Money is a Bad Investment

Intro

READ Eccl. 5: 8-6: 9

When you think of what makes a good investment, what we’re thinking is what will make the most money? The best return? But Solomon is pushing us to think bigger. If were thinking really big picture, we need to think differently about investment.

Money is necessary in our world, and we can do a lot of good with money, but as Paul wrote to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV) — 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.

Money itself is a bad investment. If we want the best return for our lives, then we have to be thinking a lot bigger. To live for something bigger.. Solomon, starts to focus in on this topic of money in this section of scripture we’re looking at today.

Solomon has touched on this before, so these won’t be all new ideas, but he’s digging into this theme more deeply and focusing on it more clearly.

This week I’m more deeply indebted that usual to one particular commentator, Douglas Sean O’Donnell has been really helpful.

Perhaps as you listened to this passage you noticed some repetition, at the beginning and the end. With that “Better” section in the middle. I think Dr. O’Donnell is right and help to pick up on the Chiastic structure in this passage, which helps us understand this better.

So, a CHIASM, is a Hebrew Literary Device. It is a common way they structured their writings, that we often miss, but was really important to the them. It speaks to the profound care that went into crafting and writing the Bible.

So a CHIASM takes a passage and puts the MAIN IDEA in the middle. With Parallel Passages at the beginning and end leading up to it.

So the first and last section of the passage will have a parallel idea. Then the second and the next to last passage will be parallel, then then third and third to last envy - and so on, all the way to the middle which will be the main idea. Like an arrow.

But as you read it the parallel passages are far enough apart that we often don’t notice the pattern.

IN our passages the first and last section deal with SATISFACTION, the second and next to last sections deal with Keeping and ENJOYING, and then the main idea – in the middle is REST IN GOD.

We’re going to use that for our outline, MONEY IS A BAD INVESTMENT - we’ll look at why – It doesn’t satisfy, and it doesn’t bring true enjoyment – and there is a better investment – TRUSTING IN GOD.

Then we’ll look to see how this make even more sense as we look at this through the finished work of Jesus Christ. OK, so you got your fun Hebrew Grammar lesson for the day, now let’s jump in!

Context

this passage transitions from the discussion of our religious life (verses 1-7) with short section on oppression.

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.

How this connects, or what point Solomon is making is a little hard to grasp, even hard to translate, but perhaps Solomon is using this to transition from the self-focused approach to religion to the self-focused approach to money.

the self-focused approach to money leads to oppression. The poor are oppressed, government oppresses, because we are greedy. They can violate justice and righteousness for the poor because they cannot protect themselves and the officials become enriched. They are pursuing money at the expense of the poor.

Then either the king is good for the land or he profits from the land – that is really hard to translate, but the main idea is that oppression is everywhere, the poor are oppressed, because we’re greedy.

That leads us to our passage, the world pursues wealth – but is that a good investment?

Money is a bad investment because it doesn’t satisfy (5: 10-12, 6: 7-9)

Chapter 5 verse 10 - he who loves wealth, will not be satisfied with his money,

Chapter 6 verse 7 – all the toil of a man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.

It’s never enough!

Ecclesiastes 5:11 (ESV) — 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them…

When you make more, the more you use. We don’t often just save more, or spend more on others, we get bigger houses, more stuff, more places to store our stuff! It’s not like we’re satisfied and so we give more away, no, we’re never satisfied, we just teach our selves to want more things.

More expensive stuff. more people soak up the money, this extra service and this extra service…

IN Chapter six, verse 7 he’s giving a visual image.

Ecclesiastes 6:7 (ESV) — 7 All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.

Literally his throat is never filled. We just pour it all in but it never fills up. Boys and Girls you’ve seen those sifters in a sandbox. A little container with all the little holes in the bottom so the sand flows out, right, it’s like using that to get water… it never fills up it just goes right through.

That’s what Solomon is talking about the quest for money never satisfies, it’s never enough, we get it and use it and we always want more…. DON’T CHASE AFTER MONEY! Don’t let that be your life goal, it’s not good enough.

It’s not worth it!

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.

All your riches will just give you a belly ache and you won’t be able to sleep! It’s not worth it.

Better to have the peaceful sleep of the laborer, he might eat a lot too, but he’s a peace, but person consumed with the pursuit of wealth is wracked with the worry and anxiety. That which drives him to acquire more, makes him miserable.

The Parallel section at the end chapter 6, has some similar ideas, - what advantage does the wise man have over the fool? If you think wisdom is just about getting wealth and prospering in this world, then that is vanity, and he’s no better than the fool.

Ecclesiastes 6:9 (ESV) — 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Better is to be content with what you have, what you can see, than the pull of the wandering appetite.

Money, and the pursuit of wealth is a bad investment – it doesn’t satisfy. – it’s never enough, it’s not worth it!

Money is a bad investment because there is no lasting enjoyment in it (5: 13-17, 6: 1-6)

Money does the opposite of what you’re hoping for. Here Solomon is getting more pointed. Verse 13 “riches were kept by their owner to their hurt.” They don’t reap the reward of enjoyment from them.

Calamity Strikes and it is all lost

Instead of enjoying the gifts God gives the hoarder keeps trying to get and get and get. But life is not in our control

Ecclesiastes 5:14 (ESV) — 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.

No longer able, even to provide for his family, there was no enjoyment in it, only misery. IF we live for the thing, for the money itself, the loss of it, destroys us, and the fear of loss makes us miserable.

Suicides of the great depression, and more recently, the great recession – all the money was gone!

Proverbs 23:4–5 (ESV) — 4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. 5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

Like that, it is gone! That cannot be the foundation of our happiness or identity! That’s a bad investment!

Death takes it all anyway

Ecclesiastes 5:15 (ESV) — 15 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.

There are some interesting allusions to Job, in this section isn’t there? I wonder if Solomon was pondering the life of Job. Job serves as a counter point. Job was not someone who lived for wealth, but a righteous man who lived for God, and whom God had blessed and made incredibly wealthy.

But all his wealth was lost in a day. One calamitous day, and what did Job say.

Job 1:21 (ESV) — 21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Here Job, have lost everything, yet still blesses the Lord. You see? from the view under the sun… I can’t take any of this with me, that is a great evil, it’s all vanity, it’s not worth anything… I can’t enjoy it!

But from the view of Job, worshipping God, none of this is mine anyway. whatever I have comes from the Lord, so if he takes it back, it was his in the first place. Enjoy it while God gives it to me. Job mourned deeply the loss of his children. But he wasn’t chasing stuff or people, he was chasing God. So even though he mourned, he could bless God!

Contrast that with the point of view in Chapter 6: 3-6 – listen to the despair…

Ecclesiastes 6:3–6 (ESV) — 3 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. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?

Do you hear that despair? To have riches but to lose it all…. all those children, all those good things… but there is loss, there is no burial for him. death comes and he’s lost it all… better to never have been born. Even if he lived 2000 years, yet if there is no enjoyment in it, no satisfaction and death finally comes. Better to never have been born.

That money won’t bring you enjoyment, if that is what you’re chasing.

This is a words for American Christianity! you cannot chase God and Money! You can’t do both!!

God is the only source of enjoyment

Ecclesiastes 6:1–2 (ESV) — 1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2 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.

God gives wealth. Possessions and honor, but God must also give the power to enjoy them. Under the sun this is the great evil, we finally get all we want, but we don’t get the enjoyment that should come with them!

It really is out of our control. Either God bring calamity to take it away, or death cuts it short, or God doesn’t gives us the ability to stop and enjoy the gifts we have been given. Our hunger and thirst for more, saps us from the ability to enjoy what we have.

The discontent that drives the wealthy to accumulate vast fortunes is the same discontent that never allows them to stop and enjoy it.

Money is a bad investment. There is no enjoyment in it. but there is a better way. Trusting in God.

The Good Investment: Trusting in God (5: 18-20)

Listen for all the language of gift from God…

Ecclesiastes 5:18–19 (ESV) — 18 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. 19 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.

God gives the days of our life. God gives the wealth and possessions we have, AND God gives the power to enjoy those gifts while we have them. We need God for all of it!

It is all a gift from God.

Proverbs 10:22 (ESV) — 22 The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

You see, God may bring you riches, but when God brings it to you, there is no sorrow with it. It is a gift from God. It’s not evil to be rich, or to have possessions.

It’s not vanity to be rich or have possessions, it is vanity to pursue them, to seek them for your satisfaction and enjoyment. Seek GOD and you find joy in whatever circumstance you find yourself.

Proverbs 11:28 (ESV) — 28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

So, our part then is to trust God, that is the good investment, and enjoy the gifts he gives. Eat and drink what God gives, find enjoyment in your toil, accept your lot and rejoice! this is a gift from God.

Now listen this isn’t defeatist, “this is my lot, poor me. I don’t need to try any more.” nor should we say to some downcast person, “this is your lot” as if we shouldn’t help them.

We strive to do good work, to provide for our families and to help those in need. WHILE at the same time. We say to ourselves and others…

Psalm 118:24 (ESV) — 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

When God gives a lot, rejoice in the day, when God gives a little rejoice in the day. BECAUSE either way, we have the joy of the Lord that doesn’t change!! And Solomon wraps that up with this:

Ecclesiastes 5:20 (ESV) — 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

When there is joy in our hearts from God, we aren’t as preoccupied with the stuff of the days of life. Our joy and our peace isn’t grounded there. It’s safe in God.

So while we work to make life better, and help others, we don’t put our trust in what we do, we put our trust in God. who gives the gifts, and gives us the power to enjoy them.

Matthew 6:31–34 (ESV) — 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Pursue the good investment, the safe investment, the sure bet. Pursue God, through Jesus Christ and find joy in him. that is the good investment.

CHRIST MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

This good investment is more clearly displayed in the person and work of Christ.

Christ Came to give us abundant life!

John 10:10 (ESV) — 10 …I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

This is why our savior came. We were slaves to our sin chasing the wind and our false gods of self.

It was leading us to misery, death and hell. Christ came to give us life! so we would have it in abundance!

That doesn’t mean rich, powerful. it doesn’t mean world-travelling, vacationing. It doesn’t mean healthy, it doesn’t mean full. There have been many starving Christians through the ages.

It means that there is abundant life, a joy and peace and purpose that is experienced in the toil and trial and persecution of the life lived in our sinful world.

Christ came to give us the better investment. To lead us through this suffering into the joy of our lord forever with him!! We’ll know it fully then, but we have it now..

In Christ is every spiritual blessing, now!

Ephesians 1:3 (ESV) — 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

You have it all now!! We have been raised up now, with Christ

Ephesians 2:6 (ESV) — 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

That is now! This is a good investment, a sure bet, because… look you get inside information, there is no bet here, it is certain! In Christ, you’ve been raised up now, so that

Ephesians 2:7 (ESV) — 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

You’ve got the down payment, the seal of his intention, and his power and his word are unstoppable. You have it now in Christ, you will experience it fully in the future.

In Christ justice has been satisfied! You’ve been redeemed, God has lavished his grace on you, in Christ Jesus. For all who will believe!! CHRIST CAME AND DIED, to pay the price for all who would believe on him. YOU, no matter what you’ve done.

And he was raised victorious from the grave. He’s paid for the investment! And you can have all the blessing now. all you have to do is turn from your self and your sin— stop chasing money and power and pleasure - stop chasing the wind!!

Isaiah 55:1–2 (ESV) — 1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

Come and rest in Christ. COME AND REST FRIEND! Why war for vanity! Why STRIVE for Misery! Why LABOR for Despair! Come and find rest! This is the good investment.

In Christ we can always rejoice

Philippians 4:4–6 (ESV) — 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Don’t be anxious, trust in God, ask him for what you need! and enjoy him in each day. then Christian, you can COME AND REJOICE!

Rejoice in Christ when you’re enjoying the good things, laughing with friends, feeling the warm ocean breeze! The good gift comes from God.

Come and rejoice! Rejoice in Christ in your tears, when your heart is broken and the pain is unbearable. Rejoice in your savior who has suffered than you could every understand for you because of his love, and understands your suffering and will bear you up, you are not alone, and your suffering is not wasted. Come and rejoice.

Romans 15:13 (ESV) — 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

This is the good investment, it pays dividends in the good days and the bad days. It stabilizes us—keeping us from finding getting carried away by the good days, and from being blown away by the bad days.

IN Christ this is clearly displayed. Christian, are you looking to the world again, your bank account, your circumstances? Is that where you are investing? That’s not good enough!!

Or are you resting and trusting in Christ.

Look again and see, here is our hope! Here is our joy! Here is the unshakeable life!! In Christ!

Believe on him, believe on him! and live!

Let’s pray.

SING - It Is Well With My Soul

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NASB95) — 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.