What’s the Point of Our Work?

What’s the Point of Our Work?

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26; 4:4-8

     Let’s talk about your work life today.  This is a very significant topic.  Most of us spend many years of our lives being educated for our careers.  Then, once we complete the training and begin our work lives, researchers say the average American worker spends about 30% of life at work – about 92,000 hours over a career. 

    At its very best, work enables us to find fulfillment and joy. Human beings seem to like to accomplish things.  Back in the early 80s, when over 20% of the congregation I served was unemployed, a small group of men said to me, “Pastor, we didn’t know how much we appreciated work until we didn’t have any!”

     On the other hand, at its worst, there are few things that can frustrate us more than our work.  Why?  It may be unfulfilled expectations, i.e., after we finish our education and get our first job, we think work will be great.  But countless people report that the thrill or the workplace is soon gone.  It was certainly that way for Solomon.  Even though his job was to be the king, in Ecc 2:18 he confessed, “I hated all my work in which I worked under the sun.” In our fallen world, no matter what God intended for human beings to experience in our work, for many, it has become a tedium, a waste.  It’s like the old song, Five O’clock World by the Vogues:

Up every morning just to keep a job,

I gotta fight my way through the hustlin’ mob.

Sounds of the city poundin’ in my brain

While another day goes down the drain.

     How can the thing that brings us fulfillment also bring us frustration?  Solomon explains this in two related texts in Ecclesiastes: he tells us both why work can be deeply satisfying and why it can feel meaningless.

#1: God’s Image-bearers – Finding Satisfaction in Work

A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their work. This, I see, is from the hand of God,for without him, who can… find enjoyment (2:24-25).

     I want to start by showing you that, even though Solomon strongly declares that working “under the sun” – by which he meant that engaging in work without doing it as a part of your life with God – is something he had come to hate (2:18), he just as strongly declares that work can be deeply satisfying.  He says, in fact, that there is “nothing better” than a good and productive work life.

     What Solomon is telling us is something that was deeply rooted in the minds of the people of Israel.  In fact, the conviction that work can be deeply satisfying takes us all the way back to Genesis 1-2.  When we first meet God in Gen 1, he is creating, producing a world.  When we pull back in Gen 2 to the 6^th day of creation, we find God engaging in very physical work.  He digs into the dust of the earth (Gen 2:7) and creates the first man.  As Tim Keller so graphically puts it, “Our God is a God who gets his fingernails dirty.”

     And, after he creates the first people, he immediately gives them work to do:  to work the Garden and take care of it (Gen 2:18) and to name the other creatures God had made (2:19-20).  With God present in the garden with them, the people have a meaningful role to play in the world God had created.  Solomon specifically tells us the difference between work that is meaningful and work that is meaningless in v.25: Without God, who can eat or find enjoyment? It’s clear that our work is to be simply a part of our daily life with God.  It’s not that we meet with God on one day out of seven and the rest of our days are to be lived outside his presence.  We are to work “with God”.  The idea of “with God” in v.25 has to do with a life in which we always do what we do as a part of our relationship with him.  And, when we believe that God is with us and we do whatever we do to please him, then, the Bible says, we find meaning even in something as physical as working the soil.

     Putting it all together, our work brings satisfaction when our relationship with God is close.  That primary relationship to God flows into our relationship with those around us being healthy and into our relationship to our world being a relationship of care and nurture.  Solomon says that work is to be a natural part of our relationship to God.

     But, something has messed the work in God’s good world of Gen 2 up.  What’s gone wrong?

#2: God’s Fallen Image-bearers – Finding Dissatisfaction in Work

What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless (2:22-23).

     When people walked away from God and disobeyed him, that negatively affected everything in our world, including our work.  We are still made to be productive as human beings but, now, there are all sorts of “thorns” and challenges for finding meaning in our work.  The verses we read today are concise and remarkably insightful.  Solomon chooses words that address directly those things that our work lives seem to promise us but then fails to carry deliver: 1) the expectation of us making a contribution through our work, 2) of experiencing inner fulfillment in our work, and 3) establishing recognition by our work:

The Unfulfilled Expectations of Our Daily Work

1. Making a contribution (2:18-21)

     Read vv.18-21.  One of the main goals of people in the ancient near-eastern world was to leave behind a legacy.  They were often unsure about whether there was life after death – especially if they believed that the only things that existed were things “under the sun” so they often resorted to the thought that their lives will only have meaning if they leave something behind that leaves the world a better place than when they entered it.  That’s not a bad longing.  I long for that in my soul – so I can empathize fully with that longing.

     And, the world Solomon lived in was a family-dominated culture.  Fathers wanted their sons to take up their work and build upon it.  I envision this was the case for Solomon.  He wanted his sons to carry on his legacy as king.  However, many Bible scholars believe that by the time Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, he already knew that the nation would not follow his sons.  Soon, Israel became divided into two nations each led by a different son of Solomon.  And, very soon, the nation as a whole turned from God. 

     I know so many stories of successful business people who have worked diligently with the hope of passing the fruit of their work over to their children only to have the children reject them or choose another occupation.  I know of those who have built companies with their names on them only to have the company bought out and have the name changed.  I had a donor in my earlier work who built a large investment firm fully planning to have his son take it over.  Then, a few months after the father died, the board appointed a different CEO with completely different goals and values.  I think of the epitaph that poet John Keats wanted to have on his gravestone: “Here lies one who only plowed water.”

     Can’t you feel with Solomon’s words in v.21?  “A person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then must leave all he owns to another who has not toiled for it. This is meaningless and a great misfortune.”

1. Experiencing inner fulfillment (2:22-23)

     Read vv.22-23. One of the biggest promises about work we have in our culture goes like this: “Figure out what you have a passion for and then get the training you need for it.  Then, when you get into the work that fits that passion, you’ll find deep inner fulfillment. You’ll know that this is what you were meant to do.”  Solomon takes up that promise and says it doesn’t always work that way.  He’s not saying that finding work we enjoy brings no satisfaction at all.  But, he is very clear that making work the basis of our identity and satisfaction will always let us down.  He uses powerful words to drive that home.  He says that instead of fulfillment:

• Work brings “grief” – You will constantly be evaluated in your work. Even if you are praised one day, you may find that tomorrow, your supervisor feels different about you. That’s true of all work – even of the King. Even of the preacher! The “great sermon” that people talk to you about last week turns into “it was too long” next week. The “engaging sermon” of last week becomes “you bored us with your flat preaching style” in the next. In any job, constant reviews of your work almost always lead to grief.

• Work brings “pain” – The word he uses in v.23 for “pain” means non-stop exertion, i.e., that the work load grows and grows until you feel exhausted.   Did you know that, among a group of global CEOs who were asked, “What would you do if you had more time in each work day?” 85% said, “I’d sleep.”

• Work brings worry – As he speaks about the difficulties of our work, Solomon starts in v.21 by saying it’s made up of “anxious striving” and ends my saying in v. 23 that our work tends to become so consuming that ”our minds cannot rest at night.”

     All this is to say that, if you think that work is the answer to finding inner fulfillment in your life, you will soon be disillusioned.

1. Establishing respect and recognition (4:7-8)

     Sometimes, we think that if we become successful, then we’ll be known and we’ll have a sense of belonging and being respected.  Solomon tells a brief but poignant story in 4:7-8, it’s the story of many people who have worked so hard in their lives.  He tells the story of a man who is successful but alone and feels alienated – that people only wanted to be around him for what he could do for them.  He was recognized – but not the way he hoped for.  He had lived to have his name in the biggest publications, to have his paintings in the best galleries, or to perform in the most prestigious halls…  He thought, “People will know me and love me.”  But no – he was alone.  The promises of what his work would bring to his life go unfulfilled.  The real relationships he longed for happening through his success had, instead, been destroyed by his obsession with work.

     Solomon’s declaration:  Work “under the sun” is not worth being placed at the center of your life. The more you count on your work to make a meaningful life, the more you will find meaningless breaks into your life through work.

Putting It All Together:

     So, work can consume you and drain you of meaning in your life.  And work, in its right place, can bring meaning to your life.  Soloon says, “Work can either be meaningful or meaningless!”  So, what makes the difference?  This phrase is the key: “Finding satisfaction in your work is from the hand of God for without him who can find enjoyment?” (from 2:24-25).

     The practical question is how you actually do this?  How do you work “with God” instead of working “without God”?  Answering that question adequately would take more time than I have in this sermon.  One point that I must leave for another day and another sermon about is how to find joy in your work by taking one day out of every seven to cease from your work! (The 4^th Commandment)  But, right now, I will give you three brief thoughts and ask the Lord to help apply them to your life.  The first two are from Ephesians 6:5-9.

1. Whatever work you do, work as if you are working directly for the Lord. Most human beings work more diligently when the supervisor is watching us. Well, the God who is directing your life is always with you. Remember, Solomon says to work “with God”. Work in a way that will please him. What will happen is that you will be the best employee or the best employer that God has given you the gifts to be if you do all your work in a way that pleases God.

2. At work, serve those around you wholeheartedly as if you were serving the Lord. The Bible commands that explicitly in Eph 6:7.   And, you may think, “Well, they were probably in a better work environment back then than I am.” I tell you that they were not. Paul wrote that to people who were indentured servants, even slaves. If they could serve the people around them wholeheartedly, then you and I surely can too. To do this, you will sometimes have to pray much about God empowering you to do this before going to work -- because the people around you may be hard to deal with. But, from your side, you should make a commitment to be the best, most service-oriented colleague imaginable.

1. Even at work, look for ways to appropriately give witness to Jesus. If you commit to 1 & 2 above, i.e., being the best employee you can be and the best colleague you can be, you may find that you will have some doors opened to you to give witness. But, I will stop right here with my part of the sermon – though the sermon will not yet stop! We have called Pastor Jeff Liou at LAC specifically to give guidance to what we call “Missional Outreach” -- and that includes outreach as a part of your daily work. So, Jeff will now come to tell how how you might take some “next steps” in doing what Solomon says, i.e., engaging in your work “with God” instead of “without him” – particularly in your witness.

 

工作的意義

傳道書2;17-26；2：4-4-8

        今天，我們來談一談你的工作。這是一個很重要的話題。我們大多數人都為了事業而受多年的教育。在完成訓練之後，我們就開始工作。研究人員統計，美國人平均花在工作上的時間是人生的30% ---- 大概是92,000個小時。

            我們盡其所能地在工作中找到滿足和喜樂。人類喜歡有所成就。八十年代的時候，我所牧養的教會有20%左右的人失業，有些人對我說：“牧師，直到我們失業了，我們才知道自己有多麽喜歡工作!”;

        另一方面，有幾件事可能會比工作更能讓我們有挫折感。它可能是一些我們無法實現的期望，比如，在我們完成學業之後，找到第一份工作，我們可能覺得去工作是一件很棒的事。但是，無數人證明，那種激動很快就會過去，對於所羅門來說也是如此，即使他的工作是做君王。他在傳道書2:18中承認，“我恨惡一切的勞碌，就是我在日光之下的勞碌”。在這個墮落的世界中，無論神想要我們在工作中經歷什麽，對於許多人來說，工作都是單調無聊的，都是在浪費生命。就像一首名叫“五點鐘的世界”的老歌中所唱的：

每個清晨早起，就是為了保住一份工作

要穿越擁擠的人群

城市的喧鬧還在我的腦海中回響

而新的一天已在等待

            一件為我們帶來滿足的事情，怎麽會同時為我們帶來挫折呢？在傳道書中，所羅門在兩處經文中都為此做了解答，他告訴我們，為什麽工作可以讓我們得到深切的滿足，同時又讓我們感到虛空。

第一，我們有著神的形象，因而可以在工作中得到滿足。

“人莫強如吃喝，且在勞碌中享福。我看這也是出於神的手。（2：24-25）

            我想告訴你，所羅門很強烈地表明，他所說的“日光之下”的工作，指的是生活中與神無關的工作，那是他所恨惡的（2:18）。然而他也同樣表明，工作能夠使人深得滿足。他說，沒有什麽比富有成效的工作更好的了。

            所羅門想告訴我們的，是深植於以色列人頭腦中的觀念。工作帶給人類的深切滿足感，這將我們帶回創世紀第一章和第二章。我們在創世紀第一章中第一次見神的時候，祂正在做創世的工作。當我們來到第二章第六天的創造時，我們看到，神正在做一件繁重的體力工作，祂挖了地上的泥土（創2：7），造了第一個人，提姆·凱勒形象地描述說：“我們的神是可以把指甲弄臟的神。”

            在祂造了人之後，祂馬上就把工作交付給他們：在園中做管理的工作（2：18），並為神所造的一切生物起名字（2：19-20）。因著有神在園中與他們同在，人類在神所創造的世界中擔當著重要的角色。在25節中，所羅門具體告訴了我們，哪些工作是重要的，哪些工作是虛空的：25節說：沒有神，誰能吃喝並享受呢？很顯然，我們的工作，就是我們每日與神同在的生活中的一部分。這並不是說，我們要在七天之中拿出一天來朝見神，而其它幾天都不在祂的同在之中，而是說，我們應當“與神一起”工作。在25節中“與神一起”的意思，就是在我們的生活中，在與神的連結之中做我們日常所做的一切事情。聖經說，當我們相信神與我們同在，而我們所做的一切都是為要討祂喜悅的時候，即使我們在泥土中做體力勞作，都會覺得有意義。

            總之，當我們與神有親近的關系時，我們的工作就會為我們帶來滿足。與神的這個基本關系會滲入到我們與周圍人們的關系之中，也會進入我們與世界的管理的關系之中。所羅門說，這個工作，是我們與神的關系之中一個自然的部分。

            然而，有一些事情使神在創世紀第二章中所創造的美好世界變得混亂了。是什麽呢？

第二，墮落的形象 ---- 在工作中的不滿足

人在日光之下勞碌累心，在他一切的勞碌上得著什麽呢？因為他日日憂慮，他的勞苦成為愁煩。連夜間心也不安。這也是虛空。（2：22-23）

            人們如果遠離和不遵從神，就會影響到世上一切的事物，包括工作。我們可能仍然是富有成效的，但是從此以後，我們要想在工作之中找到滿足，就會遇到各種各樣的“荊棘”和挑戰。我們今天所讀的經文，既簡明又深刻。所羅門的語言，直接表達出了我們的工作給了我們無法實現的承諾：1）我們的期望鞭策我們工作2）在工作中經歷內在的滿足；3）因著我們的工作而得到認可

我們日常工作中無法實現的期望

1. 作出貢獻 (2：18-21)

請閱讀經文18-21節。古代近東地區人們的一個主要的人生目標，就是希望身後能夠留下遺產。他們往往不能確定死後是否還有生命，尤其是當他們認為真正唯一存在的東西是“日光之下”的東西的時候，這樣他們往往就產生了這樣的想法：如果他們在身後留下一些東西，這個世界就會在他們離開之後，變得比他們進入時更好，這樣他們的生命才會有意義。這是一個不錯的希望。我的心中也有著同樣的希望，因此我對此能完全感同身受。

而且，所羅門生活在一個以家庭為主導的文化裏，父親希望兒子們承擔起自己的事業，並在其上繼續建造。我設想，這就是所羅門的情況：他希望他的兒子們繼承他國王的產業。然而，許多聖經學者認為，在所羅門寫傳道書的時候，他已經知道，這個國家的人民不會跟隨他的兒子們。果然不久，以色列分為每兩個國家，由所羅門不同的兒子來領導。而且很快，整個國家背離了神。

我知道很多成功的商業人士的故事，他們盼望有一天能將自己事業的成果傳給他們的孩子們，他們為這個希望而勤奮工作，然而孩子拒絕了他們，而去選擇其他職業。我認識一些人，他們以自己的名字建立了公司，然而公司最終卻被收購，並且改了名字。早期時我有一位事工支持者，他建立起一個大型投資公司，一心打算要他的兒子來接管。然而，這位父親去世幾個月後，董事會任命另一個具有完全不同的目標和價值觀的人來作領袖。我想起了詩人約翰·濟慈打算刻在他自己墓碑上的墓誌銘：“在此長眠的人，一生都是竹籃打水”。

你能感覺到所羅門在21節中所說的話嗎？ “因為有人用智慧、知識、靈巧所勞碌得來的，卻要留給未曾勞碌的人為分。這也是虛空，也是大患！”

2. 經歷內在的自我實現 (2：22-23)

請閱讀22-23節的經文。在我們的文化中，工作所給我們的一個最大的承諾是：“先找出你熱衷於哪些方面，再去尋找你所需要的培訓。然後，當你找到與你的興趣相配的工作時，你就會發現內心深處的滿足感。你就會知道，這是你註定要做的工作。”所羅門在經文中提到了這個承諾，並表示實際情況並不總是這樣的。他並不是說，找到我們享受的工作完全不會帶來滿足。而是，他很清楚，如果我們的身份和滿足的基礎建立在工作之上，那麽我們永遠都會失望。他有力地闡明了這件事。他說，工作帶來的不是滿足:

• 而是“悲傷”。你將會在工作中不斷地被評估。即使有一天你得到稱贊，明天你可能會發現，你的上司對你又有了不同的感覺。所有工作都是如此，即使是國王、即使是牧師！一些人上周剛告訴你，說你的講道是“一篇非常好的信息”，下一周再提起的時候卻變成“它太長了”。上周的“吸引人的布道”在下一周變成了“你呆板的說教風格使我們感覺無聊”。在任何的職業中，如果你的工作不斷地遭到評論，幾乎總會讓人傷心。

• 工作帶來“痛苦”，在23節中所使用的“痛”這個字的意思是，不停的努力，也就是，工作量不停地增長，直到你覺得筋疲力盡。你知道嗎，當全球各地的公司總裁們被問到 “如果你每天有更多的空閑時間，你會做什麽？”的問題時，85％的人會說，“我想去睡覺。”

• 工作帶來憂慮。所羅門以21節為開始，談到我們工作的難處，他說它是由“焦慮和抗爭”造成的，我想以23節為結束，這裏說到，我們的工作變得越來越費時，以致於“我們的頭腦夜間也不能休息。”

所有這一切都在告訴我們，在你的人生中，如果你認為工作是尋求內在滿足的答案，那麽你會大失所望。

3. 建立他人的尊重與認可(4:7-8)

            有時候我們會覺得，如果我們成功了，我們就會出名，就會有歸屬感和被人尊重。在4：7-8節中，所羅門講了一個簡短卻令人心酸的故事。這也是許多一生都努力工作的人們的故事。他講述了一個人，他很成功，但是卻很孤獨，人們圍繞著他，只為了要得到他的幫助。他得到了人們的認可，但是卻並不如他所希望的那樣。他一生都致力於使自己的名字出現在最多的出版刊物之中，使他的繪畫作品出現在最好的畫廊之中，或者在最富盛名的禮堂中表演。他想，“人們都會認識我、喜愛我。”然而沒有，他是孤獨的。他的工作所給他的承諾並沒有實現。相反的，他所渴望的、想藉著成功得到的那些真實的關系，也被他過度的工作所破壞了。

            所羅門宣告說：“日光之下”的工作不值得被放在你生命的中心，你越是期盼你的工作為你帶來有意義的生活，你就越會發現，虛空會藉著工作侵入你的生活。

總結：

因此，工作可以消耗你，將你生命的意義榨取幹凈。如果工作在生命中處於正確的位置，它就可以為你的人生帶來意義。所羅門說：“工作可以是有意義的，也可以是虛空的！”是什麽起了決定作用呢？下面這個句子是關鍵：人在勞碌中享福。我看這也是出於神的手。（2:24-25）

一個很現實的問題是，你怎樣才能做到這一點？你怎樣才能“與神一同”工作，而不是在工作中“沒有神的同在”？要想正確地回答這個問題，恐怕我們需要的時間比我講道的時間還要長。我必須把這個問題留在下一次的講道中，那就是，如何在七天中將一天分別出來，以便在工作之中找到喜樂！（第四條戒命）。但是現在，我要給你三個簡單的理由，並且求神幫助你在生活中實施出來。前兩個來自以弗所書6：5-9節。

1. 無論你做什麽工作，都要將它視為是直接為神所做的。當上司在場的時候，大多數人都會更勤奮地工作。那麽，引導你人生的神隨時都與你同在。記住，所羅門說，要“與神一同”工作。要以討神喜悅的方式去工作。如果你這樣做，那麽，你就會在運用自己恩賜的同時，成為最好的雇員或雇主。

2. 在工作中，全心事奉你周圍的人，好像事奉神一樣。聖經在以弗所書6：7清楚地給了我們這樣的命令。你可能會想，“他們那個時候的工作環境大概比我現在的要好。”讓我告訴你，事實並非如此。保羅的這些話是寫給那些受契約捆綁的仆人，甚至是寫給奴隸的。如果他們可以全心事奉他們周圍的人，那麽，你和我也一定能這樣做。為要做到這一點，你有時候可能需要在工作之前，向神禱告，使祂加添能力給你，因為你周圍的人可能很難相處。但是，從你的角度來看，你應當立誌成為最好的、最會服事他人的同事。

3. 即使在工作中，也要尋找合適的方式，為耶穌做見證。如果你立誌做到上面的兩點，也就是要盡你所能做最好的雇員和同事，你就會發現，神會打開你為祂做見證的門。讓我在這裏暫停下來，盡管這個信息不會停止！我們請了劉傑夫牧師與我們分享“宣教拓展”，這包括了如何在我們每天的生活中拓展福音。因此，傑夫牧師要告訴你，你當怎樣按照所羅門所說的，進行下一步的工作，也就是，如何“與神一起”工作，而不是在工作中“沒有神的同在”，尤其是在你的見證之中。

           

榮耀歸給神，

Greg Waybright 博士

主任牧師