Resting In The Kingdom

Good Morning! It is good to see all of you again.

Last week we talked about our personal worship being the driving factor in our relationship with God.

The overflow of that relationship will cause us to live very differently from our culture.

We ended by talking about how we cannot live for ourselves and the Kingdom.

If we are going to be God’s love in a broken world, it is going to require that we allow God to define how we live.

What that really means is that God must be the priority in our lives.

If anything else occupies that space, we are not living for God, but for ourselves.

The world is broken and it needs to know the truth about who God is, not the Americanized version of God that we have been peddling for years.

That burden falls on us, the church.

The church is the physical representation of God on earth.

As such, what we pursue communicates to the world, what we value, but more importantly, what God values.

In chapters 3-5, the preacher has been helping us to see the proper perspective for life.

What we know is that the world seeks and values are not the same as what God does.

Because we live in the middle of that dichotomy, we need to allow God to shape our minds and hearts to be like His.

“We need to develop the right outlook for the various times in our lives, for our place within our communities, and our place in God’s house as people who speak in His presence.”

The perspective we hold on who we are in Christ is significant.

More significant than we could ever realize.

Just like God has been challenging our understanding of our time on earth, our relationships, and our worship, He is going to challenge us today in our finances.

How we handle our money reveals our understanding of God.

It is revealed to us and to all those that you do live with.

We are going to talk about money today, but I want you to know that this isn’t a message about giving more.

The preacher is going to give us some perspective on money and culture that will let us see it for what it really is.

I did again this week, what I know better than to do.

I looked at our passage for today and saw that vs 8-20 all go together.

I foolishly tried to do all 12 verses in one week.

We could have done it, but it would have been at least eight points and well over an hour.

I won’t subject you that kind of cruel and unusual punishment.

I’m gonna bust it up into two messages so next week will be a continuation of this week.

Instead of reading the entire passage, like we normally do, we are going to work through it a few verses at a time.

We are going to begin today with verses 8-9.

Ecclesiastes 5:8–9 ESV

8 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. 9 But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.

At first glance, you may not see how this is related to money.

The key is in verse nine.

Why would a king be committed to cultivated fields?

A king does not work the fields.

He does not plan how they are used, when they are planted, or when they are harvested.

Why does he care about the fields at all?

He cares because that is ultimately the source of his wealth.

In this world, we see those that are in positions of power above us reap the rewards of our labor.

The preacher isn’t affirming that this is okay, but rather just pointing out that it is the reality that we live in.

Our world is hevel.

There will always be someone with more than you.

The preacher is telling us that we should not be surprised by this.

It would be quite easy to take this into a political discussion, and many do, but that is not the intent of the text.

The preacher’s goal is not to up-heave or change the way the world works because it is temporary.

The preacher is simply highlighting it so we can see that even money is hevel.

I don’t know if you have thought about this or if it is something hanging your subconscious, but the reality is that there are many, many people in this world that have significantly more money than we do.

How do you feel about that?

Does it bother you?

Does it make you want to work harder to have what they have or does it not bother you?

We need to learn to be at peace with what we have and not let it drive us to seek more wealth and possessions.

We will talk more about this today, but one of the things we need the Lord to do for us is to get rid of the competitive drive that is in us to gain more than others.

Our culture puts such a big emphasis on possessions that we spend way too much time and energy thinking about all the things we want.

vs 8-9 are telling us that we need to see it for what it is, don’t be surprised by it, and learn to be content with what God has given us.

We need to be content rather than spending our lives working to gain more.

Why would the preacher tell us that?

I’m glad you asked.

Look at the next verse.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 ESV

10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

If money is what we are pursuing, we will never have enough.

How much did you make per hour at your first job?

Was it enough to meet the needs you had at the time?

Would it be enough now?

The issue we face when it comes to money is that we never have enough.

Your first wage probably isn’t enough now, but that isn’t just because of inflation.

That is certainly a factor, but the other half of it is that you have acquired additional bills that you didn’t have then.

Some of which are good things that the Lord has spoken for us to acquire.

Many of the things that we spend money on are not needs, but we place that value on them to justify it.

When we spend our time looking at what others have and comparing our lives and selves to them, we buy things we don’t need.

Our motivation isn’t necessity, but rather, it is a desire to keep up.

When we have made our life about measuring up to the world’s standards of what a “good” life is, we will never make it because the target keeps moving.

The preacher is quickly trying to help us understand that if making more money and gaining possessions is our goal, we will never be satisfied.

Not only are we not satisfied, but in fact, gathering more and more wealth makes life harder, not easier.

Look at verse eleven with me.

Ecclesiastes 5:11 ESV

11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?

The more money you have, the more that is required of you.

To quote the Notorious B.I.G.

Mo money, mo problems...

Now, this song was released in 1997 and some of you weren’t born yet or certainly weren’t old enough to have heard this song.

That’s okay, the illustration still works.

As a side note, the irony is not lost on me that I am telling you about Biggie while wearing boots.

The song was written by a host of people that were all in the middle of chasing the American Dream.

I don’t know if they ever read Ecclesiastics, but it is obvious that they were seeing the same thing the preacher saw.

“I don't know what they want from me It's like the more money we come across The more problems we see”

What they are seeing is a universal truth that has always been and will always be.

The more we want and gain, the more we will be responsible for.

Money and possessions don’t make life easier, they make it more difficult.

Jesus talked about this truth as well.

Matthew 25:14–30 ESV

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Each of the people in this parable was given the money they had.

All were expected to use it wisely and to increase it for their boss.

For the two that handled it well, they were given more.

For the one that did not handle it well, what he had was taken and given to one that was more responsible.

This same idea was also popularized by Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben.

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

What we can see is that when we are blessed with more than others, there is a responsibility placed on us to handle it with wisdom.

There are some other things we are to do as well, but we will talk more about that next week.

The goal of the American dream is to gain as much wealth, status, power, and possessions as possible.

However, it is the pursuit of that goal that drives people crazy.

They spend their entire lives chasing something that can’t be caught.

If you have been caught up in chasing that dream, was it relaxing?

Was it a pleasant way to live?

Maybe for a moment, but then as soon as you reached one level, you find yourself longing for something new.

What would happen if we let God change our priorities and instead of chasing the dream we spent that energy chasing God?

The preacher is helping us to see the hevel nature of gaining more and more.

We think that by getting richer, we will be able to spend more time relaxing, but the exact opposite is true.

Look with me at verse 12.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 ESV

12 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.

We can rest in God’s provision, or work to make more and worry about losing what you have gained.

We have talked in a previous passage that we were made for work.

In chapter 3:13 the preacher says...

Ecclesiastes 3:13 ESV

13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.

If God gave work as a gift, why does it often lead us to away from God?

Because of sin.

God created us to work, but within the confines of direction.

This is one of the reasons that abiding is so important.

It takes us off the hamster wheel of life and gives us direction, purpose, and rest.

When we are working to gain things for ourselves and are not letting God be a part of that, we are taking something that God created for our benefit and use it sinfully.

Bethany shared with me this week something she heard in a YM webcast she was in.

The speaker was talking about how to avoid burnout and he said...

We should work from rest, not rest from work.

I love that perspective because it emphasizes the idea that we are first and foremost, to pursue God.

Life is about our relationship with Him, not about how much we are working.

It also models how Jesus lived.

His life was not centered around the work of ministry, it was centered around God and He worked as the father led him.

The preacher is telling us that if we will do the work that God has for us we will find rest.

If we choose to work for our own benefit with the goal of gaining as much as we can, we will be fat with stuff, but never rested.

This idea is like so much of the Gospel.

It is the complete opposite of what the world tells us we should pursue.

The world tells us that if we want to be happy, we need to get more stuff.

Scripture tells us that if we want to be happy, we need God.

If we are focused on God, He will provide for our every need.

Don’t allow yourself to be tricked into thinking that your hard work is needed or desired by God.

Psalm 50:7–15 ESV

7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. 8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. 9 I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. 12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. 13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, 15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

God doesn’t need or want our work and wealth.

He wants what He has always wanted.

God desires to have a relationship with us.

In a world that is obsessed with making more, what we work for and towards reveals God’s love.

If we spend our lives focused on gaining more for ourselves, we are telling the world that God loves our work and stuff.

However, if we spend our lives focused on God and His people, we are showing God’s love in a broken world.

We will be like a cool breeze to a person that is wet with sweat.

It will be refreshing, welcome, and enjoyed.

This world is telling people that they need to work harder and make more money.

Many churches teach that as well because that enables their members to give more.

Several of my commentaries pointed to chapter six of first Timothy this week.

But look at what Paul tells Timothy in regard to money.

1 Timothy 6:3–19 ESV

3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Paul is very clear that we need to be content with what God provides.

Not only that, but it is the pursuit of wealth that leads people from the faith.

He tells us that we need to be rich in good works.

It is our willingness to listen to the Holy Spirit that makes us rich.

In doing so we will not only be content, but we will also have enough.

On top of that be willing to share what we have with any that need it.

We will talk more about this next week, but we need to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal where we stand in reference to our work and possessions.

Are we working under our own direction for ourselves, or are we following God’s led?

Are we willing to share as God leads or are we quick to say no?

Do we trust God to provide or do we put our trust in our abilities?

Think about these things this week.

Ask God to reveal your true motivation.

In doing so, in gaining the correct perspective, you will find that you have all that you NEED.

In God’s provision, you will find rest.