SERIES: Ecclesiastes
TEXT: Ecclesiastes 9:1-12
MESSAGE: “Our Real Country”
Q: What’s the trajectory of your life?
“Together we will take the road that leads into the West, and far away will find a land where both our hearts may rest.” — J.R.R Tolkien (Two Towers)
“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it until now…come further up, come further in!” — C.S. Lewis
v. 7 — “GO, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.”
“This verse is actually the book of Ecclesiastes in a nutshell. It reveals the way in which the Preacher looks at the world as we know it and takes us to the heart of his purpose in writing Ecclesiastes. He wrote his book to smash into tiny pieces our idea that we can be like God. We aspire to have it all, know it all, do it all, achieve it all, be happy forever, have all the answers, never be left scratching our head, and be remembered by all for all time. That’s what we hope for. But what guarantee is there that we won’t go under a bus tomorrow? If you knew that would happen to you tomorrow, how would you live today? That is the whole point of Ecclesiastes. The life you have today comes from God’s hand as a gift.” — David Gibson
TEXT: Ecclesiastes 9:1-12
Q: How are we led to our real country into today’s text? In understanding…(1. Two Paths, one fate 2. Two ways, one fulfillment 3. Two hands, one lasts)
1. Two Paths, one fate (v. 1b-6)
“Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.”
“For the wages of sin is death…” — Romans 6:23a
“To die well means I realize that every time I see a coffin, it preaches to me that the world is broken and fallen and under the curse of death —and I am a part of it. It means I realize that I am not owed three score years and ten by God…To die well means realizing that from the day I was born I lived under the sentence of death…” — David Gibson
2. Two Ways, one fulfillment (v. 7-9)
“Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.”
“The fulfillment of our earthly dreams can—and often will—bring us happiness. I’ve experienced a lot of happiness in reaching my writing goals, but I’m not deeply content with my life because of them. That’s because our dreams are meant to fail us; they’re meant to let us down. They’re meant to ultimately disappoint us because they won’t ever satisfy the deep longing of our heart. God alone can do that: “For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:9). Fame and fortune might make us feel important for a little while, but only in relationship with God will we know true pleasure and abiding joy: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).” — Ann Swindell
3. Two Hands, one lasts (v. 1a; v. 10)
“But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God…Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.”
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” — 1 Corinthians 10:31
“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” — Martin Luther
TAKEAWAYS: In this New Year, I ask God to…
- Redeem my empty pursuits
“Why are we so difficult to please? Why is satisfaction such a mysterious prize we can never seem to grasp? Because that’s how God made us. He made us with insatiable dreams and desires that can’t be satisfied by earthly goods or worldly success. And although it might not feel like it, it is God’s love toward us that keeps us from earthly satisfaction. It’s his kindness. Why? Because the longing that we feel for satisfaction is meant to point us toward the only thing that truly will quench our thirst for meaning and joy: relationship with Christ.” — Ann Swindell
- Restore my wasted years
“I will restore the years that the locust has eaten” — Joel 2:25
- Renew my vision for life
“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown. And he replied: Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way. So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.” — Minnie Louise Haskins
Gospel: How can we trust God? Because his hands aren’t just any hands, they’re nail scarred hands.
“Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” — John 20:27