The Vanity of Wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:12-18)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

For now, we go to God's Word as we continue in

our sermon series through the wonderful book

of Ecclesiastes. We will pick up at verse 12

of chapter one and take it through the end of

the chapter, so 12 through 18. As I said, we

began this series last Sunday. And as we were

going along, we came upon some difficult words

to translate, especially what's in my text. Mine

says vanity of vanities. And so we talked about

how your translation may say meaningless, meaningless,

all things are meaningless, or futility of futilities.

And we took it back to the original Hebrew word,

hevel. And as we were looking at that, we said

what it means. The word vanity, it comes from

a word that means breath or mist, meaning that

things come and things go just like a breath,

just like a mist, just like a vapor. And we said

how important it is for us to know what that

means for it really forms just our understanding

of the entire book. We don't want to get that

word wrong. And so I would ask that you continually

keep that in your mind as we go through the whole

book. Ecclesiastes but for now let me read to

you our text Ecclesiastes chapter 1 12 through

Ecclesiastes 1 · chapter mention

18 and it reads in this way I the preacher have

been king over Israel in Jerusalem and I applied

my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom

all that is done under heaven It is an unhappy

business that God has given to the children of

man to be busy with. I've seen everything that

is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity

and is striving after wind. What is crooked cannot

be made straight, and what is lacking cannot

be counted. I said in my heart, I've acquired

great wisdom. surpassing all who were over Jerusalem

before me and my heart has had great experience

of wisdom and knowledge and I applied my heart

to no wisdom and to no madness and folly I perceive

that this also is but a striving after wind for

in much wisdom is much vexation and he who increases

knowledge increases sorrow this is God's word

let us pray father we do thank you for your word

we thank you for the book of Ecclesiastes even

though we might find it difficult and perplexing

Lord we know that there is great truth here reading

a difficult book makes us more and more depend

upon you for understanding and so Lord help us

to trust you And would you grant us that understanding,

these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen. There

was an old British poet named Thomas Gray who

wrote a poem titled, Ode on a Distant Prospect

of Eaton College. Maybe the title's not all that

well known to you. But one of the things that

he says within the poem, I think, is well -known

to us. Within this poem, Gray is describing children

who are playing in a churchyard, and the children's

voices are so just filled with joy. And he's

listening to all of their sounds and their squeals

and everything, and he's thinking, this is great,

but they don't know what is ahead for them. And

so Gray begins this poem in a happy way. He says,

ah, happy hills, ah, pleasing shade, so far so

good. But then it takes a turn for the dark.

He said, ah, fields beloved in vain, where once

my careless childhood strayed, a stranger yet

to pain. What Gray is communicating within that

poem. is that sometimes in life everything seems

great, everything seems dandy and wonderful.

But then as we grow, as we mature, we start to

see things that bring about pain in our lives.

And he says this toward the end of the poem.

To each his sufferings all our men condemned

alike to groan. the tender for another's pain,

the feelings for his own. Yet, ah, why should

they know their fate since sorrow never comes

too late and happiness too swiftly flies? Thought

would destroy their paradise. No more where ignorance

is bliss, tis folly to be wise. If you've ever

wondered where does that saying where ignorance

is bliss, tis folly to be wise, it comes from

this poet, but actually I think it can be attributed

to somebody else because the ideas expressed

within this poem are actually ideas expressed

by Kohelet, the one who is called the preacher,

the teacher in Ecclesiastes. These, I believe,

can be attributed to Solomon. Think about that,

though. Ignorance is bliss. What this means is

we can't go backwards. There are some things

in this life that you cannot unsee. There are

some things in this life that you can't unlearn.

In our quest for meaning, maybe we ask, Lord,

can I just go back to the way that it was? This

section is about that. I believe this is Solomon

at the end of his life, reflecting back on his

life and his quest for meaning under the sun.

And so two points that I want us to gather from

this is one, this is about the search for meaning,

but this is also about the limits of wisdom.

So the search for meaning or the search for wisdom

and the limits of wisdom. Now we should say this

right off the bat. Wisdom is a good thing. Wisdom

is a gift from God. Wisdom is an attribute of

God. But. It has limits in a fallen world. Solomon

uses his wisdom to find meaning, but wisdom,

while it helps in a fallen world, wisdom doesn't

fix everything in a fallen sinful world. The

fix is not found in our wisdom. The fix is found

in someone else's. And yet at times, Solomon

goes after wisdom and meaning that isn't always

good. and that doesn't always satisfy. But we

do know this about Solomon, that he was a man

of incredible wisdom. Let's see where he got

this wisdom. If you would like to, turn with

me to 1 Kings chapter 3, verses 3 through 9.

1 Kings 3:3–9

1 Kings 3, 3 through 9. Solomon loved the Lord,

walking in the statutes of David his father.

Only he sacrificed and made offerings at the

high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice

there, for that was the great high place. Solomon

used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that

altar. At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon

in a dream by night. And God said, ask what I

shall give you. And Solomon said, you've shown

great and steadfast love to your servant, David,

my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness.

righteousness and an uprightness of heart towards

you and you have kept for him this great and

steadfast love and have given him a son to sit

on the throne this day and now oh Lord my God

you have made your servant king in place of David

my father although I am but a little child I

do not know how to go out or come in and your

servant is in the midst of your people whom you

have chosen a great people too many to be numbered

or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore

an understanding mind to govern your people that

I may discern between good and evil. For who

is able to govern this? You are great people."

So what does Solomon do within this text? He

is visited in a dream by Yahweh. Yes, this is

a dream, but it's really the Lord who appears.

And verse 10 says, it pleased the Lord that Solomon

had asked And so, God does grant Solomon incredible

wisdom. Flip ahead to chapter 4, and I'll read

29 and on. 1 Kings 4, 29, and God gave Solomon

wisdom and understanding beyond measure and breath

of mind like the sand on the seashore so that

Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all

of the people of the East. and all of the wisdom

of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men,

wiser than Ethan the Ezraite and the Heman and

Chalcol and Darda, the sons of Mahal, and his

fame was in all the surrounding nations. He also

spoke 3 ,000 Proverbs and his songs were 1 ,005.

He spoke of trees from the cedar that is in Lebanon

to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He

spoke of beasts and of birds, of reptiles and

of fish and people of all nations came to hear

the wisdom of Solomon from all the kings of the

earth who had heard of his wisdom. You hear that

then. Solomon indeed has incredible wisdom. Can

you imagine people from all different nations

coming to you to hear your wisdom? This was reality

for Solomon. But here we need to note something.

He has godly wisdom. There are different wisdoms

that are out there, and we need godly wisdom.

The secular philosopher Bertrand Russell said,

to conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom. Do

you hear the problem with that? To conquer fear

is the beginning of wisdom? I don't think so.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of all

wisdom. Do you hear the difference? Wisdom is

the reverence. It's the respect. It's the awe.

It's the understanding of the very holiness of

God. Wisdom is ascribing to God the glory due

his name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning

of it all. And yet, in Solomon's quest for wisdom,

at times he strays away from that which is good.

He strays away from that which satisfies. We

need godly wisdom. And so what Solomon shows

us at times is that looking around his observation

in the world is that things are incredibly broken.

And his conclusion is this. Wisdom cannot fix

entirely the mess that we are in. Even when we

give our whole selves to it. Look in verse 13.

And I applied my heart. to seek and search out

by wisdom all that is done under heaven. He applied

all his heart to this. This is not a half -hearted

search for wisdom. This is Solomon diving in

head first. He uses that common phrase, his whole

heart. What is he doing? He's examining everything

that happens under the sun and he's trying to

understand it all. And he's doing so. with wisdom.

If wisdom were an Olympic sport, Solomon would

be on the top of the podium. But the thing is

that as Solomon observes all of the brokenness

of this life, he realizes that spot on the podium

is not that tall. And the gold of that medal

is not that shiny. And so what Solomon does,

and we're going to see this in chapter two, Solomon

begins to look elsewhere because the quest for

meaning can't deliver on all of its promises.

And he says, I think in verse 14, no, towards

the end of verse 13, it's an unhappy business.

It's an unhappy business, this search for meaning

by wisdom. And to whom does he attribute this

unhappiness? It's an unhappy business that God

has given to the children of man. Now to us,

This sounds strange. Why would he say it like

this? I think it's because Solomon understands

the sovereignty of God. He understands that all

things are in subjection to him. Solomon understands

that because of sin, a curse is in place on all

of life and that sin has consequences. And we,

friends, we are living in these consequences.

And so then. Solomon understands something else,

and that's our second point this morning. He

understands that there are limits to what wisdom

can do. There are limits to what wisdom can do,

and I want us to see this in two ways. One, wisdom

can't fix everything, but two, wisdom at times

hurts. We mentioned that this is an unhappy business

as he says. I imagine that this is Solomon at

the end of his life. He is older. He is sadder.

He is grayer and his pursuit of meaning by wisdom

has taken its toll upon him. And we have sympathy

for Solomon here. He desired a noble task, but

he is worse for the wear. Look in verse 14. I

have seen everything that is done under the sun

and behold. All is vanity and a striving after

wind. He's seen everything, he says, meaning

this is a comprehensive search. And what is his

conclusion? It's all vapor. It's like a mist

that comes and goes. And then he says, it's like

striving after wind. Now, depending on your translation,

you may have different words here. Your text

may say chasing after the wind. I actually think

it's more than chasing. I think it's more than

striving. I think what is being communicated

here by Solomon is his attempt to shepherd the

wind. It's his attempt to capture the wind, to

manipulate the wind, to make the wind do something.

Garth Brooks, the country singer, has an album

titled Roping the Wind. And it's got some of

his all -time hits on it, Rodeo, Shameless, Papa

Love Mama, The River, great album. Roping the

Wind, I think, is a great illustration of this.

And there's also something about that album that's

helpful here, too, beyond the title. Apparently,

a bandmate of Garth Brooks once said to him,

you'll never earn a living making music. In God's

perfect providence, that album went 14 times

platinum. He made a living with that album. But

what is communicated here? Roping the wind is

a fool's errand, and yet the wisest man on earth

attempted it. And what is his conclusion in it

all? Look at verse 15. What is crooked cannot

be made straight. And what is lacking cannot

be counted. I can remember the first time I came

upon verse 15 and I said, my Bible's wrong. That

can't be right. Shouldn't this say something

like, God can make straight what is crooked?

Doesn't that make sense? Well, of course it does.

And we would affirm that statement. But Solomon

here is not making a doctrinal statement about

God and his abilities. No, Solomon is making

a solomonic statement. about the limitations

of wisdom in a crooked world. Sometimes things

are just too crooked. Philip Riken says here,

some things are so bent out of shape that they

resist all of our efforts to make them straight.

And if we were to flip over, and I won't do that

now, but if we flipped over to chapter seven,

verse 13, we would see this as well, that God

is the one who makes these things crooked. Why

is that? And at this point in this sad book,

shouldn't we get some encouragement? No. Not

yet. Because some things in life cannot be fixed

by wisdom. Preachers telling it like it is. This

is real life. And his search for meaning has

turned up befuddling results. And no, he's not

making a distinction between the unbeliever and

the believer. No, the believer must go through

this too. The believer must face the limits of

wisdom in a fallen world. Look at verse 17. And

I applied my heart to no wisdom and to no madness

and folly. He's contrasting wisdom and he's contrasting

it with madness and folly. And what is his perception

after all of that? It's like rope in the wind

and it takes its toll because sometimes wisdom

hurts. To go back to our poem, where ignorance

is bliss, tis folly to be wise. Look in verse

18, for in much. wisdom is much vexation, and

he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever wanted

to know something so badly, but when you know

it, you wish you could unlearn it? When I was

first ordained into this church and into Calvary

Presbytery, I was placed immediately on a Presbyterian

committee, the Session Records Committee. It's

where they put all the rookies. All the young

pastors get their turn on the Session Records

Committee and what you do in that committee is

you review the minutes of other churches, other

sessions. It's long and it's tedious work and

I did that for two years and then I was nominated

for the Shepherding Committee and I thought now

I'm on the way up. This is where I want to be,

right? This is important work. Well, I was at

the first shepherding meeting and they went around

the room and we introduced ourselves in case

we didn't know one another and we were supposed

to say, why do you want to be on the shepherding

committee? And I said, I want to be on the shepherding

committee so I don't have to be on the records

committee. More than three hours later of dealing

with really, really difficult, troubling topics,

I said to the whole committee, can I go back

to the records committee? Friends, when our eyes

are open to the difficulties of life, sometimes

we wish we could go backward. To be lighthearted,

anybody ever watch that documentary on fast food?

Wish you could unsee that, but I guarantee nobody

was eating fast food for a while after that.

But on a more serious level, maybe you remember

the first time that you learned of death. The

first time that you experienced the loss of a

loved one and you said to yourself, I didn't

know, I didn't know it could hurt this bad. Maybe

the time that you went to the doctors, you had

something bothering you and it turned out it

was worse than you could have imagined that the

cancer had metastasized. Maybe the first time

that you learned of real poverty. You said to

God, how in the world Can it be that this many

people live in these conditions? Maybe the first

time that you learned of war, and you realize

how many people die from it, and it just never

seems to stop. You wish you could go back in

time to unlearn those things. I'm not endorsing

this, but did anybody ever see the movie Men

in Black? Remember the thing that he put up in

front of the eye? Erase the memory? Sometimes

we wish. We could just erase our memory. But

there is no going back. For in much wisdom is

much vexation. And he who increases knowledge

increases sorrow. You cannot have one without

the other. To increase of knowledge would be

to increase our sadness. This surely tells us

what we already know now. There are limits to

our wisdom. There are painful limits to our wisdom.

Now in a book on wisdom, who would expect this?

Who would expect that the writer of Ecclesiastes

would say, hey, be wise. But by the way, it hurts.

It's not a great endorsement. And in chapter

two, Solomon will say, why have I been so very

wise? Well, friends, here's why. because a wise

man or a wise woman knows the limits of wisdom

and looks beyond them to the one who embodies

it. It is true, wisdom cannot fix fully the effects

of a sinful, fallen, broken world, but Jesus

can, and Jesus does, and Jesus will. This is

the world, as I said last time, this is the world

that Jesus came to save on a crooked cross. Jesus's

wisdom saves. Jesus is God's wisdom. If you would

like to join me in First Corinthians chapter

one. First Corinthians chapter one, I'm going

to read a few different verses here, but starting

in verse 18. And it reads in this way. For the

word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved, it is the power

of God. The wisdom of God is Christ Jesus. And

when we believe in Jesus, when we place our trust

in him, it's at that point that we are considered

wise. And so in our quest for wisdom, Don't look

any further than Jesus. The Holy Spirit changes

our hearts to embrace him so that we will not

be fools any longer, but they will have the very

wisdom of God. If you flipped over to chapter

two, verse eight, you would see this. None of

the rulers of this age understood this, for if

they had, they would not have crucified the Lord

of glory. And so you see. A definition of godly

wisdom does not match up with ungodly wisdom.

We need this over here. We need the spirit to

move in our hearts that we would become wise

in Jesus Christ. Why? Because the wisdom, this

wisdom over here, this wisdom of the ungodly,

this wisdom will pass away. But the wisdom of

God is found in the one who is eternal. The wisdom

of God is found in the one who conquered death.

And so in this way, I'll contradict myself. Wisdom

can, and wisdom does fix what is broken, because

Jesus is the wisdom of God. Now, believing in

Jesus doesn't remove every vexation, but then

again, Jesus' kingdom is not of this world, right?

Jesus is preparing for us an eternal weight of

glory in a place of no more vexation, of no more

vanity, where our sorrow will be turned into

joy. Some people struggle with Ecclesiastes because

they don't see Jesus in it and they don't see

Jesus quoting it. But friends, let me tell you

this. If you are not a believer in Jesus, you

are ignorant of true wisdom. And the vexation

and the sorrow of this life will be as good as

it gets. But here's the good news. You don't

have to stay in the heavens. You don't have to

stay in the vanity. You don't have to stay in

the dark because Jesus has come and he is described

as someone greater than Solomon. And so today,

take a word from the wise, trusting Christ. because

He is the wisdom that we need. Let us pray.