Ecclesiastes 1:2

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities!

 All is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 1:12-14

I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to humans to be busy with.  I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun, and see, all is vanity and a chasing after wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:18-23

I hated all my toil in which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to my successor,  and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.  So I turned and gave my heart up to despair concerning all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’  But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Each Fleeting Moment to Enjoy

  This morning we take up the Old Testament book called Ecclesiastes. And I’m going to suggest that the essential message of Ecclesiastes is not depressing or nihilistic, as it might first appear. Rather, the message of Ecclesiastes goes more like this: Enjoy this day. Enjoy your work. Enjoy your food and drink. There is nothing to hang onto, and so there is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in our daily work.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit on our front porch at home. It was a beautiful day. The pretty blue hydrangeas are in bloom now. There are hummingbirds in the privet hedge. Big yellow black-eyed Susan’s cluster at the corner of the house. I sat on a rocking chair and read our scripture lessons for this morning. It was a completely enjoyable moment. There was nothing lacking. There was nothing to strive for. There was no sense of gaining or losing. It was a complete moment in itself. And then, it was gone. I went inside the house to work on my sermon. I went on to the next moment. And I enjoyed working on my sermon.

So here we have the essential message of Ecclesiastes. Enjoy this day, moment by moment. There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in our work.

Some Background on Ecclesiastes

 My goal this summer is to encourage you to read the Bible. We continue to read through the Gospel of Luke. And this morning, we have an Old Testament reading from Ecclesiastes. So I hope you will take a look at Ecclesiastes this week. Here is some background on Ecclesiastes.

 Word origins

Remember, we talked about the translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek in Alexandria, Egypt, in the  3rd century, BC. Once again, we look to the Greek translation of the original Hebrew here. Ecclesiastes is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word, Qoheleth [Kohelet], meaning “teacher.”

 “Ekklesiastes” means “the person who addresses the assembly.” The root of the word is ekklesia which means “assembly.” In ancient Greece, the ekklesia was the assembly of citizens which gathered for political or civic purposes. The ekklesia was “called out.” Ek means “out of” or “from.” And kaleo means “to call.” So, the ekklesia was “called out” from the larger population.

Later, in the New Testament, ekklesia takes on a more specific meaning for Christians. Ekklesia refers to the church, the called ones, the ones who are called out, the followers of Christ, called away from the world to follow Christ.

And for the ancient Greeks, ekklesiastes was the person who gathered a civic assembly, and spoke to the assembly.

Kohelet in the Hebrew, and Ekklesiastes in the Greek, means “Teacher.” This book in the Old Testament, we could call, in English, “The Teacher.” It’s a collection of wise sayings, spoken by a character called “The Teacher.” And these wise sayings are based on observations about the world and the way things are. Ecclesiastes is a collection of observations that offer wisdom on how to live. The book is named after this teacher. We don’t know his name. He is simply called, “The Teacher.” There are hints that the teacher is King Solomon. But the text was written long after Solomon. We don’t actually know who wrote it.

The Wisdom Tradition

Ecclesiastes, along with Job and Proverbs, make up the group of Old Testament texts called the Wisdom Tradition, or the Wisdom Literature. The wisdom tradition encourages us to go out into the world and observe. Pay attention. Learn by observation. Wise people see how the patterns and currents of life move and so align themselves with the current. Foolish people think they are wise. But their lives are tragic. Foolish people fight against the stream. If you align your life with wisdom, your life will be better. This does not mean that no problems will come, that bad things won’t happen. Anyone can find wisdom by observing the world. See the way God has organized the world. This is the basic view of the Wisdom Tradition.

The Central Theme

Now one might think that the central theme of Ecclesiastes is vanity. “All is vanity. Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher.” And this word “vanity” is depressing. Everything is vanity. In other words, everything is meaningless. The word “vanity” carries a negative, pessimistic connotation. Everything is useless, so why bother. But really, this is a translation problem. The overall sense of Ecclesiastes is not pessimistic and depressing. It is simply realistic. However, the translators chose this word “vanity, and from “vanity” we get a negative, depressing tonality. But “vanity” is not a good translation.

 The Hebrew word translated as “vanity” actually means “breath” or “vapor,” or even “smoke.” Hevel. Hevel is the Hebrew word. Everything is hevel. All is vapor. All is breath. All is smoke. In other words, there is nothing to hang onto. All is fleeting. Everything returns to zero, to nothing. In this way, everything is balanced. Neither positive nor negative is left over. Everything balances out to zero. In the long run, everything goes back to zero. Everything balances out. In an ultimate sense, there are no net gains and no net losses.

 Hevel refers to transitoriness; the fact that nothing lasts, that nothing is substantial, everything is impermanent, transitory, fleeting, like smoke or fog, like breath or vapor. But this is not a pessimistic view. It is simply observing the way things are. It is the truth.

 And the good news is that knowing this truth is freeing. It gives value to all experience. I know that someday, I will close my eyes and never open them again. Knowing this makes this moment a complete miracle. Knowing this gives value to each lived experience. Seeing a tree, for example, is a spectacular miracle. Realizing the value of all experience early in life is a blessing. Everything is balanced, no good is left over, no bad is left over. The wise die just as fools die. And so, there is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in our work, in our everyday activities.

Knowing the truth, that everything balances out to zero, that everything is havel, insubstantial and fleeting like vapor, smoke, or breath, brings tremendous meaning to right now. Because all is havel and chasing after wind, the crux of the whole thing, the most important point, the critical point, the decisive point, is right now. Life is happening right now. It is just this.

Luke’s Gospel

 Now let’s take a brief look at our reading from Luke’s gospel. Remarkably, we find a similar message here, in the parable of the Rich Fool. The Rich Fool is focused on an illusory time in the future. Jesus cautions him about this because it is a form of greed. And it is a delusion. He is making a big mistake. All his effort, work, and energy are directed toward a time in the future. He wants to stockpile his wealth so that someday in the future, he can relax, eat, drink, and be merry at some point in the future. Meanwhile, he misses out on the direct experience of his life. He misses the life that is unfolding before his very eyes. He misses the chance to help other, less fortunate people. He misses the opportunities that are here, that only present themselves right here and now. And all the things that he stockpiled, all the wealth that he stored in barns, who is going to get all of that? Not him. He won’t get it because he can’t take it with him when he dies.

 So the invitation is to think about these things this week. Meditate on this. It’s not an easy subject. But when you really see it, it could be quite a powerful insight. We don’t really get anything from all our work. There is nothing to hang onto. We don’t get to keep anything. But if we can find enjoyment in our work while we are doing it, and find enjoyment in our food and drink, and in our everyday activities, the flowers in the summer, the colorful leaves in autumn, the blue ocean, the birds flying in the sky, this is the best that we can do. And it’s enough. Sing a song. Read a poem. There is nothing extra to gain. Nothing to store up. Nothing to hold onto. The meaning and the blessing of life is right now, in the moment by moment living of it.

Amen? Amen.