‘Work can be extra-ordinarily meaningful’ (1:12-2:26)

In 2016 USA Today had opinion piece entitled, ‘Religion may be a wonder drug.’  In this article a Harvard health professor pointed out that religion improves both the physical and mental health of millions of Americans.  Religion reduces mortality rates, improves optimism, lowers rates of depression and gives people a greater sense of purpose.  Our government might save itself something on the health budget by encouraging us to go to church!  I would suggest that Christianity has certain unique health benefits above all other religions given its emphasis on grateful generosity, extravagant grace, thankfulness, forgiveness and love for enemies.  Indeed, knowing God makes our everyday work an acceptable act of worship to our heavenly Father.   

Sadly, it can take people many years and much pain to realise that life is meaningless without God.  Solomon is nearing the end of his reign, and he is writing from the vantage point of age and experience.  ‘I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind' (1:14).  As we have seen, this repeated phrase ‘under the sun’ refers to a life lived without reference to the God of the heavens. 

The pursuit of pleasure ends in pain (2:1-3)

Solomon sought meaning in earthly pleasures.

He started with laughter.  “Laughter,” I said, “is foolish.  And what does pleasure accomplish?” (2:2).  Not all laughter is wrong (e.g. Proverbs 31:25), but there is a lot of joking that is cruel, sarcastic and cynical.  ‘To honour God, we need to ask whether our laughter is rejoicing in the goodness of God or is at someone else’s expense’ (Ryken).  

The next pleasure Solomon tried was alcohol.  ‘I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly …’ (2:3).  In the book of Proverbs Solomon told us about the joys and dangers of alcohol.  We live in a country that has a national alcohol problem.  Many people we love try to numb the pain of life with half a bottle of wine at night.  Our friends can’t understand how we can have a good night out without getting well-oiled.   

What could be more fun than a night out with lots of drink and lots of laughter?  Yet Solomon experienced the emptiness of the morning after the night before.

Success will leave you with a sour taste (2:4-5)

Having pursued pleasure, Solomon sought meaning in his achievements.  ‘I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards’ (2:4).  But even this did not satisfy.  ‘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 gained under the sun’ (2:11).  Many people climb to the top of the ladder, look around and ask, ‘is this all there is?’

We have more of everything today except happiness (2:6-11)

Then he turned to the good things of life.  He denied himself nothing.  ‘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’ (2:8).  But it all left him dissatisfied.  A rich woman had the house of her dreams, but she could not understand why she went around the house every morning saying to herself, ‘is this all there is to life?’  The wife of a diplomat told a missionary, ‘I always longed for a life of leisure.  Now I’ve got it, and it is hell.’    

All our knowledge can’t keep us out of the grave (2:12-16)

‘Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom and also madness and folly’ (2:12).

He is not taking here about the wisdom of the book of Proverbs that begins with the fear of the Lord.  He is talking about wisdom that is found under the sun.  The sort of wisdom that is sold to us by the likes of Doctor Phil and the latest self-help books.

There is something to wisdom: it is better than foolishness.  There is no harm in learning how to be a better husband or wife.  Maria Kondo can tell you how to have a tidier home.  You might benefit from a few time management techniques.  

But there is a sad truth about both the worldly wise and the mad fool: they share the same fate.   ‘For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered, in days to come both will be forgotten.  Like the fool, the wise man too must die!’ (2:16).

The story is told that Alexander the Great found the philosopher, Diogenes, standing in a field looking at a large pile of bones.  Alexander asked him what he was doing.  ‘I am searching for the bones of your father Philip, but I cannot seem to distinguish them from the bones of the slaves.’  Death renders all distinctions void!

You will leave everything you have earned behind (2:17-23)

This search for meaning apart from God makes Solomon angry.  ‘So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun is grievous to me.  All is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.  I hated all the things that I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave then to one who comes after me’ (2:17-18). 

At the reading of a will someone asks, ‘how much did she leave?’  The answer is always the same.  ‘She left everything!’  What a fool the work-acholic is!  ‘All his days his work is pain and grief, even at night his mind does not rest.  This too is meaningless’ (2:23).  Here is a piece of true worldly wisdom: no one ever lay on their death bed and wished that they had spent more time at the office.  They lay on their deathbed wishing that they had spent more time with those they loved.

Jesus died and rose again to save us from an empty way of life (2:24-26)

All of a sudden, at the end of chapter two, this book takes a surprising turn.  For the first time Solomon says something positive.  ‘There is nothing better for a person than that they should eat and drink and find satisfaction in their work.  This too, I see is from the hand of God, for without him who can eat or find enjoyment?’ (2:24-25).

The apostle Peter tells us that Jesus redeemed from us from the empty way of life handed down to us from our forefathers’ (1 Peter 1:18).  Life does not need to be meaningless.  Jesus died and rose again to bring us into relationship with a loving heavenly Father.  Life is no longer limited to what we can observe and experience under the sun.  We can enjoy worshiping the God who loves us.  We can worship him in the everyday toil of life.  Now our work can bring real satisfaction, even if you think that you have a dead-end job. 

In Solomon’s time few people would have had career options.  The same was true in the first century, when the New Testament was written.  If your father was a carpenter, then you became a carpenter.  If you were a woman, then you had limited opportunities.  Many people in the early church were slaves, but the apostle Paul told them that they should see their work as a calling (Colossians 3:23-24).  The reformer Martyn Luther explained that, ‘the entire world should be full of service to God, not only the churches but also the home, the kitchen, the cellar, the workshop and the field.’

You can even find satisfaction cleaning the toilet, if you clean the toilet for the heavenly Father who loves you.  One survey observed the attitudes of cleaning staff who had to empty bedpans and clean up vomit in a hospital.  Those who saw themselves as a part of a team caring for the sick and who went above and beyond to do their job with excellence, saw their work as a calling and enjoyed it far more than those who simply worked for a pay-check.  Surely there is no greater calling than bring pleasure to the God of the heavens, who graciously delights in our imperfect obedience, and accepts the most insignificant work as a suitable act of worship?