First Mennonite Church
June 9, 2019
Gaining the Whole World and Losing the Soul?
Text: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11; Matthew 16: 26, 27
The words of the Qoheleth, translated, “Teacher” or “Preacher,” have attracted thinkers of all kind and throughout the ages. Not only do skeptics find food for thought in Ecclesiastes, but also to a certain degree, believers too. Believers, the majority of them, are baffled by the view of life presented that book. Could it be what we see in the life of others and even our own experiences of life that in part we find the views of life presented in Ecclesiastes somewhat redundant or too realistic and hard to accept? The Teacher’s approach to his subject matter addressed in Ecclesiastes could explain why we have difficulty finding a silver lining in its message. The Teacher begins with the rhetorical question: What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? The obvious answer would be a resounding, “Nothing!” The idea that nothing will matter, when all is done and said in life, is kind of discouraging. For us who have been inculcated the value of good work ethics, the importance of frugality, and generosity, the Teacher’s words turn everything on its head.
The lenses through which the Teacher considers life would indeed lead to the troubling conclusion that life is indeed meaningless and futile. The Teacher concludes that everything is cyclical. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west and hurries again to start its unending cycle once again. The Teacher notices that the streams and rivers follow their watery course to the ocean just to return to where they started from.
Humans are born only to die. Wealth and possessions are left behind.
Life, both human and animal, end and nobody remembers them after some time.
In philosophy, there is the idea of absurdity. The idea of absurdity arises when finding meaning to life becomes futile. Of course, that is when finding meaning to life apart from God. Even the Teacher admits that when he writes:
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil. (12:13, 14).
Life is indeed meaningless apart from God.
In the Parable of the Rich Fool, Jesus tells, we find an echo to the question the Teacher raises: What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? In Matthew 16, Jesus tell the following story:
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
The man was already rich. The bountiful crop only added to his wealth. It seems he had been a successful farmer but his goal was to get to that point where he could have an easy life, eat, drink and be merry. Doesn’t that sound like what we hear every day? Is it not that what our culture tells us should be our goal in life? Is it not what to some degree we have also come to believe life is about?
The fool rich seemed not concern for anyone else but himself. God was out of the picture. The neighbor was out of the picture too. The fool man’s selfishness is reflected in the series of ‘I’s” and “my” in his internal discourse. ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
The lesson in this parable is that life does not consist in the abundance of things we can gather in life. The lesson is that we cannot guarantee our own security in life. But the most important lesson in this parable is that life reaches out beyond the scope of this material world, time, and even myself as an individual. Life deal with the spiritual, eternal, and the other.
In the Teacher’s summary of his teaching he warns to “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.”
Jesus summarized the commandments in two: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)
God has blessed us. Everything we are and we have is a gift from the Lord. When we are mindful of this truth about life, we live in the fear of the Lord. But we live in a culture that tells us to live in self-indulgence—buy, consume, and be happy. But those who live by that principle do not go far before they realize that despite everything they can afford to buy and enjoy, life seems meaningless. Life continues to be empty and without satisfaction. God has put in us a spirit, which has the ability to be in relationship with God himself. Each one of us is part of the human family. God has given us the possibility of a live in relationship. Both with God and our neighbor. In that regard, who we are and what we have are gifts from God to honor him and to bless others. When we honor God with what we have and when we put to use what we have to bless others, the fruit of our labor becomes means to express gratitude to God and means to serve the neighbor.
What is our goal in life? What do we want to leave as our legacy? The Teacher’s question: What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? And Jesus’ question, What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Are soul-searching question about our purpose in life. These questions are not only a critique to our culture’s misplaced goal in life, but they also are reminders that there is much more than this earthly life. As believers in the Lord, the questions, What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? And, What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Pushes us to go against the cultural trend.
Let me close with the words of Paul to the Colossians: Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Now . . . this is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil. (12:13, 14).
Living a life of gratitude, generosity, and humility might not bring us glory in this life. But when the Day of Judgment comes and when Christ appears in his glory, our glory will be revealed in him. Let us strive to achieve that glory. Amen!
Pastor Romero