a transition today? Maybe you’ve gone long enough in the sowing some dream that seems to go unfulfilled, or war with a friend or family member, or fighting with some inner demon that robs you of your joy. Today, is the day you can transition. Today is the day you can apply God’s grace and bridge over to a better, purpose-filled life.
Once upon a time there were two brothers who lived on adjoining farms and they fell into conflict. It was the first serious rift in forty years of farming side by side, sharing machinery and trading labor and goods as needed without a hitch. Then the long collaboration fell apart. It began with a simple misunderstanding and it grew into a major difference, and it finally exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence. One morning there was a knock on Jack’s door. He opened it to find a man with a carpenter’s toolbox. I’m looking for a few days work the man said. Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there. Could I help you? Yes, said the older brother. I do have a job for you. Look across that creek at that farm. That’s my neighbor, in fact, it’s my younger brother. Last week there was a meadow between us and he took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there’s a creek between us. Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I’ll do him one better. See that pile of lumber in the barn? I want you to build me a fence –an 8 foot tall fence so I won’t have to see his place anymore. That’ll show him. The carpenter said, I think I understand the situation. Show me that nails and the lumber and I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you. The older brother provided the supplies and went about his business.
The carpenter worked all day, measuring and sawing and nailing. About sunset when the older brother had returned the carpenter had finished the job. The farmer’s eyes opened and his jaw dropped. There was no fence at all. It was a bridge, a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other, a fine piece of work, handrails and all. And the neighbor, his younger brother was coming across his hand outstretched. You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I’ve said and done. The two brothers met at the middle of the bridge, taking each other’s hand. They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox on his shoulder. No, wait! Stay for a few days. I’ve got a lot of other projects for you, the older brother said. I’d love to stay on, the carpenter said, but I have so many more bridges to build.
Jesus is the one who has come to make possible God’s grace. Jesus is in the bridge-building business. Jesus gives us grace so that we can make transitions, whatever they may be, so that we can have purpose-full and purpose-filled lives as we live in relationship with God and one another. Whatever way you need a transition today, pray for God’s grace, apply God’s grace, and walk on over.