The Meaning of Life in a Meaningless World: Trust the Son with everything under the sun

Life is Meaningless

Life is meaningless. It is the vanities of all vanities. Everything in this life is like smoke in your hands. Just as soon as you see it, smell it, taste it, and try to grab it and hold on to it, it slips through your fingers. James says life is a vapor that appears for a moment and then vanishes into thin air. That is is the message of the Preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 NET

“Futile! Futile!” laments the Teacher, “Absolutely futile! Everything is futile!”

Saying life is futile is the same as saying life is meaningless. The word futile can also be translated smoke or vapor. It shows up 30 times in the book (Ecclesiastes 2:11, 22; 3:9; 5:16). Life is likened to someone who works hard to chase after the wind with the hope of grab ahold of it. Just as grabbing wind is futile, so is life. Some of you may have the translation “hevels of hevels.” The phrase means “ as meaningless as possible.”

The atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell, in his autobiography, captures the futility of life. He observes,

“We stand on the shore of an ocean, crying to the night and the emptiness; sometimes a voice answers out of the darkness. But it is a voice of one drowning; and in a moment the silence returns. The world seems to me quite dreadful; the unhappiness of most people is very great, and I often wonder how they all endure it. To know people well is to know their tragedy: it is usually the central thing about which their lives are built. And I suppose if they did not live most of the time in the things of the moment, they would not be able to go on. (Russell, Autobiography, 1,994)”

In many real ways, Russell understands the life experience of the author of the book of Ecclesiastes, which is likely King Solomon. The first verse of the book reveals as much.

Ecclesiastes 1:1 HCSB

The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.

In Ecclesiastes 1:12, the writer reveals that he ruled over Jerusalem. Solomon was the only son of David to do this (1 Chr 29:25). If you also consider the life of Solomon, his wisdom, work, and wealth, it seems to line up well with the life of the author. Solomon took over the reign of Israel after his father David died. Solomon was very young. God came to Solomon and gave him the opportunity to have anything his heart desired. Solomon wisely asked God to grant his great wisdom so that he can rule justly (1 Kings 3:5-15). God loved Solomon’s request so much that he not only granted Solomon great wisdom, but great wealth and might, so much so there there has not been a king like him sense 1 Kings 4:29-34). Solomon had everything his heart desired in this world, which seems to be the case for the Teacher in Ecclesiastes.

By the time Solomon sits down to write Ecclesiastes he’s much older. Life under the sun has taken its toll on Solomon. The wisest man on earth did not heed the wisdom of Deuteronomy 17:14-20 regarding the kings of Israel. He allowed his heart to become greedy. His lust to obtained over 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3), which lured his heart away from the Lord into idolatry. By the end of his life, because of his unfaithfulness, God told him that upon his death he would divide his kingdom (1 Kings 11:9-13). As an old man, with his life in his review mirror, he concedes, although he had every satisfaction this world can offer, life is meaningless. What a provocative statement coming from the wisest, wealthiest, and most powerful men who ever lived. His heart was denied nothing, and at the end of the day, life is absolutely futile. The power, the prestige, the prosperity, the pomp, the posterity, at the end of his days, he concludes, its all meaningless. At the end of his life, Solomon stands on the shore of an ocean, crying to the night and the emptiness. With this in mind, I believe and older and repentant Solomon wrote the book for his sons. Like Proverbs, he is saying, “Be wise. Guard your heart as the wellspring of your life (Proverbs 4:23). Listen to the Teacher and understand the meaning of life in a meaningless world.

What makes the world seem meaningless?

The world we live is paradoxically beautifully broken. God created everything to be perfect. The moon and stars and sun, and everything under the sun was good in God’s eyes. He was satisfied with hie work. He made man in his image and was satisfied with man. For two short chapters in Genesis, the world was beautifully perfect, living In perfect harmony and unity with man and God. We see glimpses of this perfection in wintery morning sunrises or summer sunsets. We see it in random acts of kindness and compassion by our neighbors. The world and the people in it are amazingly beautiful. But we also know it is catastrophically broken.

In Genesis 3, the serpent deceives Eve and then Adam, and man disobeys God’s command to not eat from the tress of knowledge and evil. As a result, sin enters the world. Man is separated from God and the earth now groans under the curse Romans . When God judges Adam, he reveals how life is going to become so burdensome that it will seem meaningless.

Genesis 3:17–19 ESV

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.”

The earth is cursed. You will work so painfully hard for so little, and at the end of your days, death will take it all away from you. Life is hevels of hevels, vanities of vanities, futile, meaningless (Eccl. 1:2) The apostle Paul sees the futility of life on this earth in

Romans 8:20–21 ESV

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Paul says that the curse of man brought corruption and bondage to creation, making life difficult, so much so it seems futile. Everything breaks down. Nothing works as it should. It really does not matter if something is made in China or the United States. Its going to break sooner than later. Work is going to be stressful. Sleep will evade you most nights. The milk will spoil. And yes, mom might lean on cereal night several days throughout the week. Life will be grinding in a futile world. And do you know what you have to show for it? Destitution, drug addiction, divorce, dysfunction, depression, and ultimately death. That is the bondage and corruption of creation. Life is meaningless.

Johnathan Akin sums the reality of life under the sun well when he says

“East of Eden and separated from God, we live in a cursed, meaningless existence seeking lasting joy in things that eventually let us down! This is the reality of life “under the sun” that Solomon unfolds for us in this book (Akin, Exalting Jesus in Ecclesiastes).”

To begin his argument for why life futile, he opens the lesson with a question in verse three that leads to the reality that the monotony of life seems meaningless.

The Monotony of Life seems Meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1:3-11)

Ecclesiastes 1:3 TOTC Ec (Heim)

3 What profit is there for humans in all their hard work with which they work so hard under the sun?

The main idea in verse three is the monotony of hard work is meaningless. Monotony means wearisome or a lack of variety. I experienced monotony at its best when I worked at Ashely Furniture as a wood catcher. One guy put a long 2x4 into a wood cutter. I stood on the other end, catching the wood and stacking it on a pallet for 8-10 hours a day. The physical labor combined with the monotony, made it grueling for seven and a half the eight hour day. The man I worked with had been at that job for over twenty years, laboring, even grinding, over a wood cutter, stacking wood all day. That is the idea in verse 3.

The Hebrew conveys hard physical labor. Under the sun is the same as saying “under heaven.” It refers to this world, life as we know it. You work day and night, exerting great strength and effort to what end? Truth is there is no net gain for your work when death. So, all of these questions about how much you make, or who knows your name, or how many homes do you have, are all irrelevant. Solomon is forcing you to see that everything your strive for in this world that remains in this world is futile. If this life is all you have and there is nothing beyond it, then what is the point?

Jesus makes the same point when he asks

Mark 8:36 ESV

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

The answer is nothing! Jeff Bezos has more worth than most developing nations around the world. He has so much power and influence that people jokingly say that Amazon rules the world. And yet, when he dies, he will take none of it with him; and so it goes for you and I as well. All that work, all his activity on this world, lost the moment he dies.

To drive home his point that all our activity in life means nothing, Solomon uses four repetitive monotonous cycles in nature.

Ecclesiastes 1:4–7 HCSB

A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets; panting, it returns to its place where it rises. Gusting to the south, turning to the north, turning, turning, goes the wind, and the wind returns in its cycles. All the streams flow to the sea, yet the sea is never full. The streams are flowing to the place, and they flow there again.

Monotonous Life Cycles Show Nothing Changes (v4)

While in seminary, Stacy and I observed that people often come and go in and out of your life. We lived in a community called Village Manor, which was section 8 housing. Fifty percent of the residence were seminary, the other fifty percent were a combination of refugees and low-income families. The whole community was transitory. The buildings, however, were old red brick buildings that had been there for 60-70 years, and the company who owned the property had no plans of remodeling them. Though the face of Village Manor changed, the property reminded the same. I wanted to put a sign up in the entrance: Welcome to Village Manor where Nothing Changes but the People. That is the point Solomon is making in verse 4. People come and go but nothing ever changes. Like ants on a rock, we leave no trace of having been here. The birth of one generation and the passing of another are just nature’s cycles (Duane Garret, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, pg 285).

Monotonous Sun Cycles Show Nothing Changes (v5-6)

I love the imagery Solomon uses in verse five. The word hurries means to pant. The sun is like a marathon runner chasing his shadow around a track over and over and over gain (Duane Garret, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, pg 285). Every twenty-four hours, the wind hustles and bustles (v6) with no clear direction. it just blows about sometimes with gusts and sometimes with a breeze. The sun continuously rises and sets, and the wind continuously blows, as life comes and goes under the sun.

Monotonous Water Cycles Show Nothing Changes (v7)

The rivers run into the sea and the sea never fills up. The sea does not get deeper. There is no gain. The water is endlessly flowing and filling and flowing and filling again, but the seas remain the same.

Solomon shows you that all of nature exudes the monotony of life. There is a grinding nature to life under the sun. Funerals seem to bring the grinding monotonous nature of life out the most, in my eyes. A person dies one day. A close friend or family member. Your life is turned upside down and inside out. You want to stop and pause and catch your breathe, but you can’t. The sun is coming up in a few hours and life under the sun is going to grind onward. The struggle feels meaningless, and that is Solomon’s point.

Solomon comes to the conclusion in verse 8

Ecclesiastes 1:8 (HCSB)

All things are wearisome (i.e. monotonous); man is unable to speak. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.

There is not enough you can say, or see, or hear that will satisfy the struggle. There is no amount of beauty that will fill your eyes that will make it all worth while. There is no amount of wisdom come from your mouth or learning that will enter your ears that will provide happiness. There is no amount of wealth or luxury or pleasure that will satisfy the longing for completeness and wholeness and rest and meaning in your heart.

The bottom line for Solomon is there is nothing new under the sun (Eccl 1:9-11). We may have figured out news ways to travel by planes, trains, and automobiles, but the fact remains, despite technological advances, we are still just getting from point a to point b. We are doing it quicker with a little more style, but we have not changed the fundamentals of nature. We are born, we live, we work, we get married, we have children, who live, and work, and get married, and so on. If this life is all you have, most of what you will do with your life will not matter in the end. Your name will be forgotten. Generations will come and go. The sun will rise and set over and over and over again. The rivers will flow into the sea and the even if you do achieve some sort of fame and prestige, you will still die. You will not be able to enjoy it for very long. The monotony of life proves life is meaningless.

You might be familiar with the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. Murray plays weatherman Phil Conors. He is assigned to cover Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The plot of the story is thatPhil Conors relives February Second over and over and over again. Its the same day with the same people with the same events-monotony. he gets up every morning at 6am to the same radio program. He walks downstairs of his B&B to be greeted by the same people with the same greeting. He walks out the door reliving every detail of the day before. And no matter how hard he tries to alter the events of the day, nothing changes. There is nothing new under the sun for Phil Conors. The monotony drives him mad, even to the point of kidnapping Punxsutawney Phil and driving his truck off the road. The monotony of his life drove him to see his life was meaningless.

The Merriment of Life is Meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18)

What about life’s happier moments? Don’t they provide meaning to life? Solomon says not really. The Merriment of life is meaningless because nothing in this life can really satisfy you. God back to Phil Conors for a moment. When he first realized he was reliving the same day over and over again, he was excited. He thought he knew he could live without consequences.

When that did not provide meaning he turned to hedonism, maximizing his pleasure. He robbed a bank for wealth. He womanized various women around town. There is one scene where he’s smoking a cigaret, while drinking out of the coffee pot, with a table full of pies and pancakes, bacon and eggs, with a milk shake on the side. he gorging himself in front of his female co-worker. When Hedonism doesn’t work he turns to education.

He lean classical piano, reads french poetry, and cites Shakespeare. When education dose not work he turns to spending money on material things. His appetites never end. That is when he finally kidnaps the groundhog and drives off the cliff, only to wake up again on February second. Phil Conors learned what Solomon is teaching us. The merriment of life is meaningless because nothing in this world satisfies.

Ecclesiastes 1:12–18 ESV

I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said in my heart, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

There are ways Solomon pursued meaning in merriment. First it was by acquiring knowledge and second it was through pleasure.

The Merriment of Wisdom does not satisfy (Eccl 1:12-15)

Driven by the monotony of life, Solomon says he will apply his heart to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What he is saying here is that he is going to find satisfaction through education. He is going to study the ways of the world. He is going become and expert in science, philosophy, architecture, politics, agriculture. And if you know anything about Solomon, he wisdom expanded far beyond the law of Israel.

Solomon built the temple which God dwelled. He made such advancements in architecture and agriculture that the queen of Sheba marveled at his kingdom. He made treaties with surrounding nations that brought peace and economic prosperity. He wrote the book of proverbs and Ecclesiastes and likely over a thousand other proverbial sayings. By our standards, Solomon was extremely successful with is life. You would think he would say he was satisfied with the fruit of his education.

In verse 13, he says its a lousy job given to men to be busy with. Making the pursuit of education the goal of your life is worthless in satisfying your heart. Why? Solomon concludes its never ending. The goal can never be achieved. He compares to chasing the wind. There are also questioned that will never be answered. Ask a mathematician. There are math equations that will not be solved in a persons life time.

The reason for this is that what is crooked, that is, what is morally broken, cannot fix itself. Like I said before, the world is cursed. Sin engulfs everything, even our knowledge. Sin is a problem we cannot fix on our own. There will always be questions that have no answers. If you are convinced that pursuing knowledge will satisfy your heart, you will be disappointed.

The merriment of pleasure does not satisfy (Eccl 1:16-18)

The word foolishness is understood as the pursuit of pleasure. Solomon pursued hedonism, which he spells out in Eccl 2:1-11. Hedonism is a philosophy of life that says: Life exists for the pursuit of pleasure. The goal of a hedonist is to maximize pleasure for oneself at whatever cost. Solomon, however, realized that was as worthless as chasing after the wind, much like Phil Conors in groundhog day. With every lust the world has to offer at his feet with no consequences, he still drove himself off the cliff.

The Monotony of Life and Merriment of Life in a Meaningless World Drives You To the Meaning of Life (Ecclesiastes 12:8-14)

At this point you might say, “This is the most depressing sermon I’ve ever heard. Plumer, you have burst my bubble and I feel like my life is meaningless.” You would be right if I closed the book and left us here this morning. But all of you know, at least intuitively, that there is meaning to life. Turn to

Ecclesiastes 12:8–14 ESV

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Solomon waits until he very to tell you where life finds its meaning. In verse 8, he repeats the meaninglessness of life with the phrase vanities of vanities, or hevel of hevels. All is like smoke. The preacher sought to find words to tell you the truth, words of wisdom. The Spirit of God, the one true author of this book, wrote these words to drive you, not off the cliff with Phil Conors, but to the cross where the one true Shepherd nailed his hands and feet to die for your sin. Solomon warns that every secret thing, thought, word, deed, whether good or evil, will be judged by God. Your sin has consequences. If all you have is the meaning of this life, and you are not looking toward eternity, then your life will be meaningless. All life apart from God is meaningless because it is appointed for you to die and face his judgment. And all of your works will be judged by his standard, and you will find that nothing you have don on this earth will be meaningful enough for God to count as righteous. You will perish in your sin under his wrath. You will be reminded for all eternity how you wasted your life.

Let the meaninglessness of monotony and merriment drive you to the cross where Jesus will take your judgment. He will take all of your sinful secrets and thoughts and deeds and will receive the punishment you deserve. He will in turn give you his righteousness. He will give you new life, abundant life, eternal life. He will give you a new family and a new name. He will give you an inheritance that is being kept for you in heaven. He will give your life meaning.

Christ is who gives your life meaning!

Jesus says to you this morning,

John 10:9–10 ESV

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Abundant life in Christ is the meaning of life in a meaningless world. Everything life has to offer, from monotony to merriment, finds its purpose and meaning and end in Him.

The secret to a meaningful life, then, is to

Trust the Son with everything under the sun.