Choosing What Matters Most Ecclesiastes 4:4-16 NKJV I N T R O D U C T I O N

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, August 16, 2015 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister MESSAGE 6 in Ecclesiastes Sermon Series Choosing What Matters Most Ecclesiastes 4:4-16 NKJV I N T R O D U C T I O N It has been said, The choices we make today will have a great effect upon our tomorrows. Throughout our lives you and I must make thousands of choices. Some of those choices aren't that big a deal. Coke or Pepsi...Ford or Chevy...Charmin or White Cloud...Crest or Colgate...Bounty or Brawny...White or Wheat. These are not life and death choices, they are choices of personal tastes or preference. But then there are some very serious choices such as: Our choice of a mate...our choice of whether or not to go college...our choice of a career...and our choice of personal habits. These choices can have a very dramatic impact, not only upon our lives, but on the lives of those closest to us. GOOD CHOICES bring blessings and rewards, while BAD CHOICES bring consequences and heartache. As we continue our series of messages from Ecclesiastes on Finding Meaning in A Meaningless World, Solomon focuses on this matter of OUR CHOICES in life. I have entitled today's message: Choosing What Matters Most.

2 If you would, please turn with me in your Bibles to the fourth chapter of Ecclesiastes. In this fourth chapter, Solomon presents us with three important choices. First of all... I. Choose CONTENTMENT Over ACHIEVEMENT (vs. 4-6) Ecclesiastes 4:4-6 (NKJV) 4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. 5 The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. 6 Better a handful with quietness Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind. ILLUSTRATION Karoshi is a Japanese word which means death from overwork. This syndrome is now so prevalent in Japan it claims the lives of as many as 30,000 victims per year. In fact, the incidents of Japanese people dying from overwork has risen so sharply since 1990 that the Japanese government has been forced to provide financial restitution to karoshi widows. As Americans we hear this and we think to ourselves, Death from overwork, that is absolutely ridiculous. Yet the truth is, many Americans are incurable workaholics, working as hard and as long as we can. And what is it that drives so many Americans to become addicted to work? It is our lack of contentment with what we already have.

3 1. Solomon has already taught us that work is a blessing from God. But like all of God's blessings, work can become distorted by sin. How, you might ask? When our work is motivated by envy. v.4 Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. 2. What Solomon is saying is that one of the reasons why many work so hard is so they can have what their neighbor has. Today, we call this keeping up with the Jones'. 3. Many people are caught up in this insane rat race to work as long and as hard as they can so they can live in as nice a house as the Jones'...and drive as nice of vehicles as the Jones'...and wear as nice of clothes and jewelry as the Jones'...and take exotic vacations like the Jones'. 4. That is like a hamster running as hard as it can go inside the wheel. It is chasing after something it will never grasp hold of.

4 5. Solomon is not telling us not to work or don't work hard. What he is telling us is that if our work is driven by the greed and envy to have what somebody else has there will be no end to it. It will be like chasing after the wind. 6. Now in verse 5 Solomon gives us the complete opposite of the man who works too much, and that is the man who refuses to work at all. v. 5 The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. 7. When Solomon says, the fool folds his hands, he isn't talking about the person who is physically or medically unable to work. He is talking about the lazy man who would rather take a handout than to have to work for it. God condemns this sort of behavior in the harshest of terms. II Thessalonians 3:10 (NKJV) If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. 8. So in vs. 4, 5 Solomon has given us two polar extremes. Just as work can become addictive... laziness can be self-destructive.

5 9. Now, in v. 6, Solomon tells us there has to be a proper balance between working too much and not working at all. v. 6 Better a handful with quietness than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind. 10. Better a handful with quietness refers to being content with what we have rather than working ourselves to death to fill both hands with more than we already have. 11. Choose CONTENTMENT over ACHIEVEMENT. As we move on to VERSES 7-12, Solomon presents us with another choice, and that is... II. Choose RELATIONSHIPS Over RICHES (vs. 7-12) Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 (NKJV) 7 Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun: 8 There is one alone, without companion: he has neither son nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labors. Nor is his eye satisfied with riches. But he never asks, For whom do I toil and deprive myself of good? This also is vanity and a grave misfortune. 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

6 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. 11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. 1. In reference to the man Solomon talks about in v. 8, author, Keith Krell asks, Do you know this man? Of course you do. This man believes in the value of hard work and the inherent dignity of a job well done. He is probably married and has at least three children whose picture he carries in his wallet. He loves his wife and thinks about her a lot more than she knows. It is true, he works long, hard hours----often he's gone by six in the morning and doesn't get home until after seven at night. The stress of his work is so enormous that it takes him an hour or two to unwind, so he doesn't spend much time talking in the evening. He is so tired that all he can do is scan the newspaper, watch a little TV, and go wearily to bed. His blood pressure is too high. He needs to exercise. His diet isn't the best. And sometimes he is irritable with his wife and kids---and regrets it later. He works hours a week, and yet he doesn't think he's a workaholic. He simply loves his job and he is very good at it.

7 He brings home a nice paycheck to provide all the good things his family needs. One of these days he plans to slow down and smell the coffee---but not today. And then one day, he comes home and his family isn't there. While he was at work, his kids grew up. His wife went back to school and found a new career of her own. He can't believe it! The Board of Directors just named him the CEO, and there's no one home to share the good news with. He finally made it to the top-----alone. 2. Solomon is reminding us in these verses that people matter more than a paycheck. In vs Solomon tells us how we can work SMARTER instead of HARDER, and it all has to do with our relationships. (A) Two are better than one for WORKING.. (v.9) v. 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. I think all of us would agree that there are certain jobs or tasks in life that are easier accomplished if we just go ahead and do it ourselves. But what Solomon is saying is that, as a rule, WORK and LIFE ITSELF is so much more rewarding when shared with someone else than alone.

8 When two people pool their strength, their skills, their ideas, and their abilities together they can accomplish more than twice as much as one person working alone. This is true in the home...at work...at school... and in the Church. And one of the added blessings of working side by side with someone else is that the relationship between the two of you is strengthened. (B) Two are better than one for WALKING.. (v.10) 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. I heard Dr. David Jeremiah use a wonderful analogy to illustrate this verse. He said, You know, at some time or another we have all found ourselves in a situation where our car wouldn't start because of a dead battery. And someone would come along with a pair of jumper cables and connect their strong battery to our dead battery and give us a new boost of energy to get us going. He went on to say there are times in life when our physical, spiritual or emotional battery is dead and we need to draw upon the strength and power of a friend to recharge our battery. It may be a word of hope in a time of hopelessness, or a word of encouragement in a time of discouragement, or a warm, loving embrace that says, I'm here for you, and together we will get through this.

9 (C) Two are better than one for WARMTH (v.11) 11 Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? In Solomon's day travelers didn't have Holiday Inns or Motel 6's to stay in. Quite often they had to stay out in the open or in tents when they traveled. And at night, when the temperatures would plummet the more bodies that huddled together the warmer they would all stay. What Solomon is saying is that our journey through this cold, harsh world is very difficult, and GOD makes our journey easier by blessing us with the warmth of family and friends to travel by our side. (D) Two are better than one for WATCHCARE. (v.12) 12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Solomon is telling us there is safety in numbers! Two people are twice as hard to defeat as one. Life can be brutal, and we all need someone to cover our back, someone who will fight for us and with us through thick and thin. Did it ever occur to you that even The Lone Ranger wasn't alone? He had TONTO watching his back at all times! Batman had Robin. Starsky had Hutch. Andy had Barney... well maybe that's not a good example.

10 The point is, life can be very brutal; and all of us needs the comforting reassurance that our family and friends have our backs CHOOSE CONTENTMENT OVER ACHIEVEMENTS. CHOOSE RELATIONSHIPS OVER RICHES. And finally, and briefly... III. Choose INFLUENCE Over POPULARITY (vs ) 13 Better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more. 14 For he comes out of prison to be king, although he was born poor in his kingdom. 15 I saw all the living who walk under the sun; they were with the second youth who stands in his place. 16 There was no end of all the people over whom he was made king; yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind. 1. Solomon is telling us people who work hard to get to the top of the ladder in life soon discover that life at the top is lonely, empty, and fleeting. Illustration: Former Dallas Cowboy quarterback DON MEREDITH used to say about NFL quarterbacks, Today you are in the penthouse, tomorrow you're in the outhouse.

11 2. What is true of NFL quarterbacks is also true of presidents, and preachers, and teachers, and coaches, and politicians, and even factory supervisors. You may be popular for awhile, but you'll be fortunate if even half the people still like you when you're done. 3. When this life is over, no one will remember the titles we wore...the positions we held...or the degrees we earned. Those things will be nothing more than brief comments in our obituaries. What will be remembered however is the influence we had upon our family and friends and those who knew us. It is our love of GOD and love of our fellow man that will be the lasting legacy to our lives. 4. Choose INFLUENCE over POPULARITY. **************************************************** C O N C L U S I O N It has been said, Achievements, riches, and popularity can all expire like cottage cheese. As Solomon has noted, all these things are meaningless. They are just chasing after the wind. Today we have learned: CONTENTMENT with what we have matters more than ACHIEVING more. CHOOSE CONTENTMENT. RELATIONSHIPS matter more than RICHES. CHOOSE RELATIONSHIPS! And INFLUENCE matters more than POPULARITY. CHOOSE INFLUENCE! LET US WISELY CHOOSE WHAT MATTERS MOST IN LIFE.