Who Can Have Enjoyment?
Sermon Recording
Sermon Outline
Speaker: Rev. Scott Strickman
Sermon Series: Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes 2 (ESV)
1 I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. 2 I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” 3 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. 4 I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 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. 8 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 sons of man.
9 So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me. 10 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. 11 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.
12 So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. 14 The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. 15 Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. 16 For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! 17 So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
18 I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, 19 and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. 20 So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, 21 because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. 22 What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? 23 For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.
24 There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 26 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.
Sermon Outline
Is joy something we should expect, desire, or pursue?
1. What life do you want to live?
v1-3 “I will test you… till I might see what was good for the children of man to do”
v9 “I became great and surpassed all”
v11 “behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind”
2. How do you get that life?
v12 “what can the man do who comes after the king?”
v13 “I saw that there was more gain in wisdom”
v19 “he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom”
vv17-18 “I hated”; v23 “all his days are full of sorrow”
3. Who can give us this life?
v24 “there is nothing better…”
vv24-25 “…from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”
v26 “the business of gathering and collecting”
Prayer of Confession
Generous and merciful Father, we have gravely misunderstood our world, our lives, our task, our end. In our desperate searching to find life, we have found ourselves lost. We have admired and followed people whose success is superficial. We have wrongly believed that acquiring knowledge and working hard would mean we could gain life without needing you. In our striving to earn, we have gained nothing of what we truly need. Forgive us all of our sins; our foolish thoughts, our foolish deeds. All good comes from you. Give us the life we can’t earn, the joy we can’t grasp, the true wisdom that comes from Christ alone. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
Who models success for you? Is there anyone who lives well and you seek to emulate? What is appealing about those people? What is compelling about them or what they do?
What is joy and how do you get it? Where does joy fit into any aspirations or plans you have? When do you experience joy, and what factors are present when you do?
Can human beings have satisfying lives apart from God?
If faith in God doesn’t mean instant success or satisfaction, or avoiding the hardships of life, why live by faith?
Is there an alternative to striving ceaselessly and burning out, or doing nothing?
What is the appeal of a passive life? What is the appeal of a life of hard work? What are the pitfalls of either?
What is the nature of the life Jesus models and teaches about? What distinguishes the king in the Kingdom of God? What values, priorities or ways are distinct from living in our world without reference to God?
What about the life of Jesus is unique to him? What has Jesus done that we are to imitate?
How do you cultivate a way of life that is grounded in God, His goodness and generosity? What are aspects of a mind-set that understands life rooted in God?
What practices and habits will help you live an active life that leads to true gain, rather than sacrificing yourself for what is of little value?
When can you pause for enjoyment? What kinds of times or occasions would you benefit from stopping to recognize God’s provision and rejoice in it?