Letters to Me - 1

Letters To Me - 1

Introduction

In April of last year, Ryan Leaf [pic], a retired NFL player, posted an article on The Player’s Tribune titled, “Letter to My Younger Self.” Here is how he began:

“Dear 21-year-old Ryan,I have a joke for you. Stop me if you’ve heard it before….What’s the difference between Ryan Leaf and God? God doesn’t think he’s Ryan Leaf. And I know you’re feeling a lot like a God right now, because it’s April 18, 1998, and the San Diego Chargers just selected you with the second pick in the NFL draft. Congratulations. You officially have it all — money, power and prestige. All the things that are important, right? And by this evening, you’ll be on a private jet to Las Vegas to pull a celebratory all-nighter while sportswriters in San Diego write columns that pair your name with the word “savior.” You’ll read them and think, Savior … that sounds about right. That’s you, young Ryan Leaf, at his absolute finest: arrogant, boorish and narcissistic. You think you’re on top of the world and that you’ve got all the answers. Well I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but the truth is…it won’t last.”

He goes on to chronicle his short-lived failure of an NFL career, his ensuing addiction to Vicodin, attempted suicide, two arrests, and almost 3-year prison sentence. The article is filled with tremendous wisdom from one who is on the other side of failure, trying to burst the bubble of an arrogant kid.

Wouldn’t it be nice to get that letter from yourself? In preparation for this series, we asked you to write a letter to the 18-year old version of you…how awesome would it have been to actually receive that letter? It would contain wisdom beyond our years that would help us get to where we want to be in life.

If you could write that wisdom-saturated letter, some of you might write a letter like Ryan Leaf’s letter…full of regret. Preparing yourself for disappointment. Others of you would write letters of encouragement to stay the course, because life is going to get better. Others still may write letters of praise, commending a decision you made. The college you chose, the person you dated who became your spouse. Some will say to just keep doing what you’re doing. Others will tell themselves to change everything.

It’s a challenge to write a letter like that to yourself because it forces us to admit we didn’t do everything we wanted to do. Letters like that expose our regrets and mistakes. It exposes the reality that life in this world is far more difficult than we used to think. In thinking about wisdom gained over the years, we are forced to reveal a startling truth…for all our hopes, dreams, and plans, we don’t have near as much control over life as we thought.

This is wisdom we need. Wisdom we crave. And thankfully, this is wisdom that God graciously gives to us. The OT book of Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon (son of David), is one of the most wisdom-filled books in the Bible. It is part of a genre of literature in the Bible called Wisdom Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, James).

Ecclesiastes presents its wisdom in the form of a “letter to me.” At the end of the letter, chapters 11-12, tell us this letter is written to the young, encouraging the young to remember what’s really important. To remember God, and keep him in mind before life starts heading south. Before your knees start hurting, before you start eating dinner at 4pm, before you start wearing black socks with sandals, remember God while you are young.

Why this message to the young? Because if you don’t remember God when you are young, you will end up devoting your life to things that ultimately do not matter. Without God, life is meaningless. And this is the exact acknowledgement Solomon will make at the very beginning of this great letter.

- 2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

This is a book of wisdom and we want to learn from someone with experience. And this is how he starts! This is like sitting down with grandma for some wise advice and her first words to you are, “Life is meaningless.” Gee, thanks Grandma!

This is why Ecclesiastes is one of the most ignored books in the Bible. People avoid this book, not because it is hard to understand, but because it is hard to accept. The wisdom found here is heavy.

Ecclesiastes is a book of questions. While we’d like a book of answers, it is not found here. Instead, we are invited to think about life. About things we don’t like thinking about. Time and again, we will be asked “why?”. Why bother with this or that? What is to be gained from that? What do you really get when you devote your life to this or that? These are hard questions because they cut straight to the heart.

Ecclesiastes is a book of tension. The resolution to the tension doesn’t come until the very end, essentially the very last verse or two. We are forced to wade through the harsh tensions before we are granted relief and answers. But it is that tension that will motivate growth and perspective.

Ecclesiastes is a book about reality. And this will serve us well. If we are honest, there are many who have a G-rated faith. They treat their faith and their life like some Disney fairytale. In the face of hard things, they can give empty religious answers to death, doubt, suffering, and dismiss the hard things and act as if it’s all settled. This letter confronts our G-rated faith with an R-rated reality. There is no “could” or “should” about how life is supposed to be lived. We may say, “Children should never die.” This letter says, “Well they do, so let’s deal with that.” We may say, “Marriages should never end.” This letter says, “Well some do and it is painful, let’s talk about that.” We may say, “Life shouldn’t be this hard.” This letter bluntly tells us, “It is. Now, deal with it. Think through the hard things. Don’t dismiss them, don’t ignore them. Stop pretending these things don’t exist.”

The great theologian John Calvin said that wisdom is to be gained by what he called “double knowledge.” Essentially knowledge of God and of humanity. We like the knowledge of God part. We like talking about how great he is, how loving he is, how powerful he is. And we like books of the Bible that put God as the central focus…Romans, Gospels, Revelation. Ecclesiastes does the opposite…it places humanity, in all its brokenness, front and center. The world and its pain are placed right in front of us and we are forced to look at it. To deal with it. To think about God and ourselves in light of the chaos of our world.

TS - As we walk through this great little letter for the next few weeks, let’s let it be the kind of book it is. Let’s live in that tension. Let’s let it pop some of the bubbles that insulate us. Let’s start with that first sentence that will carry us through the entire letter:

- 2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

Sounds a bit like a philosophy class, a bit depressing. What is Solomon, our Teacher, teaching us? Two options with this word “meaningless.”

He is telling us that we cannot find significance in what is here on earth (“under the sun”). Work, money, pleasure (many other things too)…none of them can give our life meaning. Everything around us utterly fails to bring meaning.Everything is temporary. The word can mean “breath.” He is telling us life is vapor. One minute you’re 18, the next you’re 60. It all moves so fast, a mere breath.

So which is it? No significance, or the reality of your death? It’s both. The Teacher is confronting us with the reality that life is short and you will not find lasting value on the earth. Turns out that all of the Bible’s wisdom literature will agree.

- 13 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”

Life is short, can’t place your trust in you. So trust in God, look to him, rely on him. It’s the same point Solomon will eventually make. Solomon’s voice echoes a thousand years later in James. Your life is undependable, so put God at its center.

Our Teacher will go on in chapter one to paint a picture of what happens when we don’t do that. When we leave God out, life becomes dreary and dark.

- 3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes. 5 The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. 6 The wind blows south, and then turns north. Around and around it goes, blowing in circles. 7 Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. Then the water returns again to the rivers and flows out again to the sea. 8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. 9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10 Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. 11 We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.

If you take God out of the picture and focus only on “under the sun” all you’re left with is the earth. The cycle of the earth revolving around the sun. Sun rises, sun sets, seasons change…winter, spring, summer, fall. Rinse, wash, repeat. Everything goes and goes, nothing changes.

There is a futility to life under the sun. Everyday is the same…get up, get dressed, go to work, go home, eat, go to bed, do it all again tomorrow. Verse 8 is correct…”Everything is wearisome beyond description.”

Now, we would never necessarily say those words out loud. Sounds so bad. But we know they are true. We feel this in our bones. We are like the sea that receives an endless supply of water from the rivers, but is never full. We are not satisfied. So we keep chasing it.

This explains much of our sin. This explains greed. The money I have isn’t enough, but you know what’ll satisfy me? More money. This explains workaholism. My job isn’t fulfilling, but you know what will finally give me value? That next promotion. This explains adultery. I’m not happy with this person I’m married to. You know what’ll help? This other person.

The simply reality is that we cannot find satisfaction. Nothing around here fills us up. I’ve had the privilege to see U2 live in concert twice. You know what song the crowd sings the loudest to? [play song clip]. We sing along because we know it’s true.

Our Teacher goes on to tell us that this is true, not just of us, but of all creation. The sun rises with alarming frequency. Oceans never fill. It’s a relentless cycle…and here’s the bitter part…it will go on without us. The earth was doing this dance long before we got here and will so when we are gone. But the world won’t even notice.

V. 11…the present doesn’t remember the past and the future won’t remember the present.

We may think so much about our legacy and that we are going to change the world. Truth is, we are 100 years from being forgotten. 89% of people cannot name their great-grandparents. And even if you are part of that 11% that does, you don’t know much more than that. And the sad reality is that will be true someday for us too. 100 years from now people will have to pay to search for information about me on ancestry.com. Not because I was so great, but because I was so forgettable.

- 15 Our days on earth are like grass;

like wildflowers, we bloom and die. 16 The wind blows, and we are gone—as though we had never been here.

So the Teacher opens this body of wisdom with these two difficult and bitter truths:

1) Nothing here satisfies

2) No one makes it out alive

- 2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

Yep. And while we may recoil at that or even rebel against, and while we may attempt to find the exception to these rules, the Teacher assures us there isn’t an exception.

- 12 I, the Teacher, was king of Israel, and I lived in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. 14 I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.

15 What is wrong cannot be made right.

    What is missing cannot be recovered.

16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.” 17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief.

    To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. We are placed on the earth (under the sun) with all these things that promise satisfaction. Pleasure, wealth, relationships, education, possessions. But they don’t give it. They hint at it. We get a small taste of being content. But then it fades. Nothing satisfies for long. It’s like one big cosmic prank.

So much so that the Teacher tells us that his journey of searching for meaning didn’t make it any better. In fact, he says, it made it worse! V. 18 - “The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief! To increase knowledge only increases sorrow!”

TS - This all sounds like such bad news. And it kind of is. Nothing satisfies. Death is imminent. But what if…what if this bad news is really good news? What if this bad news is the key to gaining true wisdom? Let’s look at 3 consequences of this bad news:

DEATH TEACHES US HOW TO LIVE

Why does the Teacher start a book on wisdom with the reality of death? Seems harsh. Because wisdom is only gained in light of death. Our expiration dates motivate us to focus.

- 12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life,

    so that we may grow in wisdom.

Notice it doesn’t say that the wise understand life’s brevity. No…recognize life is vapor and you will become wise. Most of us lack wisdom at 18 not only because we lack life experience, but because we lack perspective. Now at 38, those twenty years have provided some perspective for me. And God willing, I’ll gain more wisdom by 58 and 78. Getting older helps you gain perspective on what really matters.

This is why grandparents are far more lenient with their grandchildren than they were with their own children. Certainly has something to do with being able to hop your child up on donuts and mountain dew and send them home, but there’s more. They have perspective. They know that toy isn’t going to make your child narcissistic. They know cake for breakfast isn’t going to kill them.

Knowledge of the brevity of life brings proper perspective and that leads to wisdom. We learn to live rightly in light of our death.

2. DISAPPOINTMENT WILL NOT DEFINE YOUR LIFE

It sounds so harsh to hear that wonderful things like work, family, education are all meaningless…they won’t satisfy. But the Teacher is doing us a favor by helping understand this. Because it’s true! He is keeping us from wasting our lives on that which will ultimately disappoint.

Without wisdom we will chase everything under the sun. That illicit relationship that can replace the boring one. The box of donuts that buzz us with sugar. The bigger house or more prestigious car that make us feel important. The promotion that will finally make us content. But what happens every single time? No matter how nice your last meal was, you’ll get hungry again. No matter how expensive your last drink was, you’ll get thirsty again. ILL - this is my iPhone 6 Plus. When it came out, I had to have it. Apple finally released phones with bigger screens. All the bells and whistles. Endless delight. But do you know what happened when I saw the first ad for the iPhone X? Now my phone is a piece of trash.

Nothing satisfies for long. Better for us to know this now than discover it on our deathbed, realizing you’ve been perpetually disappointed for decades and wasted your life. Read any study done for people as they approach death. Their regrets are all the same…spent more time with family, reconciled with that friend, made faith more important. No one says, “You know, 4000 square feet would’ve been so much better at our house.” Nobody hugs their portfolio in that moment to make themselves feel better.

The Teacher encourages us to see what’s really important in light of that impending reality. Don’t waste your life. But more than that, he is trying to keep us from devoting our lives to things that ultimately disappoint.

What if you didn’t view money as a means to ultimate satisfaction? Something to trust in and hope in and chase after? Instead viewed it as it is…a wonderful gift from God to meet your needs and graciously serve those around you? What if you didn’t view pleasure as an ultimate purpose in life? As if that pleasure will migrate you out of the endless monotony of life? And instead viewed pleasure as it is…a wonderful gift from God to enjoy within his healthy guidelines to bring delight to your life? What if you didn’t view your kids as a means to your personal significance? Didn’t put that pressure on them and made their lives about you? But instead viewed them as they are…a wonderful gift from God to love, invest in, and pass on your faith to them?

What freedom we would experience if we stopped expecting these good, important things in life to be the source of ultimate satisfaction! Tim Keller - “If you love anything in this world more than God, you will crush that object under the weight of your expectations.” Free your kids, your spouse, your possessions, your job, from the crushing weight of impossible expectations. They cannot fulfill your soul… and that is ok.

3. DISSATISFACTION POINTS US TOWARD ETERNAL LIFE

The Teacher has done a great job of telling us clearly these things will not fill us. And over the next few weeks we will see exactly why that is. And what we will struggle through over the next few weeks with the Teacher is that while we crave meaning, significance, and fulfillment, we cannot find it. Nothing here “under the sun” can do that for us. “Under the sun” is used 4x here in chapter one, 29 total in the book. So if nothing under the sun can fulfill, we have to look somewhere else. We look over the sun.

C.S. Lewis - “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

We were made for something greater. We were made for someone greater. And we will only find fulfillment there. We look to God for meaning. We look to God for significance. In fact, that is THE point that Ecclesiastes builds to:

- 13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.

This great letter has to be read with the end in mind. It only makes sense that way. And appropriately so, this letter encourages us to live with the end in mind. Life only makes sense that way. We do everything in light of the last page.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, we want wisdom. We want to know how to live. Wisdom is beneficial. Hard to gain, but helpful to have. We can search the whole world over for wisdom, but only have to go to one place - Jesus.

- 30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself.

Jesus is wisdom. Being united with him brings wisdom. And you will hear echoes of his voice here in Ecclesiastes. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” “Life is more than food or clothes. So seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”