Perhaps you’ve heard the one about Roy, the single guy who lived at home and helped his father with the family business. After finding out that upon his father’s passing (who was both sickly and elderly), he stood to inherit a fortune, he decided to find a wife to share the fortune with. One evening at an investment meeting, Roy spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He approached her and said, “I may just look like an ordinary man, but in just a few years when my father passes, I will inherit over $200 million dollars. The woman was quite impressed. She took Roy’s business card and three weeks later became his stepmother!

Lately, in Ecclesiastes, Solomon has been trying to help us make the most of the time that we have here under the sun. And today we are going to focus on how we do so financially. In other words, how do we make the most of the resources that we have during our short life under the sun? In Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, Solomon encourages us to do so by investing wisely. And in order to do so, we must avoid Roy’s folly of getting the cart ahead of the horse. Let’s look at what Solomon has to say:

[1] Cast your bread upon the waters,
for you will find it after many days.
[2] Give a portion to seven, or even to eight,
for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.
[3] If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.
[4] He who observes the wind will not sow,
and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

[5] As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. [6] In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. (Ecclesiastes 11:1-6)

I want you to think about investing along two levels this morning. One is the level that normally comes to mind when you hear the word investing. For example, “casting your bread upon the waters” and “giving a portion to seven or eight” could refer to investing in overseas trading (1 Kings 9:26-27; 10:22) and diversifying investments.

The other level, however, may not be a way in which you have thought about wise investing. In the Bible, the wisest investments you can make are in God’s kingdom, and the way you make them is by being generous with your resources. That’s something else “casting your bread upon the waters” could mean, with verse 2 unpacking what “casting your bread upon the waters” means. It may mean to “give,” or share a portion with seven or eight others. But rather than see these two possibilities as contradictory, I think we are on solid ground in the Bible to see them as complementary. In other words, in the Bible, generosity is a type of investing, and it is never seen as a net loss for the giver.

[10] I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. [11] Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. [12] I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. [13] I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
[14] Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. [15] And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. [16] Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. [17] Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. [18] I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. [19] And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. [20] To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Philippians 4:10-20 ESV). It’s just one example, but the point is that even sacrificial giving isn’t seen as a loss for the believer. It is gain.

What this means in Ecclesiastes, then, is that being generous is a part of how we make the most of our time under the sun. It’s one of the ways that we find the joy that Solomon has been encouraging us to go after. Isn’t this what the One wiser that Solomon said as well? Jesus said that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) To put it another way, you will be happier and find more joy if you give than if you receive.

The bottom line is that the Bible doesn’t want us to limit our investing to places like our retirement and the stock market. If you do so, you may end up with a large return here under the sun, but you may not be rich towards God (Luke 12:21). The Bible also wants us to make eternal investments in people and in the kingdom of God. So, along with your retirement, you should also be investing in the poor, the widow, the immigrant. You should especially be investing in missions and other ministries that are faithfully making disciples of Jesus.

But how do we make wise investments? One of the keys that this passage is going to give us is that you become a wise investor by living out of what you know rather than what you don’t know. Now, doesn’t just apply to generosity, but you can be the kind of person who lives in fear of what you don’t know, or you can be the kind of person who lives confidently out of what you do know. Solomon doesn’t want to be paralyzed by fear of the unknown when it comes to our living and our investing. Let’s consider each of these categories this morning so that we can be liberated from the paralyzing fear of the unknown to live fearlessly out of the glorious truths of God’s Word.

I. The Unknown

• We don’t know what disaster may happen or when it may happen (2)

In verse 2, this is given as a reason why we should “give a portion to seven, or even eight.” Again, on one level, this means that it is good to diversify your investments. We shouldn’t put all of our eggs into one basket, because we simply don’t know what kind of disaster is coming down the road or when it is going to come. It’s wiser to spread out your investments in several different places so that if one disaster strikes, you have other eggs in other baskets that can prosper.

But looming disaster should also motivate our generosity. You should give today because you may not be in a position to do so tomorrow. Disaster may strike. Stocks may tank. You might get laid off or injured. You may end up in a position where you need others to be generous and share their portions with you. So, if you are able today, then do it. Share today. If you are able to give others in darkness even a tiny ray of light today, do it, because disaster may strike you or them tomorrow. Invest in the kingdom today, because you may not be able to do so tomorrow.

We read about the rich fool earlier (Luke 12:15-21). He gives us a sobering example of what not to do. He got at least three things very wrong. First, he assumed he could predict the future: “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” (19) However, disaster struck that very night: he died (20). Second, he did put all his eggs in one basket (18). And thirdly, he only made earthly investments. He only laid up treasure for himself and, by doing so, was “not rich towards God” (21). God calls him a fool. Let’s learn from his mistakes today.

• We don’t know what the weather is going to do (4)

Solomon says that if you observe the wind and watch the clouds, then you will end up not sowing or reaping. In other words, if you try to predict the weather in order to minimize risk, then you will end up not taking any risks at all. If you wait for the perfect weather, then you won’t end up sowing or reaping anything. Why? Because the weather is unpredictable! Friends, in my experience, not even the weatherman knows exactly what the weather is going to do. That’s why a forecast includes rain chances and not rain certainties. It’s unpredictable. It’s an unknown. You should take it into consideration, but you can’t treat it like a certainty.

What really going on here is that this person is being paralyzed by fear of the unknown. Listen to me, investing is risky. Generosity feels risky. If you wait for perfect conditions to invest money, then you will never invest anything. If you wait until for the perfect financial conditions to tithe or give to kingdom causes, you will never end up doing it. In my opinion, this is one of the main reasons we aren’t more generous people, because see risk when we should see reward. More on that below.

• We don’t know the work of God (5)

Here’s another great example of something that we don’t know. “The way the spirit comes to the bones” of a baby in a mother’s womb is a mystery. The beginning of life is something we can’t see with the naked eye. So is the work of God in this world. As we have said over and over again in Ecclesiastes, God never shows mankind all that He is doing. He is the Sovereign Artist over the loom, and we are under it. He is the Master Designer who sees the maze and we are in it. Here is another analogy. And now comes another analogy. You can’t see all that is going on in a mother’s womb, which is a “work of God,” (Psalm 139). In a mother’s womb, God is doing something, but we can’t see it. Likewise, you can’t know all that God is doing with your kingdom investments, but you can know He is doing something. But I’m getting ahead of myself!

• We don’t know which of our endeavors is going to prosper (6)

Again, just like you can’t wait for the perfect conditions to be generous (4), you also can’t wait for the perfect timing to be generous. Again, Solomon says you should invest and be generous now. If it’s morning time, sow. If it’s evening time, don’t withhold your hand. Why? Because you don’t know which one of those endeavors is going to prosper. The time or season at which you choose to withhold your hand might be the very time or season that it would have prospered. It might even be that they both prosper, which is something you will miss out on if you play it too safely.

In life, we can’t guarantee success and we can’t avoid failure, and so we shouldn’t live for one or in fear of the other. We should simply live today while we have today. You’re going to fail at some point. You’re going to lose. But if you keep at it, you will succeed at some point. This is true for investing and for most of life.

Let’s think about generosity here again. If you wait for the perfect conditions and the perfect timing, then you will never end up being generous. I have had this conversation with so many people in churches before. They are waiting on a certain financial situation to start tithing. They are waiting on a raise. They are waiting for some bills to disappear before they give to missions. They are trying to pay off some earthly possession that is going rust away before Jesus even returns. They are waiting for the kids to get out of college. I could go on.

What Solomon is saying is that if you live like that you may never end up giving and you will certainly miss out on multiple opportunities to invest in God’s kingdom. You don’t wait for the perfect conditions or the perfect timing, because you can’t know with certainty when that will be. You give today and trust God to work out the rest, which brings us to our next point.

II. The Known

• We do know that full clouds rain and fallen trees don’t move (3)

While there are many things that we can’t know, there are some things in life that we can know. For example, when clouds are full of water, it rains and when a tree falls to the north or south, it stays there. That’s not a contradiction to what we said earlier about the weather. We don’t know if the clouds will be full tomorrow or not with certainty, but we do know what when the clouds reach the point of being full, it is going to rain. We can count on that. We can also count on gravity. Unless somebody moves a fallen tree, it will be exactly where it fell tomorrow. The point is that these are knowns, not unknowns, and these are the types of things that we should operate out of.

• We do know that we will reap what we sow (1)

Here is one thing we can know, based upon the promises of God’s Word, that if we do sow, we will reap. Solomon says that if we cast our bread upon the waters, then we will find it again after many days (1). If we sow, then at some point and in some way, we will reap. Now, this does apply to investing, but to me this is one of the most remarkable promises in all of the Bible. And it’s a promise that I don’t think we believe, not nearly enough!

See, here’s the thing about investing in God’s kingdom in some way: there is no long-term risk involved. The return is guaranteed! God’s kingdom will never be shaken. The real question is, how much do you want to reap? Just how rich do you really want to be? Just how much bread do you want to find? The limiting factor is you and me!

Listen to just one passage in 2 Corinthians 9:6-11: [6] The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. [7] Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. [8] And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. [9] As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” [10] He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. [11] You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

Are you seeing this? Again, how much do you want to reap? It’s not about dollar amounts either. It’s about the heart, like we see here. A poor widow can give more than a rich person in God’s eyes.

This reminds me of C.S. Lewis’ quote about being far too easily pleased. This is our problem, unbelief and our fixation on making mud pies in the slums. Our problem is that we think by giving we are losing something or missing out on something. We think it’s keeping us from being as wealthy as we want to be. Lewis, Solomon, and Jesus would say that the real problem is that we don’t want to be rich enough. We don’t want to be happy enough. Otherwise, we would be more generous.

• We know that if we don’t sow, we won’t reap (4)

The opposite reality is a second thing that we can know, that if we do not sow, we will not reap. Note the progression again in verse 4. The guy who is waiting for the perfect weather ends up not sowing in the first line of the proverb, and then in the second line he ends up not what? He ends up not reaping. This is captain obvious. If you till and fertilize your ground but don’t plant any seeds, you won’t pick any vegetables! Likewise, if you don’t invest, you won’t see any returns. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And when it comes to generosity, if you don’t lay-up treasures for yourself in heaven, you will not be rich toward God on the last day. It’s as simple as that.

• We do know that God makes everything (5)

While we don’t know all that God is doing in the world just like we can’t know all that is going on with a baby in a mother’s womb, that doesn’t mean that we can’t know anything about God or what He is doing. Look at verse 5. We do know that God makes everything. Now, that doesn’t just mean that He created (past tense) everything. He did, by simply speaking into nothing, and that should ease our mind today about what we can’t see. If He can make everything out of nothing, then making something out of the little we have to offer should be no problem at all.

But here, the tense is present. He “makes” everything. A baby in a mother’s womb is a present work of God, something He is doing now, along with an unimaginable number of other things. The point is that God is making things today. He is at work today. That is what you do know. That’s a reason to invest. That’s a reason to be generous. You don’t know what this sacrificial risk will mean for you and your family, but you do know that God is going to do something with it and that it will be worth it. You do know that He can be trusted. You do know that He will never leave you or forsake you, but will meet all your needs according to His riches in glory. Bank on what you know, not on what you don’t know.

“Here is wisdom you will not hear anywhere else: take the best of what you have and the best of what you are and give them away. Hold them out in open hands to God and to others. Worldly wisdom builds bunkers and barns to prepare for disaster. Biblical wisdom instead throws open the windows and doors of our homes and builds schools and hospitals and churches, and sees rich Christians become much, much poorer than they might otherwise have been. Ecclesiastes-type wisdom, Christlike wisdom, grows believers who spend their life on living in the world rather than on living in the world so as not to die.”

I love that line about really living, not just living so as not to die. Remember the movie Braveheart? I love lots of lines in that movie, but especially where William Wallace says that “Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.” Solomon wants you to live. Solomon wants you to get as much as you possibly can out of the short life that you live under the sun. The thing that sounds so backwards, however, is how God keeps telling us over and over again that the way to get it is to give it away. He tells us to lose our lives so that we can find them. He tells us it is more blessed to give than to receive. That’s how you truly live.

Jesus Christ was the most alive human being who has ever lived, and yet He modeled the type of generosity that we are talking about today: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV) Did you catch that? There is something else we can “know,” that Jesus became poor for our sake, so that we by His poverty might become rich. Will you come to Jesus today in order to be made rich? And if you have been made rich in Him, will you invest those riches in God’s kingdom, so that others may be made rich in Him as well? Whether or not it seems like a loss now, I can promise you that on the last day, you will not be disappointed in your investments.