Ecclesiastes 5-6

Genesis 3:17-19 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Ever since this day, we have been locked in a world of frustrations. A world full of vanity, of meaninglessness. Our view of work and of God were skewed and today we find ourselves in Ecclesiastes listening to the Preacher as he looks at God and Money and how people relate to them and being utterly frustrated with the whole thing. Proximity to God does not satisfy Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words. When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands? For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. Many of us look at the vanity of life and we believe that a little bit of God will fix it. That if we pray enough, if we give enough, if we make deals with him, we will find meaning. We hang around church, we prayed a prayer, we say Christian stuff, but we aren't listening to Him. Humility, Fear, Obedience 1 Samuel 15:17-23 And Samuel said, "Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, 'Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.' Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?" And Saul said to Samuel, "I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal." And Samuel said, "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king." We draw near to God, but we reject his word The Preacher then turns to look at money. Money does not satisfy Ecclesiastes 5:8-12 If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. There is oppression, it goes all the way up, why are you surprised, people love money, people want to be wealthy. But you know what's crazy? They won't be satisfied when they get it. No matter how much they get, it will never be enough. It's so pointless, we trample other people to become wealthy and yet even with full bellies, we can't sleep. The ones we are making work for our wealth sleep soundly, but we toss and turn. Money/wealth is a strong motivator, we seek it at any cost. But, it doesn't make the vanity go away. Money doesn't last Ecclesiastes 5:13-17 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger. Do you know what's messed up? These same riches can hurt their owner, be lost more quickly than they were earned, and ultimately none of it goes with him. So, why are we working so hard for it? Why are we letting the acquisition of wealth give us ulcers, stress us out, lead us into depression, and make us angry. But this is a huge part of the American dream right? Work hard, kill yourself to get enough money so that you can some day "arrive". Arrive at what? Every arrival brings new expenses Life spent acquiring is wasted Ecclesiastes 6:1-5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life's good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. But, it all ends the same way, right Ecclesiastes 6:6-12 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good--do not all go to the one place? All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? What is good? Who is There to tell us? First off, the Preacher tells us, despite his frustrations that Money is a Gift to be used for our enjoyment and the joy of those around us Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil--this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. Talking to Justin Escapism, we don't actually listen to what the book of Ecclesiastes says, vs 18 It is good it is beautiful, when gratitude and Contentment dominate our lives. This is a gift, God's grace to us, a way to not be destroyed by the monotony and seeming meaninglessness of life. But, that isn't the whole story, Money is to be used in advancing the Kingdom Luke 16:1-9 He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' And the manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. The world knows how to leverage Money to achieve their goals, Why don't we leverage our Money to advance the kingdom, to gain a good reputation in our community so the name of God may be glorified Money is to be used in the service of others Acts 4:34-35 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. We can find throughout the old testament how God made provisions for the poor and powerless, through the nation of Israel. We are God relate closely with them, we see Jesus ministering to them, we see the early church caring for their needs. We have a historical letter from between Roman officials lamenting that their positions were compromised because the early church took better care intuitions than they did. And in the negative, we read this in James 5:1-6 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. Part of that service has to do with those under us, and how we acquire our wealth. Our money is to be used to serve and care for those around us. Ultimately it is Jesus who has been to the next chapter, he sees the end from the beginning, he has died and seen what comes after and he says: Matthew 6:19-21,24 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. And further Luke 16:10-13 "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Do you see how Jesus brings the two parts of our passage today into alignment. Love God, Fear God, or Love money The way we handle money: the way we acquire it, the way we use it, and the way we view it show us our hearts. It shows us what we love deep in our souls and whether we truly fear and serve the Lord. We can't have it both ways: we can't acquire and use money the way the world does and love God. In addition, Jesus tells us why we don't need to work ourselves into the ground striving after money: Matthew 6:25-33 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Do we love Jesus, or Do we love money? Do we serve Jesus, or are we slaves to money? What do we need to repent of: Bad business practices Using people for our gain Hoarding our money Sacrificing our families to get more Believing money will satisfy us Workaholism Not enjoying our lives and the gifts he gives in gratitude Desiring the benefits of God and not desiring to hear and know Him Of being flippant and talking a lot at God, about God, making promises We don't intend to keep. Treating Him as a cure to the meaninglessness of life, not as the source of meaning. We can do this because Jesus is our greatest reward He gave up his wealth, He became poor to give us life, to serve us, and to advance the kingdom. He surrounded us with His family, the church, to take care of us, so that we can be generous with our money towards each other and our community. He confronted our greed, our insatiable desire to have, by emptying himself completely, dieing in our place, that we could be freed from our slavery to money and the vain rat race we find ourselves locked in. One day, we will no longer have to toil in vanity, but will reap in abundance in His presence.