1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:04,600 Hey everybody, welcome to Renewed Mind Bible Studies. 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:06,560 We'll, we'll jump into it pretty quickly. 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,120 In case you haven't been able to join us for a session, we'll do 4 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:10,680 about 30 minutes or so of teaching. 5 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:12,880 We've got fill in the blank notes for you as you come in. 6 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,239 And then at that point we will go ahead and cut the live 7 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:18,720 stream. We'll move forward into a group 8 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,320 discussion at tables and then we'll end up having a time of 9 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,520 acoustic worship. Like I like teaching, but I 10 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:25,760 really like the acoustic worship. 11 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:27,880 So I'm looking forward to that with, with you guys. 12 00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,080 So tonight's session is going to be the latter half of 13 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,480 Ecclesiastes chapter 2. And for session 3, which we're 14 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:37,760 covering tonight, is called Chasing Achievement. 15 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:43,440 And in the last session, the the teacher starts exploring what a 16 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,600 lot of people think will bring meaning to their life, which is 17 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:48,880 pleasure. He does everything from laughter 18 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,160 to experiences to comfort. All the different kinds of 19 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:53,840 enjoyment are all put to the test. 20 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:57,400 And for a moment, those things all seem to offer temporary 21 00:00:57,840 --> 00:00:59,520 satisfaction. But then he stepped back. 22 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:01,800 He evaluated it at the end of our lesson. 23 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,760 And he found that pleasure could only entertain the senses, but 24 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,400 it can't really anchor the soul. And so if pleasure can't provide 25 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:10,600 meaning, he thinks maybe achievement can. 26 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,520 Any workaholics that are here today? 27 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:16,560 Yeah, you walked into a trap. But now, if you leave, 28 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:22,400 everybody's going to know. So a lot of times we assume that 29 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,400 life's answers will actually be found in what we build. 30 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:27,240 We want to build something that lasts. 31 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,800 And so the teacher begins yet another experiment. 32 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:33,320 And I'm sure I don't have to work too hard to prove that this 33 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:36,400 impulse that he's talking about is just as present in our world 34 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:38,640 today. People may not all chase 35 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,320 pleasure in the same way, but almost everyone has been taught 36 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:46,000 to work hard, set goals, build something meaningful and leave 37 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,880 something behind for another generation. 38 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:51,040 But the assumption is always the same thing. 39 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:53,840 If I can build the right kind of life, then my life will matter. 40 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,160 But spoiler, just so you know, in case nobody's told you, your 41 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,920 life matters before you ever did anything to contribute to 42 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,360 society. There is something good in that 43 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:05,400 desire to work. Work is part of God's design 44 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:07,640 from the very beginning. A lot of times people think, 45 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:09,240 man, I can't wait to get to heaven where I won't have to 46 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:11,680 work anymore. No work existed before the 47 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,400 curse, but it wasn't by the sweat of your brow. 48 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,240 It was something that everybody would have enjoyed. 49 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,560 And so work is important. But I want to point to something 50 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,600 Jesus says many years later in the book of Luke in chapter 12. 51 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,440 It's not in your notes, but he says in 12 verses, 15 through 52 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,480 21, beware, guard against every kind of greed. 53 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:35,200 Life is not measured by how much you own. 54 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:39,480 And then he told them a story. A rich man had a fertile farm 55 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,080 that produced fine crops. He said to himself, what should 56 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,200 I do? I don't have room for all my 57 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,120 crops. Well, I mean, here we'd be like, 58 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,760 take it to the soup kitchen, donate it to the poor, share 59 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,040 with your neighbors. I don't know, stick it in the 60 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:54,520 freezer. They didn't have freezers 61 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,600 though. So he says, I know I'll tear 62 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,360 down my barns and build bigger ones. 63 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:02,680 Then I'll have enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 64 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,560 And I'll sit back and say to myself, he's got an unhealthy 65 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,240 self obsession here. And I'll say to myself, my 66 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,040 friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. 67 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,280 Now take it easy, eat, drink and be merry. 68 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,520 But God said to him, you fool, you will die this very night. 69 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:20,680 Then who will get everything you worked for? 70 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:23,600 And Jesus says this. He says a person is a fool to 71 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,120 store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with 72 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:29,720 God. A lot of times there's a poverty 73 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:31,920 mindset when it comes to Christianity, and it's like we 74 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:34,080 all assume that we're the rich young ruler that's supposed to 75 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:35,680 take a vow of poverty or something. 76 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,040 No, no, no. The Lord will ask you to lay 77 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:41,000 down and walk away from anything that is going to supplant Him or 78 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:43,880 replace Him in your life. If that's riches, he'll ask you 79 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:45,920 to walk away from it. If it's certain family 80 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:48,720 connections or relationships, he'll ask you to walk away from 81 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:50,320 that. If it's going to get between you 82 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:52,880 and your God, he's going to ask you to take a step back. 83 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:58,240 But that last verse, Jesus says a person is a fool to store up 84 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,120 earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God. 85 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,240 And here's the thing, if you have a rich relationship with 86 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:06,360 God, you're going to do what he says with your relationships, 87 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,680 with your money, with your time, with your focus, all of that. 88 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,800 So everything's a blessing when you have a rich relationship 89 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:14,880 with God. Jesus is just revealing the same 90 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:16,880 problems that the teacher's about to explore with us. 91 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,079 A person can have a successful life and accumulate resources 92 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,680 and still matter what miss, what matters the most came from the 93 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:27,400 Scripture first. But you remember many years ago, 94 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,880 TobyMac had a song. I don't want to gain the whole 95 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,600 world and lose my soul. Let's go and jump into the 96 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,560 Scriptures. We'll start in verse 12 of 97 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,040 chapter 2. So Ecclesiastes 2, we'll do 98 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,920 verses 12 through 14. This section is called Wisdom 99 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,840 Still Matters. Now if you remember in the 1st 100 00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:46,480 chapter of Ecclesiastes, he starts exploring wisdom. 101 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:48,240 We don't want to discredit wisdom. 102 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:49,640 It's just not a good replacement. 103 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,800 So these verses say this. I decided to compare wisdom with 104 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,280 foolishness and madness. For who can do this better than 105 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:59,560 I, the King? Not exactly sure what he means 106 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,240 about that. He's talking about his riches or 107 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,400 y'all know how crazy I am? Verse 13, he said I thought 108 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:08,920 wisdom is better than foolishness, just as light is 109 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,440 better than darkness. For the wise can see where 110 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:14,080 they're going, but fools can. Fools walk in the dark. 111 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,320 Yet I saw that the wise and the foolish share share the same 112 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:21,240 fate. OK, after chasing pleasure, 113 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,280 building that life that was filled with accomplishment, the 114 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:26,240 teacher slows down. And he, he shifts the pace here, 115 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,200 and he gets very reflective. It's almost as if he's sitting 116 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:31,760 back and looking over everything he's experienced, and now he's 117 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:33,320 asking a different question of himself. 118 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,000 If pleasure doesn't satisfy me and achievement doesn't settle 119 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,480 the deeper questions of life, what about wisdom itself? 120 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,120 Does living wisely actually give life the meaning that he's 121 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,920 searching for, or is it better than living as the foolish do? 122 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:48,720 And so he begins to compare them carefully. 123 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:52,240 And he places wisdom on one side and foolishness and your blank 124 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,560 is madness on the other side, madness. 125 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:59,440 And he starts weighing them out. If you remember, he has seen 126 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,000 both sides. He said in the 1st chapter that 127 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,640 he's lived with wisdom and he's observed what life looks like 128 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,400 without it. And at first the answer seems 129 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:08,880 obvious. Wisdom is better. 130 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,360 The teacher describes it like light compared to darkness. 131 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:14,680 It's a simple but very effective image. 132 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:17,280 When you're walking in the light, you can see what's in 133 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:20,360 front of you. With wisdom or walking in the 134 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,480 light, you can avoid obstacles, make better decisions, and move 135 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,760 forward with a clear head. But when you're walking in the 136 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:27,640 dark, everything becomes uncertain. 137 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:30,640 You move more slowly because you're scared of tripping over 138 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:32,080 something. You stumble, and you're never 139 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:33,680 quite sure where your next step will land. 140 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,640 I have two children. There are always traps when I 141 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,800 come out of my room in the morning, and they're almost 142 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,040 never on purpose. I always thought it was 143 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:47,920 something dumb that people joked about stepping on a Lego with a 144 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:50,640 barefoot. It is not to be trifled with. 145 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,000 They made me feel bad for the burglars and home alone. 146 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,920 Right? But anyone who's ever had to 147 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,360 walk through a dark room knows this feeling that we're talking 148 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:01,520 about. You reach out, you move 149 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,640 carefully, you hope you don't trip over something that you 150 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,200 can't see. And so walking in the light 151 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,840 gives you the ability to get where you're going on time and 152 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:11,080 identify obstacles. But what he's saying is whether 153 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:12,800 you walk through the dark of their light, you end up in the 154 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,320 same place. And whether you live as the wise 155 00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:17,200 or the foolish, in the end, we all die. 156 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:19,760 And so he uses the Hebrew word here. 157 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:21,560 We've talked about this before, Hokhmah. 158 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:26,320 It means wisdom, which also speaks of skill for living. 159 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,040 Not just living, but skill for living, knowing how to live 160 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,040 well, right? Not just knowing what's right, 161 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:34,600 but living it out. And then he contrasts it with 162 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,120 sickluth, which is foolishness, but not just ignorance. 163 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:42,640 It's foolishness that ignores what is right and moves through 164 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:47,000 life without direction. On one hand, it leads clearly on 165 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:48,880 the other way. On the other hand, you drift 166 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,040 without it. So for a moment, a moment here, 167 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:53,680 if you think about it, everything does feel settled. 168 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,520 Wisdom is better. Do we agree that wisdom is 169 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:58,360 better than foolishness? Excellent. 170 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,080 I don't have to prove that wisdom changes how you live. 171 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,920 But then abruptly, the teacher shares a a thought that changes 172 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,840 the whole tone of what he's been saying when he says that the 173 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,440 wise and the foolish share the same fate, and that should land 174 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,280 heavily. It's meant to the one who walks 175 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,520 in the light, the one who stumbles in the dark, eventually 176 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,960 arrive at the same place. Wisdom might guide your journey, 177 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,080 but it does not change the destination. 178 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,360 We've all felt this when we've seen somebody gone too soon, 179 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,640 gone before their time, or something bad happens to 180 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,000 somebody we consider a good person, and maybe we're the good 181 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,000 person something bad happens to. It just feels like the cosmic 182 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:40,320 scales aren't always balanced. But you can feel that shift in 183 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:42,600 how the teacher is thinking here, because the question is no 184 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,280 longer about living well, it becomes deeper. 185 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,000 He's saying wisdom helps me live well, but what does that matter? 186 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:52,440 He's saying it can't change where I ultimately end up. 187 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:54,160 So what kind of advantage does it really give? 188 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,720 Honestly, a lot of Christians, when they first get saved, 189 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,920 struggle with this. They'll accept a salvation 190 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:01,320 prayer. They'll come to know the Lord, 191 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,520 but they don't really want him to be the Lord. 192 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,400 They don't want him to be the one who calls the shots and 193 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:09,640 tells them what to do because they know that God is so rich 194 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,400 and merciful that they're just counting on the fact that he'll 195 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:13,560 just let him into heaven one day. 196 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:15,920 But the point of becoming a believer is not to get to 197 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,160 heaven, It's to get to God. And ultimately, eternity is 198 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:20,720 going to be in heaven. And that's going to be pretty 199 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:22,520 great. But if your goal is just to get 200 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,280 to heaven, it's not really about a relationship with him at all. 201 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:27,120 And we have to submit to his lordship. 202 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,120 So this is really where Ecclesiastes starts to press 203 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,400 into our thinking. A lot of people think if they 204 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,680 just make the right decisions or avoid mistakes, that's your 205 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:38,480 blank. Avoid mistakes and live wisely 206 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,960 enough, then life will finally feel secure and meaningful. 207 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,680 And wisdom does matter. Please choose the way of wisdom 208 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:47,160 because it protects you and guides you. 209 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,880 But the teacher is trying to show us that something, even as 210 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,640 good as wisdom, has its limits. It has limits. 211 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:56,040 If you've ever been in a place where you've been really good at 212 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,840 a job or a task, and then you make a mistake and then you're 213 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,440 really hard on yourself, and maybe the statistic is that 30 214 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,600 times you've nailed it. A + 100 grade, and now it's a 215 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,680 92, and now you're mad at yourself. 216 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,240 It happens, right? It doesn't take anything away 217 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,400 from all the times that you've done things excellent. 218 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,040 So avoiding a mistake is not going to bring you satisfaction 219 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:21,440 either. But we're here to renew our 220 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:23,680 minds in this Bible study. And so we're learning to see 221 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:26,560 these limits clearly. We don't live a certain way 222 00:10:26,560 --> 00:10:29,640 because it changes our destiny. We live a certain way because 223 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:33,560 our destiny was already changed. So when you love the Lord and 224 00:10:33,560 --> 00:10:36,560 he's changed your destiny, then out of this love for Him, you 225 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:38,680 live different. It's a grateful heart. 226 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:43,080 It's one that is loyal to Him. All right, moving on to the next 227 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:44,960 section there. If you are brand new to it, 228 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:46,800 there's personal insight questions at the end of each 229 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:48,400 section. That's just for you to fill out. 230 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,400 If you'd like to give you some food for thought, we'll go 231 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,520 verses 15 through 17 here. And this section is what I'm 232 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:58,440 calling the same ending. So he just says the foolish and 233 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:00,360 the wise, they have the same outcome, right? 234 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:02,920 Here's what it says starting in verse 15. 235 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,720 Both will die. It's encouraging. 236 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,920 So I said to myself, since I will end up the same as the 237 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,880 fool, what's the value of all my wisdom? 238 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,920 This is also meaningless for the wise and the foolish. 239 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,440 Both die. The wise will not be remembered 240 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,680 any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will 241 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:27,280 be forgotten. And listen to this. 242 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,400 In verse 17, he says, So I came to hate life because everything 243 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,360 done here under the sun is so troubling. 244 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,520 Everything is meaningless, like chasing the wind. 245 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,360 Well, the teacher doesn't rush past that problem that he just 246 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,400 discovered, so he's not going to leave us hanging. 247 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:46,760 He does lean into it. If the wise and the foolish 248 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,720 share the same fate, then what is the value of living wisely at 249 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,200 all? It's almost like if you pay 250 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:54,760 attention here, you can hear an internal conversation. 251 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,200 If I'm going to end up at the same place as the fool and they 252 00:11:57,200 --> 00:11:59,320 get to do all these things they want to do, but I'm trying to be 253 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:01,920 disciplined, why don't I get to do the things that I want to do? 254 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:03,520 That's the kind of way that I would think of it. 255 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,000 So he's invested his life into thinking carefully and living 256 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,840 intentionally and pursuing true understanding, and now he's 257 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,920 asking whether it ultimately changed anything that matters 258 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,520 the most. Verse 16 is where it goes a 259 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:18,240 little deeper because it gets a little heavier. 260 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:21,480 Not only do the wise and the foolish both die, he says this. 261 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:23,440 They are both eventually forgotten. 262 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:29,400 Both eventually forgotten. Now out of history, we can all 263 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:31,840 remember some very famous evil men or women. 264 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,040 We can also remember people that we Revere as very good men or 265 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:36,880 women. But is it not the same for 266 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:40,000 people that get forgotten? Do you have anybody that growing 267 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,600 up was just like somebody who poured into you? 268 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:44,800 And then when they passed away, it's like nobody will ever 269 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:47,320 understand this person the way that I understood them because 270 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:50,320 they lived in the background. They, they were always there for 271 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,080 me, but they weren't somebody getting attention. 272 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,400 This happens to both the wise and the foolish. 273 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,600 The Hebrew idea behind being forgotten comes from the word 274 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:03,320 shaka, and it means to forget or to lose memory of something, or, 275 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,480 probably the most sad, to let it fade over time. 276 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:11,720 Even a life that's marked by wisdom does not guarantee 277 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,680 lasting remembrance, and so the teacher is trying to confront 278 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:17,880 something that most of us try to avoid thinking about. 279 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:20,960 But time has a way of levelling everything, doesn't it? 280 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,760 Achievements fade. Names are forgotten and stories 281 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:29,760 are replaced by new ones. This is where the emotional tone 282 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,080 of the whole chapter shifts. The teacher says, he says here, 283 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:38,120 so I came to hate life. Well, if I was a youth pastor, I 284 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:39,360 would say that's a little dramatic. 285 00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:42,760 It's strong language. But is it not honest? 286 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,280 Are there not times that we despise where we find ourselves 287 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:46,600 in life? We just want relief. 288 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,840 And that that word hate comes from the Hebrew word sanae. 289 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:55,760 It describes a deep aversion or a growing dissatisfaction with 290 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,920 something, like the longer that you're connected to something, 291 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:00,840 the more and more dissatisfied you are. 292 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:05,720 And the teacher's not rejecting life itself as as God created 293 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:06,920 it. He's just expressing his 294 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,640 frustration with a life that feels unresolved. 295 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:11,880 That's your blank there. Unresolved. 296 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:16,240 It feels temporary and it feels difficult to make sense when 297 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:20,080 it's viewed only under the sun. So everything that he sees, he 298 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,680 calls it troubling. And the Hebrew word there for 299 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:26,880 troubling is the word Amal, which means burdensome labor. 300 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:29,280 So not the kind of work we had in the garden. 301 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:34,520 Or it means weariness or exhausting effort. 302 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,480 You ever been there where your mind is alert and you're ready 303 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,760 to do something, but your body says, no? 304 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,600 That's what he's talking about, but life begins to feel heavy 305 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,320 for him, not just physically, but also emotionally and 306 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:49,600 mentally. That's your blank. 307 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:54,600 Emotionally and mentally. The teacher is realizing that 308 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,720 even a life that's lived wisely does not escape the weight of 309 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,560 living in a broken world. The end of chapter one really 310 00:15:00,560 --> 00:15:02,360 got me. I hope it spoke to you too. 311 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:05,080 The more that you see, the harder it is. 312 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,200 And so the teacher is obviously feeling the the weight of life, 313 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,520 the search for meaning is pressing in in a pretty real and 314 00:15:13,520 --> 00:15:15,760 personal way. A lot of people spend their 315 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:17,760 lives trying to avoid thinking about this reality. 316 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:21,360 So we stay busy and distracted and focused and we even wrap it 317 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,680 up with a bow and we call it good things like I'm pouring 318 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:25,640 into another generation or I'm trying to leave behind 319 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,520 something. But we also need to face the 320 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:30,400 deeper questions. We need to ponder eternity and 321 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,640 we need to think about these things because God placed 322 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:34,400 eternity in our hearts according to Scripture. 323 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:39,120 So the teacher's just trying to lead us into honesty, because 324 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,560 until we're honest about the limits of what life can offer on 325 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:43,920 its own, we're going to continue to put our hope in things that 326 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,080 will ultimately not satisfy. And the problem is they do 327 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:49,680 satisfy. If they didn't satisfy at all, 328 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,320 we would never pursue them. But since they satisfy for a 329 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:54,720 time and it's easier, we go for it. 330 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:56,320 And once it runs out, what do we do? 331 00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,200 We run to the next temporary solution. 332 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:00,920 And it's this constant rat race back and forth. 333 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,000 And so the teacher wants us to think a little more honestly. 334 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,320 If everything eventually fades, including our names, both the 335 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:10,360 wise and the foolish share the same ending. 336 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:12,080 Where does real meaning come from? 337 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:14,880 Couple personal insight questions for you there. 338 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,120 And now we'll cover verses 18 through 21. 339 00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,080 It's a section that I'm calling Leaving it behind. 340 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:25,680 A lot of us, we look at that, well, I may not have achieved 341 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:27,680 the dreams I wanted to, but I'm going to leave behind something 342 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,520 good for the next generation. But I'm not saying don't do 343 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:32,040 that. That is obviously wise. 344 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,280 Mom, if you're watching on the live stream, I love you. 345 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:39,800 I know I'm your favorite. Leave something behind, but 346 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:41,680 listen to what he says. Starting in verse 18. 347 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:47,400 I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave 348 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,360 to others everything I have earned. 349 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:52,600 And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or 350 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,040 foolish? Anybody ever thought about that? 351 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:56,800 I'm going to leave this behind for people, but what are they 352 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:01,120 going to do with it? Yet they will control everything 353 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,040 I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. 354 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:07,800 How meaningless. So I gave up in despair, 355 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,400 questioning the value of all my hard work in this world. 356 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:15,319 Some people work wisely, with knowledge and skill, then must 357 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:17,839 leave the fruit of their efforts to someone who hasn't worked for 358 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:19,839 it. This too is meaningless. 359 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:22,560 And he actually adds this a great tragedy. 360 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:27,800 Imagine being his kid. Hey, you want to read what I 361 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:31,920 wrote, son? He's taking some steps that feel 362 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:34,680 like probably more personal than anything that we've read from 363 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,440 him so far. He's no longer thinking about 364 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:39,760 how life ends. He's thinking about what happens 365 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,040 to everything he spent his life building afterwards. 366 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,040 And it's one thing to realize that life is temporary. 367 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,520 Life is temporary. It's another thing to realize 368 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:50,960 that you will eventually hand your life's work to someone 369 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:52,560 else. And we all do. 370 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,800 And you can feel it hit him when he says that he came to hate all 371 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,040 of his hard work. Well, he was finding a lot of 372 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:02,480 enjoyment in the things he was building just a few verses ago, 373 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,280 but that's the voice of somebody who's worked hard and built 374 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:07,520 well, and he's carried the weight of maybe leadership. 375 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:10,720 And now he's looking at it from a different angle because now 376 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:12,720 he's not looking at it from the middle of the work that he's 377 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,360 doing. He's looking at it from the end 378 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:16,880 of it. And from that vantage point, 379 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:21,480 everything changes. It's not really in my notes, but 380 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:24,400 where I met Cassie was when I was a store manager for a 381 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:28,360 Starbucks and a Target. And I mean, it's fine. 382 00:18:28,360 --> 00:18:30,960 It's a funny story. She doesn't tell it as well as I 383 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:36,120 do, but we, we'll talk about this later. 384 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:42,000 But, but I mean, I, I went to that Starbucks just a couple 385 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,080 weeks ago. And while I'm in there, I'm 386 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,720 remembering this, I'm remembering standing at, at the 387 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:49,960 register, I'm remembering her being out there in the cafe 388 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:50,960 part. But of course, it's been 389 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,680 remodeled 13 * 15 times since then. 390 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,320 And this kid was probably born the year that I was managing, 391 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,440 you know, the, the Starbucks. And I just looked at it and I 392 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:02,120 thought, man, things really do change. 393 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,400 They really do move on. And it's not like I left an 394 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:06,840 inheritance there, but I did leave an impact as the first 395 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,560 store manager there. And I had certain policies and 396 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,200 certain ways that I managed. Well, guess what? 397 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:14,160 There's a new manager. 2 managers later, they don't 398 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,240 remember your management style. They don't even know your name. 399 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,160 And honestly, it's OK. Wouldn't it be weird if they 400 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:21,720 were hung up? Like, oh, where's our first 401 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,560 manager we ever had, but we're worried about our legacy. 402 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:29,560 He realizes the teacher is something that is both simple 403 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,440 and unsettling. Everything that he's earned and 404 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,360 built and developed will be handed to someone else. 405 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,480 And the word that's translated is earned comes from the Hebrew 406 00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:41,200 word yaga. And that has the whole idea of 407 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:42,880 labouring to the point of exhaustion. 408 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,120 So he's really weary in this section of the chapter. 409 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:48,280 But this was the kind of work that costs you something, 410 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,680 whether it is time, energy, attention, or even parts of 411 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,840 yourself. You ever heard that saying I put 412 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,280 my blood, sweat and tears into this? 413 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,920 It's almost. It's almost never literal, but. 414 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:02,240 Blood, sweat and tears into something. 415 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,560 I gave my life to this and now it's going to belong to someone 416 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:11,040 else, which is true. And when you go, even a part of 417 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:12,640 yourself will belong to someone else. 418 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:15,000 That's how invested our achievements and our 419 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,400 achievements we are. If you have put some of your own 420 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:21,120 life into something, a piece of you then goes to somebody else 421 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:22,960 when you're gone. You ever thought about it like 422 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:24,160 that? It's a little depressing. 423 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:27,520 So that's when the teacher asks, who can tell whether my 424 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:29,160 successors will be wise or foolish? 425 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,000 You can almost hear that question lingering, because what 426 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,280 if the person who inherits everything I build doesn't value 427 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:37,800 it? What if they undo in a moment 428 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,840 what took me a lifetime to establish? 429 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:41,960 I'll just step to the side for a moment. 430 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,680 Just tell you you will not care once you step into glory, you're 431 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,440 really not going to care. But we have a a greater 432 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,600 revelation now than the teacher in Ecclesiastes did also. 433 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,320 So the teacher's wrestling with something We've all come to feel 434 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:59,440 at some level, the desire for control beyond our own lifetime. 435 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:02,240 Isn't it kind of gross when you think of it like that? 436 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:04,240 We're like, well, I have control issues. 437 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,960 I didn't know they extended to beyond my own lifetime. 438 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:11,920 But we want to build something that's going to last, and we 439 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,600 want it to be handled well. We, we want to not just dictate 440 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:16,800 how it's handled now, but when we're gone, too. 441 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,920 We want it to mean something even after we're gone. 442 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,400 But as it often does, Ecclesiastes pulls back that 443 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:25,600 curtain on reality. And at some point, the control 444 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:27,720 ends. He says. 445 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:30,680 So I gave up in despair. I mean, I don't have a word for 446 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:32,680 you there. But that phrase carries the idea 447 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,360 of letting go internally, like something inside of him finally 448 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,760 loosened its grip. The drive that once pushed him 449 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,240 forward now starts to fade. And so then he steps back. 450 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,880 In verse 21, He, he, he basically teaches this. 451 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,040 Someone can work wisely with knowledge and skill, doing 452 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,440 everything right, only to leave it to someone who did none of 453 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,320 the work. And the word translated here as 454 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,640 skill is kish Rone. It's Kish Rone. 455 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:02,440 It talks about competence or the ability to succeed, the ability 456 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:04,640 to succeed through effort and discipline. 457 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:07,320 You ever met somebody? You're like, man, no matter what 458 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,120 you do, I feel like you learn it and you're like, good. 459 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:11,520 I mean, it's the ability to to succeed. 460 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,960 And so the teacher's describing someone who showed up and worked 461 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:17,160 hard and made good decisions, but they still can't control 462 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,040 what happens next, which is why he calls it a great tragedy at 463 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,360 the end. It's not just frustrating, It's 464 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:23,720 not just confusing. It's heavy. 465 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:27,600 It's meant to be a lot of people live with the belief that they 466 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:30,160 can just build the right life and leave the right legacy, and 467 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,840 then their life will feel secure and complete in the present. 468 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,440 But the teacher is helping us see that even our best efforts 469 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,280 can't guarantee what happens after we're gone. 470 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:41,600 Just to give you one more bummer burrito before we go on to the 471 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,760 next section of scripture, I would just tell you this. 472 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:46,480 Even if you have somebody you're going to leave it to and you 473 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,960 feel confident that they're going to do well with it, you 474 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:53,480 still don't know. You still don't know anyway. 475 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:58,320 All right, verses 22 and 23, this is called the weight of 476 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:05,360 work, the weight of work. And that's WEIGHT, he says. 477 00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:08,280 So what do people get in this life for all their hard work and 478 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:09,720 anxiety? Now we're talking. 479 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:13,880 Their days of Labor are filled with pain and grief, and even at 480 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,520 night, their minds cannot rest. It's all meaningless. 481 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:20,240 We're just going to sit on these two verses for a minute because 482 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:23,760 the teacher is is giving us a much better view here. 483 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,040 Now, it's not just the work, but it's the anxiety that comes 484 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,240 along with the work. And I think many of us, if not 485 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:30,560 all of us, have felt that before. 486 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:32,960 Even if it's something you love doing, there's anxiety that 487 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:34,400 comes along with doing your work. 488 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:37,720 And so up to this point, he's talked about building and 489 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,400 achieving and leaving things behind. 490 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,040 And now he's going to describe what life actually feels like 491 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,440 from the inside. Not the finished product, but 492 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:48,120 now he's talking about it while he's still in the process. 493 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,840 Before he was looking at it from the perspective of once work is 494 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,760 done, if that was real, God bless you. 495 00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:00,240 But now he's talking about it while still in the process. 496 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,080 And So what he describes here is not just the progress that he's 497 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,720 made, it's the weight of his work. 498 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,040 That question sounds pretty simple on the surface, but 499 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,760 carries everything that we've been walking through so far. 500 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,600 What do people get for all their work in this life and all their 501 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:18,080 anxiety? It's the kind of question that 502 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:19,800 doesn't really get asked normally in the middle of 503 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,720 success, but it's normally in the quieter moments. 504 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,240 So if you're really good in the shop or where you work or 505 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,920 whatever, you don't think about it in the same way. 506 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,400 But maybe once you get a loan and the mind gets quiet, these 507 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:35,040 are the kind of things that maybe wake you up in the middle 508 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,160 of the night where you're thinking when the noise fades. 509 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,080 So from the outside, a life of hard work can look impressive 510 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,440 and it can look productive. It can look successful. 511 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,320 That's your blank right there. It can even look meaningful. 512 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,080 But from the inside, it can feel different. 513 00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,120 He's describing days that are filled with labour, but there's 514 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:54,920 something heavy underneath them. And so that word that's 515 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,200 translated as labour points to an effort that drains. 516 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,200 It drains rather than restores. He's talking about work that 517 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:04,560 takes more out of you than it gives back. 518 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,720 Who hasn't been there? He says their days of labour are 519 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:12,200 filled with pain and grief. Well, the Hebrew word for for 520 00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,800 pain here is Kaab. And it's not just pain. 521 00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:19,600 It's a pain that lingers, an ache that lingers. 522 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,920 So what he's saying is it's not just a moment of difficulty. 523 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:25,800 It's not a paper cut or something. 524 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,040 It's when you've worked and you go home and you are sore, 525 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:32,760 something that settles in and it stays with you. 526 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:34,840 And over time, it starts to wear on you. 527 00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:37,240 And it doesn't stop when the work day ends. 528 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,880 He says they're, you know, even at night, their minds cannot 529 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:41,240 rest. And that line feels 530 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:45,360 uncomfortably familiar to me. The body might slow down, but 531 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:49,040 the mind keeps moving, replaying conversations, solving problems, 532 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,680 carrying responsibility into moments that were meant. 533 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:57,520 Forrest. And so the Hebrew word here is 534 00:25:57,520 --> 00:25:59,240 Newark. Newark. 535 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:03,040 It means to settle down or to come to a place of stillness. 536 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,960 Stillness, the teachers describing a life where 537 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:13,880 stillness never quite arrives, which is pretty scary when you 538 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:16,440 think about it. I was just talking to a couple 539 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,960 of y'all before this session and saying, you know, the problem 540 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:20,960 for me is once I stop moving, I go to sleep. 541 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:26,160 It sounds good and it makes me feel productive and it makes me 542 00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,520 wonder if I'm tending to my body the way I'm supposed to when I 543 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,680 am moving. It is helpful on an airplane, 544 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,760 though. A lot of people, I want you to 545 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,800 hear me on this, A lot of people think that they're tired from 546 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,720 what they do, but they're really tired from what they carry. 547 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:46,160 And there's a really big difference there. 548 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,080 You might love what you do, but if you're carrying expectations 549 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:53,600 and pressure and the need to succeed and the fear of failing 550 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:57,720 or falling behind, all of it follows us beyond work and into 551 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,240 our thoughts. So the world often teaches that 552 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,320 this weight is normal, even necessary. 553 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:06,360 The constant pressure is simply the cost of being productive. 554 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,680 The rest can wait until everything is finished. 555 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:13,720 But Ecclesiastes would gently challenge us here in that way of 556 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:17,480 thinking, and help us see that I was texting the staff this this 557 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:19,720 morning. When work becomes the place that 558 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,840 we look for, meaning it doesn't just fill our days, it begins to 559 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:27,480 fill our minds. When our identity gets tied to 560 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:29,640 what we produce, the work never really ends, does it? 561 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,000 It follows us into the quiet, into the night, into our 562 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,600 relationships and all the spaces that were meant for peace. 563 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:38,760 I would just before I go to the last section of Scripture here 564 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,480 today, I would just really tell you as a pastor, don't let the 565 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,800 places that God has designed for peace get filled with anything 566 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,240 other than peace. They're designed to refresh you 567 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,560 and renew you. You don't work hard so that you 568 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,040 can rest. You rest and then work from the 569 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:53,840 place of rest. It's the whole point of the 570 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:55,880 Sabbath. It's a message for another day. 571 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,480 The last couple of verses are on the gift of enjoyment. 572 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:06,680 Ecclesiastes 224, he says. So I decided there is nothing 573 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,520 better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction 574 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:15,240 and work, and now we're talking. Then I realized that these 575 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:20,640 pleasures are from the hand of God, for who can eat or enjoy 576 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,560 anything apart from Him? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and 577 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,480 joy to those who please Him. But if a Sinner becomes wealthy, 578 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,880 God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please 579 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,080 him. This too is meaningless, like 580 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,280 chasing the wind. Now just to remind you that word 581 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,200 meaningless or vanity, the original word is heaven, and it 582 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,960 was indicative of like a smoke ring or something that had a 583 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:43,920 form, maybe your breath on a cold morning you can see it. 584 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,040 And when you try to grab ahold of it, you, it's fleeting. 585 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,880 You can't grab ahold of it. So he's not meaning it has no 586 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:50,720 value. He's saying it's so fleeting, 587 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:52,680 it's so brief. After everything the teacher 588 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:54,960 has. Explored pleasure, achievement, 589 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,800 wealth, influence, and the weight of work. 590 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:00,040 This moment feels different, doesn't it? 591 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,800 It's like the first happy moment we've gotten in two chapters. 592 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:06,480 It's not driven by his frustration or exhaustion. 593 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,160 It's a realization that is settling in after his long 594 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,640 search. In multiple experiments, he has 595 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,560 chased meaning in everything that he could build and control 596 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,080 and experience. And now he begins to see 597 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:21,600 something that he couldn't see before he intentionally looked 598 00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:24,200 for it. And he starts by saying there's 599 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,680 nothing better than to enjoy, and then fill in the blank 600 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:28,360 there. Well, not literally, I don't 601 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,160 have a blank there. But at first glance, it sounds 602 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:34,000 like he's returning to the same idea he already tested earlier. 603 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,040 But it's not the same kind of enjoyment. 604 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,760 Earlier enjoyment was something he tried to create or control or 605 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:41,360 chase, something he did on his own. 606 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,600 Now it's something that he recognizes as a gift. 607 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,800 Now he recognizes it as a gift, and that changes everything. 608 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,960 In other words, if you had a great dinner tonight and you 609 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:54,840 were stressed all day because you wanted to produce it and you 610 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:57,040 felt like the pressure was on you to make a great dinner, you 611 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:58,440 probably didn't enjoy it as much. 612 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:01,480 If you were able to walk in somewhere and there was a hot 613 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:03,680 plate sitting down for you and you knew you were taking care of 614 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,520 you, recognize it as a gift probably felt a little better, 615 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:09,720 right? And so that's the whole concept 616 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:11,160 here. When you recognize that every 617 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,760 single blessing that you've got in your life is a gift, it 618 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:16,920 becomes a little bit more than a Christian bumper sticker, 619 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:18,880 doesn't it? Now it's something that you 620 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,480 value. The teacher says that there is 621 00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:24,640 value in enjoying food and drink and even work itself. 622 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:27,800 These are simple things. They're everyday things. 623 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:30,200 They're the kind of things that a lot of people overlook while 624 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:31,680 they're chasing something bigger. 625 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,200 And we lose focus on the good now because we're looking for 626 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,720 the great tomorrow. But now. 627 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:38,320 He is able to. Look at them differently. 628 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,480 And he realizes that these moments of satisfaction were not 629 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,320 produced through his effort. There's something to be received 630 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:46,680 because these pleasures are from the hand of God. 631 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:50,400 So the hand of God is a way of describing God as the source. 632 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:53,760 What the teacher once tried to manufacture through his own 633 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,960 effort, that's your blank. Through his own effort. 634 00:30:56,960 --> 00:31:00,240 Now he recognizes it as something that can only be 635 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,560 given. Can only be given what he's. 636 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,520 Saying is the ability to. Enjoy life is not something that 637 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:09,240 we earn by building the right life. 638 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:12,520 It's something God places into our lives as a gift. 639 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,160 And he even asks this question. Who can eat or enjoy anything 640 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,680 apart from Him? Well, the implied answer is 641 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:20,560 simple. It's a blank. 642 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,480 But the implied answer is what? Nobody. 643 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:27,840 Who? Can eat or enjoy anything. 644 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:31,360 Apart from the Lord, nobody can. You can have everything and 645 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,080 still lack the ability to enjoy it. 646 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,560 You can build a full life and still feel empty inside of it. 647 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,960 Empty. Enjoyment's not guaranteed by. 648 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:46,720 What you have, it is dictated by your relationship with God, and 649 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:52,160 the word for joy here is Simcha. Got to pronounce it right. 650 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:55,200 It. Has the whole idea of. 651 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:59,600 Gladness that comes from within. You've heard Preacher say this. 652 00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:02,160 Before, and I'm one of them. But happiness and joy are not 653 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,000 the same thing. Happiness is circumstantial, 654 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,640 right? It happens based on the 655 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,800 surroundings or the moment. But joy is something that comes 656 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:12,040 from within. It's a contentment. 657 00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,160 It's not dependent on circumstances alone. 658 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,400 So this is the kind of enjoyment that is found somewhere deeper 659 00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:19,400 than the things that are happening on the surface of our 660 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,280 life. And the teachers no longer 661 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:24,360 looking for meaning and what he can build or achieve. 662 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,680 He's beginning to recognize that meaning and enjoyment come from 663 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,200 God himself. Your. 664 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:31,480 Last blank here is is. This. 665 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,360 Renewing our minds means learning to receive life instead 666 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:39,120 of trying to control it. This. 667 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,920 Is not a one time. Switch of your thinking. 668 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:43,880 This is something you're going to have to work on for a little 669 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,320 bit, but it means recognizing that your work, your food, your 670 00:32:47,320 --> 00:32:51,360 relationships, all of your daily moments, they are all empty. 671 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:55,000 I don't care how much you love them, they're all empty unless 672 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:57,680 you. Recognize them as a gift. 673 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,120 From the hand of God, the second that you turn your food, your 674 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,920 work, your relationships into something that is meant to be 675 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:07,200 ultimate or provide the meaning of your life, when you try to 676 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,640 force them to carry the weight of your meaning, they'll 677 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,320 collapse under that pressure and you'll learn. 678 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:12,960 You'll lose even the good that you have. 679 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:15,600 But the teacher's teaching us how to restore it. 680 00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:19,080 He's showing us that meaning is not found in chasing more, but 681 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,000 in recognizing what's already been given. 682 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,680 And he reminds us that life under the sun still carries some 683 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:26,520 problems. We all know this. 684 00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,680 Wealth can shift, outcomes can change, and control is never 685 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,360 fully ours. That thread. 686 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:34,080 Is going to remain. Throughout all of Ecclesiastes, 687 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,160 but for the first time we get to see a glimpse of something 688 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:39,080 stabilizing here. Our fulfilment has to be found 689 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,000 in what God gives us, not something built, something 690 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,960 received. And just so you know, before we 691 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:48,040 cut the live stream next week, when we do meet, and we will 692 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,880 meet next week, normally the first Wednesday's a night of 693 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,920 worship, but with two services on Resurrection Sunday, we're 694 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,280 not doing a night of worship there because we don't want our 695 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:58,880 whole worship team to collectively die at the same 696 00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,800 time. So we love them and we honor 697 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:03,240 them. So we'll continue the series. 698 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,680 It will be the entire Chapter 3. And that's one of the most 699 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:09,440 familiar parts of Ecclesiastes because this is the one. 700 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,719 There's a time to live, a time to die, a time to dance. 701 00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,199 It's all of this. And if you're of a certain age, 702 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:17,800 then you remember a song by the birds that was heavily inspired 703 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:19,800 by this. I'm not of that age. 704 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,880 I just know about it. And this is where we'll go. 705 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:24,239 And we'll, we'll cut the live stream. 706 00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:26,239 We'll do group discussion here in about 30 minutes. 707 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:27,520 We'll have some worship time together.