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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity |
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September 2, 2007 Ecclesiastes 3:1-11,
12:13 The Meaning of Life We are living in a time when millions of people have accepted the view of the absolute meaninglessness of life. Why? Many have grown up with the idea that happiness consists of having things. Now that is simply another way of saying meaning is found in things, whether toys or circumstances, or friends, or something else. Meaning is found in going to the right school, getting that good job, the big house, the right friends, the country club. There are many variations of this theme. For one it could be having a yacht with a helicopter landing pad. For another it could be having a hot rod tractor to take to the tractor pull competitions. For yet another it could be landing that big promotion, and that big salary. But when they get their things, and reach the pinnacle of success, they find out there is something missing in their lives. Siegfried Sassoon wrote in Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man that the winner of the last race is forgotten as soon as the next race begins. And so it is in all of life. Fame is fleeting, worldly goods rust, and the new toy that lights up the child’s eyes on Christmas morning, is forgotten by Christmas evening. The hard truth is that things can never provide happiness or meaning. When these people learn that truth, they conclude life has no meaning. Others have concluded that the presence of insurmountable obstacles shows the meaningless of life. You may reach the top of your field and exceed all your dreams, but you can’t stay there. You may be Miss America this year, but another golden girl will take your place next year. You may be young and beautiful and filled with potential, but soon youth will pass, and you will experience health problems, and, one day, the little empire you create for yourself will go to someone else. There are problems in life and issues in life, like poverty, the success of the wicked and the oppression of the righteous, sickness, suffering and death, that cannot be escaped, and which we seem to be unable to eradicate. And because of them many people have concluded that life is ultimately meaningless. Some have said life would have meaning if only they could see God, but they have looked for Him and not found Him. Instead they have found war and famine, oppression and suffering, sorrow, loss, grief and death, and they have concluded there is no god, therefore, there is no meaning in life. Many have accepted the idea that science disproves God, and that we are merely chemical reactions on a rock in space, who got here by pure chance and accident. Therefore, life has no meaning. No wonder people today are depressed. No wonder people today need drugs, illegal or prescription, to get them through life. No wonder the psychologists and psychiatrists have people standing in line to see them. No wonder suicide is a growing problem among young people today. People are searching for ways to help them deal with this utter meaninglessness. Here is how some people deal with it, apart from drugs and therapy. Some adopt the view that says, “life is short, play hard.” Some try to invent their own meaning. Simply find what works for them and “do their own thing.” Some just try to act like life has meaning, even though they “know” it doesn’t. Some adopt another option that has always been popular, and, which I think, is growing rapidly today. I call it “theistic agnosticism.” It is simply the general idea that “god” exists somewhere, but that we can’t know very much about Him/Her/It/Them. So just do the best you can. Be a good person, play fair, give a little back to your community and your world, and hope for the best. One reason people accept this idea is because the god they conjure up this way requires nothing of them. He is just a kind of nice feeling which doesn’t make any demands, doesn’t require worship, and doesn’t require obedience, discipleship, and sacrifice. In other words, this god is easy, and many prefer it to the tough, demanding God of the Bible. But many adopt this view because it does give some meaning to life, and they desperately want meaning. None of this is new “under the sun.” Solomon came to these same conclusions 3,000 years ago, and he was not the first or the last. If you have studied philosophy you know these ideas have a long history with humanity, and you can give the philosophical names for them, along with influential thinkers who have taught them. But Solomon is significant for three reasons. First, he was the king of Israel. He was the civil ruler of the people of God, therefore, he should have been a man of exemplary faith, not a skeptic and critic of it. Second, he chronicled his conclusions in this book, which was a rare thing in those days. The third thing that makes Solomon significant among those who hold to the idea of the meaningless of life, is that he changed his mind. As Solomon traveled through life he came to an entirely different conclusion, and his book chronicles his journey from doubt and despair back to faith and confidence. You could make a Hollywood movie out of this book. Start with an elderly man reminiscing about his life. Then flashback to his early days as king. See him young and confident, full of hope, believing God has brought him to this point, and determined to be the best king in the world. See him grow weary with the never ending problems, disillusioned at the lack of cooperation among his own people, and disappointed at the fact that the harder he worked to make things better for his people and his country, the more things stayed the same. See him turn from God to pleasure and power. See him sink into despair until he concludes, “vanity of vanity, all is vanity.” Then see him find his way back to God. In God, see him find meaning again, and life, and hope. His story has everything Hollywood wants, money, sex, power, exotic locations, a cast of thousands. The only thing Hollywood might not like is his return to God. Some producers would change the ending, but they do that all the time, so that wouldn’t bother them. So in the third chapter we see a change in Solomon’s book. Listen to these verses from the first two chapters of Ecclesiastes. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” (1:2). “I have seen all the works that are done under the sun,
and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit,” (1:3). “Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought
under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of
spirit,” (2:17). Now listen as I read from the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes. “To everything there is a season, and a time for every
purpose under the heaven,” (3:1). “He
has made everything beautiful in his time,” (3:11). Solomon has discovered a sense of order in the world. “To everything, there is a season.” He refers to work, to life, even to the trials of life, such as death and war. He has found purpose in life. There is a time for every purpose under heaven. Notice the change here from “under the sun” to “under the heaven.” The sun is just a ball of fire that crosses the earth everyday, but heaven has a religious meaning. I know it can mean simply what we mean when we say “outer space,” But I think Solomon used it here to differentiate between creation and the realm of God which lies beyond this physical universe. So, you can see Solomon changing, and even though he continues to give the arguments for the meaninglessness of life through the rest of his book, he no longer believes them. He presents them only to discredit them. He presents them to say they are wrong, because there really is meaning to life. There really is purpose to life. And if you live according to this meaning and purpose, you will find “fulfillment,” “self-actualization,” a way out of your “existential angst,” you will find peace in your soul, and the happiness you always hoped for but could never find “under the sun.” One of the best marks of Solomon’s conversion is found in 3:11, “He hath made everything beautiful in his time.” Beautiful is a term of value and worth. It is a term of meaning. A mass of accidental chemical reactions on a rock in space, has no meaning. Therefore, it cannot be beautiful in the philosophical sense of the word, no matter how pretty it might be to look at. But “He,” God, “has made all things beautiful.” He has given it meaning, because meaning comes from God. Purpose comes from God. Existence comes from God. So, if all that’s true, how can I have this meaning in life Solomon wrote about? For the answer to that question let’s look at what Solomon calls the “conclusion” of it all. In Ecclesiastes 12:13 we read, “Fear God and keep His commandments.” It is that simple. You don’t need to go on an epic quest, like Beowulf. You don’t need to “find yourself.” You don’t need to climb a mountain in Tibet. You don’t need to read the latest self-help book, not if you have and read the God-help book you already own. The key to finding meaning in life is simple. Find God. When you find God you find meaning in life, meaning in work, meaning in relationships, even meaning in recreation. When you find God you have a reason to love, a reason to work, a reason to get out of bed in the mornings, a reason to live. Putting this in New Testament terms we could say, come to Jesus. He will give you rest in your soul. Look at the example of the Apostle Paul. He had it all, worldly possessions, a great career, respect, and fame. But one day he met Jesus, and he realized then that he really had nothing. His life was really empty and meaningless. So he followed Christ, and, in Christ, he found everything. We could put it this way; God has a plan for life, and His plan is the way of true happiness. It is only by following His plan that you can have real meaning in your life. Man has been seeking the meaning of life almost from the beginning. He has concocted many schemes to infuse meaning into his empty existence, or simply given up by concluding there is no meaning. He has made the pursuit of this knowledge complicated and obscure, when it is really simple obvious. Here is the meaning of life, “Fear God, and keep His commandments.” In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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