June 10, 2012
“MAKING PLEASURE THE FOCUS OF LIFE”
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
James 1:22-24
Philippians 3:7-11
On August 8, 1971, as a recently graduated Seminary student, I stood in front of 18
visiting pastors and a large majority of the members of Ralston Hills Baptist Church
located in Arvada, Colorado. The purpose of this gathering was for the crowd to
examine me concerning my lifestyle and my knowledge of Bible doctrine. I was
standing for my church to ordain me to gospel ministry. Ordination is a church’s
way of testing if God has called their man to serve as a pastor. A Bachelor’s Degree
from college followed by a Master’s Degree of Divinity in Seminary was required
before such an examination would occur. People expect a doctor to complete
college, med school, five years of residency and sit for the state board exams before
practicing medicine. Folk expect a lawyer to complete college, law school and pass
the state bar exam before representing them in court. In like manner, churches used
to wait for a man to be properly trained and then they examined his fitness to be a
pastor through an ordination council. Such testing enables church members to have
confidence they receive thorough spiritual knowledge from properly trained leaders.
Shockingly, quite a few churches no longer expect such rigid examination of the
men who pastor them. No wonder the average years a pastor remains at a local
congregation is only two and a half years. Without taking such intense education
and examination many find they are not equipped to “rightly divide the truth” of the
Bible, so they hop from church to church as a means of staying in the pastorate.
Getting back to my personal story, my father dropped out of school in the seventh
grade, for health reasons. Throughout his life he felt so unlearned. He attended my
ordination council, on that date in August 1971 and listened to each question I
fielded. He had his handkerchief in hand continually. I saw him wipe his sweaty
forehead time and again as he waited for me to answer each question. Every time I
completed my response, Pam will tell you, my father looked around at the sanctuary
full of people with a huge smile of accomplishment etched on his face. It’s as if he
was saying, “What do you think of that? That’s my son giving you the answer from
God’s Word!” Vicariously; for my dad, and personally, for me, it was an occasion
of achievement when I was verified by the assembly as fit for pastoral ministry! It
was the culmination of years of study giving me the tools I would need for feeding a
congregation. Dr. Bruce Shelley stated regularly if men were expected to go through
such a complete scrutiny each time they came to a new church there would be much
less vagrancy on the part of the clergy.
We continue our current series of sermons on the biblical book of Ecclesiastes. This
book contains advice King Solomon offers to his son at the end of his life. In this
book he relates his frustration in attempting to live his life focused on useless goals
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which ended in futility. Two weeks ago we explored the waste of time he found in
living to be the most educated person. Now we come to a second aim in life which
also falls woefully short of fulfillment: the attempt to live for pleasure and
happiness. Follow along as I read the first nine verses of Ecclesiastes 2:
I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is
good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. 2 “Laughter,” I said, “is foolish.
And what does pleasure accomplish?” 3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and
embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was
worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
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I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I
made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made
reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves
and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and
flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself,
and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and
a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man. 9 I became greater by far than
anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
I hope you noticed Solomon including a vast spectrum of activities which fit under
the category of gaining pleasure. He begins his advice with “laughter” which we
know entails everything from the telling and listening to jokes to hosting parties
designed for merry-making. He also mentions drinking alcoholic beverages, since a
great number of people gain enjoyment from such activity. He tells his son “I tried
cheering myself with wine”. He informs his son he gave himself to undertaking
“great projects”. Jerusalem was filled with “gardens and parks”. Solomon built
several “houses” for he and his family. There were “vineyards” planted and
“reservoirs” of water. The king had a large contingent of “slaves”. He had the
greatest amount of “herds and flocks” of anyone in Jerusalem. He amassed a
tremendous amount of “silver and gold”. This renowned King of Israel collected by
war and negotiation “the treasure of kings and provinces”. He recruited an array of
musicians. We know assuredly Solomon had whole cities given over to the stabling
of his horses. The archeological site of Megiddo has a section of stone stables which
have been estimated at housing from three hundred to five hundred horses. He even
had a seaport, named Ezion-geber on the eastern arm of the Red Sea. There Israel
constructed smelting furnaces for the purpose of producing copper. The site lay in
the path of a prevailing north wind which offered a forced draft in the furnaces. A
part of Solomon’s commercial activity included a “navy of Tarshish” which brought
gold, silver, ivory and apes from faraway places. (1 Kings 10:22) The list of
achievements attained by Solomon to give him pride also included his having “700
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wives of royal birth and 300 concubines”. (1 Kings 11:3) This king didn’t just have
700 wives: they were born of royal families of neighboring nations. Suffice it to say
this man pursued a rigorous passion for all kinds of things to give him pleasure in
his lifetime. He wasn’t at a loss for things to do! Having the opportunity to
experience so many more things than any of us in this room could ever imagine in
one lifetime, Solomon comes to the conclusion his focus of living for pleasure had
this result, as we find in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11:
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I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
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Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless,
a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
Tucked away in the midst of his accounting of living for pleasure is an amazing
phrase in verse 3. There we read; “I tried…embracing folly--My mind still guiding
me with wisdom.” What a crazy verse of scripture! This man tried to stay faithful to
God by mentally (using his mind) being committed to the “way of wisdom” while
following the “way of folly” in his actions. Guess what, Folks? Life doesn’t work
that way! The Apostle James tells us in his epistle: “Do not merely listen to the
word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word
but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and,
after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”
(James 1:22-24) The King of Israel deceived himself into thinking he could hold on
to the knowledge of the way of wisdom while, at the same time, living for pleasure
and fulfillment. What a tragic waste of time!
We will find this author, in this incredible letter to his son, repeating the same
fallacy over and over again. He was suckered into living for education (which we
already discovered), for pleasure (today’s focus), for work (next Sunday), then for
advancement, then for ministry (even), followed by living for wealth and lastly to be
in control of everyone and everything. Let’s not be quick to cast stones at him,
however! Many times we Christians hold dearly to the truth we find in scripture.
Yet, when it’s time to make God the focus of all the dimensions of our lives we
choose to live as Solomon did. When we succumb to such activity our allegiance is
in the wrong place and we have been led astray. As Solomon states, we are
“chasing after the wind”. Do you know why such a way of life is called “the way of
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folly”? Because when we come to grips with the truth of living to gain momentary
pleasure, it turns out to be a complete FOOLISH waste of time. Aren’t we tired of
being foolish?
In Mark 8:34-37 we see Jesus teaching His disciples and many others, saying: “...If
anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. For whoever wants to save his life (make it worthwhile) will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel (lets go of what he desires to live
for) will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his
soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? The Apostle Paul adds his
take in Philippians 1:20-21 when he tells us: “I eagerly expect and hope that I will
in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that NOW AS ALWAYS
Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. FOR TO ME, TO
LIVE IS CHRIST and to die is gain.” Do these New Testament verses echo what
Solomon had to learn the hard way? I ask those of us here today: what is the main
focus of our life? Are we just surviving? Are we living for what gives us happiness
and pleasure? Is the crux of our existence tied into what we achieve? Is our bank
account our primary concern in life? We get the picture don’t we? Let me finish this
Biblical challenge by quoting one more scripture; found in Philippians 3:7-11.
“7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What
is more, I consider EVERYTHING a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I HAVE LOST ALL THINGS. I
consider them rubbish, THAT I MAY GAIN CHRIST 9 AND BE FOUND IN
HIM, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that
which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is
by faith. 10 I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST AND THE POWER OF HIS
RESURRECTION AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF SHARING IN HIS
SUFFERINGS, BECOMING LIKE HIM IN HIS DEATH, 11 AND SO,
SOMEHOW, TO ATTAIN TO THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.”
Jesus died for us; you and me! “Becoming like him in his death” demands we
fashion our life around him and not around WHAT WE WANT! Thank you
Solomon for sharing what you learned with us (your readers) so we can live life
correctly! It takes courage to live life FOR CHRIST and not for ourselves! By
learning from this spokesperson of God, we discover living for Christ requires
personal submission, individual humility, complete emptiness and unconditional
surrender so that He is our boss and we are His servants. It is the only way life will
work!
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