The Meaninglessness of Wealth

Introduction

You can tell a great deal about a civilisation and culture from its buildings. From the size and scale of the buildings it is possible to see what people regard as important in their lives. For example, many medieval cathedrals are large towering buildings with massive doors and windows. They were built to reflect the importance and impressiveness of God in the life of medieval man and also to demonstrate the relative insignificance of man in comparison. Even to enter through the massive doors added to that sense of insignificance.

Today we don't build our cathedrals on that scale. For one thing we are not prepared to pay what it costs to build them. For another, we don't see God as either important or impressive. But we do still build some buildings of massive size and scale. A glance round our large cities will show you that the buildings which are the grandest and largest in our day and age are banks, insurance head offices, and financial institutions. And that tells us a great deal about our society; it is driven by and motivated by money. St. Paul's Cathedral no longer dominates the skyline of the City of London; it is the 32-storey Nat-West Building. The temples of the early twentieth-first century are the great temples of Mammon.

And it is no longer the voice of prayer which is never silent; it is the non-stop electronic chatter of financial traders in stock markets around the world. The shrines of Mammon are everywhere - London, New York, Frankfurt, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo. The important barometers of the world's well-being today are the Dow-Jones, the FTSE 100, the Hang Seng, the Nikkei indexes. For modern man, it is money, not God that makes the world go round. But does it? How does it even begin to give purpose to our lives?

There is an assumption around today that satisfaction may be found in wealth and that wanting more money is a good thing. Certainly, no one would deny that an increase in personal income will relieve financial pressure. But there is, it seems, a law that expenditure always rises to match (or overtake) income. Neither will anyone deny that material prosperity is a legitimate reason for work. The Bible sees such success as a blessing from God; but it also sees wealth as a stewardship under God, given so that it may be used to further God's work in the world. However, the general attitude to money and moneymaking in our society takes no account of the biblical model of stewardship and blessing of personal prosperity.

Instead, instant wealth seems to promise instant happiness. It is not the simple desire to escape poverty that makes gambling - including the National Lottery - a multi-billion pound industry in this country of relative affluence. It is not a burning passion to be enabled to support God's work at home and abroad that causes people's hearts to beat faster when the winning numbers of the National Lottery are announced on television. It is the thought of getting something for nothing. It is a heady and intoxicating solution to life's problems, but its fruit is like its root. "Easy come" becomes "easy go".

Even the idea of working for yourself, succeeding, and living what is so deceptively called "the good life", is equally exciting. Now, this is legitimate, to a point, because God does call us to work and He does bless work with success. But human sin can turn blessings into curses. Material prosperity, which starts out as a blessing, can become a tyrant that casts a dark shadow over people's lives. What is good can so easily become a god. And when that happens, our desire to maintain and enjoy our daily life through money and wealth can become meaningless.

Now, Qoheleth is not opposed to wealth, but he warns against materialism in all its forms. It is as empty and pointless as every other aspect of under-the-sun humanism.

Dissatisfaction Guaranteed

In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, Jesus says that the seed sown among thorns "is the man who hears the word … and the deceitfulness of wealth chokes it, making it unfruitful." Why does the Lord say this? It is because wealth promises more than it can deliver. Children, when approaching Christmas or a birthday, will loudly insist that such-and-such a toy is exactly what they need. They will assure us that it will really satisfy them. But we all know how passing that satisfaction is. Two days after the opening of the presents, they are back to their old tried and tested toys. We adults are perhaps more sophisticated in our tastes. After all, we are such experts in the quest for personal satisfaction, that we are able to express our most selfish wants as needs.

This is where the deceitfulness attaches itself to the wealth. The deceit is in the human heart, of course, and it consists in the notion that a certain level of wealth, or a particular purchase, will give us lasting satisfaction. But, as we all know, there is never a complete stamp collection, nor a perfect house, nor the best holiday ever, nor a large enough multinational corporation. Today's goal becomes tomorrow's baseline. The carrot is always ahead of the donkey. Satisfaction is an illusion. And the person who is chasing it through increased wealth is, as W.G.T. Shedd once said, "trying to jump off his own shadow The further he leaps, the further ahead his shadow falls." If we believe that throwing money at the problems of life will actually give it meaning, forget it! Remember what Jesus said about it! Wealth is deceitful. Dissatisfaction is guaranteed!

That dissatisfaction takes many forms, but Qoheleth observes a general principle that "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." The motivation that drives people on to a consuming passion for money and self-advancement, inevitably multiplies misery for others who must pay for our so-called advancement. Is there any real prospect of materialism producing lasting happiness in this world? Qoheleth says, in effect, "Don’t hold your breath!" And that is only his introductory hint! He goes on to add some very explicit negative examples.

Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with money. It's the getting, not just the having, that is exciting. What we have is never enough. The satisfaction is in the acquiring of what our heart desires. As in the days of the prophet Amos, we have to drink out of bigger and better cups and go to sleep on more expensive beds. That modern barometer of economic success, the standard of living, is not a fixed point, but a moving gravy train, which, for those who are on it, must keep on rolling.

Otherwise, success is an anticlimax. When you finally acquire the things you want, they so often become a bore. You may own a valuable painting or sculpture or ornament or car, but you can only feast your eyes on them - enjoyable, no doubt, but hardly the essence of a meaningful life.

And wealth does not provide true security. Sir William Burrell was a Glasgow shipowner, early last century, who devoted most of his long life to amassing a truly marvellous collection of art objects of all types and from all periods. A visit to the Burrell Collection in Pollok Park, Glasgow, is a most memorable excursion through world cultural history. Sir William gave his collection to his native city, but never lived to see it on permanent public view. In fact, he lived out his later years as a virtual recluse in his home, Hutton Castle, in mortal fear of fire and theft consuming his life's work. The burden of his great work - which has preserved so much of our cultural heritage - was the torment of its obvious vulnerability. As Qoheleth observed, the full stomachs that rich people have will not allow them to sleep.

Jesus' taught His disciples to look at things - and He meant things that are good in themselves - from God's perspective. Don't store up treasures on earth, He said. After all, they are subject to decay and to theft. Rather, He said in Matthew 6:19-21, "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

For an under-the-sun, material humanist, there is no heaven in which to store up the spiritual treasures that Jesus was referring to in the Sermon on the Mount. For the materialist decay and theft nibble daily at the fragile meaning of life. But it is all you really have until and unless you receive the Saviour who is Christ the Lord.

Danger - Money!

And money is dangerous! Materialism, you see, is not merely a theory or a lifestyle, which, like a brand of coffee or a make of washing machine, is morally neutral and physically harmless. Materialism maims and kills. It has consequences that Qoheleth describes as a painful tragedy.

On October 19th 1987, the so-called "Black Monday", the New York stock market lost 23% of its value. A few days later, Arthur Kane walked into an office in Miami, pulled a revolver from his briefcase, killed the manager, maimed a broker, and then committed suicide. The crash had all but wiped out a multi-million dollar shares portfolio, which Kane had built up with clever speculation, but largely with borrowed money. When Wall Street plunged, it wiped out both the basis of Kane's lavish lifestyle and, quite clearly, the very fabric of his being.

That is an extreme example of what happens, when people lose their wealth through some misfortune. It is a catastrophe for all involved, including the next generation. We find any drop in our standard of living a bitter pill to swallow at the best of times. Having to tighten our belts because of financial constraints is always a tremendous challenge.

But what if the goal of our life is embodied in our wealth? What if all we hold dear is tied to our material prosperity? In that case, to lose your wealth is to lose the central motive of life! You have nothing! Your children have nothing! You are lost and your life has come apart at the seams! Qoheleth is pleading here for some candid stocktaking. Are we sitting light to the things of this world? Are we willing to be poorer than we are, and still praise God for it? Are we willing to die to the power of money over us?

Death is the great end of money's illusory comforts. They came from their mother's womb naked. They will leave as naked as they came. They won't even be able to take a handful of their earnings with them from all their hard work. A person takes something - his spirit, soul, conscience and character; his relationship with God, whether for better or worse - but he can take nothing in his hand. Shrouds don't have pockets! To live for wealth is simply futile. Where is the gain?

Life in the Balance

But there is an alternative to a life driven by money, which Qoheleth turns to. Life is for enjoying.

One of the great misunderstandings that many people, including some very sincerely committed Christians, have about the Christian life is the notion that it is supposed to be rather sombre and sorrowful. So that many Christians feel inhibited about enjoying the good gifts of God and praising God for them.

But the Bible teaches the exact opposite. The Lord turns mourning into dancing, for those He saves from their sins. You see, everything comes from God. And He calls us to rejoice in His gifts. God has given us our few days. God has given us wealth and the ability to enjoy it. God gives happiness in our work. God sustains His people with gladness of heart. To receive the gift for what it is requires believing and trusting in the Giver. All things are yours, says Paul to the Christians in Corinth, whether the present or the future - all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. Therefore the Christian celebrates, saying, "This is my Father's world. He has sent Jesus to be my Saviour. He has given me eternal life and I shall never perish. And He provides for me every day with His goodness. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! Praise Him, all creatures here below. Please Him above you heavenly host! Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!"

Conclusion

Think about what you lose when you go the world's way. Here you are, living out your life under the sun - no God, no future beyond the grave, no certainties in this life, except its uncertainties and its shortness, and plenty of pain and frustration in the meantime. As Qoheleth says, a stillborn child is better off! It comes and goes and is forgotten; and in under-the-sun terms it has more peace than the person who slaves away for years - even supposing he lived 2000 years - yet fails to enjoy his prosperity.

Qoheleth's argument is relentless and unanswerable. We all know that, if this life is all there is, then it is undeniable that the billionaire and the stillborn baby all go to the same place. Death ends whatever meaning there might have been under the sun. Is this the basis on which you want to live out your days? Is this all that you can make of the world around you? Is this your response to the clear evidence of God's existence, His goodness, and His claims upon your life?

We need to review the implications of under-the-sun life. The truth is that the human quest for independence from God is an illusion. Our limitations are so obvious that any claims to independence are almost laughable. The more we talk, the less meaningful are our words. Under-the-sun man has no absolutes to guide him. Take away G-o-d and good becomes a big round O - there is no standard except the latest fad. And how long will that last? As to the future, who can tell? There are no certainties. No promises. No milestones along the way to the non-existent goals of this under-the-sun world. Only fears about pollution, the increasing lawlessness of society, third world debt, and the economy. What can you really live for if that is the way of things? What value is your wealth in such a context? Qoheleth slams every door except the door of faith. As Galatians 3:22 tells us the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

There is just no other way.