I've got an important update for us before we jump into God's word today. And it's about our youth ministry as the youth are preparing to head off to camp. So here's the headline. After a wonderful season leading our youth ministry, Jude and Abby Cordero are gonna step aside and pass the baton to Daniel Everhart for this upcoming ministry year in terms of youth leadership. Now, I wanna say this. We could not be more grateful for Jude and Abby and the way that they have invested into our kids, invested, including my own son this year. They have such a unique blend of gifts that make the youth ministry go. They have this blend of tenacity, which you need in youth ministry, of care, of personal attention and care. And they are some of the most— I think they might be the most fun leaders in our youth history as well. And they've passed on so much, a love for the Lord, a love for people, a love for the things of God, and perhaps most importantly to me, near and dear to my heart, is a love for our beloved UTEP Miners. But Jude is about to enter a very strenuous graduate school program, and their family continues to grow, and so they felt like this is the right time to take a step back from that high-level leadership role. And here's a comment from them as they turn the page, which I just love. They say, we couldn't help but reflect, as we make this transition, on the way the Lord has moved in this group through the relationships we've had with families and through other leaders and to the youth we've seen— and the youth we've seen come to know Jesus and the youth we've seen mature and grow into young adults. So, I think— are you guys in the service? You guys are here, right? Do you have it? There you are. Can we just thank these— this precious couple for their investment into our youth? It's awesome, man. So good. Oh, man, love it.
And we are also very grateful that God has provided someone to lead the youth ministry in this next ministry year in Daniel Everhart. Daniel is a great brother. He's got experience in this area. And after working with him over the last few months, I've grown to see he has a unique heart for students and a unique ability to teach students, which are both huge assets and gifts in that area. And I think he's— you've already— he's already been involved to some degree, so he's very familiar with the ministry, but he's going to kind of take on the key leadership role for this next year. Now, my one concern is that the level of UTEP fighting spirit not diminish. As we pass the baton from Jude and Abby to Daniel. So, I haven't consulted anyone about this, but my strong recommendation is that Daniel teach all the youth lessons dressed in the new uniform of UTEP's mascot, Pay Dirt Pete, just to ensure that part of the transition goes well. Maybe just through the fall, that would be fine. But we're gonna be— he's gonna be growing his facial hair right, he's gonna have the headlamp, it's gonna be great. No, I'm just kidding. Now, 2 things I would just ask of you as we make this transition. First of all, please encourage Jude and Abby as they turn the page here. This is not an easy thing for them. They love these kids and these families dearly. So please encourage them as much as you can. Jen and I recently just got together, had coffee with them and encouraged them about the way they've invested in our youth and got to express that personally. So please do that, especially if you're a parent in youth ministry. Please thank them for their investment over this next year, over the last year, rather. And then second, please support Daniel as he jumps into this role with both feet and one arm after— yes, he's just had surgery on that. And he's a— he is excited about this. But I want to say this to parents. We believe in a partner, a parent-partner youth group, not a youth daycare model, meaning we do not want to bring our kids to youth group and just drop them off and say, good luck. You know, youth leaders. We wanna go, we're bringing them to youth, we're excited about that, but then we're partnering with the youth ministry to disciple kids together. That's what we want to do. So please thank Jude and Abbey, please encourage and support Daniel as we move into this next season, amen?
All right, well, let's turn now in our Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 1, which may be an unfamiliar place for you to turn in the scriptures. So if you know where Psalms and Proverbs are, It is right next door at the back of Proverbs.
We're going to read God's Word in a minute, and I just want to say one more brief comment before we jump into the text itself. I just want to say, man, we have so much to be thankful for as a country turning 250 years, but there is one reason this morning we want to thank God particularly this morning, which is this, that we have the freedom to open the Bible, to preach the Word in an unfiltered way, and worship the Lord without hindrance. Oh, friends, brothers and sisters, do you know how rare that privilege is in the last 2,000 years of the church's history? Friends, we are breathing rare air. Let us be grateful for the particular freedom we have today, and let us use that freedom well as we dive into God's Word. Amen.
All right, we're gonna begin just with verses 1 through 3 of Ecclesiastes chapter 1. This may feel unfamiliar, but let's remember this is God's Word. Verse 1, the words of the preacher The Son of David, King in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher. Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun. And this too is God's Word.
Father, we pray for Your blessing over the preaching and the hearing of Your Word today. In Your name, amen.
6 · Personal story of experiencing cold plunge springs in Colorado establishes the controlling metaphor for the sermon: Ecclesiastes is uncomfortable and bracing but ultimately invigorating for those who enter it fully
Well, I know some brothers in particular who swear by the cold plunge. They love the cold plunge. I've heard from friends and from podcasters that if you just spend a minute or 2 in ice cold water every day, it may feel like you're dying, but it makes you feel alive and has all these other health benefits. Now, I've never been a cold plunge person, uh, for obvious reasons, because it sounds terrifying and uncomfortable and It's crazy, but a few years ago I experienced some of this. Our family was in Colorado and we went to these mineral springs up in the mountains. Now, the mineral— the springs were famous mainly for the hot springs that were there that were natural heated springs, but there were also contrasting cold springs, and the cold springs were fed by the snow of the Rocky Mountains melting and flowing into these pools. So they were absolutely freezing. And I would watch as person after person would put a toe in, put a foot in, maybe get as far as a knee and then jump back out. Like, nope, not doing that, back to the hot springs. But there were a rare few I observed who would gasp and walk out into the pool, begin to swim around for a, you know, a minute or two, and then reemerge from the pool looking like they had just won the lottery. Like they were— their faces were shining. They looked healthier already. And And so, you know, I tried it. I think I got as far as my waist. And I too, even just waist deep, reemerged with a new zest for life after this cold plunge.
7 · Applies the cold plunge metaphor directly to Ecclesiastes, promising that the book's uncomfortable truths will ultimately invigorate and equip the listener to face life's biggest questions
That is what Ecclesiastes is for us, that cold plunge. It is reading just the opening of Ecclesiastes is unfamiliar and it's cold and it's bracing and it almost makes you gasp like, What? Vanity of vanities, everything is vanity? But here's my encouragement. We're gonna look at this book over the next few weeks. If you can learn to swim in the cold waters of Ecclesiastes, you will emerge reinvigorated and ready to face anything. Because this book is full of uncomfortable truths that we don't often want to swim in, that we avoid, that we want to ignore. It's strange to us in many ways, but if you will dive into the water, you'll find so many of the big questions of life are heard and answered.
8 · Names specific life situations where listeners have experienced the vapor-like quality of achievement and acquisition, establishing that Ecclesiastes speaks directly to common human frustration and disillusionment
Look, this is a book for anyone who has ever toiled and worked their fingers down to the bone at a job or at a vocation or at a career, only to wake up and find it's all blown away. And it's come to nothing. This is a book for anyone who has finally saved and taken the family vacation or got the dream car or held the keys to the house only to have the vacation end in disaster or the car get wrecked or the house to come with unforeseen problems or actually maybe experiencing the best of it realizing, I just wish I had something else. Or looking to the next thing. This is a book for anyone who has looked in the mirror and has realized the last decade of their life has flown by, or maybe their lifetime has flown by, and they're wondering, what would I— what do I even have to show for this last decade?
9 · Introduces the sermon's main question (why does life feel pointless sometimes?) and previews the sermon's structure: examining where life feels pointless, then reversing perspective to see it from God's vantage point
Now, Solomon is likely the author here. It could be another king of Israel, but it is someone who has felt and experienced all of these questions and Now, today is just an introduction to Ecclesiastes. Today is us, in a sense, putting our feet in and beginning to acclimate to the water. But here is the main question I want to ask. Why does life feel so pointless sometimes? Maybe you're thinking that's not even a question we should be asking in church. We should be thinking positive and then, you know, going on. And yet under the surface, We all ask, why does life feel so pointless sometimes? We're going to hear the preacher's opening call, then we're going to reach the end, and then we're going to reinterpret everything. The title of our series is Living Life Backwards. Ecclesiastes has us, in a sense, attack life from another angle, starting with the end and working backwards. And I think you'll find that it's bracing, it's cold, but it is invigorating.
10 · Expounds the key Hebrew term hebel (vanity) by visual demonstration rather than abstract definition, showing that it means vapor or smoke—something that appears graspable but dissipates when you reach for it
So, first section today is where life feels pointless. Where do we experience this? Number 1, in verses 1 through 3, it all blows away. Verse 1 again. I'm sorry, rather verse 2 again. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil which he toils under the sun? Now, one of the biggest interpretive keys to this book is that that word vanity is hevel, right? It recurs over and over throughout the book. However, it is extremely hard to translate. And so rather than trying to translate it, I'm actually gonna do this. I'm gonna show you what hevel means, okay? This, And this should be familiar to everybody from yesterday, if you still have all your fingers. This is hevel. Right. Not that. Everybody sees that. Not that, but this. You see that? That is hevel. That smoke that lingers, that vapor, that bit that looks like you could grasp it, but as soon as you try to reach your hand out, it dissipates. That's what he's saying. Hevel, hevel, all is hevel is what the preacher is saying. He's saying life is fleeting, it is ungraspable, it is mysterious. As soon as you reach your hand, it blows away.
11 · Develops the hebel concept through a series of hypothetical scenarios that concretize the experience of working toward something only to have it vanish—promotion, dream job, restored car, health
And now you can see why so many of the English translators are trying to figure out what word do we even use. Vanity? Not Kind of right, meaningless, kind of right, fleeting vapor. What is the right term? And here is what the preacher is using that word to introduce, that the idea that toil and effort are often just like grasping at smoke that is floating away. Look, friend, have you ever worked with all of your might at something And right as you reach your hand out to grasp it, it's smoke and vapor. Right? It's, it's, it's a guy that worked so hard for years for the promotion only to watch it go to the other person. Right? Or worked at getting a dream job and you finally are the top person and you walk in and you're like, I can't wait to go to work. And the accountant says, I need to have a word. We're insolvent. We actually don't have any money. Right? Anything like that? Maybe you've finally painstakingly rebuilt a beautiful 1960s-era automobile only to find it wrecked by the next week. Maybe you've tried to be the healthiest person you know, you only eat certain things, you never eat other things, and the doctor says, there's something in your blood work we need to talk about. Right?
12 · Issues a theological qualification that Ecclesiastes' teaching on work's vanity coexists with its teaching on work's goodness—both are true simultaneously
Now, that is what the preacher is pointing out. All of this is our experience. It all blows away. Now, qualification. We're going to be used to doing this several times throughout this book. The preacher is forcing us into the cold water, but— and he's forcing us to see the truth that toil often blows away, but that is not all the Bible says about work. In fact, in this very manuscript of Ecclesiastes, it will call us to work hard. It will call us to enjoy our work. But even while it says that, it also reminds us that often it all just blows away. So the question is this, where in your life are you struggling because it seems like you're trying to grasp something and it just keeps blowing away? Such is the nature of life.
13 · Expounds Ecclesiastes 1:4-7 on the endless cycles of nature and generations, showing that every generation thinks itself defining but is quickly forgotten
Second, it all seems endless. Look at verse 4. A generation comes and a generation goes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun goes down, and it hastens to the place where it rises. And the wind blows to the south and goes around to the north, and around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but The sea is not full. To the place where the streams flow, there they flow again, over and over and around and around. What's in view here is the seemingly limitless nature of life, right? You might think, okay, this generation, my generation is going to be defining, but so has every generation before you thought. That. Every generation gets a couple seconds of the national highlight reel relegated to, I don't know, the Martin Van Burens of presidential history where everyone's going, is that a guy? It sounds right. Was he a president? Who was that guy? Was he the sideburn guy? Right? Every generation is reduced to that. Friends, do you remember the name of your great-great-grandfather? Or your great-great-grandmother? Do you know their hopes and dreams and life and fears? Such will be true of you in time. It's all endless.
14 · Personal story of attempting to master American literature in college only to discover the task is endless—every novel leads to another, and new novels are published every year
Look, I remember when I was in college I studied literature and I was determined to become really good at the narrow field of English literature. Thinking like, okay, I'm not even world literature, just English literature. And then I thought, well, I will actually, that's probably too broad. I will just do American literature. I'll become an expert at American literature. So I began to read, and I read a novel a week for most of my classes in American literature at college. And I was determined to not just read those, to read others, defining works. And it's almost like every defining novel I read led me to yet another defining novel, a novel of supreme importance. And oh wait, there's one more novel. And have you read his early works? And what about his later works? What about the unpublished manuscript? And then I discovered unhappily that they continue to publish American literature every year. Right? And what I realized is my attempt to go, okay, I'm going to grasp this. I'm going to define and corral this. It's all a vapor. It's all endless.
15 · Turns the exposition into two diagnostic questions asking the listener to identify where they are attempting to control or master what cannot be controlled or mastered
Friend, where are you trying to control life, trying to constrain it that you just can't control? Where are you trying to master life in a way that it won't be mastered? This is the truth of Ecclesiastes.
16 · Expounds Ecclesiastes 1:8-11 on the repetitive sameness of all things—nothing is truly new, and what appears new has already been
Third, not only is it all blowing away, not only is it endless, third, it's all the same thing. Verse 8. All things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, see, this is new? It has already been in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
17 · Personal story of discovering that all the rock music he thought was new was derivative of The Beatles, who themselves were derivative of earlier artists
Now, I didn't listen to a ton of music, especially rock music growing up. My mom as a kid put me on a strict classical music only diet, which was, I guess, a thing in the '90s at one point, make your kids smarter by only listening to classical music. And so, I though at age like 12, 13 discovered rock and roll And I was like, okay, here we go, man. This is what I've been waiting for. And so, I loved rock, and I found, you know, I kept up with the current bands and stuff like that. And then I took a jazz-rock class as part of my university curriculum as well. And essentially, I realized a horrifying truth about all the music of the last 50 years that I had listened to. It's all just The Beatles. It's just The Beatles. Like, I had never listened to The Beatles. I had to listen through the whole discography for the class. And every album I listened to, I went, oh my gosh, it's them. Oh, it's that. It's that band. This band. That thing. That. I thought that was new. What in the world? And it's all just The Beatles. And here's what's funny. If you go farther back, it's like The Beatles, well, they're just someone else remix, right? This is the nature of life, right? There is nothing new.
18 · Applies the 'nothing new' principle to American consumer culture and AI technology, showing that our constant search for novelty is futile because all is repetition—even AI is just human knowledge remixed faster
And here's the thing, we as Americans in particular constantly look to the new to satisfy us, right? We suddenly will relook at a product if it says what? New and improved. It's like, oh, oh, new, right? I remember listening to a guy that was basically like, even if your product works fine in America, every few years you have to just mess with it because people are like, but I want something new, right? New. What are you looking for in the world of new to give your life meaning? A new relationship? A new— look, why do people spend endless hours scrolling social media? They're looking for that new thing that will surprise and delight them. New film, new game, right? New— New whatever. It's all Ecclesiastes says the same. Look, here's the funny— everybody's really big on talking about AI right now. But here is the limitation of AI. AI is programmed by human beings. And essentially what happens is you feed the world's knowledge into it. And it is extremely good at imitating. So it basically just reads a billion books and then tries to imitate them. Reads, watches, you know, a billion movies and tries to imitate it. It is very good at imitation, but it still has all the same limitations of the human beings that program it, which is it's more of the same, faster and faster and faster. And you're thinking, oh, this is new. No, it's just human history remixed.
19 · Expounds Ecclesiastes 1:13-18, showing that even wisdom cannot escape the vapor-like nature of life
4. Are you encouraged yet about this? 4. It's all true even if you're wise. Because maybe up to this point you're thinking, well, this is true. Life has these limitations, but I can outsmart it. I can be smart enough to navigate and bob and weave through life. So that I don't experience these things. Look at verse 13. And I applied my heart to seek out and search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight. What is lacking cannot be counted. I said in my heart, I have acquired great wisdom surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me. My heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge, and I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly, and I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. Oof.
20 · Issues a crucial theological qualification that Ecclesiastes will later commend wisdom while still maintaining that wisdom cannot overcome life's vapor-like nature
Now, elsewhere we will be encouraged toward wisdom at the end of the book. In fact, the book— I'll spoil the ending— says, here's the end of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments and seek to be wise in light of what he has said. But here is a hard, friends, hard, uncomfortable truth that we must wrestle with: even wisdom cannot change the fact that life is hevel, that life is a vapor. Even wisdom, the wisest man cannot grasp the ungraspable or hold on to the fleeting. And here is where it's difficult. The wiser you are, the smarter you are, you think, aha, I have finally found a way to make the fleeting permanent. I can finally find the perfect thing. I can finally create something new and then only end up more frustrated that you can't in the end. Here's the thing. Are you thinking you can outsmart the nature of life? You're thinking, I'm going to do it. It's going to be me. I'm going to figure this out. Well, so has every human being. It's all kevel. That is where life feels pointless.
21 · Pivots from describing where life feels pointless to asking why it feels that way—moving from phenomenology to theological explanation
But I want to dig now a layer underneath and ask the question, why is that the case? Why does life feel pointless? Those are places we feel it, but why does it feel that way?
22 · Establishes a crucial hermeneutical principle: Ecclesiastes gives a true but limited perspective (from the bottom of the canyon) that must be complemented by the rest of Scripture's perspective (from the rim)
And this is where you have to remember Ecclesiastes is a book in the context of the larger canon of scripture, the larger group of books around it, right? The unique thing about Ecclesiastes is that it is a painfully honest review of life from down on the ground level. Now, think of it this way. It is like Ecclesiastes is like being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and looking around, right? It is true. And what's in front of us, we often don't want to see, but it is limited by the fact that it is still a perspective in this enormous canon— canyon, rather. And so, what does Scripture say elsewhere Not just from the bottom of the canyon, but from the rim of the canyon as well. Where can we begin to see the thing as a whole that will help us understand why life is hevel?
23 · Establishes the first theological reason for life's hebel nature: we are creatures, not the Creator
So 2 reasons why life is hevel. Number one, we are human, not God. We are human, not God. Ecclesiastes carries the hard but beautiful truth to us as human beings that you're not God. You're not endless. You're not limitless. No, no, you're finite and limited. You don't have the power to do everything. Notice the recurring theme of God has given. God has given is going to begin to recur throughout this book. And, and it says God has given this business of seeking but being unable to fully seek out. He's given it to mankind. Why has he given it? Is it just God? He's just being mean. He's like, I'm going to give you a thing. And it's like one of those puzzles that you think, I'm going to solve this. And it's unsolvable. Like a, like a prank. You know, it's not a prank. Life is not a prank. In fact, it is a lesson. God is teaching us what it means to be human. And he knows that we need this reminder. Ecclesiastes gives us the hard but freeing truth that we are only human. We are image bearers of God, but we are not God. And so much— let me— hear me when I say this— so much of our unhappiness in life, friends, comes from human beings trying to be God, grasping at the ungraspable that only the Lord holds. We need these reminders. Friends, we are not all-knowing. We are not all-present. We are not all-powerful. And when we try to be, it only ends in disaster and unhappiness. Receive that today. If you've been trying to grasp and you're like, no, no, no, see that maybe there's something in there that you need to let go on a deeper level than managing your career or managing your relationships. It is— God is God and I am not.
24 · Establishes the second theological reason for hebel: human rebellion against God
But second point here, second reason that we find this life feels pointless, why does that happen? We rage against God. See, here's the thing. We end up in that place of like, we're not limitless, but he is. We're not all-knowing, but he is. And so one of the challenges, one of the seeds that flowers or spreads like a weed into the heart of humanity is this desire to say, no, I won't be human. I want your job, God. I will take the throne. Look, this is what happens in Genesis chapter 3, right? What does the serpent say to Eve and Adam? He says, take this fruit, and it's not about the fruit. Take this fruit because you will then be like God. And Eve goes, oh, oh my. Right? That same weed that's growing in the heart of humanity grows into Genesis 11 and the Tower of Babel. Right? Humanity seeks to build this tower, to take all of its wisdom, all of its might, to take the limitless and limit it, to take the endless and climb it, to ascend. Here's the goal: to ascend to God, to ascend to heaven. And the Lord, what does He do? In His kindness, He frustrates their efforts. Look, sin is basically saying, I don't want to be a human. I want to be God. It is us saying, I may not be all-knowing, but I really do know best. I may not be all-present, but I am going to dominate the world right in front of me. I may not be all-powerful, but I'm going to have power over the people in front of me and the things in front of me.
25 · Connects Ecclesiastes' hebel to Romans 8's futility—creation has been subjected to futility because of humanity's rebellion
Look, the world around us, Scripture says in Romans 8:20, has been subjected because of this attitude to futility. This nature was meant to be part of creation, but so much has been destroyed and marred and scarred because human beings, generation after generation, rebuild the tower and try to ascend again. We do it together. We do it individually. And then here is the tragedy that Ecclesiastes is trying to get us to see. It's trying to get us to see you It can't climb to heaven. It is endless. That gap is endless. So, some of this is by design in the nature of the world, and some of it is by dysfunction, and the world is, as a result, hevel. It is dust and air.
26 · Pivots from the cold-water diagnosis to the promise of the coming reversal
Now, we could just end there. And you could just go this week and just think about your life, you know. Man, you probably felt great 4th of July. You were like, man, I'm riding a high right now, feeling great. And then all of a sudden the preacher comes in and goes, I'd like to have a word with you. Your life is pointless. And you're going, whoa, did not expect that at church today. But you begin to see why it's helpful, don't you? We're going to unpack this and explore this. Ecclesiastes is written to guard us from trying to be God and to guard us from raging against our human limitations. But when we're there, when we're willing to see this is life, we also arrive at the beautiful truth that life is not in fact pointless.
27 · Makes a crucial translational and theological correction: hebel does not mean 'meaningless' but 'vapor
Now, notice this. I will— I very rarely— I don't know enough Greek or Hebrew to usually take issue with translations, but there is a particular translation, the NIV, I believe, that uses the word meaningless. Life is meaningless. I don't believe that is the actual translation. Vanity is better. Vapor is better. Because, in fact, Ecclesiastes, if you read it carefully, will teach you that life is in fact not meaningless and not pointless. In fact, Ecclesiastes, you might think, man, oh, I'm not going to come to church the next few weeks. It seems like a real downer. No, this is also in Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 2:24, there is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink Somebody say amen to that. And find enjoyment in his toil. And this also I saw is from the hand of God. In fact, in fact, barbecues are scripturally condoned, right? Like, let's go, right? It's this contrast of ice. It's almost like getting in that ice bath and then getting in the warm water of a hot spring and going, ah, life is good. It's this ice and heat thing going on. Ecclesiastes 3:12, I perceive that there is nothing better for human beings than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live. And you're like, man, well, that sounds like I want to read that book. Not the all is vanity book. They're the same book. The truths go together because here is what Ecclesiastes teaches us. When you realize God is God and you are not, you are free to rest in and enjoy God's rule of all things.
28 · Explains the book's key phrase 'under the sun' as marking the ground-level perspective
The recurring phrase throughout this book is under the sun. It actually happened twice just in chapter 1, under the sun. Under the sun. It's saying under the sun life is hevel, life is a vapor, life is like that under the sun. Ecclesiastes shows us life at the bottom of the canyon under the sun, but the rest of the Bible, other places in the Bible, give us God's perspective above the sun. We can look down and see it's actually not all hevel.
29 · Explains the sermon's strategy—Ecclesiastes disillusioned us under the sun so that we can now see above the sun what truly lasts
So it wants to disillusion us for the right reasons, that we may grasp what truly lasts forever. And this is then what we're going to find. Okay. I'm going to replay the message in a sense. We're going to re— this is like that movie. What was the one in Tenet, right? Where it's like backwards. You watch the movie and you watch it backwards. I didn't understand the movie at all, but I understand Ecclesiastes because here's what it does. You go, yep, here's all these things. But now above the sun, reexamine them all.
30 · First reversal: under the sun, everything blows away, but above the sun, God's purposes stand forever
Number 1, here's the good news. Under the sun, it will all blow away, but above the sun, number 1, God and his purposes will never blow away. Ecclesiastes 1:3 says, what does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? Well, that is met by Isaiah 40, which says, The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever. All that we try to grasp we cannot grasp. But all that God decrees in His purposes and Word will never fail. That means this whole life is puzzling and strange and enigmatic, but there is one work, one person's intent on all of this that will not blow away. And that is any work that God himself sets out to do. And so here's the good news. When we join ourselves to the work of God, not our own work, But the work of God, that work will never fade. So, do you see what Ecclesiastes is doing? Saying all of this, it's like smoke, but there is one thing you can hold on to, and that is what the Lord intends to do. Are you willing to join him and be part of something that will last? Are you willing to align the purposes of your life with the purposes of God? Because if you are, I have good news for you. Despite a world in which 1,000 generations of Martin Van Burens fade into obscurity, and everything you build and love and work for and your resume and your dream, all of it's going to be dust and air. In that kind of world, there is one thing that's not going to fade. It is the purposes of God. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our Lord, our God, will stand forever.
31 · Second reversal: under the sun, life is endless repetition, but above the sun, God is taking history toward a glorious end—new heavens and new earth
Second piece of good news. God, it may seem pointless, but God is taking— God, this life is endless, but God is taking history toward a cataclysmic and glorious end. Look at the contrast here. Verse 7 of Ecclesiastes, all streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full. To the place where streams flow, there they flow again. And you might think, oh, okay, we're stuck in the circle of life, the endless cycle, the wheel of time, right? It just comes and goes. And so many Eastern religions in particular will point this out. It's just endless. And Ecclesiastes would say, yeah, it is. It just flows back and forth. These things repeat again and again and again, but for the work of God. 2 Peter chapter 3 interrupts us and says, but The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. But according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Right? The world seems like it is just always repeating, always endless, always endless, except In the Lord's perspective, He is taking us somewhere. He's taking us to an end, to a glorious and good end where all things are renewed. So, join yourself to that, not the endless refilling streams of the world around us. When life feels pointless, do you look forward to the point of history? You can— there is a way a Christian can say, I am totally confused. About life. I am totally puzzled about world events, but I am sure that God is taking us somewhere. That's the posture of the Christian, the happy Christian.
32 · Third reversal: under the sun, nothing is new, but above the sun, God repeatedly interrupts history to do genuinely new things—especially in Christ's incarnation, the calendar's dividing point
Third, where it seems like there's nothing new under the sun, it's all the same, recycled, it's just the Beatles again, God— the good news is this: God has interrupted the story repeatedly and is the only thing New. Contrast this. Ecclesiastes 1:10 says, is there a thing of which it is said, see, this is new? But Isaiah 43:19 says, behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Right? The thing you see in this book, in this story, is God repeatedly interrupting the story to do something new. Humanity condemned to an endless cycle. What do you see in Genesis chapter 3 after the fall of man and Genesis 4? And they died, and he lived, and he did this, and he died, and they lived, and they died, and they lived, and they died, over and over and over again. Endless. The same. The same. Sin-wrecked, sin-condemned, sin-destroyed world. And then God speaks and interrupts. And God sends a Redeemer. And God interrupts His people, and God rescues again, and that has its culmination in the great interruption of history to which our own calendar testifies of the Son of God coming and appearing and doing a new thing on the earth, right? That dividing point of history is the only thing that truly has come in and interrupted the cycle of sin and futility around us. And friends, that's the only new thing going on in our lives. Everything else in your life is just the same, more of the same, right? If you've ever been around long enough to see something come back into fashion again, you're like, pulling that back out of the closet, I guess. It's just endless same, same. It's weird. And let me just say this, it is so freaky and weird to me how Gen Z is like fascinated with the '90s. I lived the '90s. It was fine. But Gen Z is like, oh, the '90s. You're like, what are we doing? We already did that. Let's do something else. And they're like, no, we don't. You know, isn't that every generation though? It's like, we're like, oh, the '70s were so cool. You know, like just endless, endless, endless. And yet God interrupts with the only new thing going on in this world. And the only new thing going on in your life is the work of Jesus Christ. So, so cling to that.
33 · Fourth reversal: under the sun, wisdom cannot overcome life's hebel, but above the sun, God's wisdom sovereignly rules all things
Number 4, it may be a hard truth that you will never be smart enough to outsmart life, but truth number 4, God is wise enough to rule it all. You're not smart enough, but God is. Ecclesiastes 1:17 says this, I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly, and I perceived that this also is but a striving after the wind, right? I can't figure it out. But listen to Paul in Romans 11 where he looks at the sovereign work of God in salvation for chapter after chapter, and then he just exalts in Romans 11, oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments, how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been his counselor? Who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? No, for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. Right? We're never going to figure this out. We're never going to puzzle it out. We're never going to outsmart life, but God God is sovereign over all. God holds all things. God is bringing things to a point, and none of us are his counselor. None of us are Monday morning quarterback the sovereign plan of the Lord going, well, I think you should have done this with Assyria. No, right? I got some real strong thoughts, God, for geopolitics stuff in 2027. Like, no. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Who's been his counselor? For from him and through him and to him are all things. He holds all things in the palm of his hand.
34 · Contrasts secular 'letting go' (which leads to nihilism) with Christian release-and-receive (which leads to trust in God's sovereignty)
So friends, the recipe for Christian happiness is releasing. Look, this is the difference. Let me just say this really strongly. The difference between Christian perspective on these things and secular perspective on these things is secular perspective, you'll find books where they're like, yeah, you just gotta let go. Life's unknowable. And then shrug, right? It's just unknowable. Just let it go. Just, just, Just release things. And here's the thing. The little, the, the person inside of me is going, and then what? Then what's the plan? Just release everything. Then what? I guess nobody's in charge. I guess it's just chaos. I guess it's just, you know, anarchy. And here's the difference of a Christian perspective. We release and say we, we, we're not going to control the universe. And then we receive gladly the rule of one who does rule the universe. It's like, God, I don't understand this thing in my life. I don't understand why that world event happened or why this event in my life happened, but I know you have a plan. And I'm not your counselor. And I couldn't have planned Jesus Christ. And I couldn't have planned redemption history, but you did and you can. So I trust that you're the same God for my life today and are taking us somewhere. Right? That's the difference of a Christian perspective.
35 · Personal story of being in northern New Mexico, frustrated that the wind was ruining his plans, then choosing to sit and enjoy the scent of coming rain rather than fight what he couldn't control
So, let me close this with a final encouragement here. Recently, we were in northern New Mexico. I was in northern New Mexico with my boys up by Santa Fe in the mountains there. It is beautiful. And as we were driving in, the wind was picking up. And so, I was like, oh man, I was hoping to go down, but I guess we're not going to be able to. It's getting too windy. And this cabin we were staying at had a porch. And as we stepped out and I was getting grumpy, 'cause I was like, well, I thought that we were gonna go play, you know, down by the lake or whatever. I began to smell something, this sweet, beautiful scent on the wind. And eventually I was like, you know what? I'm gonna stop worrying about what I was planning to do. I'm just gonna sit here on the porch and smell this sweet smell of rain about to fall. And then the rain did begin to fall and it was absolutely, beautiful, and I just sat on the porch and took it in.
36 · Applies the New Mexico story directly to the sermon's thesis: Ecclesiastes wants us to stop fighting the wind (trying to control what we cannot) so we can sit and enjoy God's gifts, knowing He is bringing redemption like coming rain
And friends, I think that posture is the posture that Ecclesiastes wants to put us in. You can keep fighting the wind. You can keep going, but I wanted to, and I wanted to, you know, but I'm trying to. Or you can sit happily and breathe deeply and Because the scent of redemption and victory is in the wind and the Lord is bringing the rain. And so, that's the posture of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is not just being mean, just saying, stop. It's saying, stop so that you can sit and rejoice, so you can then enjoy your life.
37 · Direct evangelistic appeal to non-Christians, calling them to stop grasping at vapors and come to Christ as the only solid, unchanging reality
And so, 2 encouragements. Number one, if you're not a Christian, let me just encourage you, stop grasping at vapors. In life. You may have the impression, perhaps, that you can be the first human being in history to limit the endless and grasp the ungraspable and impose your will and have a good life ruled by yourself. The answer, though, in all of human history is no, right? No. The reality is it's only when you get to that point of going, I'm a creature, not the Creator, that you can receive the good news of the gospel though. Because look, here's the thing, I don't know you, but I know that you long for something lasting and permanent and safe and stable and full of joy and satisfaction. That's That's what all of us are going for in life around us. And Ecclesiastes, the preacher there, is saying, you're never gonna find it out there. You're only gonna find it up here with the Lord of all. And so, friend, this is an invitation. Ecclesiastes is an invitation to you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only solid, unchanging thing in the world. He is the only good ruler for your life, and I might add, better than you or me trying to run our lives. So, acknowledge the truth that you've tried to build your own Babel, that you've tried to grasp the ungraspable, and then let God be God and receive him as Savior and Lord. You can come to him today.
38 · Issues the parallel application to Christians: stop grasping at vapors and rest in Christ
And second, for the Christians among us, this is the encouragement of Ecclesiastes that we're going to get through the next number of weeks. Stop grasping at vapors and rest in Christ.
39 · Draws on Josh Blount's insight that Ecclesiastes presents a paradox: God gives both the unhappy business of seeking and the good gifts of joy, but we cannot receive the latter until we submit to the reality of the former
I was very affected by a theologian that I respect a lot named Josh Blount who did a seminar on Ecclesiastes that opened this book up to me a number of years ago. And he makes this observation. He says this, it's striking that this is the first use of the gift theme, right? Notice in chapter 1 it says this is— God has given the unhappy business to human beings. This is only the first use of the gift theme. God also gives joy. God also gives the power to enjoy His gifts. But Josh says there is a paradox built into the book's structure. You can't receive those gifts unless you submit first. Life in a heathen world is painful and you can't escape it. Submit to the Lord and then on the other side of that submission receive Oh my goodness, receive the care of a God who knows how to sustain his people in this kind of world. It is saying, okay, Lord, I'm opening my hands up today.
40 · Final summary application bringing the sermon full circle to the New Mexico metaphor: stop grasping and instead enjoy God's breeze and smell His coming goodness
So friends, as we close, our encouragement from Ecclesiastes is this: let us stop grasping at the wind but instead enjoy the breeze and smell the goodness of God that is coming. Amen.
41 · Closing prayer with pastoral exhortation embedded—calls the congregation to visualize what they are holding in closed fists and release it to God's sovereign care
Let's stand and pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we— I just feel a burden, Lord, to lead the prayer in a particular way. Lord, would You give us grace in this moment to respond to Your Word with joy and with humility? You know, let me break out a prayer for a second, 'cause I just wanna encourage you with something I feel the Lord's bringing to mind here, which is just the image of that closed fist with maybe with both hands of something in life that you are trying to hold onto. And it could be an area of life, it could be a hope for your life, it could be, I wanted life to be like this, it could be, I demand that life be like this. Or I'm— even the impression I'm getting is like, maybe something you're bitter at God for not allowing you to hold on to. And the Lord is saying in his kindness through Ecclesiastes, release it and let me be a good sovereign God for you. So, let's pray. Lord, whatever area that is for my brothers and sisters, Lord, if that is for particular people here, Well, I just pray that we would have the ability to joyfully, not reluctantly, God, but joyfully release it to You. Lord, there are so many things that are impermanent, so many things we want to tie down or hold on to or wrangle into our shape that we would want, and yet, Lord, the nature of life under the sun is that we cannot. So, Lord, may we open our closed fists and instead hold on, grasp on to the eternal purposes of God. Lord, as we sing, we're about to sing about Your faithfulness and Your goodness. Lord, I pray that as we sing, You would give us the grace to unclench our fists and allow some of that stuff to blow away as we recommit tighten our grip on You, the good and faithful God that is worthy of our trust. We pray for that in Jesus' name. Amen.