Ecclesiastes 1:1-7 (Meaningless)

1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

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

³ What do people gain from all their labors
    at which they toil under the sun?





Do you ever wonder how to answer the question "What is the meaning of life?"   Well, according to Solomon here, that doesn't really matter because everything is meaningless.  What a way to start your day, huh?  The word "meaningless" occurs 39 times in this book, so get ready!  

Another key phrase is "under the sun" (which occurs 29 times) and whenever you see it remind yourself that it literally means "under the sun."  As you look up at the sun today, what is "under" it?  Well, everything else you see!  This entire world is "under" the sun.  This is really important to remember, because Solomon is searching for meaning on the Earth.  He is not talking about once we are habitants of Heaven. (Remember from yesterday, he may be writing this book for a non-believing audience).  Solomon's search is for our meaning while we live this life here under the sun.

He ends the above section with "What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?"  If you're like me, perhaps you sometimes feel that you're running a rat race.  One day rolls into the next: we get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to work, work all day, come home, do evening stuff, go to bed, and do it all over again.  Sound familiar?  What do we even gain from this?  What's the purpose?  After a lot of "the same," it's no wonder that people sense there must be some reason for all of this, or there must be something more.  Look around you -- you'll see men and women who at the core of their being are desperate for hope.  They want to know: What does this mean?  What does this all matter anyway?  So does Solomon.

Generations come and generations go,
    but the earth remains forever.



Have you really stopped to think about that?  Generations come and generations go.  As I was reading this week, I was really struck anew with truly how little my life means on its own.  Just as the billions of people before me, people whose names I don't know, my life will end one day.  Within a generation or two, even my own ancestors won't know my name (except for maybe the one aunt who is really into geneology, but other than her, no one else will care). 

My mom absolutely loved her Grandma Dorothy.  I've heard stories, but as a child, I didn't know Grandma D, and I really didn't care to since I knew I'd never see her here (under the sun, anyway).  And I'm sure my great-grandchildren will feel the same way about me, because though I wish I might do something so famous that people will remember me forever, they won't.  Not even my own relatives.  And guess what, people will not remember you either.

Life is short.  We work really hard, and then we die.  All our stuff will be given to the next generation, and more than likely, they'll sell our house, purge our possessions, and spend the inheritance we left them.  We may want to be immortal, but in the end, we all lose everything. Then we are just a name who is mentioned at a Thanksgiving meal occasionally.  Yes, even you.  (I really fought this thought for a while before being able to accept it myself.)

By now, I'm sure you're thinking, Well Molly, this is really NOT uplifting.  Why are you doing this to me?  I didn't want to start my day thinking about my death!  Oh, but wait, there's more. 

So the generations come and go, but the Earth remains forever.  Here is what it does:

⁵ The sun rises and the sun sets,
    and hurries back to where it rises.
⁶ The wind blows to the south
    and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
    ever returning on its course.
⁷ All streams flow into the sea,
    yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
    there they return again.

Sounds cyclical to me.  Like a big machine that just keeps going, and going, and going.  And it does.  The earth does not depart from what it naturally does.  Nature does not applaud us and it does not reward us.  It just keeps going, doing what it does.  So we are all in this Earth cycle where nothing really changes and no one will remember us because we don't really matter that much.

Feeling like scum yet?  In case you think this is just an idea from Ecclesiastes, look at these three verses. God says to us, "From the ground you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19).  "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I will depart" (Job 1:21).  "You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away" (James 4:14).

In and of ourselves, we are meaningless.  It has been this way for all of humanity.  Today, in our Facebook culture where everyone can be "famous," we are easily tricked into thinking that we are really important.  But, the truth is, under the sun, we are not......apart from God.

Here is the good news: As we will continue to see, it is Our Creator who gives us any value we may have.  For some reason unknown to us, in His grace and mercy toward us, He decided that He loves us so much that He would die for us to pay the penalty for our sin, the sin that occurs because we think we are so much better and valuable than we really are.

It is because of Him that we have any meaning at all or that we were ever even created!  And it is for Him that we then live out the rest of our days until we see Him face to face.

I don't mean to make you sad this morning, but I do hope to give us all a renewed perspective of how little we matter apart from God.  It's in our nature to think the world revolves around us, but it is so important that we realize that we are nothing, absolutely nothing, in and of ourselves.  

May we take this knowledge and be able to walk in humility today as we think about what a tiny spec we are in this vast universe and gratitude as we think of how much God undeservingly loves us.



Molly Monroe