“Abundance Under the Sun”

Part 1: Lusts, 'Friends', Worry, & Loss

A Sermon on Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

December 15, 2002

by Rev. Stephen C. Magee

Exeter Presbyterian Church

Ecclesiastes 5

¹⁰ He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;

Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.

This also is vanity.

¹¹ When goods increase,

They increase who eat them;

So what profit have the owners

Except to see them with their eyes?

¹² The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,

Whether he eats little or much;

But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.

¹³ There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:

Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.

¹⁴ But those riches perish through misfortune;

When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.

¹⁵ As he came from his mother's womb, naked shall he return,

To go as he came;

And he shall take nothing from his labor

Which he may carry away in his hand.

¹⁶ And this also is a severe evil --

Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.

And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?

¹⁷ All his days he also eats in darkness,

And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.

¹⁸ Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.* ¹⁹ As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage* and rejoice in his labor -- this is the gift of God. ²⁰ For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart. Note: * lit. "portion"

Introduction: Scarcity and Abundance

There are two challenges that we have in trying to make good use of this portion of the word of God. First, we are ready to assume that while scarcity is a problem, surely abundance could not be. Secondly, so few us think of ourselves of having a lot. We presume that if there are any problems that may come with abundance, then those are the problems that other people have, and not us. I remember that when I was growing up, we never thought of ourselves as rich. We were, but it was many years before I realized that. With most of us there is someone else who we have in mind when it comes to the topic of being rich.

I need your help on this second matter this morning. I want you to just take it as a given if you are listening to me this morning that you have a lot. While there are those who have more than you, this does not change the fact that as one who lives in a given place in a given time, you live with more abundance than those from almost any other place and time in the history of the world.

With this reasonable assumption in place, I want you to know that I am talking to you this morning, and not to someone else who is not here today who happens to be more wealthy than you are.

As we begin to examine Solomon's words this morning, I want you to note that the text before us lists four problems that can come with abundance. We need to consider them one by one.

Four Problems Associated With Abundance

1. Unending Lusts

Verse ten introduces us to the first of these four problems:

He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;

Nor he who loves abundance, with increase....

We need to understand that the principle taught in this verse is not just about money. It can also be applied to other things that we may be seeking, grades, athletic achievement, or anything else in this world. When we get the desired thing, we may have some measure of joy, but we will soon discover that the longed for achievement or possession is strangely unsatisfying. We had thought that our emptiness would be gone if we had enough silver. But silver does not seem to satisfy. And yet we want more silver. This also will not take away the longing for more still.

2. "Friends"

The second problem is that abundance can attract "friends." When you are poor, if someone likes you, you may still be skeptical about what they want. But when you have a lot, it is a continuing thought that people have befriended you for their own selfish gain. You have more food around the table, but more people who want or need to be fed from your storehouse of bounty. You have more food, but not for you to eat, only to look at, as you watch other people eat your food. You, of course, have the choice of just eating ever-increasing amounts of food yourself, but then you will be the one who "increases" in ways that will not be entirely beneficial.

3. Worry

The third problem is worry. As verse 12 states:

The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,

Whether he eats little or much;

But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.

When you don't have much, you don't worry very much about losing it. You may worry about how you are going to eat, but the rich have the added burden of their concern for their more substantial possessions. This verse is capable of a double meaning, as was the prior verse. It could be that the rich man is eating so much of his abundance, that it causes him to have indigestion. Either way of understanding the verse, the man with abundance is not sleeping as well as the hard-working laborer.

4. Loss

The final problem receives the most attention. It is also the problem that we will quickly see is a universal challenge for those who live any length of life in this world under God's curse. Verse 13 is the beginning of this consideration, where Solomon reflects on a man who hangs on to what he has in such a way that he hurts himself. What follows is a description of a man who goes from abundance to poverty, and is left without anything to give to his son.

Imagine the situation of a rich man who is visited by a poor friend, when that poor man is in need. Suppose that the rich man turns away his poor friend, but within some period of time finds their rolls have been reversed. Now he thinks of going to his friend, who at this time has abundant possessions. But he feels constrained because of his earlier behavior. He ends his days in darkness, and sickness, and anger, as a bitter man who has lost much. This is just one example of how a person can hold on to abundance in such a way that it hurts him. He could have used his riches to gain goodwill from his friend, which as it turns out, he would soon need. Instead he rebuffs his neighbor's request, and is unable to ask for help when his time of trouble comes. Verse 17 leaves us with a final pitiful picture of the man who had much, but kept it to his own hurt.

All his days he also eats in darkness,

And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.

These verses are about the problem of loss, a problem that each of us will face. We will all lose every bit of our worldly abundance at the moment of our death. Most of you will perhaps live long enough to see your abundance of health and prosperity drip slowly away from you. For others the end will come so quickly that it will be more like the crashing of a vessel, causing all of the contents of our life to be emptied at once, before we even had a chance to contemplate the loss we were about to experience. But whether short time or long, every one of us will experience this grievous evil that is a part of the common curse of this world: We will leave this world exactly as we came into it. Naked.

Why Are These Problems?

Before proceeding to verses 18 through 20, which tell us something about how we are to live with abundance, we need to see that the four "problems" of abundance that I have just mentioned come to us when we trust in, hope for, and love abundance. There is no problem with abundance necessarily. It is the misplaced affection for it that causes us grief.

Think about it. Not being satisfied by silver is only a problem if you get your satisfaction with silver. Substitute the word "dirt" for "silver" in verse 10 and you will see what I mean: "He who loves dirt will not be satisfied with dirt." We can say with confidence that this is not a problem. Why? Because we don't love dirt. Yet, from the perspective of eternity, your silver is as good as dirt, except that you have to answer the Lord for how you use it. In any case, your lack of satisfaction in sliver would not be a problem at all, were it not for the fact that you love silver.

What about our second problem: giving away your food to friends. This is only a problem if you are trusting in your own cupboards being filled to the brim, or if you are comforted by the fact that you can either eat that food tomorrow or throw it out if it rots. Many people treat their possessions in this may. They are happy to give away clothes with holes in them, but they would never give away clothes that may one day be usefully worn, even though they never wear them. If they did not trust in their abundance, then they would have no problem with the fact that the needy have come to them for help and would like to have some of their goods.

Problem three is the loss of sleep through worry. But you will only lose sleep over possessions if you have placed your hopes in them. And problem four - loss - is similar. You only despair over the loss that comes your way, if your highest love and affection are for things that don't last. You see it is not abundance that is the root problem here. It is the love of abundance that is so troubling.

How to Live with a Lot

The passage that follows this one in the first seven verses of the sixth chapter, continues to identify the challenges that come to those who have abundance. We will address those nest week. But the three verses in between verse 17 of this chapter and the beginning of the next we will need to consider both now and next week. As we also found when we looked at the parallel passage in this cycle that speaks of scarcity, at the center of this passage is a short message regarding contentment. In the passage on scarcity the central thought was this one:

Ecclesiastes 4:6

Better a handful with quietness

Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

A similar thought is presented in verse 18-20 of today's passage:

¹⁸ Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. ¹⁹ As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor -- this is the gift of God. ²⁰ For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

We have here some important lessons that I will touch on briefly at the end of this message, and then consider again next week. It seems appropriate to consider your own spiritual condition at this moment as I would try to instruct you concerning how you are to live with a lot. As you listen to this message this morning, you may be a skeptic, you may be a seeker, or you may be a saint, which is just a biblical word for a follower of Jesus Christ who is a part of a church.

1. For the Skeptic

I am firmly convinced that the answer to the apparent problems that attend the condition of abundance, meet their perfect solution in the person and work of Jesus Christ, applied to the needy soul. That is, I am convinced that abundance does not satisfy us. Only God does. And He has provided for our deepest satisfaction in Christ alone.

But if you are a religious skeptic, my solution would seem to be out of the realm of what you accept as reasonable. To you, none of this "God" stuff seems real. You also question the reality of the soul - even your own soul. You don't believe in it. In terms of the matter of satisfaction in life, you question whether there could ever be such a thing as enduring satisfaction beyond what might come from material things. You are used to your current levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, and have come to define that as "full."

I am not a skeptic like you are, but I was once, so I certainly understand that I am trying to describe. But there is one great fact that you must deal with. It is the fact of your death. It is the fact that you must give up everything that you have, everything that you value, everything that you live for, when you die. You must consider the reality of your own death, and the reality of all loss that leads up to it.

There is one group of skeptics that find this thinking about loss and death an almost impossible challenge. That group is the class of young skeptics. If you are a young skeptic, in high school, college, or beginning your professional life, it is very hard for you to think clearly about loss and death. I want to help you with this. Think of something that you had, that you loved, and that you lost. Remember how that felt? OK. Now get used to that feeling, because for the rest of your life you will be losing things that you count on for satisfaction, thinks you trust in, things you had hoped for, things you love.

Now, whether you are young or old - if you are a skeptic about your soul, about God, about Christ, don't kid yourself into thinking that you don't look for satisfaction, that you don't trust in anything, that you don't hope for anything, that you don't love anything - IMPOSSIBLE. Even if it is just yourself, you have something or someone that you don't want to lose

Do you see the logic of this? Do you see the connection between your death, and the inevitability of loss - your eyes - your limbs - your mind - your friends - your family - your possessions - your money. They must go - either slowly or quickly - but they must go. This is a severe problem.

But there is a problem with your death that is deeper than this. God speaks of it in Hebrews 9:27:

... it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,...

The stubborn fact of God's righteous judgment of our lives will continue to be a impending reality, regardless of anyone's acceptance or rejection of that truth. We all die. We all face judgment. The very next verse in Hebrews gives the only hope I know of as we think of our lives being judged by God:

so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

If you are a skeptic, you are not eagerly waiting for him, yet the day of your death is still approaching, and that day is a day of judgment. Do you know that this Jesus who died for the sins of many spoke more about money and possessions than almost any other thing. So I ask you this morning, how have you used your abundance? How will you stand in the day of judgment?

Imagine with me for a moment a very generous skeptic, who took home $100,000 in 2002. This very generous skeptic gave $1,000 to some people that had nothing, and he kept $99,000 for himself. How will he stand before the Lord on the day of judgment as he tries to explain all the things that he needed.

But you are skeptical about all that. Still, you must admit that nothing really has satisfied your heart for any length of time. You have tried this and that - and then given up. But the day of your death is still approaching and you have found no lasting joy, and no solid protection to keep you from the eternal judgment of the God who made you. How are you to live with all the abundance that you have? I don't know of any answer for you - except to begin to be skeptical of your skepticism.

2. For the Seeker

But you may feel that the label of "skeptic" does not fit you. Perhaps you sense today that you are searching for something. I want to suggest to you the possibility that God may be the One seeking you. The Bible tells us that when you come down to the root cause of things, no man seeks God (Romans 3:11). It may feel to you that you are the root cause behind your seeking, but if you end up loving God, it is actually at root because of the fact that He first loved you (1 John 4:19) and is drawing you to himself through Jesus Christ (John 6:44). If that is what is actually taking place in your life then you will be drawn irresistibly to God (John 6:37). Everything short of that is just human religious inquiry, and it will not ultimately satisfy you.

But on this matter of abundance: you should see clearly in this text that more silver will not ultimately satisfy you. There is another point that you might be confused by. You might think that giving away a large portion of your silver will bring ultimate satisfaction to your life. The truth is that giving away your silver as an effort to win the affection of God will also not give you the satisfaction that your soul longs for. Only Christ satisfies. He alone provides the satisfaction of divine justice that brings us true peace and rest. He alone reconciles us to God by His obedience and His blood. There are many different philosophies and religions of men. Some of them tell you to give everything away. Others tell you to keep everything for yourself. But only Christ, who gave everything away, that you might know abundance in Him, will truly satisfy. As the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Colossian church:

Colossians 2:8-10

⁸ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

This fullness of the Godhead is the greatest everlasting abundance that man can seek, as Paul says in another place:

Romans 11:33 ³³ Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

Your lasting riches can only come in the abundance of Christ when you surrender to Him.

3. For the Saint

Those who have surrendered their lives to Him and have been united to His church are called by the name "saint" in the Bible. It is that third group of those who were perhaps once skeptics as I also was, who in due time were drawn by God to be seekers, and in surrendering to Christ became saints. It is this group that I now wish to address.

As you consider the passage before us this morning. I want you to live in the contentment that only comes as a gift from God. You can have many things in this world, and still lack contentment. You can even have faith in Christ, and yet live in such a deceived and dissatisfied way that you have all the discontentment of every other inhabitant of this fading world.

You may be saying to all around you, "I am dissatisfied." You may be saying to your spouse, "I am dissatisfied with you." You may be saying to your children, "I am dissatisfied with you." Perhaps you just mean on this or that point, but what they see is a person who is dissatisfied with them, and perhaps with everything else. What you are really dissatisfied with is God, and you are dissatisfied with His good provision of His Son for you, and for His good plan of working out your growth in holiness. So you dispute, and you grumble, and you complain.

What can bring you out of such a pattern of false thinking? Only consider Christ again, and you will be greatly helped. Consider the Christ that your heart was once satisfied with. Consider the Christ that you once surrendered to. Consider the Christ who was made low for you.

The Humiliation of Incarnation

Christ did not come with material abundance, when He became man to save you from your sins. Nor did Christ come into a family with material abundance. Instead He humbled Himself. He was made low for you - even to the point of death - death on a cross. Yet in this ultimate act of humiliation, he displayed the greatest power - the greatest abundance. Imagine a death so powerful that it could atone for the sins of all of His chosen people. What a rich display, in what appears to the world to be the greatest poverty imaginable - the death of a capital criminal on a Roman cross. Yet He was not a criminal, except for the fact that He was carrying your wretched sins, you blessed saints of His, who through faith have been united with Him in His death.

I call on you this morning, with the eyes of your hearts focusing surely on your humble Redeemer now exalted in the heavens, to do the very things that Solomon instructs in verses 18 through twenty of our passage. Recognize the Giver of every good gift. Solomon says several time that anything that you have, your labor itself and your portion of food and abundance that is the fruit of that labor - all of it comes from God. And it all comes through Christ, who has been given all power and authority. This Christ who died for you is the source of any abundance you have in this life and in the life to come. Do not trust in the abundance, but trust in Him who gave Himself and now freely gives you all things. And say with the Apostle Paul, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Do what Solomon says here. Don't hold on to things to your own hurt. Instead, enjoy the gifts of God day by day, and see the Giver with a heart full of thankfulness to Him.

Conclusion: Meaning in the Birth of Christ

As I have examined the New Testament I have come to the conclusion that there is no particular meaning in December 25th as a day. But there is tremendous meaning in the birth of Christ. The birth of Christ is the story of the One who had all abundance in the fullness of the Godhead, giving up His abundance. He did this for His Father's glory. He did this for the future glory that was set before Him as the eternal and unchangeable Son of God. And He did this because of the love of the Father, Son, and, Spirit for you, His people, who He loved from before the foundation of the world. I want to close with a poem - it is actually a Christmas Carole - which one of the members of this church wrote recently. It expresses so beautifully the richness of the humiliation of Christ for us, in contrast to all the poverty of the world's finest abundance, which cannot bring us ultimate contentment. Here it is. I know that it won't fit into our Christmas culture, but it does tell us something important about the birth of Christ.

Hang velvet drapes upon the wall,

Set up a dais fair and tall,

Inlay the ivory doors with gold,

Fill all the rooms with wealth untold,

Set braziers burning cedar wood,

Balsam and fragrant sandalwood,

Appoint musicians skilled and choice

To blazon song with harp and voice -

And what is all that “wealth” to He

Who by a word made all we see?

Would not an angel blush to bring

Such baubles to the Heavenly King?

Then why not frame our Savior’s bed

Of rough-cut wood – a cattle shed?

What difference gold or straw and hay

For cradle where the Christ shall lay?

What difference courtiers or kine,

Scent of perfume or muck of swine?

To He Who left the heavenly clime

All earthly treasures are but grime.

The richest palace is so low

A place for God the Son to go;

And yet to make the message clear

He chose a barn, with oxen near.

by Penny O'Connor