Sermon Tone Analysis
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Contentment is meaningless apart from Jesus
Seven Reasons Why Wealth Will Not Bring You Contentment in This World.
(Eccl 5:10-17)
Your appetite for wealth is endless.
Your heart longs for eternal things because God has put eternity in your heart.
Therefore, worldly delights will not satisfy eternal longings.
You can put their entire world, with all of its lust and desires, in your heart and it still will want more.
John D. Rockefeller was one of the richest men in the world, but when someone asked him how much money was enough, he famously said, “Just a little bit more.”
Eternal longings need eternal satisfaction.
Worldly wealth, with its earthly limits, will not do it.
Your wealth attracts Freeloaders and the Feds (Eccl 5:11)
Wealth will not bring you contentment in this world because once you have it, you have to deal with the reality that everybody wants a piece of it.
Freeloaders come to live like a parasite, and the government will gladly take its share for itself.
I read a short story on Bernie Kosar, the NFL Quarterback who played for the Cleveland Browns and the Dolphins in the mid 80’s and early 90’s.
Bernie made his wealth both as a player and as a businessman.
However, in 2009, Bernie had to file for bankruptcy, having 1.5 million dollars of unsecured debt.
The ESPN film Broke highlighted how it was Bernies abusive and manipulative father who swindled him out of millions.
At one point he was paying for 60 cell phone plans.
He loaned thousands of dollars to former teammates, his ex-wife took her portion in the divorce, and the IRS came knocking.
When you have this worlds wealth, the worldly come looking to leech it off of you.
If you are building your life around your wealth, then when they take your wealth from you, they take your contentment with them.
Your wealth assails your sleep (Eccl 5:12)
Amassing wealth wealth for yourself brings new kinds of worry and stress into your life that rob you of your sleep.
Do you know what was the straw that broke Bernie Kosar’s back?
It was the global recession that hit in 2008.
He did not have the wealth to sustain his lifestyle.
He filed for bankruptcy.
I imagine he, and millions of others, had many sleepless nights wondering how he was going to keep it together.
Your wealth afflicts your well-being (Eccl 5:13)
You spend most of your life trying to get the wealth.
Then you spend most of your health trying to keep it.
Derek Kidner points out the irony of our pursuit of wealth and trying to stay healthy.
Kidner looks at all our “modern exercise-machines and health clubs” and says it is “one of our human absurdities to pour out money and effort just to undo the damage of money and ease.”
Those who try to put their contentment in their wealth either grind their life away trying to amass it, or they live a life if ease, losing the ability to be resilient.
Your wealth arouses insecurity (Eccl 5:14)
Your wealth will not bring your heart contentment because your wealth, like your life, is like a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow.
It takes one bad investment, on bad business deal, one major recession, and all of your wealth can be gone.
Some of you might remember the Enron scandal in 2001.
Shareholders, many of them employees who built their retirement on the stock of Enron lost 74 billion dollars because of accounting fraud.
All of it was stolen from them.
Some of those people put all their eggs in Enron’s basket, which looked good on paper, but was nothing but sinking sand.
The Bible says building your house on sand is unstable and insecure.
One massive wave and your house is finished.
Building your contentment in wealth is like building your house on sand.
Your wealth will abandon you at death (Eccl 5:15-16)
Death is the greatest antagonist to your wealth.
At some point, no matter how rich you are in this life, you will hand your wealth over to someone else.
There are no U-hauls behind the hurst.
If you are banking on your wealth for your eternal contentment, then you will be abandon on your death bed.
Woe to those who put their hope in their wealth for eternal contentment.
Your appetite for wealth brings you misery (Eccl 5:17)
Finally, your wealth will not satisfy your contentment in this life because your appetite for wealth brings you misery.
With everything mentioned above it is no surprise that the rich eat in darkness, that is, you eat alone.
According to Solomon, the rich guy had all of his wealth, all of his possessions, everything his heart could desire, and he has no one to really share it with.
Anger and sickness consume his heart, not contentment.
Misery.
Now, you might argue a few points of contention.
First, you might say this is an over-caricature of rich people.
You know plenty of wealthy people who are healthy and happy in this world.
Yes, you are right.
However, the point of hyperbole and or an over-caricature is to use the over the top description to bring home the point, the truth is the truth regardless.
And if you read Psalm 73, you see that those who trust in their wealth are not as they appear.
Secondly, you might say that you are nowhere near the Uber-wealthy, your not even in the ballpark of Uber-Middle Class.
This sermon does not apply to you.
You would be mistaken.
First, God’s wisdom is for everyone, regardless of your age, ethnicity, gender, or economic class.
Second, you are wealthier than you realize.
Let’s do a quick thought exercise comparing the U.S. and Mexico in household income, home ownership, and car ownership.
The national median income for Americans as of 2021, was $79,900, according to huduser.gov.
The poverty line for Americans, the income by which the government declares you are poor, is $26,500 for an average family of four (2 adults 2 kids).
For a family my size (7) it is, $40,120.
The “middle class” tax bracket ranges on the low end from $32,000 to the high end $373,000.
You are considered rich at 373,001.
There are over 79 million home owners in America, and that number is rising, and over 287 million Americans own a car.
The average annual income of hispanics in Mexico is $8,000, according to the World Data Info.
There are 23 million households in Mexico, with a population of 128.9 million people.
The world Bank notes that 52% of Mexico’s population is living in poverty.
That correlates to a many homeless families.
Fifty-seven percent of households in Mexico do not own a car.
Of those that did own a car, 76% own one car.
Do you see the difference in wealth?
Our poor “class” makes almost four times as much income as their middle class.
We have almost three times as many homes, not including rentals, and we have multiple cars per family.
Our middle class is their Uber-wealthy.
This is just Mexico.
The numbers are even crazier in Africa and South America.
Here’s my point.
You are wealthy.
You are wealthier than over 2/3 of the world.
You make more money in six months than most of our Mexicans neighbors make in a nine years.
Your living conditions are luxurious compared to many south of us.
Even our poor have well funded programs and resources to assist them, and even help them get out of poverty.
Furthermore, you have the means to become wealthier if you so choose to do it, via school, training, or investments.
We are a nation with tremendous blessing of wealth and comfort.
This sermon applies to you.
You could be deceived into thinking that all you have here in America is normal for the world.
You could be deceived into thinking that you are content with the little you have, not realizing you are Uber-wealthy compared to most human beings on earth right now.
You are the reason why so many are at the border trying to get into this country.
They want what you have: the opportunity to pursue life and happiness.
You could be deceived into thinking that if the Lord were to take it all away, you would be content.
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