Ecclesiastes 4:1-12

In 1624 John Donne wrote Meditation number 17 which most of you will probably know as his famous poem No man is an island.

! No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manner of thy friends or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.

No man is an island, he says. I am part of mankind. We were made for community. We were made as individuals to be part of a whole, hardwired for community.

We know that, don't we? Loneliness is not a good thing. But the preacher, the writer of Ecclesiastes asks us, do we really believe that?

Does this world behave like it believes that? We met the preacher, the writer of Ecclesiastes a few weeks ago. He's the godly realist.

He warns us about the danger of trying to break away from the limits that God has placed on us in this life under the sun. Creaturally limits.

He warns us of treating life as if it is a project for gain, rather than a gift from God.

And in this section in Ecclesiastes chapter 4, he warns us of trying to pull away from others.

Ecclesiastes 4 · chapter mention

Of the temptation of pulling away from the whole.

Of being an individualist. Of going it alone.

Of saying in life, me first.

In verse 9 he says, two are better than one.

Deep down though, our problem is treating life as if we are on a kind of private TV show where we are the star.

Guests come and go maybe, but I am the regular.

And it comes down to me and to me alone.

Saying of my life, me, not us.

Me first.

So in this passage the preacher wants us to warn us of the folly of going it alone in life.

When God has made us for community.

For each other.

He says three things to us.

First of all he says, look at the ugliness of going it alone.

Look at the ugliness of going it alone.

If you just drop your eye down to verse 1 to 3 there.

The preacher starts off here, doesn't he, by becoming a news correspondent.

He goes out into the world and he watches the world.

He sees what goes on in the world and he journals it down.

And there's his headline in verse 1 at the top there.

Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun.

He sees a world where people are living for me, not for us.

People treading on other people to break away from the whole and to rise up above everybody else.

Of oppression with no one to comfort those who are being oppressed.

And as he looks out over the world it's just story after story after story.

Of oppression.

Of child abuse.

And of murder.

And of human trafficking.

And of rich tyrants.

And warlords.

And refugees.

And unfair trade.

And abusive fathers.

And prostitution.

And poverty.

And unfair society.

A world that we see so clearly today.

And he sees so many sickening things in the world.

Do you remember the story of baby P.

Peter Connolly.

A 17th month old baby who was killed by his parents after abuse.

My little boy is 24 months this week.

And that story just sickens me to the stomach.

He was beaten violently by his parents.

And he died from his injuries.

Because at the heart of it they were saying in their lives.

Me.

Not us.

See the ugliness.

Apparently they pulled out his fingernails.

They knocked his teeth out.

They broke his back.

It's an extreme case isn't it.

But this is where it goes.

Where it leads.

This is what living for me looks like.

In full force.

This is a showcase of where it goes.

Left unrestrained.

When it's me.

Not us.

And he is crushed by this vision.

In verse 2 to 3.

I thought the dead who are already dead.

More fortunate than the living who are still alive.

He says I looked at the world.

And I thought you know.

It would be better not to be born.

Even.

How can a man of God say that?

Well remember he is a realist.

He doesn't just give us the trite answers.

He doesn't whitewash over the world as it is.

He may say to us.

Well do you think I'm being over the top here?

Well just look at the world as I have seen it.

Try and watch the world as I have watched it.

Watch children in need without the funny bits.

Watch comic relief without the comic relief.

He makes us watch everything.

He gives us the detail doesn't he?

Of the tears of the oppressed.

Feel the injustice.

Feel the ugliness of selfishness and where it leads.

This is the ugliness of me, me, me.

Not us.

Jesus Christ summarised the law of God.

And he said the Lord our God the Lord is one.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.

And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.

God's law underpins all of life.

And when we break it, the world becomes an ugly place.

When I don't love my neighbour as I love myself.

And life is about me, not about us.

As you listen to the preacher, maybe you're thinking,

this is all a bit extreme.

This is not who I am.

Just think for a moment.

Which person have you thought most about since we last met?

Who have you filtered everything that you've seen or heard in the last week for?

As you sit here right now, isn't there one person in the room

who you see everything through and for?

Who you process everything for?

The one person that you spend most of the time thinking about

and wanting to keep happy?

One person, me.

As we've gone through Ecclesiastes,

hasn't that been the way that we've all thought?

My repetitious life.

My fleeting pleasures.

My season of life.

Last week if you were here.

We filter everything in life through and for ourselves.

That is the central process of all that we do, isn't it, naturally?

Now can I say that is good on one level.

As I listen to God and apply his word,

I must apply it to myself, mustn't I?

No one else can believe for me.

No one else can come to God with my sins and my guilt

and repent on my behalf, can they?

I must do that myself.

One theologian said that if I deal with the gospel at all,

I must deal with it as if there are no other people in the world.

Martin Luther said that the only two things a man must do alone

are his believing and his dying.

But at heart, if we're honest, we know that we are like this.

Our hearts run on me fuel.

We are more often than not excited by me things

rather than us things.

We don't just watch the oppression through a window.

We are little oppressors ourselves.

We enjoy it.

Don't we, if we're honest, when we feel better than others?

There is the thin end of the wedge.

We are part of what makes this world ugly.

Going it alone is ugly, he says.

Second of all, though, he says that going it alone is self-destructive.

It's self-destructive.

The problem with living the kind of private TV show, star show life

is that it oppresses others, it's ugly.

But he goes on to show that if you hate your neighbour,

you are also hating yourself, ironically.

Ironically, the oppressors are the ones destroying themselves.

Just look at verse 4 and 5.

I saw that all the toil and all skill in work

come from a man's envy of his neighbour.

This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.

When the engine of life is me, not us,

when the focus is me,

all that I do inevitably will destroy me.

I will be driven by jealousy

and the need to better others,

to compare myself with others,

to rise above them.

And all of my work and my skill

will only come from that desire

to break away from community,

to stand out and to rule the world

in my own little way,

to live on an island.

And we all do it, don't we?

We all have that impish, perverse thing in us

that rejoices at others' misfortune.

We enjoy sympathising with others

in their misfortune.

We can put our arm around them

because there is something in us

that feels better about ourselves in comparison.

We're driven by envy

and not by genuine love.

Someone said,

a true friend is someone who weeps when you weep,

but who rejoices when you rejoice.

We're more sympathetic

with those who weep

than we are rejoicing

with friends who rejoice, aren't we?

We don't get as excited

about people's success and happiness

as we do about their misery.

Because we love to be in a pecking order.

We love to see others lower than ourselves.

It's why we, people watch

Jerry Springer, isn't it?

And Jeremy Kyle,

to get that feeling,

myself rising up.

And that will either lead, he says,

to manic busyness,

working and toiling in envy,

or to bone idleness,

folding his hands,

the fool.

Going it alone

will either burn you out

or it will eat you up.

Verse 5 is weird, isn't it?

If you look at that.

The fool folds his hands

and eats his own flesh.

Cut off from the community.

It's a very strong image,

isn't it?

A fool chews his own fingers off.

A fool eats his own flesh.

We often hear about

those who suffer

at the hands of oppressors.

But here the preacher

shows us

the suffering of the oppressors

themselves.

An envy that eats away at life.

An attitude of comparison

eats away

at everything in life.

The Proverbs say that

whoever isolates himself

seeks his own destruction.

He breaks out

against all sound judgment.

Going it alone

is self-destructive.

Some people

can't afford community.

They can't afford

to invest in relationships

of any kind

because they can't afford

the time.

They can't afford

the money they will lose.

or they can't afford

to work less.

But the preacher says

that is

an unhappy business.

You'd be like the guy

in verse 7 and 8 there

who has

no

relationships

but has

many riches.

He could buy

as someone

puts it

everyone a meal

in the restaurant

but no one

wants to sit with him.

And he doesn't want

anyone to sit with him

either.

He hasn't stopped

to ask

what am I doing

all of this for?

Virginia Woolf said

no pleasure

has any relish

unless we share it.

The ugliness of it

the self-destructiveness

of it.

And thirdly

and lastly

community

is a mess

worth making.

Community

is a mess

worth making.

And looking at

verse 9

to the end here

the truth of this

passage is that

living for us

and not for me

is actually

always going to be

better for me

in the end.

And he gives us

some scenarios

to prove the point

doesn't he?

Living in community

is better.

Verse 9

work is better

in community.

You can get

more done.

You can get

more fruit

for your toil

more work

with others.

Hard times

are better

in community.

You can lift

one another up.

You can

encourage one another.

You're safer

in battle

in war

with someone else

fighting next to you.

You can

prevail over

the man

who attacks you.

When I start

thinking

us

more than

me

when I start

living for us

we find a contentment

that we cannot

find on our

island on our

own.

And that's his

point in verse 6.

Better is a

handful of

quietness

than two

hands full

of toil

and a

striving

after a

wind.

He says

there is a

choice here

isn't there?

He makes

a comparison.

He says

you can

either be

driven by

envy

living the

me

first life

or you

can be

driven by

something else

driven by

community

by others

but some

choose

money

over

people

some

choose

isolation

over

community

some

are too

busy

to invest

in people

and he

says

you will

be rich

in that

case

you'll

have

your

hands

full

but

you will

have

your

hands

full

in life

life

will be

a

constant

toil

and it

will

eat

you

up

inside

we

may

only

get

one

handful

he says

there

rather

than

two

of

riches

but

believe

me

he

says

community

is

better

the

one

handful

that

we

have

will

be

a

handful

of

quietness

when

we

say

it

is

okay

that

my

neighbour

has

more

than

me

it

is

okay

that

someone

else

is

higher

up

than

me

that

they

are

more

fortunate

than

me

that

they

are

enjoying

things

that

I

am

not

and

with

that

comes

a

quietness

comes

an

enjoyment

of

what

we

do

have

in

thinking

us

rather

than

me

contentment

as we

go to

bed

at

night

as we

put

our

heads

on

the

pillow

when

we

are

worrying

not

about

me

but

about

others

and how

they're

doing

living in

community

can bring

a peace

that I

would

never

have

had

even if

I

was

the

ruler

of the

world

God's

design

is this

that we

are

individuals

we're not

to become

kind of

homogenous

thing

but

not to

be

individualistic

he

made

us

for

community

now

we

know

that

don't

we

we

know

what

the

preacher

is

saying

here

is

true

and

we

try

and

find

community

social

media

clubs

and

societies

and

organisations

we

join a

music

group

or a

book

club

we

join a

charity

group

we

have

a

street

party

we

already

know

the

wisdom

of

this

we

try

and

do

community

in our

own

way

but

often

as soon

as we

get

into

a

group

we

find

that

those

communities

are

still

run

by

egos

we

find

village

politics

that

wherever

people

get

together

don't

we

and

we

find

the

same

hurts

in

those

groups

that

we

felt

when

we

were

on

our

own

but

in

the

rest

of

the

Bible

our

need

for

community

is

only

satisfied

in

the

one

community

that

God

has

created

the

one

community

where

he

has

brought

his

people

together

some

of

you

might

be

listening

to

this

and

thinking

you

just

don't

know

how

I've

been

hurt

by

others

you

don't

know

how

badly

I've

been

burnt

by

other

people

and

I

don't

want

to

go

through

that

again

but

there

is

one

community

on

earth

only

one

community

where

hurting

people

and where

sinners

are brought

together

by something

much

greater

than

themselves

where

done

rightly

egos

those

are

left

at

the

door

Paul

the

apostle

says

to

a

church

that

he

writes

to

in

Philippi

he

says

that

we

are

all

partakers

together

of

grace

we

are

brought

together

by

a

mutual

undeserving

of being

together

by an

understanding

that

none

of us

deserve

to be

in

God's

church

we're

all

sinners

we're

all

broken

people

we're

all

people

who

tend

at

heart

to

think

me

rather

than

us

but

God

has

made

his

church

one

body

joined

in

Christ

joined

with a

bond

closer

than a

family

member

the

preacher

is not

saying

that

church

will

be a

bed

of

roses

and

community

is

perfect

under

the

sun

but

he's

seen

the

alternative

hasn't

he

the

church

of

Jesus

Christ

is

the

one

community

that

one

day

will

be

without

sin

and

without

ego

where

everyone

thinks

and is

learning

to think

you

first

us

so

he

says

to us

today

don't

destroy

yourself

come

to

this

oasis

in

this

ugly

world

of

me

me

me

start

thinking

us

not

me

start

living

for

us

and

not

me

come

to

the

church

come

to

Christ

because

living

for us

and not

for me

is

always

going

to be

better

for me

in the

end

let's

pray

together