Life's True Purpose

Okay friends, well let me encourage you to turn back to that book of Ecclesiastes.

And if you need to use the contents page of your Bibles, then please do that.

And just as we begin, let me read some words from Psalm 121.

Couple of verses, Psalm 121.

I lift my eyes to the mountains.

Where will my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

And this book of Ecclesiastes is helping us, and a lot of you mentioned that to me, not so many words last week.

That it's helping us understand that in life, these big questions, these big things that happen in life,

it's teaching us not to look to the world for our answers, and not to look inside for our answers.

But to look to the creator of the heavens and the earth, to look to God.

And so this is what we're going to see in this passage this morning.

We're going to be encouraged to lift our eyes to the creator of the ends of the earth.

So let me just do two things by way of introduction.

That didn't work.

Okay, one more.

Here we go, first one to light the candle.

It's a difficulty.

Okay?

And the second one is to ask you, if this is the answer, what is the question?

Okay?

What's the answer?

What's the question, rather?

So this is the meaning of life.

Okay?

If you're a bookworm, and you have read Douglas Adams' book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,

in this book there is a supercomputer that they ask questions to.

And they ask the computer this question, what is the meaning of life?

And this is the answer after a very, very, very long time that the computer comes up with, number 42.

So if you Google this, after Wikipedia telling you that it's a number that comes after 41, helpfully.

Okay?

This is the answer that comes up in Google, 42.

Now there are all sorts of theories.

If you're into this book, and again, you'll find this on the internet.

I had great fun this week searching.

People have come up with all sorts of theories as to how Douglas Adams came up with this number, 42.

Right?

Was he on to something?

Is he kind of a modern day prophet?

Is he seeing something that we're not?

And recently Douglas Adams came out and he said,

I've had great fun watching everybody kind of come up with their theories,

but actually I just sat in my garden one day, looked out the window, and I came up with a random number.

Okay?

Douglas Adams doesn't have a clue.

And he's making a wee joke at it, actually.

He doesn't understand what the meaning of life is.

But let me ask you today, right?

If you had to answer that question, what is the meaning of life?

Right?

What would you say?

Where's purpose to be found?

In everything that we do.

Under the sun.

Remember, this is the key phrase of the book.

What are we doing with our time?

What's it all about?

Because we start understanding what our purpose is and start trying to grapple with what that means.

We understand that this is the place where satisfaction is to be found in life.

Where joy is to be found.

What the Greeks called the telos, the purpose.

This is where we'll find our satisfaction in life.

And the amazing thing about this passage today,

full of different ideas, different concepts, different places.

This passage today is going to tell us where to find it.

So here is Solomon.

Here he is.

Look at the text.

Verse 12.

The king of Israel.

Here he is.

The man who, verse 16, has great wisdom.

And the man who, verse 10 of chapter 2,

has kept his heart from no pleasure.

So this is what he's saying of himself.

He's kept his heart from no pleasure.

Now, let me just explain to you what that means.

I was watching Match of the Day last night, half past ten.

Just before Match of the Day came on,

the person came on the BBC One saying,

this is today's winning lottery numbers.

Right?

Four, four, 25, 25, whatever it was.

Okay?

These are today's winning lottery numbers.

And lo and behold, nobody got the winning lottery numbers.

So it rolled over once again.

Okay?

So apparently it's 12.3 million, I think, off the top of my head,

remembering it last night.

12.3 million is up for grabs.

That's a lot of money.

Let me ask you, what would you do with that kind of money?

Do a lot of things.

12.3 million.

This guy Solomon, he doesn't need to enter the lottery.

Do you know why?

Because he has absolutely everything that he could ever want in life.

He has absolutely everything.

Money is no obstacle to him.

Right?

Imagine that.

He's got contacts aplenty.

He has people working for him.

He has people waiting on his every need.

And he has all the power and all the influence to make sure that stuff happens.

And the thing is, today, he is going to go with that stuff, what he's got.

He is going to go on the all-out pursuit to try and find satisfaction under the sun.

This is him.

If you remember last week, if you were here, if not, you can go back and listen to it online.

Here he is trying to disprove the way he understands life in the first 11 verses of chapter 1.

And he's trying to disprove his own theory.

He's trying to find satisfaction under the sun.

And maybe this is where this becomes a bit more real to us.

Because aren't we tempted to think, as we live our lives in this world, that if we only had a little bit more stuff,

or if we only had a little bit more luck with our job,

or if we only were able to marry that person or have that family,

take your pick from what it is.

We're tempted to think that if we had these things,

then we'd be a little bit more happy and we'd find satisfaction in life.

And the thing is, Solomon is telling us today,

here's what he tried,

and we'll find out they're very modern ideas that he tried, modern things.

Here is what I tried, and here is what I learnt.

So come with me and let's do a whistle-stop tour of chapter 1, verse 12,

to chapter 2, verse 11, right?

You can just scan your eyes over it.

And Solomon's going to tell us very quickly what he tried in his pursuit of satisfaction.

So this is a whistle-stop tour, so have the text in front of you,

and we'll kind of go through it and see what he's tried.

Right, verse 13, here's our first pit stop.

He's tried using his God-given wisdom.

Now, if you know anything about Solomon, you know this is a guy who is blessed,

God has richly blessed with wisdom.

And he's taken this wisdom, and what he's decided is he is going to live a good life,

which is a great thing.

Verse 13, he knows that is a good thing.

Living a good life, a moral life, as opposed to darkness and folly.

What he means when he says he tries to live life according to his wisdom

is he's trying to understand life according to his knowledge.

He's trying to understand life in his brain, and he comes to two conclusions,

and he explains the two conclusions by talking about two riddles.

Verse 15, he says,

What is crooked cannot be straight.

So there's where his wisdom is taking him.

Which is his admission that he looks out into a broken world.

This is his admission that he cannot fix it.

Verse 18,

The more he knows,

the more he learns,

the more it crushes him in the inside.

You say, what on earth is he on about?

Well, let me just put it like this, okay?

Remember my sister-in-law?

She used to work for Sport Relief.

Right?

Love watching Sport Relief from the BBC when it comes on.

But what happens?

Sport Relief.

There's humor, humor, humor, humor.

Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment.

Bang, there's a video.

He's a project we're supporting.

What's the temptation every time we see that video?

It's to go,

I'll click a few channels to channel for it,

and I'll watch the Simpsons rerun.

Because I really,

I can do without knowing about that.

Because when I see it,

I just feel helpless.

And I think,

why is this happening in the world?

And actually, to be honest,

if I just avoided it,

then I could just kind of get on with my life.

And this is what he's talking about.

It's why in one sense today,

the happiest people in this building today

are the little children as they run around.

Right?

They're just playing it.

I'm pointing over here

because it's mainly my little two.

They're playing in this corner,

they're running around.

They don't got care in the world.

They don't got care in the world.

They don't understand.

They've not seen it.

They don't know what's going on.

This is what he's talking about.

Solomon's wisdom

has led him to go on Google

and Google thinking,

I want to find the t-shirt that says,

Ignorance is blessed.

That's what I want for my life.

I don't want to understand that.

It's just getting me nowhere.

He's saying that wisdom isn't the answer.

And then if you look at chapter 2,

he rhymes off the other places

very quickly where he went

looking for satisfaction.

He went looking for laughter.

Did you see it mentioned that one?

So Solomon tries to be

the life and the soul of the party.

He tries to fill the palace

with the finest comedians around.

I mean, he is hosting live at the Apollo,

at his palace every night,

hoping that they can kind of laugh the way

out of the despair of the world.

Trying to cover up the pains

and the questions.

He's the kind of guy

that's going around the dinner table

on his phone, YouTube,

looking at dogs chasing your tails

and thinking,

isn't that so funny?

He's trying to escape it with laughter.

And laughter doesn't work.

Verse 3, he tries wine.

He tries to cheer his body with wine.

Which I don't think is Solomon's admission there

that he's getting drunk all the time.

That's not his...

I don't think that's what he's saying.

What he's telling us is

that he became a wine connoisseur.

Right?

Loved a lovely bottle of Merlot,

bottle of red,

the most expensive one around.

Right?

He's got the app.

He's into the smell test.

He even knows what that means.

He's the kind of guy,

when he went to a restaurant,

you imagine this,

he looks at the menu

and he thinks,

I'll have the most expensive one

on that menu.

And I'll have four of them, please.

He's looking for his answer

by looking at wine.

Wine doesn't cut it.

Verse 4, he tries great works.

You see him?

He's just running around

from thing to thing.

He's set about great building projects.

He's building houses.

Do you see what he's saying?

He's building vineyards.

This is presumably where his wine is coming from.

He's building gardens.

He's building pools.

He's trying to live the life of luxury

with his many slaves,

which is just employees, I think,

people working for him.

He's got possessions.

He's got more than anyone else

who's ever lived possessions.

He's got silver and gold.

Right?

Every night he's there doing snow angels

in his money.

He's got tons of it.

He's got singers.

So as well as live at the Apollo in his house,

he's hosting last night at the proms.

He's got the finest musicians

to come and to play their music.

And then he tries concubines.

He tries lots and lots of sex

with lots and lots of different women.

And if you know anything about Solomon,

the way that he's portrayed in the Bible,

is someone who got it tragically,

tragically wrong in terms of his obedience

to the Lord,

particularly when it came to his love of women.

And so Solomon's on the wild goose chase

trying to chase all of this,

trying to find satisfaction in his life.

And he comes to two conclusions.

And the first one might shock you a little bit.

Maybe it won't.

I don't know.

Here's the first thing he says.

It's all the things he tried.

Right?

What does he say?

Verse 10,

it was pleasurable.

Things he tried,

if you think about it,

friends,

they are good things from God.

Think about it.

C.S. Lewis used to call these things

joy pointers.

Things that weren't ends in themselves.

They were pointing beyond themselves

to the God who created all things

and who is the God of all joy.

Just think about a few of these things.

I mean,

how good is it

to share a meal

and to laugh

with friends?

It's a wonderful thing.

Alex and I have got friends that we,

we've got two friends

and we call them the radiators.

Because we spend time with them.

We spend time in their presence

and we have a laugh with them.

We enjoy their company.

And do you know what?

It is a tonic for the soul.

Laughter is a great thing.

It's a wonderful thing.

Some of you will love music.

I mean,

how good is good music?

Some of you will love

rock music.

Some of you will love

classical music.

I know some of you tell me

about your love for classical music.

You say,

Handel's Messiah

and you go

and you hear it played

in somewhere like the Usher Hall

or the Albert Hall.

These wonderful

designs of architecture

that people would come up with

and you think,

wow,

isn't this incredible?

The intuition,

the creative flair

that God has given mankind

that we can design this stuff.

And friends,

I think that is why

there was such an outpouring

of emotion,

wasn't there,

when we saw Notre Dame

go up in flames.

Just an outpouring of emotion,

just that wonderful building.

We want to keep it.

It's why I'd imagine

there was an outpouring of money

at the same time

to try and restore it.

And God's good gift of sex.

Remember,

we thought about this last week,

this book that God has given us,

the Song of Songs,

the Song of Solomon,

where we see this man

and this woman

celebrating God's good design

for sex

within their marriage.

this wonderful gift

that God has given us.

All these things,

good gifts from God.

But what happens

is that we take the good things

and we make them God things.

We see them as ends

in themselves

and we think that

these things alone

will satisfy us.

And we want the gifts,

we don't want the giver.

And that's where we make

our greatest mistake.

What is it that happens

when we take these things

and we use them

for our own pleasure?

You think about laughter, friends.

Where is it that often

we do all the time,

I'm sure,

people in our world do.

Where is it people

get their laughs from?

They get it from

the expense of other people.

Alcohol leading people

into addiction

and all sorts of

social issues.

Music that identifies,

objectifies women

and sexual objects,

money that's also

often connected

to the abuse of power.

What is it?

We take these good things.

Friends, we abuse them

and use them

for our own desires.

If you look at the text again,

here's the key phrase

that Solomon is telling us

what he did

and how he used

these things before.

And it's that phrase

for myself.

Got it there

at the end of verse 4.

Chapter 2.

I planted vineyards

for who, Solomon?

I planted them

for myself.

Right, verse 5.

I made myself

gardens and parks.

Verse 6.

I made myself pools.

Verse 8.

I gathered for myself

gold and silver.

So what he's doing

is he's using these things,

looking,

treating them as ends

and looking for his

satisfaction and purpose

in life from these things.

He wants the gifts.

He doesn't want the giver.

And he tells us

that it was pleasurable.

But what he also tells us

in verse 11,

that as he contemplated

all the energy

that he expended

in all of us,

he concludes that

it was vanity.

We thought about that word

last week.

It was meaningless.

And this word

that's probably best seen

by the blowing out

of a candle.

Remember we saw this.

What are you seeing?

The pleasure.

It was there.

But when I tried

to grasp it,

I couldn't get it.

When I tried to catch it

and put it in my pocket,

I couldn't.

When I tried to bottle it

and live in the moment,

it was here, there,

and then it was gone.

Here's what he's concluding

in his all-out search

for satisfaction

in life without God,

that it was all vanity.

It was like the smoke

from a candle.

And friends,

the thing is

that it's not just Solomon

that's saying these things.

Actually,

you see this all the time.

Let me just give you

really quickly,

because of time,

two people

who've said this recently.

Johnny Wilkinson.

Okay?

Now,

I remember exactly

where I was

when he slotted

this drop goal.

Exactly where I was, right?

Even as a Scot,

I allowed myself

a little smile.

I remember exactly

where he was

when he slotted

this drop goal.

He lived every

boy's dream.

Picked for his country,

stand off,

gets to the Rugby

World Cup squad,

gets to the Rugby

World Cup final.

Last seconds of the game,

he's presented with a chance

to win the World Cup,

the men's Rugby World Cup

for his country.

And he slots it.

And the thing about him

is that he said this

in the final moments

of that game, right?

He said,

I sat in the changing room

in Sydney

after that epic battle

until pretty much

everyone had left.

I didn't want to

wave goodbye

because I didn't want

to let go of the moment

and give in

to its inevitable passing.

I had already begun

to feel the elation

slipping away

during the lap of honour

around the field.

Isn't that interesting?

Couldn't grasp it,

couldn't bottle it,

couldn't take it,

didn't want to lose it,

but it went.

Right?

Another guy,

Jim Carrey,

was one of my favourite

actors growing up,

said this,

I think everybody

should get rich and famous

and do everything

they ever dreamed of

so that they can see

that it's not the answer.

Friends,

both testimonies

to the truth

that is it not

that what our world

offers us

is the good life.

Friends,

it's at times

shockingly shallow.

And the challenge

of this passage today

is to allow God,

our creator,

to define for us

and tell us

what the good life is.

Solomon's saying,

I get you Jim,

I get you Johnny,

I tried it too,

I tried it too,

I lived my dream,

I did everything

I ever wanted

and it didn't last.

And here's,

he's learned two facts

from his pleasure search.

Here's the first one,

here's what he found.

He thinks about the grave.

After all of this

he said,

after he's tried it all

he thinks about the grave

and he says,

verse 16 of chapter 2,

how the wise

dies like the fool.

Right?

He calls it,

what does he call it?

The same event

happens to them both,

the same fate.

Friends,

it doesn't matter

whether the defining

letters of your life

are PhD

or LSD.

Friends,

at the end of the day

we face the same event.

Let me just tell you,

we've moved house

to Libertin

and I'm reminded

of this

every single day.

Opposite our house

is our co-op funeral directors.

Right?

Just up the road

is Morton Hall Cemetery,

crematorium rather,

which means that our street

is the street

that hearses go up and down

all the time.

And right opposite

our house again,

just up from the co-op

funeral directors

is Libertin Cemetery.

And I take the girls,

I walk them to nursery

every morning

and we walk through

the cemetery

and they have great fun

just pointing at the

gravestones

and thinking about

all the different things.

Let me just tell you,

there are two types

of gravestones

that you get

in that cemetery

and imagine you get

them in every cemetery.

You get the ones

full of marble,

right centre piece,

pride of place

in the middle

of the cemetery,

full on marble,

maybe a cross there as well.

You've got angels

kind of with their things

pointing in.

You've got lined candles.

You've got flowers

from the side.

You've got people

round it all the time

coming to lay stuff

again and again and again

and you've got the person

in the corner

who's got a stone

and on the stone

is a scribbled name.

But friends,

the same event

happens to them both,

happens to us all.

That's what Solomon's

concluded.

Yes, it's great

to live a wise life

and to not live

as a fool,

but you know what,

at the end of the day

it's the same event.

And secondly,

he thinks about his stuff,

so he thinks about

all this stuff

that he's worked so hard

to accumulate

over the years,

all the energy

he's expended

and he thinks to himself,

I'm going to have

to leave this

and I'm going to have

to leave it to somebody

and I'm going to have

to leave it to my son

and who knows

whether he's going to be

a wise man or a fool.

Right?

I mean,

he might just take

all my stuff

that I've worked so hard

for over the years

and just go on

the party of parties

and just blow it all.

And it must have been,

all my toil,

has that been worth it?

For instance,

if you know your Bibles,

Solomon's son,

Rehoboam,

boy was he a fool.

Solomon says it,

it's like the candle,

it's all vanity.

What was I doing?

What is it all about?

And it's almost

as if this point

in the story

that Solomon

comes to his senses.

And do you notice

that the me,

me, me, me, me, me,

me, me, me, me, me

language

that dominates

that first section,

when we hit verse 24,

and this is the key bit

for us this morning,

when we hit verse 24,

it turns into

God,

God,

God,

God,

God,

God,

God,

God language.

Look at what he writes.

He writes this,

There is nothing better

for a person

than that he should

eat and drink

and find enjoyment

in his toil.

This also I saw

is from the hand of God,

for apart from him,

there's a key phrase,

for apart from him,

who can eat

or who can have

enjoyment?

For to the one

who pleases him,

God has given wisdom

and knowledge and joy,

but to the sinner

he has given the business

of gathering and collecting,

only to give

to the one

who pleases God.

Here is Solomon's conclusion

after all is said and done.

Friends,

I looked out there

for all my answers.

I looked out there

for satisfaction in life

and do you know what?

I did not find it.

And he's encouraging us

to lift our eyes

and not to look

for our answers

and our meaning in life

in this world

or inside

according to how we feel.

He's encouraging us

to lift our eyes

and look to the creator

of the ends

of the earth.

The only place

we're going to find

satisfaction in this life

and purpose,

and by the way,

that does not mean

life is easy.

The only place

we'll find it

is by looking to Jesus.

And Jesus tells

a similar story,

doesn't he?

Not about a king

who came to his senses,

but about a son

who came to his senses.

A son who wanted

his father dead.

A son who bought

into the lie

that the good life

was to be found

away from his father

rather than with him.

And so he says effectively,

Dad, I want you dead.

Dad, I don't want you.

Dad, I want your stuff.

And the way the Greek

is there,

the father is literally

said to have

his insides ripped apart

by his son's request.

But he gives his son

what he wants

and the son lives

the life of Riley.

He goes girls,

he goes parties,

he goes clothes,

he goes popularity.

But the son's problem

is that he believes

the good life

is to be found

away from his father.

And where does

his search for pleasure

and joy take him?

It takes him to

the pigsty.

Lower and lower

and lower

and lower

he gets

until he is there.

And there's that moment

in the story

where he comes

to his senses.

And he remembers

his father.

He remembers

his dad.

And he thinks,

I need to get

to my father.

So he starts

making the journey

back.

And the thing

that's amazing

about this story

is that a walking

son is met

by what?

A running father.

A father who runs,

who embraces

his son,

who was lost,

who is now found,

who embraces

the shame

that his son

deserved,

who takes the shame

on himself.

And says,

son,

I love you.

Fattened calf,

ring on your finger.

Says,

son,

welcome home.

Jesus tells that story

for a number

of different reasons.

Let me just tell you one

and it's to help us see,

prodigal see,

that true joy

is to be found

not away from the father

but with the father.

And Jesus goes

to the cross,

friends,

so that I can know

that passage

in Luke 15

not as just

a nice story.

But as a stunning

reality

that somebody

like me

could come

to know God.

So why is Jesus

going to the cross?

Why does he go there?

To propitiate,

to take the wrath

of God

that I deserve

for my sin

against the holy God

on himself.

Why does he go there?

Why does he choose

the cross?

Why does he take

the nails?

Why does he spill

his blood?

Why does he suffer

the most humiliating

and horrific

of deaths?

answer, friends.

If you think about

what we read

in John 15 earlier,

you can check out

in John 17 later.

He goes there

for my joy.

And for your joy.

He goes there

so that I would know

the joy of sin's pardon.

He goes there

so that I would know

the joy

of coming

into this joyous

relationship

that has existed

for all eternity

between God the Father

and God the Son.

welcomed as an adopted

child of God,

not because of who I am

and not because

I've got it sussed in life

and I live a moral life.

No, he does it

simply by his pure grace.

And he says,

welcome home, son.

This is life.

This is purpose.

This is meaning.

This is joy.

Friends,

the gift of the gospel

is not stuff.

It is not an easy life

as our world defines it.

The gift of the gospel

where true joy

will be found

is when life

with the Father.

And see when you can

compare that

with what our world

offers us.

Friends,

nothing compares.

Well did C.S. Lewis say

that we are

half-hearted creatures

fooling about

with drink and sex

and ambition

when infinite joy

is offered to us.

We are like a child

who wants to go on

making mud pies

in the slum

because we cannot

fathom

what is meant

by the offer

of a holiday

at the sea.

Our problem is

that we are well

too easily pleased.

And so the call

of heaven

this morning,

friends,

and it has been

a heavy time

being reminded

of the world

in which we live,

is to lift our eyes

to Christ

and to know

that this is not

about us having

all the answers

in life

and it is to know

that this is not

about the strength

of our faith.

This is about

the Christ

that we cling to

and his ability

to hold us.

And he loves us.

And the

urge of this passage

is to run

to him.

So we started

by asking ourselves,

if this is the answer,

what is the question?

Right?

Well, let me just end

by flipping it around

and asking you

if this is the question,

what is the answer?

Okay?

And the question

is the one

that we find

in the

Westminster Shorter

Catechism.

And a catechism

really is a

document

that certain people

in the church

in the UK

at a certain point

in time

got together

and they thought

let's solidify

everything we believe

about the Christian faith.

And he put it together

in a question

and answer format

so that

we could get it

in our bloodstreams.

And people

in our world

could question,

answer,

get it in our memories,

get it in our bloodstreams.

We could read it

on our own.

We could read it

at work.

We could read it

at church.

We could read it

at Sunday school.

We could read it

at home with our families

as a way of passing

on what the faith

is all about.

Question one asks,

what is the chief

end of man?

Right,

exactly the same question

we've been thinking

about today.

What is it all about?

Why are we here?

Where is purpose

to be found?

Where is joy

to be found?

Friends,

the answer they came up with

and it's gloriously true

and it has encouraged

the saints

down the generations.

What is the chief

end of man?

man's chief end

is to glorify God

and enjoy Him

forever.

Friends,

where does our help

come from?

We lift our eyes,

Psalm 121,

and remember that

our help comes

from the Lord.

It comes from the Lord

who is the creator

of the heavens

and the earth.

So friends,

let me just,

let's just have a time

of,

just for 30 seconds

or so,

just a time of silence.

And let me just invite you

to bring your own prayers

to the Lord.

In light of everything

that's gone on this morning,

let's bring our own prayers

to Him,

knowing that this is

the kind of God

that He is.

And so,

Father,

we would want to commit

ourselves to

your loving care today.

Lord,

we realize that we are

human beings

who are so easily

distracted

and content

with other stuff.

And Lord,

I pray for each of us

today

that you would help

every single one of us

to find our identity

in your Son,

Jesus.

And so,

Father,

we cling to His words

today,

thinking of those words

that the disciples said

in John's Gospel.

Where else will we go?

For you have the words

of eternal life.

So,

Lord,

we pray,

increase our faith.

And in Jesus' name,

we commit ourselves

to you,

Father.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.