When Nothing Changes

What’s the Point – When Nothing Changes?

Ecclesiastes 1:1-14

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

     I want you to think carefully about that statement from Lewis.  It was Lewis’ growing longing for something that he could not find in this world that ultimately led him from agnosticism to faith in Jesus when he was teaching at Oxford University in the mid-20^th C.  I am convinced that this conviction that there is nothing in this world that can fill our deepest human desire is the message that is behind everything we will consider as a church family as we spend the next few months in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

     Before I say anything else, I want you to notice that Lewis did not say that all other desires we have as human beings are wrong.  We rightly desire so many things every day of our lives.  We certainly can desire wrong things.  But, many of the things we long for a good parts of God’s creation – things like good food, a good night’s sleep, deep friendships, times of laughter…  However, what Lewis says – and what the book of Ecclesiastes emphasizes -- is that those things in our world that we desire cannot fill the ultimate desire of our hearts, what the Apostle Paul called “epithumia”, i.e., the “over-desire”, the single great desire above all other human desires.  It’s the one that must be filled or all the other desires will leave us unsatisfied.

     We who are human were made to “love the God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind (Lk 10:27).”  What the book of Ecclesiastes is about is that making anything else your first love will leave you empty.

About Ecclesiastes -- The words of the Philosopher, son of David, king in Jerusalem (1:1).

     Ecclesiastes is like no other book in the Bible.  Make note of that right now.  If you read it like you read other books of the Bible, you will become frustrated.  The writer calls himself “Qoheleth.”  Some have translated this “Preacher.” But, he’s really not so much a preacher as he is a philosopher. A preacher’s calling is to seek to give you answers about life from God’s Word.  What Qoheleth wants to do is ask the big questions about life -- and force you to answer them personally.  He wants you to think deeply about where you think you will find satisfaction or happiness in this world.  So, I’ll call him “the Philosopher”.

     Who is this Qoheleth, this Philosopher who wants you to think deeply and consequently about how you live your life? Read on in v.1: “…the son of David, king in Jerusalem.” The one who writes this profound book claims to be King Solomon and, in spite of some who disagree with me, I’m convinced Solomon wrote it – or, most of it. So, you have to to make sure you grasp this point: The man who wrote the book is the king of what at that time was a very prosperous and powerful nation. Solomon had more power, pleasure, wealth, and fame that you and I will ever, ever...... ever have. To understand Ecclesiastes, you must read it knowing that the one who wrote it was beyond anyone else in terms having what our world has to offer.

     I am quite sure that the content in Ecclesiastes flows from what Solomon had learned his whole life. When I read Ecclesiastes, I envision that at the end of his life, he looks at everything this world has to offer and says it has no meaning if this material world is all that is.  What Solomon does then is to force us to consider what life is all about if there is no God. That’s what he means by “under the sun”, a phrase he uses over and over again (28 times!). Solomon asks, “Where do you find lasting happiness if there is no God?”  “What do you live for if there is no God?” 

     I’ve been wondering what is would be like if Ecclesiastes were the first book in the Bible.  Let me explain:  Solomon forces us in Ecclesiastes to envision finding lasting satisfaction in anything “under the sun” and he determines over and over again, that it makes no sense.  Solomon asks us, “What’s your life all about?  If you can’t find what you’re looking for in anything under the sun, then what do you live for? If you were reading Ecclesiastes as the first book in the Bible, that would be your question.

     If this were the first book in the Bible, with that question in your mind, you turn the page to Genesis and you read, “There is more!  In the beginning, God… I am God and I am here.  I have made all that is and I have made you in my image!  I have made you to know me and to walk with me.  Now, let me tell you how I have created you to live!”  That’s how I read the book of Ecclesiastes.  In it, the Philosopher pushes us relentlessly toward finding our identify, our purpose for living, and our lasting satisfaction in the God who made us and is revealed to us in the Bible and through Jesus Christ.

     Today, let’s see where he begins. 

Under the Sun, Life Is Meaningless: Everything is – it’s always been – it will always will be

Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless (1:2).

     The key question of this first section of Ecclesiastes is found in v. 3: What do people gain from all their laborsat which they toil under the sun (1:3)? The rest of our passage answers that question. And it’s an important question!  Re-stating it:  What lasting benefit comes from anything you try to do if what is in this world is all there is?”  What would you say to him if you were taking a class in school with him?

     Solomon’s answer is resounding: “Nothing is gained by anything we do or pursue in life if we strive for it without reference to God.”  The word Solomon uses 38 times in this book is “vanity” or “meaningless”. The word translated “meaningless” is the Hebrew word “hebel”. It refers to a breath or vapor like the cloud of vapor that comes out of our mouths on a cold morning (not in Pasadena but in Chicago) or the mist that comes up out of our humidifiers.  It is something that seems so real but doesn’t last. 

   Solomon wants you to know that all things in this world are fleeting.  Everything you can conceive of under the sun can and will be frustrated by futility and impermanence.  Athletic skill will be prey to injury or old age.  Success in business by disharmony and greed.  Friendship by misunderstanding or geographical separation.

     Solomon answers the question of v. 3 by citing two problems in striving for things withoutGod:

Problem #1:   All our striving adds nothing new to this world (1:4-10). “Generations of people come and go but the earth remains…”

     The Philosopher reflects rather poetically on the fact that, on one side, things we do may seem to change things in the short run, but, on the other, the world doesn’t change at all.  What he does is set in contrast the brevity of our human lives and the more lasting cycles of nature and history.  In vv.4-8, Solomon compares all that we try to think will make a difference and actually last to the earth’s stable processes.  He says the work of the sun, wind, and waters continues on while human life comes and goes. 

     When you read the poetry of these verses, you need to remember that Solomon is not making scientific statements but statements of how everyday people experience our world.  Each morning, he says, we see the sun rise and then it goes down only to rise again.  It was that way for our parents – and for their parents.  And it will be that way for our children and grandchildren too.  Then, he says, we feel the wind blow but where does it go?  Then, we experience it come back again.  Then again, we see the streams flow into the sea but the sea never fills up – but we look and the streams continue to flow.  I wish you could read it in Hebrew.  His words are very rhythmic and all culminate in vv.9-10:

What has been will be again,     what has been done will be done again;     there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say,     “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago;     it was here before our time.

     Don’t misunderstand Solomon.  He’s not saying that we don’t change anything in this world – we have cell phones and IPads in our world that he didn’t.  We build planes and make bombs as he couldn’t.  But, he still insists that, if what is under the sun is all that is, then we don’t really see any eternal and moral differences in our world. He wants us to know that, when it comes to the big issues of life, nothing ever really changes.  We might label 1:3-10, “Same old; same old…”  “The more things change; the more things stay the same.” I wonder how many of you remember the 1973 song by Pink Floyd entitled Time:

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain; You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find ten years have got behind you; No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking; Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older, Shorter of breath and one day closer to death… The time is gone, the song is over. Thought I had something more to say.

Problem #2: No one will ultimately remember what you accomplish anyway (1:11)

No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.

     Many of us are big sports fans.  You may know that, as of last Monday, Villanova University is the 2016 NCAA basketball champion.  It seems like such a big thing – very satisfying for Villanova fans.  But how long will people remember that?  The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC, 150 years after Ecclesiastes was written, almost 2800 years ago. The winners of the events became instant heroes, even viewed as gods.  But now, can you name any of them? Even the most celebrated human accomplishments are soon forgotten.

     In 1966, John Lennon, at the height of the Beatles’ popularity, made this prediction, “Christianity will go… It will shrink and vanish. I need not argue that.  I’m right and will be proved right… I don’t know which will go first – rock and roll or Christianity.”  I can answer John Lennon’s question re-texting a song he wrote called Imagine. His lyrics were:  Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try.”  I think we now should sing: “Imagine there’s no Beatles. It’s easy if you try.”  Think of it:  Even though two of the Beatles are still alive and touring now in 2016, my grandchildren have no idea who the “Fab Four” are. 

     Here’s the truth:  Today’s celebrities are tomorrow’s obituaries. If that’s true of celebrities, what about the rest of us?  We work so hard to leave a legacy.  But, people will soon forget us, here “under the sun”.

     Let me personalize this.  I was once the president of Trinity International University.  They even named a building after me there.  But after just 7 years of being away, I went back to campus in the fall of 2014.  On my first day on campus, I was walking from my office to the dining hall and greeted a group of students.  I asked, “What are your names?”  They told me and then they asked, “Who are you?’’ I said, “I’m Greg Waybright.”  The replied, “Ha!  Good one!  Like the building?” I said, “Yes, like the building.” “Well,” they told me, “that guy’s dead.  We don’t know why they named the building after him but he’s dead!”

     I think it was only when I did chapel that week that they discovered that rumors of my death “were greatly exaggerated”, as Mark Twain wrote.  But, what a lesson for me!  It drove home Solomon’s point to me and forced us to think seriously about the lasting meaning of life. What good is stressing out about work or about accomplishments?  What good is fame? If those are the things we live for, life is meaningless.  Death will take those things away.  Nothing will change.  And eventually no one will remember.

     Let me tell you one more very personal way this text has spoken to me.  My Mom would have agreed with my sermon today because she had come to live for the eternal God when she placed her faith in Jesus.  But, if had not come to faith in Jesus, she would have lived for her family.  If you had ever spoken with my Mom, she would have told you everything I had ever done in my life. Apart from God, her family would have been her legacy.

     But, then, she developed Alzheimer’s disease, and soon all that she forgot all the relationships she had once loved “under the sun”.  She even forgot me.  I’ll never forget the day that I was talking with her and she wondered what I was doing in her house.  I said, “Mom, “I’m Greg.  I’m your son!”  She said, “I like you.  But there is no way that you are my son!”  It was painful – but it’s what Solomon is teaching us.

     I sometimes thought about Ecclesiastes in my Mom’s last days.  And I found this poem:

The name of the author is the first to go

followed obediently by the title, the plot,

the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel

which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of…

                                                Forgetfulness by Billy Collins

     What do people gain from all their laborsat which they toil under the sun? Utter meaninglessness.

The Lesson from God’s Word: What I Want You to Do Beginning Today

     Let’s return to where we began.  C.S. Lewis wrote: “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”  And Solomon wrote:  What do people gain from anything they try to accomplish as they toil "under the sun”?  Nothing.  It won’t last.  It won’t even be remembered (from Eccl 1:1-11).”

     To begin to personalize this message today, do this: Take time to think right now about all the things you feel like you have to have to be happy or to feel good about yourself.  Do it right now.  What are those things you feel you really need to be satisfied? Then, ask how long those things will last. 

     On the flip side, think about all the things that you are feeling frustrated about right now.  Is anything frustrating you in your life “under the sun”?  Does God know about those things?  Are they outside his control?  What happens to them then if you simply entrust them to him? 

     For all of us who are committed Jesus-followers – I say, beware of turning back toward thinking you find your life in anything under the sun.  Do you think that we are still susceptible, even after finding eternal life in Christ, to thinking that we cannot be satisfied unless we have something in this world?  To accomplish something in this world?  Like Solomon, I’ve lived long enough to have heard it all.  “Pastor, pray for me that my health will return.  I can’t really live without my health.”  “Pastor, pray that my child will get into Harvard.  I don’t know what we’ll do if she doesn’t.”  “Pastor, pray that my business will succeed.  What am I doing wrong?  Why is God not letting me succeed?”  I often pray for such things but, I’ll tell you:  If you have those things and do not have God first in your life, those good things – what have become your idols -- will all be empty.  If you do not get any of those things and you still trust God, you will be content. 

     It’s so subtle, isn’t it.  Those good things become idols.  They become the “epithumia”, the greatest desires of our heart.  The Apostle Paul had applied Ecclesiastes to his life.  He wrote from a prison, “I have learned to be content in any situation here under the sun… For me to live, is Christ. Therefore, even death is a gain.”  I ask you – Is Christ the first love of your heart?  If all you have is Christ, is he enough?

     For those not yet fully committed to faith in Jesus -- Solomon forces you to come to grips with the meaningless of life without God.  He wants you not to throw your mind away and then naively to follow Jesus.  He teaches, “Don’t think less – think more! Keep struggling with the big questions about existence and, as you struggle fervently and honestly, you will be drawn to God.”  We’ll see it throughout this series:  Ecclesiastes is relentless about capturing the futility and frustration of seeking to make sense out of any aspect of life without God: the eventual drudgery of work, the emptiness of living for pleasure, the problem of injustice -- if this world is all there is…

     At the end of the day, all that is points you to the God who loves and who makes himself known to you in Jesus.  Jesus specifically talked about this.  Jesus said that he came to bring lasting meaning into this otherwise world of meaninglessness.  He said in John 10:10: “Others come to steal, kill and destroy.”  That is, anything else that tries to come into the center of your life will leave you empty.  You’ll find it meaningless, utterly meaningless.  But Jesus went on, “But, this is why I’ve come: I have come so that you may have life; life to the full.  “Under the sun” life is meaningless. Through the Son, life will be abundant.

     I’ll end there.  That’s the good news for you to take home.  When you are in Christ, there is something new in this world that doesn’t seem to change.  In Christ, you become God’s new creation.

 

意義何在：當一切都沒有改變的時候

傳道書1:1-14

“如果我們發現，自己有一種欲望，是這個世界上任何東西都無法滿足的，那麽，最合理的解釋就是，我們是為著另一個世界而被造的。”（出自魯益士的作品,“返樸歸真”）。

我希望你能仔細思考魯益士所說的這句話。在二十世紀中葉，當魯益士在牛津大學教書的時候，他感到自己在這個世上無法找到他所渴求的東西，這使他最終由一名不可知論者轉而歸信耶穌。他相信，人類最深的渴望是這個世界所無法填滿的。而這正是我們教會接下來幾個星期中，在傳道書裏所要思考的信息。

首先，我想讓大家註意，魯益士並沒有說，人類所有其它的欲望都是錯的。我們每一天在自己的生活中都有許多正確的欲望。當然，我們也可能會有錯誤的欲望。我們所渴望的許多事情，都是神創造的一部分，比如美食，好的睡眠，深切的友誼，快樂的時光等等。然而，魯益士所說的，也是傳道書所強調的，是在世上我們所渴慕、卻無法填滿我們內心的事情，也就是使徒保羅所說的“情欲”，它包括“超越的欲望”，也就是某一種超乎所有人類欲望之外的欲望。我們必須要滿足它，否則所有其它的欲望都難以使我們得到滿足。

人類要“盡心、盡性、盡力、盡意愛主你的神(路10：27)。”傳道書所說的，是關乎你首先所要愛的，否則一切都是虛空。

關於傳道書 ---- 在耶路撒冷作王，大衛的兒子，傳道者的言語（1:1）。

            在聖經中，傳道書是很獨特的一部書。請記住這一點。如果你像讀聖經中其他書卷那樣去讀這一部書，你會有挫折感。作者自稱為“Qoheleth”，有些譯本將這個字翻譯為“傳道者”，但是，與其說他是一個傳道者，倒不如說他更像一個哲學家。傳道者的責任，應該是解答人們對於神話語的疑問，而”Qoheleth所要做的，則是提出關於人生的重要問題，迫使你自己去解答它們。他讓你深刻地思考，自己如何才能在世上找到滿足和幸福。因此，我稱他為“哲學家”。

            這位Qoheleth，這位想讓你深刻思考如何生活的哲學家是誰呢？請讀第一節：“在耶路撒冷作王，大衛的兒子。”寫下這本深奧書卷的人自稱是所羅門王，也許有人不同意，但是我相信，正是所羅門寫下的這本書。因此，你需要明白這一點：寫下這部書的人，是那個時期一個非常繁榮、富庶和強大的國家的國王。所羅門所擁有的能力、快樂、財富和名聲，是你我永遠永遠都不可匹敵的。他也是在當時的社會中受到最好教育的人、最見多識廣的人。要想理解傳道書，你必須要知道，這部書的作者，在教育、娛樂、聲望、財富和能力上超越了任何人。

        我很確定，傳道書的內容是關於所羅門從自己一生中所學到的功課。在我讀傳道書的時候，我看到，在他生命即將終結的時候，他看著自己在世上所擁有的一切，說，如果物質世界就是人生的全部，那麽這一切都沒有意義。接著，所羅門使我們思考，如果沒有神，人生的意義是什麽。他所說的“在日光之下”，就是這個意思，他反復使用這個句子（28次！）。所羅門問道：“如果沒有神，你在哪裏能找到永恒的快樂？”“如果沒有神，你為何而活？”

            我在想，如果傳道書是聖經中的第一部書，會怎樣呢？讓我解釋一下：在傳道書中，所羅門迫使我們看到，人在“日光之下”的任何事物中，都無法找到永久的滿足，他反復地說，這都是虛空。所羅門迫使我們求問，“人生的意義到底是什麽？”如果在日光之下，我都無法找到我想要的，那麽我為什麽而活呢？人生還有更多的意義嗎？如果傳道書是你在聖經中讀的第一本書，那麽這些就會是你的問題。

            帶著這個問題，你再翻到創世紀，就會發現：“生命還有更多的意義。起初，神……我是神，我在這裏。一切都是我所造的，我也按照我的形象造了你！我使你認識我，與我同行。現在，讓我告訴你，我創造你，是為要讓你知道如何生活！這就是我讀傳道書的角度。其中，傳道者無情地揭示我們的身份，我們生命的目的，和我們在那位造我們、並藉著耶穌基督向我們顯現的神裏面的滿足。

            今天，讓我們一同看看，傳道書從何處開始。

在日光之下，生命是虛空的：凡事都曾經是、也將會是虛空的虛空！傳道者說，虛空的虛空，虛空的虛空。凡事都是虛空。（1：2）

            傳道書第一部分中最重要的問題在第三節：人一切的勞碌，就是他在日光之下的勞碌，有什麽益處呢（1：3）？我們余下的時間會回答這個問題。這是一個重要的問題！再重申一遍：如果物質世界所有的就是人生的全部，那麽在你所做的一切事情上，有什麽持久的益處呢？如果你在學校和他一起上課，你會對他說什麽呢？

            所羅門的回答是響亮的：“如果我們為一件事而努力，卻沒有想到神，那麽我們所做和所追求的一切都無益處。所羅門在這卷書中使用了38次“虛空”這個詞。這個詞的希伯來原文是“hebel”，是指在一個寒冷的早晨（不是帕薩迪納，而是芝加哥的早晨），從我們嘴裏呼出的氣息，或是我們的加濕器中冒出的霧氣，它看起來非常真實，然而卻不能持久。

            令人吃驚的是，“hebel”這個字的希伯來文拼寫，剛好是聖經中人類所生的第一個孩子的名字，亞伯。所羅門在這裏使用這個字是有用意的。他是在說，從第一個出生的嬰孩開始，人類的生存就與神有關。然而，當我們試圖撇開神而活時，所有人（所有在亞伯之後出生的人）都會發現，我們的生活是虛空的。所羅門要讓你知道，這個世界上所有的事都會過去。你在日光之下能感受到的一切都會被徒勞與無常所摧毀。運動技能會被受傷和年邁奪走。事業上的成功會被不和諧與貪婪所破壞。友誼會被誤解和地理的分隔所沖淡。

            所羅門藉著引用人們所追求的兩個沒有神同在的事情來回答第三節的問題:

第一個問題：我們所做的一切都是舊事（1：4-10）。“一代過去，一代又來。地卻永遠長存……”

            傳道者以詩的形式表達了這個事實：一方面，我們所做的事可能在短期內可以改變一些事情，但是另一方面，世界並不會為之改變。他是在與自然和歷史周期的對比中，凸顯了人類生命的短暫。我們覺得有些事情會改變世界、實際上卻只是世上事物穩定過程的一部分。在4-8節中，所羅門對比了這些事情。他說，當人類的生命一代過去，一代又來的時候，太陽、風和水都依舊如初。

            當你讀經文中這些詩句的時候，你需要記住，所羅門不在做科學上的說明，而是指出人們每天在世上的經歷。他說，每個早晨，我們都看到日頭升起、又落下歸到所出之地。在我們父母的生命中是如此，在他們的父母也是如此。對我們的子孫也是如此。接著他說，我們感覺到風，但是它去了哪裏？然而之後我們又能經歷到它返回轉行原道。接著，我們看到，江河都往海裏流，海卻不滿。然而江河依舊湧流。我真希望你們能讀希伯來原文。他的語言很有節奏感，在9-10節中達到高潮：

已有的事，後必再有。

已行的事，後必再行。

日光之下並無新事。

豈有一件事人能指著說，這是新的。

哪知，在我們以前的世代，

早已有了。

            不要誤解所羅門。他並不是說我們無法改變這世上的任何事。我們有手機和IPad，而他沒有。我們造出了飛機和導彈，這也是他的世界中所沒有的。然而他仍然堅持，如果日光下面一切都是陳舊的，那麽我們在世上就無法真正地看到任何永恒與道義。他想要我們知道，在我們的人生中，沒有什麽真正的改變。我們可能會認為1：3-10都是老生常談，“改變的事情越多，沒有變化的事情就越多”。我不知道在座的有多少人能記得1973年Pink Floyd 做的一首叫做“時間”的歌曲：

在陽光下躺累了，留在家裏看雨

你還年輕，歲月長，還有時間可以荒廢

然後有一天，你發現，十幾年已然過去

沒人告訴你何時起跑，你錯過了發令槍

你奔跑著追逐太陽，但是它沈沒了

之後又再次出現在你的身後

太陽依舊一樣，而你已經老去

呼吸有限，與死亡又接近一天

時間消逝，曲終人散，我卻還有話未說完。

第二個問題：最終，沒有人會記得你的成就（1：11）

沒有人記得前幾代人，那些尚未到來世上的人，也都不會被他們的後代所銘記。

我們許多人都熱衷於體育賽事。你可能知道，到上周一為止，維拉諾瓦大學贏得2016年大學籃球聯賽的冠軍，這似乎成為一件很大的事情，也使得維拉諾瓦的球迷們感到非常滿足。但是，人們會記得這件事多久呢？第一屆奧運會是在公元前776年舉行的，是在傳道書寫成的150年之後，距離今天大約2800年了。當時的優勝者立即成為了英雄，甚至被視為神。但是現在，你能叫出他們任何一個人的名字嗎？即使是最有名的人所得到的成就，都很快就被人遺忘了。

一九六六年，約翰·列儂在披頭士的名望達到巔峰時，曾作出這樣的預測，“基督教將會離去...她將會縮小和消失。我不需要為此爭辯。我是對的，並將被證明是正確的......我不知道哪一個會先離去 - 搖滾樂還是基督教。”我可以回答約翰·列儂的問題，我想引用他當年所寫的一首歌，歌名叫做“想象”。他的歌詞是：“想象一下，沒有天堂。只要你嘗試去想，就會發現很容易。”我想我們現在應該唱道：“想象一下，沒有披頭士。只要你嘗試去想，就會發現很容易。”想想看：即使有兩個披頭士成員依然健在，而且在2016年的當下繼續巡迴演出，我的孫輩仍然不會知道“披頭四”是誰。

有這樣一句名言：今天的名人是明天的訃告。如果這是名人真實光景，那我們余下這些人的情況又如何呢？我們這樣努力工作，為要留下遺產。但是，人們很快就會在“日光之下”忘記我們。

讓我講得個人化一些。我曾經是三一神學院的院長。那裏甚至還有一幢建築物是以我的名字命名的。但是，我離開那裏僅僅七年之後，在2014年，我又回到了那個校園。在我到那裏的第一天，我從辦公室走去飯廳，路上和一群學生打招呼。我問他們，“你們叫什麽名字？”他們告訴了我，並且問我：“你是哪一位？”我說，“我是Greg Waybright.”他們回答說，“哈，這名字不錯，跟那幢樓一樣？”我說：“是啊，跟那幢樓一樣。”他們告訴我說：“可是，那人已經死了。我們也不知道他們為什麽用他的名字命名，但是他已經死了。

我想，只有當我那個星期在禮拜堂講道的時候，他們才發現，關於我死亡的謠言是“被嚴重誇大了的”，正如馬克吐溫曾寫道的。但是，這真是我當學的功課！這件事使我深刻理解了所羅門的觀點，使得我們不得不認真思考生命的永恒意義。承受巨大的工作壓力或者在事業上取得成就有什麽好處？成為名人有什麽益處？如果我們是為這些東西而活，生命就沒有意義。死亡將會把這些東西拿走。什麽都不會改變。最終沒有人會記得。

讓我再告訴你一件事，是我對這段經文非常個人化的理解。我的母親一定會贊同我今天的主日信息，因為當她信靠耶穌的時候，她就已經為永恒的神活著了。但是，假如她沒有信仰耶穌，她就只會是為她的家人而活。如果你曾經跟我的母親說過話，她會將我所做的一切都告訴你。離開了神，她的家庭便會是她的遺產。

        但是後來，她得了阿茲海默癥，她很快就忘記了她在“日光之下”所有愛的關系。她甚至忘記了我。我永遠也不會忘記，那一天，我和她談話，而她不知道我為什麽會在她家。我說：“媽媽，我是Greg，你的兒子！”她說：“我喜歡你。但是你怎麽能是我兒子呢?”那是很痛苦的事。但是這就是所羅門所教導我們的。

            在我媽媽最後的日子裏，我時常會思考傳道書，我也讀到過這樣一首詩：

首先直奔作者姓名

標題與情節隨後緊跟

令人心碎的結尾

使整部小說

突然變成一部你從未讀過的、未曾聽說的作品

                                                                        健忘 ----作者比利·柯林斯

人一切的勞碌，就是他在日光之下的勞碌，有什麽益處呢？凡事都是虛空

從神的話語學功課：我希望你從今天開始做的事情

            讓我們重新回到今天信息的開始。魯益士說，“如果我們發現，自己有一種欲望，是這個世界上任何東西都無法滿足的，那麽，最合理的解釋就是，我們是為著另一個世界而被造的。”所羅門說:“人一切的勞碌，就是他在日光之下的勞碌，有什麽益處呢？”沒有益處。這一切都不能持久，也不會被紀念（傳1：1-11）。

            今天，為要將這個信息個人化，讓我們花一些時間，思考那些令你感到幸福或是令你對自己感覺良好的事物，現在就想，你覺得要想讓自己滿足，你必須要做什麽事？然後問自己，那些事情會持續多久？

        另一方面，再想想那些令你感到挫折的事情。在“日光之下”，有沒有在你的生活中使你受挫的事？神知道這些事情嗎？它們是否在神掌控以外呢？如果你將它們交托在神的手中，將會如何呢?

            對我們所有委身跟隨耶穌的人，我要說，要小心這樣的想法，認為你的生命在日光之下可以得到滿足。當我們在基督裏找到永恒的生命之後，你是否仍然很容易認為，除非我們擁有這世上的某些東西，我們的心才能滿足？像所羅門一樣，我生活的年日使我聽了許多類似的事情。“牧師，為我禱告吧，使我可以康復。沒有健康我沒法生活。”“牧師，為我的孩子禱告，使她可以進入哈佛。如果她進不去，我們真不知道該怎麽辦。”“牧師，為我禱告，讓我的生意能夠成功。我哪裏做錯了？為什麽神沒有讓我成功？”我常常為這些事情禱告，但是讓我告訴你，如果你有這些問題，而神卻沒有在你生命中的首位，那些美善的事物就會變為你的偶像，而它們最終都是虛空的。如果你沒有上述的事情，而你依然信靠神，那麽你就會得到滿足。

            這很微妙，不是嗎？這些好的事情會成為偶像，成為了我們內心最大的渴望。使徒保羅將傳道書用在了他的生活之中。他在監獄中寫道，“我無論在什麽景況，都可以知足，這是我已經學會了……我靠主而活。因此，連死亡都是於我有益。”讓我問你，基督是不是你心裏的最愛？如果你只有基督，你覺得滿足嗎？

            對那些沒有完全委身相信耶穌的人來說，所羅門迫使你去理解，沒有神，生命是沒有意義的。他不想讓你不經過思考就幼稚地跟隨耶穌。他教導我們，“不要少思考，要多思多想！要不斷地思考關於生存等重要的問題。當你真誠和熱切地思考這些問題的時候，你就會靠近神。”我們會在這個講道系列中看到：傳道書無情地指出，如果生活中沒有神，任何一方面的追求都只會徒勞無獲和帶來挫折：工作最終成為苦差事，生活的樂趣轉眼成空，還有不公義的問題，如果物質世界就是全部……

            最後，一切都將你帶到那位愛你、也通過耶穌將自己啟示給你的神面前。耶穌特別講到過這件事。耶穌說，祂來，是為要在這沒有意義的世界中帶來永恒的意義。他在約翰福音10：10說:“盜賊來，無非要偷竊、殺害、毀壞。”意思是，任何事物，如果想要成為你生命的中心，都會將虛空留給你。你會發現那完全沒有意義。然而耶穌繼續說，“我來了，是要叫人得生命，並且得的更豐盛。”在“日光之下”，人生沒有意義。藉著神的兒子，生命卻是豐盛的。

            我要在這裏結束了，這個信息是一個好消息，可以讓你帶回家。當你在基督裏，這個世上就有了新事，是永不改變的。在基督裏，你成為神全新的創造。

榮耀歸給神，

Greg Waybright 博士

主任牧師

 

 

祂的荣耀，

格雷格Waybright博士
主任牧師

Greg Waybright • Copyright 2015, Lake Avenue Church