Being Human: The Book of Ecclesiastes
04. What the World is Like
July 29, 2018
Ecclesiastes asks hard questions to show us what life is really like—and to show us the way to have joy in it all. It opens with an explanation of how fleeting and uncontrollable life really is. While we might pretend we know how to make things happen in the world, the truth is that outcomes are out of our control. Instead of coping by trying to make life obey our will, or by trying to find meaning on our own terms, we find joy by knowing there is someone above the sun who loves us and is in control of all things. Seeing Jesus come below the sun to live as one of us and die for us shows us that we can enjoy the gifts of life until he returns. Application Questions 1. What are some ways you“play pretend” about the world and your life in it? 2. What do you think about the opening 11 verses of Ecclesiastes? Do they encourage you or discourage you? Why? 3. Are there ways you have experienced life as a vapor? Are there ways you have tried to“gain” from life and found it to be like chasing after the wind? 4. How do you finish the sentence:“There's nothing better than _______” ? How do you think Jesus would finish that sentence? 5. What about the gospel frees you to embrace being human instead of trying to“get above the sun” ?
05. Wisdom vs. Reality
August 12, 2018
It's generally assumed that the more you know, the more you can control the things that happen in your life. The idea is that if you get the right knowledge and know the right techniques, you can shape your life into what you want it to be. But the Preacher in Ecclesiastes shows us that this is playing pretend: as human beings, we don't have access to enough knowledge to get control over life or create meaning for ourselves. But when we see God's wisdom in the gospel, it shows us that we don't need to use knowledge to grab control. God's love teaches us that we can enjoy learning as humans beings, the way we were created to be. Application Questions 1. How do you look at knowledge as a way to find meaning and success in your life? Are there ways you see yourself trying to“get into the control tower” in your life now? 2. What are some ways you've seen the inability of human wisdom to get control over life or bring lasting significance? Are there ways you've tried to hide those things under the wood chips? 3. How does Jesus show us true wisdom? How does the gospel free us to enjoy learning for learning's sake, instead of trying to leverage it for our own gain?
06. Pleasure vs. Reality
August 19, 2018
After having evaluated the wisdom of the world, the Preacher of Ecclesiastes next searches out earthly pleasure as a possible source of joy and fulfillment. Unsurprisingly, he also finds pleasure lacking the ability to truly satisfy. He tests entertainment, alcohol, work, possessions, and sex and finds that they are all fleeting and“vanity.” None of them truly last or satisfy. However, each one can be still be enjoyed as gifts from God when they are understood in light of his perfect design. Application Questions 1. In what ways do you try to get joy and fulfillment out ofentertainment, alcohol, work, possessions, and sex? 2. How can you be ultimately satisfied in Christ? What practical steps might help you pursue true joy in God alone? 3. How would your engagement withentertainment, alcohol, work, possessions, and sex change if you were more fully satisfied in Christ and freed to truly enjoy them?
07. Work vs. Reality
August 26, 2018
The Preacher is at the end of his tour of failed attempts to control life as a human being. We can't know enough to shape our lives, and we can't experience enough to shape our lives. Now, he shows us that we can't achieve enough to shape our lives. The various things we are working on day to day and week to week don't provide a soul-level satisfaction for us. Only God though Jesus Christ can put our hearts at rest. It's from that internal rest that our eyes are opened to the good gifts God gives us amid the normal stress and frustration of life in a fallen world. Application Questions 1. In your life, what is the thing you are working towards? What is the main thing you'd like to accomplish in your life? 2. How have you experienced the promise of satisfaction and significance from hard work? What parts of that promise are particularly tempting for you? 3. How have you experienced the problem of work in your life? What does it look like when you“strive in your heart” for achievement? 4. How might the gospel free you to receive your work as a gift instead of looking to it for gain? What would it look like for you to work hard and also be at rest because of the gospel?
08. Knowing the Times
September 4, 2018
The Preacher tells us that there is a time for everything, but we rarely think of time that way. We like to think of time as something we control by filling the minutes with whatever we'd like. Instead, the Preacher shows us that we can't control the times and seasons we go through in life. The only one with any real control is God. But we can find joy when we embrace God's control, knowing that he uses it for our good even when we can't see it. Instead of wishing we were in a different season, the Preacher teaches us to respond wisely to the season we are in. Application Questions 1. How do you think about time in your life? How does the poem in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 challenge that view? 2. Are there ways you fight against the“times” in your life? How have you experienced the way God has put“eternity in your heart,” and how has it conflicted with your desire to figure everything out? 3. How does the gospel help you trust God's control over the times? 4. What about God's control over your times comforts you? What about it challenges you? How can you look for God in the time he's put you in now?
09. From Dust to Dust
September 16, 2018
The Preacher in Ecclesiastes identifies two realities of life in a fallen world that undermine the pursuit of“gain” under the sun: Death and Injustice. These twin evils show us our weakness and the extent to which the world is fallen and broken. All of this points us to the fact that we need to be rescued, and that one day God is going to bring life where there is death, and bring justice where there is injustice. Application Questions 1. Do you shield yourself from the realities of the world, or do you honestly see the death, injustice, and brokenness around you? 2. What would it look like for you to embrace the reality of your human weakness and limitedness under God's sovereignty? 3. How deeply impacted are you by oppression and injustice in this world? How do injustice and power relate to one another? 4. What is the Christian responsibility towards oppression and injustice, and how should we think about oppression and injustice in our world?
10. All the Lonely People
September 23, 2018
One of the greatest blessings God gives us“under the sun” is relationships. As the Preacher affirms,“two are better than one” and“a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” However, many of us still find relationships, especially close relationships, really hard. Why is that? What contributes to it? What are the forces that eat away at our relationships in this life? The Preacher identifies two of these destructive forces in our passage today and we get to see how the gospel frees us from their destruction. Application Questions 1. Who are you on the journey of life with? 2. When do you find yourself comparing yourself to others? 3. In what areas in life do you find yourself most often motivated by comparison? 4. How have you seen that comparison (envy) get in the way of developing deep friendships? 5. How have you seen pride (not being teachable) get in the way of developing deep friendships? 6. How has the gospel freed you to love others instead of comparing yourself to them?
11. Religion vs Reality
September 30, 2018
The Preacher has set his sights on the different ways we look to create significance in our lives and he has looked through the different realities of life in a fallen world. Now, he takes a look at people in church. And what he tells us is that religious activity can also be a way we look to control the vapor of life. It often looks like a focus on ourselves that produces a flurry of words and activities. When we realize that God is in heaven and we are on earth—and that God has used that power to send his Son to die for our sins—we change our approach. Now we come before God as humble listeners, happy to speak but always looking to him as the center of our spiritual lives. Application Questions 1. How do you approach your spiritual life (e.g. Bible, prayer, Sunday services) when you aren't really thinking about it? 2. What are some ways you find yourself hasty with your words towards God? Are there ways you consciously or unconsciously try to influence him for your own benefit? 3. What would change about your spiritual life if you remembered that “God is in heaven and you are on earth” ? 4. How does the gospel free you to have a quiet heart and listening posture before God instead of heaping up words and activities?
12. True Satisfaction
October 7, 2018
Money will not and cannot satisfy your soul. In this world many believe that financial and career success will bring soul satisfaction, but the Preacher shows us the emptiness of putting our hope in money and wealth. Application Questions 1. Which of money's lies does your heart find most compelling? 2. What are the ways that you seek to satisfy your soul in money, wealth, or possessions? 3. How can you fight for true contentment in your life
13. Finding Perspective
October 14, 2018
The Preacher wants us to face up to the uncomfortable realities of life: death, grief, suffering, and more. And in order to help us do that, he highlights the ways we often try to avoid uncomfortable realities, turning instead to distractions. But living life avoiding reality has costs that we need to understand. And facing up to reality has benefits that we don't often realize. Ultimately, the realities of life push us to consider the work of God, that we see most clearly in Jesus Christ. Application Questions 1. What are some ways you try to escape the realities of life? What examples from the sermon do you see in your own life? 2. What are some experiences you've had encountering death, suffering, or struggle? How did you respond to those experiences? What impact have they made on you? 3. What would it look like for you to choose to look at the realities of life and“lay them to heart” ? 4. How does considering the work of God in Jesus Christ open you up to face the realities of life instead of running from them?
14. Figuring Things Out
October 21, 2018
Our quest to understand life is often frustrated by the fact that we simply don't have the capacity to understand all that God is doing and why. He is in control, he is working things according to his perfect plan, but why doesn't it seem to make sense to us sometimes? In our complex passage today the Preacher of Ecclesiastes identifies the real problems in life and reminds us of the few fundamental truths in life wecanunderstand. Application Questions 1. In what ways do you see your circumstances as creating your most significant problems in life? 2. How do you treat life like a system to be manipulated for your benefit? 3. When you realize that the most significant problems in life are internal, where do you turn? 4. What can help you remember God's overwhelming grace in the face of life's problems?
15. Christ Our Wisdom
October 28, 2018
Jesus exemplifies for us as Christians exactly what wisdom looks like in real life. This sermon explores how Jesus embodied the wisdom that Ecclesiastes teaches- wisdom in humility, patience, and vindication. Application Questions 1. How does Jesus embody the Wisdom of the Book of Ecclesiastes? 2. What would it look like in your life to embrace Christ's wisdom of humility? 3. How can you grow in your wisdom of patience? 4. How does the vindication of Christ give you eternal perspective?
16. Life, Death, and Joy
November 4, 2018
In one of his last sustained meditations on death, the Preacher forces us to deal with the reality of our own death: its certainty, its evil, its finality. And he does it to point us to the kind of joyful life that stops pretending we can be God and starts enjoying the gifts of God right in front of us. As the great humiliator, death reminds us that we are human and dependent on God for things we don't deserve. This turns entitlement into gratitude for things as simple as a meal and our next breath. What's more, it points us to the ultimate gift, Jesus Christ, who changes our relationship to death forever. Application Questions 1. Do you think you have reconciled yourself to the fact that you are going to die? 2. What are some ways that the realities of death tempt you to“madness of heart” ? 3. How might the reality of death help you enjoy the gifts of God in your life? What are some things you could actively seek to enjoy today and tomorrow? 4. How has Jesus changed what death means for us? How has that affected the way you live your life?
17. The Way of Wisdom
November 11, 2018
This week was a Unity Sunday service, so the sermon audio is in both English and Spanish. After explaining that life is a vapor, the Preacher teaches us what wisdom looks like as a human being who isn't in control. He shows us that wisdom is extremely valuable, but easily overlooked. To prove the point, he spends an entire chapter detailing the different aspects of foolishness: its destructive nature, its tendency to prize volume over wisdom, and more. After reading the chapter through, we see our need to be wise. The rest of Scripture points us to Jesus Christ as the way to have hearts that incline towards wisdom. Application Questions 1. How have you seen the different aspects of foolishness at work in the world around you? 2. How have you seen the different aspects of foolishness at work in your own life? 3. Is there a particular area in your life that you think foolishness is at work? How can you address that area with the gospel to pursue wisdom, even when it's hard?
18. Do Something
November 18, 2018
Life has too many decisions to know how to make them all perfectly right. But that doesn't stop us from trying. The problem is, when we analyze decisions and try to figure out the outcomes ahead of time, it leaves us paralyzed and often unable to actually make a decision. In our passage today we are reassured that the way to make good decisions is not to be able to control their outcome or even be able to see the future. Good decisions aren't made from fear. Good decisions are made in love as we simply step out in faith and just do something. Application Questions 1. What are the decisions that you have the hardest time making? 2. What are you afraid of when it comes to decision making (big and small)? 3. What aspects of God's secret will do you try to know when you can't? What aspects of God's revealed will do you neglect when you shouldn't? 4. How would your life and decision making be different if you were to“just do something” and“enjoy life,” leaving the results and the outcomes up to God? 5. What is an area in your life in which you have been paralyzed by fear? What might faithful action in that area look like?