Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14.                  Chasing after the wind!!!                                             4/8/13

 ² “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”

¹² I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. ¹³ I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! ¹⁴ I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

 Chasing after the wind. An interesting thought, isn’t it? Have you ever tried it? I am sure we would all say that of course we haven’t. It is absolutely stupid. Utterly meaningless! But do you know what? We all do it, in far more ‘important areas of our lives’. Even though we often know that it is stupid, we still do it, because everyone else is doing it.

 Let us just look at a couple of examples. The Gospel reading this morning tell us of the rich man who built his bigger barns, so that he could eat, drink and be merry, only to die and leave it all to someone else who most likely would also squander it. The implications behind this parable are very applicable to many, many people around us today; and to a greater or lesser degree to every one of us. Our whole philosophy of life in the western world is built around this thinking. The making and accumulating of money is the be all and end all of life. And ultimately it is Utterly meaningless! Chasing after the wind.

 The next example we could use is that of work and busyness. We have an obsession today with being busy. It is a badge of honour for many people: For others it seen as the only way to survive and get on in our present day world: While for others again it is the one area of life where they can feel valued and important.

 Irrespective of the reason for work and busyness, again when we think about it all, this too is a chasing after the wind. We work and run hither and thither and then what? It is all gone and the things that are important have been neglected. When this becomes the sole focus of life it will eventually be seen for what it is, utterly meaningless.

 Yet another issue is that enfettered desire for leisure and pleasure. We live in order to be happy and our days filled with enjoyment. The ’land of the long weekend’; the black box in our lounges; our devices in our hands; and endless array of entertainment centres all, are looked to as that which makes for a truly happy and fulfilled life.

 Yet for all of this what are we now finding? A society full of lonely, depressed people. We are chasing after the wind. Our endless endeavours for happiness and pleasures are not giving us what we are searching for but the opposite. When this too becomes the ultimate object of our striving, we find nothing but meaningless.

 The writer of Ecclesiastes and ultimately God himself reminds us through this whole book of Ecclesiastes that no matter what area of life we might look at and seek to find the answer to life and satisfaction and meaning; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

All the things that are done under the sun all leave us coming up short.

 Now these words of wisdom are a real shocker to our world today. Yet I think, as we look closely at our western world where we have had access to all of this to the extreme, we can readily see that we come up short again and again. As we look around us we see that there is a real truth to these words.

 Our society is desperately searching for that which makes life truly life and continually coming up empty. Yet we still chase after the wind in the desperate hope that we might find the elusive dream. But all we end up doing again and again is chasing after the wind.

 So does this mean that everything in life is futile and meaningless; not worth the effort?  The writer of this book says here in our text: What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! When we look at life from a worldly view this is the case.  We can put all kinds of masks and positive ‘spin’ over it all, but in the end it is all meaningless. 

 To compound this even more, we are telling ourselves that we have evolved from monkeys, and so there is even less reason to be positive. No wonder we have so many today simply living for the moment, or hitting the drink, drugs, sex and other addictions to try to blot out the futility of it all. But in the end it all still comes to nought; and we still have to face judgement day before God.

 So what is the answer? If there is one?

 Well here in Ecclesiastes we have God’s conclusion of the matter.  In the last chapter of Ecclesiastes we read.

⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. ¹² Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
¹³ Now all has been heard;  here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.

 Fear God and keep his commandments. There is God’s simple response to our dilemma.  Take God seriously and recognise that He will come as Lord and judge. Remember that he alone is the creator and sustainer of all things. He is the God who knows our every thought and action; and is a holy and righteous God. So he cannot be fooled or messed with. Therefore we need to uphold him as the one thing that is more important than everything else.

That means that we will also uphold his Word, the Bible, as vitally important for our lives as his people. We will seek to keep everything he has commanded us, to perfection. We will want to do what he wants because we acknowledge that he is all important.

 We will also acknowledge what his Word has to say about the sin of mankind. That it is our disobedience and rebellion against God; our unwillingness to take God seriously that has caused the mess that we have in this world. Our sinfulness and selfishness is what has turned this paradise into a meaningless existence.

 Only when we take these things seriously will we start to make sense of this life. Only then will we be able to keep all of these other aspects of life in their proper perspective, and find meaning and fulfilment in them. Only then will we no longer be chasing after the wind. In and through God alone will we find meaning and purpose in life: In him our lives are no longer empty, but filled with good things to be a part of and to do: In him there is real hope for the future.

 Now here I would like to encourage you with God’s Word that came through in our reading from Colossians this morning. [Colossians 3:1-11.]

3 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³ For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹ Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

 Yes, because Jesus died on the cross for our sin and was raised again for our justification we can lift our heads and live positively with lives full of meaning and purpose. We can and need to turn to him again and again for forgiveness and help to now live this new and purposeful that we have as we live in and with our great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In him and in obedience to his commands we have a life that is worth living. In him life is anything but meaningless, and is far from a chasing after the wind.

So with that let us go forward in life, holding God and what he has to say to us as of first importance, and then may we find meaning and hope in all that we do as we live and be his people each and every day of our life. Then may all glory go to him for the great things he has done.  Amen.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish