Life. life under the sun

Hopeful headlines for 2007
Last week, on January 2, the Statesman Journal printed a list of hopeful headlines for the coming year. It is an annual tradition where they create headlines for news stories that they would like to see come true in 2007. Here are some of them:
· Pontoon span relieves West Salem bridge woes
· Potholes forever filled
· Solar power replaces gas in cars
· Troops coming home
· New Delta flights popular at Salem’s McNary field
· All teens drive safely
· Paris Hilton joins Peace Corps ‘Time to give something back’
· Peace at home
· Peace in Darfur
· Peace in Afghanistan
· Peace in Iraq
· Glut of shops cuts coffee tab to 50 cents a cup
· Kroc Center fund drive exceeds goal; family center to open ahead of schedule
And my personal favorite… the headline I would most like to see in 2007…
· Invention quiets cell phones in churches and theaters

New year, new sermon series, new opportunities for growth
Today we begin, with just a brief introduction, our new sermon series through the book of Ecclesiastes. We are calling it, “Life. Making Every Bit Count.” We have also begun our new term for many small group opportunities. We’ll tell you more about that later.
So, what is an ‘ecclesiastes’ anyway? It is a book of the Old Testament, after Psalms and Proverbs and before the Song of Solomon. It is categorized as one of the Poetical Books, along with Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon.

The word ‘ecclesiastes’ is a greek rendering of the Hebrew word ‘qohelet’. Each comes from the root word ‘to call out from’ or ‘to assemble’. They refer to ‘one calling out’, ‘one who assembles’ or ‘one who gathers people together’, the word used for ‘preacher’. ‘Ecclesiastes’ means, ‘the preacher’.

Ecclesiastes: “The Preacher”

I would just like to point out that there is a book in the Bible called, “The Preacher.” There is not a book in the Bible called ‘The Doctor’, or ‘The Movie Star’, or ‘The Sports Hero,’ or ‘The Plumber’, etc. Just ‘The Preacher.’ I just wanted you to know that.

As you will see from the very first words of Ecclesiastes 1:1, this title is very significant. The writer identifies himself as ‘The Preacher’ (or qohelet, or ecclesiastes). He also identifies himself as: the son of David (1:1), king in Jerusalem (1:1), someone who had gained more wisdom than all who were before (1:16), someone who had more wealth and greatness than anyone before him (2:4-9), and someone who set out many proverbs (12:9). For these reasons, Solomon is traditionally and commonly believed to be The Preacher.

Let’s read the first few verses of the book of Ecclesiastes and then talk about an important overview that you must understand in order to read this book.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-9 (NKJV) 1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” 3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun? 4 One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. 5 The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. 6 The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. 7 All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. 8 All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.

So, what a depressing start, huh? What a preacher! What if you went to church, the preacher got up and preached, “Vanity of vanities. All is hopeless. Everything is meaningless. There’s nothing new anywhere. Everything is futile. Life has no meaning.” And then he said, “Okay, now let’s take the offering…” Would you be encouraged? I don’t think so.

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES
That is why we need this introduction. If you don’t understand what I’m about to tell you, then Ecclesiastes is the most depressing and confusing book in the Bible.

The last time we read the book of Ecclesiastes in our Life Journal reading, Dalene told me she was getting depressed from reading it. I shared these things with her and she said, “Oh, now it makes sense. You should share that with everyone at church.” Who am I to argue? So, here we are.

1. Two key phrases to note:

There are two phrases that you will see repeatedly and uniquely in the book of Ecclesiastes.

· Vanity of Vanities.

The word ‘vanity’ (is not a small dressing table in front of a mirror), is from the Hebrew word for breath or vapor and is used for meaningless, empty, vanity. When spend hours, thought or money on something that has no return we say, “It was all in vain.” That’s what the meaning is here.

This Hebrew word for vanity is used 97 times in the Old Testament. Of those, 58 are in this one book, the book of Ecclesiastes. In other words, 58 times in Ecclesiastes and only 39 times in all of the rest put together. You can say it is a major theme of this book.

Now, put it together twice and you have ‘vanity of vanities’. This same way of expressing an extreme is used in the phrase ‘holy of holies’. It is a statement of extreme meaninglessness. It is used only three times in all of scripture. All three are in the book of Ecclesiastes.

· Under the Sun.

This is also a very unique phrase. It is used 29 times in scripture. Every single one of those references is in the book of Ecclesiastes.

2. Two essential understandings to gain:

The understanding of this book comes when we put those two key phrases together. Apart… nothing. Together… one of the most powerful messages for us today out of the pages of scripture.

· If this life is all there is, then nothing makes sense.

The context of the comments in this book are stated again and again: under the sun. So, all of the observations and statements of wisdom are made with this context in mind, life under the sun.

According to Genesis chapter one, God created the sun and the moon on the fourth day of creation. (There was already light, but not a sun or moon.) According to the book of Revelation, there will come a day when the sun will not be needed anymore, because God will be our light.
What are the ‘days under the sun’? They are everything between Genesis 1:16 and Revelation 22:5. Individually, the ‘days under the sun’ are more specifically from the time someone spanks you on the behind and you start crying and take your first breath until somebody else closes the lid on your coffin. This book says if that is all there is, and nothing more, then everything we do is futile, it is meaningless, it doesn’t make sense.

· If there is an eternity, then everything has great meaning.

The converse of that is also true. If there is an eternity. If life is more than just what we live and experience and know ‘under the sun’, then that changes everything and it changes it dramatically.

Don’t fool yourself. Your life is more than a 70 or 80 year practical joke only if there is more. And there is. And it gives new meaning to every second ‘under the sun.’

3. Two critical errors to avoid:

Very quickly we will make practical application that will apply to every other study in this series. It is avoiding these two critical errors:

· Living as though this life is all that matters.

One phrase that comes from Ecclesiastes and expresses this lifestyle is: “Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die!” If this life is all there is, that is the ultimate in wisdom. If it is not all there is, then it is the ultimate in foolishness.

· Living as though this life doesn’t matter at all.

Some live as though life is just a series of unrelated, chance occurrences.
When teaching a parable from everyday things like children playing (Matt 11:15-19), or seed being planted in different types of soil (Matt 13:3-9, Mark 4:2-9, Luke 8:5-8), or reaping wheat from a field with weeds in it (Matt 13:37-43), or how a lamp is placed in a room (Mark 4:21-23), or washing hands (Mark 7:15-16), or building a house or going to war or the importance of salt (Luke 14:25-35), He would often say, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Your everyday life has eternal meaning. God speaks meaning everyday.

Romans 15:4 (NKJV) For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Things that happened thousands of years ago have meaning to me today.

Psalm 19:2 (NKJV) Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. Every day and every night things are taking place, not without meaning, but to teach me something that will have meaning on a deeper level – if I have ears to hear.
Let me give you and example from my life.

An impatient father
During the summer, Dalene and I were coast. We can’t go to the coast without going to Mo’s and the outlet stores. Actually, I could go without going to the outlet stores, but Dalene can’t.
I’m a great shopper. While Dalene was going from store to store, I sat on a bench with a book and read. It was a beautiful summer day.
My attention was drawn to a young father with a little girl. The little girl was being a little girl—playful and energetic. She was enjoying the day and being outdoors. What caught my attention was how impatient and harsh he was to her in his tone and in his words. I found myself becoming ‘righteously indignant’ over his attitude and the way he treated this little girl. Admittedly, I didn’t know the full story, but I felt like I knew enough to be angry with this father. In fact, I was surprised at just how angry I felt. Not that he was abusing her, but he was just so impatient. What could be the big hurry? If he would just loosen up, he would enjoy her more and enjoy himself more. That poor little girl deserves to be appreciated, not to be rushed and treated as an imposition.
I thought about why I felt so strongly and so personal about this impatient dad, and then it hit me. I had two little girls. Too often I treated them as an imposition instead of a blessing. Too often I was in a big, fat hurry for no reason. I wasn’t just mad at this guy, I was mad at myself. How could I have been so impatient and unappreciative? More importantly, how can I make sure that I don’t let that happen to me again?
God spoke to me that day through a father and a daughter walking through the outlet malls. He wants to speak to me and to you everyday. It’s called life.

Conclusion
We are going to go through the book of Ecclesiastes together. We are going to look at life and see what it has to say to us.