Ecclesiastes 6

Enjoyment. Enjoyment is a really big thing, isn't it, in our culture and the way that we live.

! The barista serves you a coffee. Enjoy. The salesman gives you the keys. Enjoy. People say,

are you enjoying your work? Are you enjoying your children? Are you enjoying your retirement?

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. It really is the litmus test for everything, isn't it? Enjoyment.

But do we really know the meaning of the word in life? It turns out from our passage this afternoon

that true enjoyment is a very, very slippery thing. It's a very difficult thing to grasp

and it's a complex thing in this world in which we live under the sun.

It's been a while since we've been in Ecclesiastes but in the chapter before this, the preacher

of Ecclesiastes says these words, everyone to whom God has given wealth and possessions

and power to enjoy them, this is the gift of God. He tells us enjoyment is a power that doesn't

come to us naturally or necessarily. It is not something that man can gain by himself within

his own power. It is a power, it is a gift that only God can give. Enjoyment is received

as a gift. Now, you might remember, it's been a while, hasn't it, since we've been in this

book. But the preacher of Ecclesiastes takes us on a tour of the world, a realistic tour

of the world. And Ecclesiastes is such a helpful book because it speaks to all of us, it speaks

to us if we're Christians or if we're atheists, if we're agnostic or we're secularist or anywhere

on the scale. It speaks to us without using complicated theological language or religious

terms. And it just says to us, let's look at the world as it is. Let's see the world in

its realism. Let's see what it's like to live in this world if there is no God. And let's

see the absurdity of life in this world without God. And to realise that the systems by which

we live and trust and expect are actually broken and frustrated. That what should happen in the

world doesn't always happen. That there are anomalies in life, unexplained things. And his

particular point today is that while God gives wealth and possessions and material things to

people, true enjoyment is elusive, no matter what you've got. And that's the problem here,

isn't it? If you look at verse 2, he gives the example of a man. He's an outstanding man,

a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions and honour, so that he lacks nothing of all that

he desires. Can you imagine that? Yet, he says, God does not give him power to enjoy them,

but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity. It's a grievous evil. He's saying here that there

is something worse than being a person who has absolutely nothing in this world. There is

something worse than that. It is being a person who has everything without really enjoying anything.

He shows us two things here. He shows us, first of all, a grievous evil in this world. A grievous

evil, this confused promise of enjoyment and human inability to enjoy things properly.

A grievous evil, firstly. Stories were told in ancient Greece of the various punishments that

the mythical god Zeus dished out on his enemies. And one Greek myth tells the story of Tantalus.

Tantalus had been invited to a meal with Zeus, the gods and the mortals eating together. But Tantalus

upset Zeus over something. So, Zeus made Tantalus to go into Hades and to stand in a pool of water.

Sounds okay? But whenever Tantalus bent down to drink the water, the pool would drain underneath his

feet. He was so near and yet so far to enjoying the water. As an added torment, Zeus positioned Tantalus

below a tree full of fruit. But he could never quite grasp the succulent fruit there. Tantalus.

Tantalus. Homer describes the scene as Odysseus visits Tantalus in Hades. Odysseus says,

I saw the awful agonies that he had to bear. The old man stood in a pool of water which nearly reached

his chin. And the thirst drove him to unceasing effort, but he could never reach the water to drink

it. Whenever he steeped to drink, the pool was swallowed up. And there at his feet was the dark, dry earth.

Trees spread their foliage high above him. And there dangled pomegranates, apples, sweet figs and

luxurious olives. But whenever the old man went to grasp the fruit, the wind would toss up the branches

into the shadowy clouds above. What a tortuous experience that must be. But it's not just for a world of myth.

He says here, isn't he, this is the grievous evil, this phenomenon that actually exists in the real

world. Where like Tantalus, a person can have everything around them while not enjoying anything

truly. And this guy here in the passage, he has everything, doesn't he? Wealth, possessions.

He owns a detached London home. I quite like cars. And there's a guy on my street who has this

gorgeous BMW, BMW Estate. It's got white leather trim. And I envy him, if I'm honest. I see him

driving it. I envy him. But the preacher wants us to question, how are we judging the world?

Who are we jealous of? Because it is a grievous thing, he says, that sometimes the ones that

we envy are actually the ones that ought to be pitied. I judge that man on my street to

be blessed and to be satisfied because of the things that he has outwardly. But it ain't

necessarily so. For some reason, this man in the passage does not have this power to enjoy.

Enjoyment does not come as standard with stuff. He gives another example, doesn't he, in verse

3. If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are

many. But his soul is not satisfied with life's good things. And he also has no burial. I say

that a stillborn child is better off than he. We'll talk about the stillborn child bit in

a moment. But just look at this man here. He has made it, hasn't he? In the culture in

which the preacher speaks, he has done it. He's reached a peak. He's reached the kind of

zenith of life, hasn't he? And he says, let's put a figure on enjoyment. Let's quantify, if

we can, enjoyment. Look, how many years of life would you like? How much money would you

like? How many children do you want? And the preacher really hands it up, doesn't he? He

maxes out the numbers. This guy, he's got a hundred children. It's ridiculous, isn't it?

But he's maxing it out. A long life, verse 6. Let's think, how long do you want to live?

A thousand years? No, verse 6, he lives a thousand times two years. Two thousand years. He's made

it. He's got long life. He's got riches. He's got children. He's got everything. But even

after all of that, verse 6, he enjoys no good. He sees no good. Somehow, he stood in a pool

of affluence that drains away every time he tries to taste it. Maybe ill health plagues him.

Maybe with more money just comes more worry. He gets sleepless nights. Maybe it's simply

that it's just never quite enough, is it? How much will be enough? Just one more child.

Just a few more years of life. Just a bit more money. But no matter if you're penniless or

a millionaire or you have a large brood, if you live out a century or more, the answer

is often the same, isn't it? Just a little bit more. I'd be satisfied then. Just a little

bit more. That's all I ask for. But enjoyment doesn't always come as standard with more.

Bankers have jumped off bridges asking what is the point of life? In some financial crisis

they say I've lost it all and so I might as well end it all. But even more grievous than

that the preacher tells us is the man who can think such dark thoughts about his own life

when he's gained it all. When he's reached the top and he can't get any higher and he's

still not satisfied. It's important we see what he's not saying here. He's not denying that

some possessions and things that we can have are more satisfying than others.

Some things are just better, aren't they? It's important we see he's not saying that

the man who lives under a bridge is objectively as well off as the man who lives in a mansion.

Some people have things which are better than others. Some people have more money and more

children, more. God gives wealth and possessions and honour to some people more than others.

That's life, isn't it? But he's warning us that enjoyment does not come necessarily with more.

A person can have the best things in life and yet remain unfilled. He is a man who is not

satisfied with good things and verse 3, he has no burial. Somehow with all of this stuff he can die

unnoticed and unfulfilled and unlamented. And so the writer says to us it's time to rethink who you are

jealous of and why. Because the people that we are quickly most jealous of in the world are not always

the happiest. And often they are the most miserable people in the world. Because enjoyment is a power that

comes as a gift from God. And it is not automatic in the gain that we take in life.

Now if we think about that and we look at it logically, that seems unfair, doesn't it?

It seems unfair that even when a person manages to eke their way up the ladder and to earn lots of good

things in their lives, to get to the top, when a person does that in a right way, when they get

everything that their heart desires, they're still left wanting more. It's unfair. Seems cruel, doesn't it?

That's why the writer says that it's a grievous evil that this happens. That the system that we expect to

work is broken. That things don't happen as they should. That enjoyment doesn't always come as we expect it to

come with stuff. And that is a grievous evil. It shouldn't be like that.

And yet, whilst it is a grievous evil,

the world is like that

as a kindness from God.

It is a kindness.

The world is like that and we cannot do anything about it.

Just look at verse 10 there.

Whatever has come to be has already been named.

And it's known what man is and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he.

That is how the world is.

And God has subjected the world to frustration.

We know that, don't we? Ever since

before, back in Genesis 3.

God has placed a curse on the world.

Frustration.

And there is evil and grievousness in the world and in the systems by which we hope to live.

And whilst that is a terrible thing, it is also a great kindness from God.

It is a kindness to wake us up.

And to burst the bubble.

Because secondly, it is a gracious kindness.

This confused way of things.

Of enjoyment.

Of our inability to always enjoy things, even when we gain things.

It is a grievous evil and it's a gracious kindness.

I don't know if you are sort of sat here listening to the preacher in Ecclesiastes 6.

And you might sort of think, well, I get what he is saying here.

But actually, I am okay.

I feel quite content with my life.

I am not a millionaire.

I rent.

And that's okay.

I am fine with a mediocre life.

I am fine with Friday night TV.

And takeaways.

I am fine with my family.

And relative good health.

I am not an athlete.

But I am okay.

I am good.

I don't need more.

If that is you, let me say that you are gifted.

That is a gift from God.

To be content in that way.

God has given you this time.

He has arranged circumstances in your life that you would feel like that.

You can enjoy things.

And that is a good thing.

Perhaps you don't even know that it's a gift.

But it is a gift from God.

And you are to be envied if that's you.

God is helping you to enjoy life.

But even if that is you,

the preacher wants all of us

to feel the tension

of why that isn't true

for many other people.

You might not be asking the questions

that the preacher is asking.

But somebody needs to.

Because things are not always

how we assume they should be.

More does not always mean better.

And God kindly speaks to us

in that phenomenon.

saying to us that this world

and your things

actually are no place

for ultimate rest

and satisfaction

and enjoyment.

That the enjoyment of good things

is not in the things themselves.

enjoyment isn't as standard.

But it comes from me.

Says God.

He said,

I want to turn your thinking

upside down on this.

And so what the preacher does is

he gives us extreme examples,

doesn't he?

We've had the extreme man

with all the riches

and the children.

And then we get this other example

of a stillborn child

in verse 3.

When we hear that verse

and when we hear those words

stillborn child

it feels quite frightening,

doesn't it?

It feels worrying

that he uses this comparison

and he claims

that a stillborn child

can be better off

than anyone.

We kind of

come back away from that,

don't we?

Something jars with us there.

He's using very powerful

poetic language.

But actually what he says

is true here.

He says,

I've shown you one extreme,

the man who has everything.

He has made it.

Now let me show you

the other extreme,

the one who has nothing.

The one who never had anything.

A stillborn child.

And the question

that hangs in the air

is who is better off

between the two?

And he shocks us,

doesn't he?

A stillborn child

is better off

than the man

who had all those things

in his life.

He plays with our minds here.

He exposes the scales

we use to judge

true enjoyment

in life.

Because according

to the systems

of the world

we naturally

trust in

and live by,

the answer seems

obvious,

hasn't it?

Which is better off?

Well, we want to say,

do you even need

to ask the question?

We think of the

stillborn child here

and we say,

don't we,

what a waste.

What a waste of life.

It is tragic,

isn't it?

It is a terrible thing.

But when we say,

what a waste,

might we say that

in the wrong way?

Might we say that

because we feel

that that person

died

before they had

a chance to live?

Before they had

a chance to experience

stuff

and to experience

things

and to gain

anything?

They never got

the chance

to go to a restaurant.

or to go

to a musical.

They never got

the chance

to earn their

millions,

did they?

How tragic.

What a waste.

They've never

even seen

the sun.

They've never

felt the breeze

on their face.

They've never

gained anything

in this life.

And it's the worst

possible life

we can imagine,

isn't it?

one that never

even got started

in the first place.

Never enjoying

anything.

But that's just it,

isn't it?

Enjoyment does not

come as standard

with those

things.

For us,

enjoyment

is so

mingled

with stuff

and experiences

and gain

in God

himself.

And so

the stillborn

child can

possess

what the

wealthy man

fails to

grasp

in all of

his affluence.

Just look at

verse 5.

Moreover,

it's not seen

the sun

or known

anything yet.

It finds

rest

rather than

he.

how can

that be

true?

How can

that be

right?

How can

that be

real?

When there's

no source

of life

or enjoyment

or rest

or happiness

that lies

behind the

things that

we gain

in this

world,

for the

secularist

or the

atheist

or the

agnostic,

actually,

there is no

answer to

that,

is there?

As to why

he would

say this.

a stillborn

life is

simply a

tragic waste

of life.

But the

preacher shows

us that

life and

rest and

happiness and

fulfilment are

not gained

in things

and experiences

in isolation

from God

himself.

It is a

great comfort,

isn't it,

to those who

mourn at

such an awful

moment,

that there is

more to

real enjoyment

and real

life than

simple sensory

experience.

That we can

see here that

there is more

to be life

than the

eye can

see.

Life is a

gift,

and enjoyment

of life

is a gift.

And God

can give

that gift

to someone

who has

nothing

in the

world's

eyes.

someone who

never had

anything in

the first

place,

whose life

never even

got started.

God can

give that

gift to

that person.

The answer

this afternoon

in enjoyment

isn't having

less,

necessarily.

It's okay to

have nice

things,

isn't it?

It's okay to

have good

things.

But you

can be at

rest even

with nothing.

How?

The answer

is God,

isn't it?

It's an

oxymoron that

Jesus Christ

lived by,

and he

died by,

one who

possessed

everything as

the Son of

God,

eternal Son of

God,

who possessed

all of the

riches and

glory and

comfort and

satisfaction of

heaven,

and yet he

chose to have

nothing,

who for the

joy that was

set before him

endured the

cross.

And now he

is seated at

the right hand

of the throne

of God.

Discontentment

in great

riches is a

grievous evil

in this world,

but it's also

a great kindness.

God isn't

withholding your

right for

more when

he doesn't

give it to

you, when

you ask for

it.

He is

exposing your

need for

him.

And if

you feel

discontent

with all

that you've

got today,

that is

God's mercy

to you.

That is

his kindness

to bring you

to himself.

He won't

let us be

content with

second best,

will he?

He wants you

to be content

with him

and in him,

the giver of

true enjoyment.

Let's pray

together.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.