"The
main message of the book comes through it's opening statement: "Everything
is meaningless." Seeing the utter futility of life is the first step
to an encounter with God. Many are not ready to meet with the Lord until they
have been silenced by the futility of this world in which they live. I heard
someone say that the first book of the Bible everyone should read is the book
of Ecclesiastes -- because it silences you. When we see as clearly as
Solomon saw that the world does not provide us with the life for which our
souls were created, then we are more likely to turn to the true source of
happiness -- the eternal God Himself. One of the reasons why some of us
do not know God well is because we have never been convinced of the utter
futility of trying to find life in things. We have not been silenced. We must
let Ecclesiastes silence us, and and in that silence we may experience a deeper
awareness of God...
One
of the reasons why Solomon uses such forceful language...is to break through
our defensive attempts to avoid reality. It was T. S. Elliot who once
said: "Humankind cannot bear too much reality." Psychologists warn
that we should be careful about stripping away people's defenses, as coming
face to face with reality too quickly can cause those who are fragile to slide
into depression. The author of Ecclesiastes seems unconcerned about this,
however, and tells us over and over again, and with deep conviction that life,
"under the sun" is futile...
He
tells us how his determination to find purpose for living led him to deep and
serious study. But study, and trying to grasp the meaning of the universe by
the intellect alone, proved also to be futile. He says that it is like
"chasing after the wind" (chap. 1:17).... Yet if education, intellectualism,
and philosophy are not the routes to making life work, then what is? Perhaps
(say some) life can be found in pleasure. Not so, says Solomon [and who would
know better than a man who had 700 wives and 300 live in prostitutes?!].
Pleasure pleases, but it is powerless to quench the ache that exists in the
soul.
Solomon
provides us with a list of ways that pleasure can be gained, but he gives all
of them the "thumbs down." The first pleasure is laughter
(2:2). Send in the clowns. Bring on the jokers. Let's hear the
funny one-liners. But as almost everyone knows, those who bring laughter to
thousands are themselves often desperately unhappy. Billy Graham tells
the story of a man who went to a doctor for help with his depression.
"I'll give you something better than anti-depressants," said the
doctor. "Go to see the clown at the local circus. He has just arrived in
the town and is sending people into hysterics." The man looked at the
doctor and dolefully said, "I am that clown."
If
laughter cannot satisfy, then perhaps drink will help. "I tried
cheering myself with wine," Solomon says (2:3). But clearly that did not
satisfy either. He then threw himself in a great round of activity -- great
projects and achievements like building a house for himself, planting
vineyards, purchasing male and female slaves, buying up herds and flocks,
amassing silver and gold, and finally equipping himself with a harem -- what he
describes as, "the delights of the heart of a man" (Chap. 2, v
4-8). He even tried fame and making a name for himself (v.9). But did
these things work? Here's his conclusion: "everything was meaningless, a
chasing after the wind..." He is not saying these things did not
bring pleasure. He is making the point that this kind of pleasure just does not
last...
Facing
the realities of life can greatly provoke anxiety. The moment when we face the
fact that there is nothing in this world -- no person, place or thing -- that
can meet the deepest ache in our soul, is probably one of the most solemn
moments of our existence. Many can't face that kind of reality so they escape
into such things as fantasies, endless rounds of activity, drink, sensual
pleasures, and so on... Satisfaction in things is found only when they
are seen as being behind God and not in front of Him. When God is not first,
then everything around which we wrap our affections are unsatisfying idols.
There are two paths we can choose: One is to find life in God and enjoy the
provision of His hands; the other is to find life in things, and turn our back
on God. The latter is "meaningless," says Solomon. It's like
"chasing after the wind.'"
I
myself went through a period, in my late teens and early 20's, of trying to
make sense of the world if God did not exist. It was one of the primary
things that drove me into a lengthy period of depression. Thinking God
did not exist made it much easier to sin, but it also made life (and all I did)
meaningless and inconsequential. If there are no eternal consequences for
anything we do, life becomes completely meaningless and somewhat intolerable.
It even led me to entertain thoughts of suicide.
I
still say to this day that the only way one can be an atheist and think life
has meaning is to lie to oneself. To make up what a world without God can
never supply. To be "content" in a life lived apart from God
("under the sun") does not come from asking important questions and
getting satisfying answers, it comes from refusing to ask enough
questions. It comes from being content not to connect the dots, or follow
the path godless thinking to the depressing dead end where it will always lead
when life is considered without reference to God.
I
do not encourage anyone to stop asking questions. I encourage them to ask one
after another after another and not stop! Because I believe (as Solomon
shows and many others have discovered) that at the end of those all those
questions -- if they dare ask them all -- one will run headlong
into the eternal Absolute that stands behind all that exists. The road of truly
seeking does not lead to nothing, it leads through the nothingness of human
futility to the ultimate reality we call God. But we must press things to the
limit, because it's a lesson many can only learn after trying all those other
things and discovering they end in futility and will not satisfy the truly
thirsty soul.
Grace
and Peace, Pastor Jeff
