Does your life have any real purpose and meaning? Is there any real satisfaction to be found in life? These are the questions that everyone in every part of the world asks at some point. No doubt these questions have haunted our minds as well. And yet they’re questions that as believers we may be afraid to ask. Maybe we’re fearful of asking such questions because we ‘know’ we shouldn’t think them. The man who works 40-50 hours a week at a job that doesn’t necessarily change the world wonders if there is purpose. The wife who changes diapers, does dishes, and keeps her house clean asks these questions. And yet we might never ask them aloud because we feel they shouldn’t be asked. Then our silence leads us to wonder if we’re the only ones thinking about these things.

Well, there is good news. The Bible asks these questions. Specifically the book we will be studying over the next four weeks asks these questions. In fact, Ecclesiastes specifically asks and answers the question, “Is there any meaning and purpose in our lives in the midst of a world that will go on without us once we’re gone and that is filled with so much injustice?” Therefore, if you’ve been afraid to ask this question, then fear no more; God has asked it for us through the pen of Solomon.

This might cause excitement in us as we think of studying such a book. However, as exciting as the thought seems, if we begin to look at it ourselves (as I trust you’ve done this week) we will soon find that it is a very difficult book to understand. We might wonder if Ecclesiastes is anything more than a tirade by someone who could be characterized as the most pessimistic and cynical man to have lived. And on top of that, its structure is difficult to discern. The author gives us few clues at how to outline his book. If Ecclesiastes is a great blessing to study, it is equally a great challenge.

In August of 1527 the plague was wreaking havoc in much of Germany. Therefore, a great number of students and professors left the university at Wittenberg. However, Martin Luther continued lecturing to a small group of students who had stayed behind. He decided to lecture in Ecclesiastes. By October Luther wrote, “Solomon the preacher is giving me a hard time, as though he begrudged anyone lecturing on him.”¹ I’ve felt that way at times as well this week and in the weeks leading up to it. Ecclesiastes is simply a difficult book to outline and to understand. However, I believe we will find our labors over these next four weeks well worth it.

Here is what I believe is going on in Ecclesiastes. It appears that Solomon has decided to attempt to understand the purpose and meaning and life from the perspective of the unbeliever. That is to say, he sets out on a mission to understand what can be gained from life, but he limits himself simply to that which is ‘under the sun.’ And by ‘under the sun’ he means with no reference to God or eternity. Again, he is considering this from the perspective of one who denies the faith, one who is an unbeliever. As he works his way through this journey, however, he pauses three times before his final conclusion to give us report in which he gives us a glimpse of what his final answer is going to look like. And these reports along the way show us that apart from God life is simply meaningless and without purpose. We find these reports in 2:24-26, 5:18-20, 8:15, and his final conclusion in 12:13-14. Therefore, this morning we begin on the first leg of this four week journey in attempting to understand if there is value and meaning in life and where it is.

I believe we will find it helpful as believers because it will drive home the meaninglessness of many things in the world that are tempting to us. I believe we will find this book to be a weapon in our fight against sin. And for the unbeliever, it will tackle your questions and doubts about the Christian faith head-on.

So, maybe you’re here today, and you’re not a believer. You no doubt think this is nonsense. Why would we devote our lives to live unto a God whom we’ve never seen for a life after this one that none of us has visited? You no doubt think it a waste even to gather here on Sunday mornings. After all, we are giving up part of a day in which you don’t have to work. Already at least five days of our week are taken up with work, and now we commit one of our free days to gathering, singing, praying, and hearing someone lecture for 35-45 minutes.

So, let’s then consider life on your terms. Let’s see if your criticism for wasting life holds up when your life and practices are the ones scrutinized. What rich meaning and purpose is in life outside of considering God and eternity? What significance is found in life if we only evaluate what we can see with our eyes, what is ‘under the sun’? Solomon gives us his answer in this book. First, we see his thesis.

We will not find purpose, meaning, or value in this life if we consider only what we see with our eyes (1.1-11)

The author begins by identifying himself and then pointing out his thesis that if you look simply under the sun, the life is meaningless. He writes, “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (vv. 1-3).

Then he goes on to point out in verses 4-8 that the earth and its cycles keep going on even after we die. The world keeps going on without us. And there is no true satisfaction for us in the time we’re here. He writes, “A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” (vv. 4-8).

There is simply the endless running cycle of things in this earth, and yet never any real satisfaction and significance. And to top it all off, we forget what has come before us. Therefore, anything we think is new is really simply proof that we forget those who have come before us and what they have achieved. Again, Solomon writes, “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after us” (vv. 9-11).

The first reality that we should see if we try to consider meaning, purpose, and value to our lives apart from God and eternity is that our lives will soon be forgotten among the coming generations. If you hope to find meaning for life simply ‘under the sun’ then the devastating reality for your hopes is that you will one day be forgotten.

This past winter Lili and I were home visiting my parents when my dad talked me into cleaning out a storage shed with him. It was cold and dirty and consisted of throwing broken chairs and things into a landfill. It was not necessarily memorable work, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. The reason that task still sticks in my mind is because of the conversation my dad and I had while we were hurling these items into the ground. After we had started loading the stuff up to haul it off, my dad told me that he had paid to keep this storage shed and this stuff in it for something like twelve years. He had paid quite a bit of money to do that, and now we were throwing it away. He had paid a large sum of cash to store for years what we were now calling trash. Therefore, I asked the obvious question, “Why?”

My dad’s first answer was that it took him that long to convince someone to come help him throw it away. But his more serious answer which followed was that these items belonged to his family from generations back. He began to point out that some of the chairs we were throwing away had been hand-made by his grandfather, great grandfather, and great-great grandfather. He pointed to items that he remembered sitting in his house when he was growing up that his mother would point to and tell stories about how they were made or some story revolving around them. Then my dad said, “I’ve held on to these for a long time because of stories I can’t even remember and because of connections with people my children don’t even know. And some day somebody will be throwing away my junk that was held onto by someone else and they won’t even know who I am.”

And you know what? He’s right. And I could have made the same statement myself. Yet when I heard my dad say that I almost wanted to convince him that we should stop loading this stuff up, put it back in the storage bin, and start making payments again. But there would be no purpose to that.

This is exactly the point that Solomon is making. If all you bank on for hope and meaning is this life and what is ‘under the sun,’ then you need to realize that life will move on just fine once your gone, and eventually you will be forgotten. My failure to name the names of those people my dad was referring to making those chairs we threw into the landfill that day is evidence of it. Even the most famous of individuals may jar us a bit when they die, but soon they are forgotten as well. If not in this generation or the next, eventually they too will be forgotten.

So, if you think that you can find meaning, purpose, and value in this life alone without a look to eternity, then you need to take off your rose-colored glasses, says Solomon.

But if you think Solomon is drawing a conclusion that he doesn’t have the authority to declare, then Solomon points out his qualifications for making this statement in the next section of text. In 1:12-2:23 we see:

Seeking everything the world upholds will only bring emptiness (1:12-2:23)

In 1:12-2:11 Solomon gives us his qualifications for being able to say this. First of all, he is someone who was on top of the world and able to endeavor on this journey to find out what life means. He writes, “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” (1:12-18).

He was king, he had applied himself to this question of the meaning, purpose, and value of life, he had used his means to observe life, he had gained more wisdom and knowledge than all who had come before him, and he realized that the lack of the world being able to provide purpose and meaning is reality in this world that cannot be changed. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted (v. 15). And the more wisdom and knowledge he gained only brought greater troubles and sorrows.

And no doubt you’ve tasted this as well. Simply maturing in life brings realizations of greater problems and greater needs. Your troubles increase. Thus, Solomon points out that he is qualified to make this statement, and yet his statement still stands. Seeking everything this world has to offer is vanity; it only brings emptiness.

And lest we think he simply wasn’t getting to experience the greatest joys of this world as he was not able to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous, Solomon show us that his lifestyle makes the lifestyle of the rich and famous look like they were below the poverty line, struggling to make it.

Solomon describes his experience, “I said in my heart, \"Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.\" But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, \"It is mad,\" and of pleasure, \"What use is it?\" I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man. So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun” (2:1-11).

He had all the riches you could desire. He sought out the greatest pleasure he could imagine. He withheld nothing from himself that his eyes desire, keeping absolutely no pleasure from himself. He built things and had gardens, and had everything you could desire. The things you might be tempted to covet, he had much more than that. And then he declares that he considered all that he had done in seeking out these things, and he found that it was vanity. It had just brought emptiness. It was like chasing after the wind. There was nothing lasting to be gained in it.

But we might say, if he sought things with more reward than simply riches, or possessions, or music, or possessions, then he might find real meaning, purpose, and value in life. So, Solomon says that he considered wisdom and folly. After all, is there anything higher in life than wisdom? And Solomon acknowledges that indeed “There is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness” (2:13-14). However, if you’re just considering this life and what’s under the sun, then Solomon points out that the same thing happens to the wise person and the foolish person. They both die. There is no endurance remembrance of the wise person over the foolish person. Eventually both are forgotten. So, Solomon says, “I hated life, because of what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and striving after the wind” (2:17).

But what about getting to leave everything to another. That’s a way to guarantee a lasting purpose, meaning, and value to your life. But Solomon points out, not only are you simply able to leave all you have to one after you, but you have no idea whether that person will be a fool or wise. You have no control, and eventually your possessions may be used for foolish spending or to fill a landfill. In the end, what does all your toil and labor get for you in this life? In the end, it is nothing. There’s no lasting satisfaction. You do not rest, and there is nothing lasting.

So, if we are all honest, we must admit that Solomon is right. Yes, it’s a pessimistic view, but is that not because it is realistic? We really all will die eventually, the world will go on without us, our possessions will simply go on to another, and all of our labor in this life will ultimately have no lasting blessing if this life is all there is, if all we see is under the sun. Solomon is right. Life is vanity.

Fine, then is there any hope, purpose, meaning, and value to life? Yes. Lest we become too discouraged Solomon directs us ‘above the sun’ for a second to hint at his conclusion. And it is this:

If all of your life is lived unto God then everything can have meaning and purpose (2:24-26)

Solomon gives us his first conclusion to this point in his journey, writing, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, this too from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind” (2:24-26).

Solomon says that what you should do in this life than to eat, drink, and find enjoyment in your labor. “But how” we might ask, “if all is ultimately meaningless?” Solomon answers, by telling us that this is something we can only have from God’s hand. That is to say, all of us should actually live and find joy in what we’re doing, but we will only do that if we consider all things in relation to God. For apart from God you can’t have enjoyment.

The only way to find real meaning, purpose, and joy in life is to realize that all these things are gifts from God, that all of life must be seen in relation to God, and that God is working all things for his eternal purposes. God is even allowing sinners to gather so that he might one day bless his children.

If we seek meaning in gaining in this life all that our heart desires, we will find it vanity. However, if we will see all of life as a gift from God, realize everything we do is being used by him to fulfill his ultimate purposes and plans, and see everything you do as something done to God’s glory, then and only then will you find meaning in life, and only then will you spend eternity with one beyond the sun.

Therefore, may we see Solomon’s first conclusion in this as an exhortation for the unbeliever to stop looking for meaning in this life alone and look outside of yourself and what you can see to the God who made this world and sent his Son to die and to be raised from the dead that we may eternal life. Bow the knee and infuse meaning into everything you do, even the mundane things, realizing that they can be done to the glory of God.

To the believer, let us:

1. See everything we have as a gift from God and everything we do as being used by God to fulfill his plans. Only then will we find meaning and purpose in life.

2. Use this message by Solomon to go into all the world and bring them the good news of the gospel so that they might begin to look for hope in more than what they can see with their eyes.

3. Use these first two chapters of Ecclesiastes as a weapon in the fight against sin. It is a common temptation to be lured into seeking happiness in those things the world holds up. Solomon, however, had all those things and more, and yet he said that there was only purpose is living your life unto God.

That day when my dad and I were cleaning out the storage unit, I found a cane that belonged to my grandpa, my dad’s dad. And I kept it. But I kept it not because I need a cane or value that piece of wood, but I kept it so that one day I can tell Michael and Marie that this cane belonged to their great grandpa, a man whose life had eternal value because he labored to serve God, taught his children the Word, and lived in such a way to store up blessings, rewards, and treasures that await us in a world where their will be no sun. Amen.

¹Heinrich Bornkamm, trans. E. Theodore Bachmann, Luther in Mid-Career, 1521-1530 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983): 564-65.

LIVING ALL OF LIFE UNTO GOD