Why? Because you can’t take anything with you, which makes stuff a fickle distraction in life.īut the Teacher doesn’t stop there. It has been often observed that you never see a hearse pulling a U-haul. A life that focuses its attention on the accumulation of stuff is like chasing steam from a kettle. He asks, rhetorically, in verse 11: “So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on?” Answer: There is no advantage. In the present context, it’s not that money is useless or meaningless, it’s that its pursuit is vaporous. One author likens vanity-or, futility- to “a sustained pedal note on an organ, the theme drones on ”: vanity, vanity, all is vanity. You’re familiar with this word at this point in your series. Why? First, because that pursuit is, according to the Teacher, vanity (5:10c). To enjoy the beauty of life, don’t focus on stuff-money, toys, houses, comfort, travels, vehicles. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind? Throughout his life he also eats in darkness with great vexation, sickness and anger. This also is a grievous evil-exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. As he had come naked from his mother’s womb, so will he return as he came. When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. So what is the advantage to their owners except to look on? The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep. When good things increase, those who consume them increase. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. “If you want to enjoy the beauty that is life, if you want to get the most out of it, if you want to revel in its significance, don’t focus on stuff.” It’s the distraction of money, riches, materialism. And the distraction he’s going to warn us about is as enticing as it is perennial. Don’t Focus On StuffĪs I said, the Teacher begins with a warning. He’s going to, first, telling us what not to focus on before, second, pointing us toward the work of art that demands our attention. In Ecclesiastes 5, the Teacher is going to help us avoid the “museum fatigue” of life so that we can better enjoy its beauty. But distractions are always lurking, threatening to pull our attention away from what really matters, truly fulfills, and eternally satisfies. Life, as God has given it to each of us, is a gracious gift, a thing of beauty. In other words: beauty is best enjoyed when there’s nothing around to steal attention away from where it’s supposed to be fixed. A 2017 study vindicated that logic as it found that “appreciating beauty takes conscious thought-and therefore, distracting a person can prevent them from fully taking in the work of art before them.” The rationale for such simplicity of presentation was to help patrons avoid “museum fatigue” caused by over-stimulation. Yet, if you’ve ever seen it (whether in-person or in photos) you’ll know it’s hanging on a plain wall in a mostly-empty room. Leonardo DaVinci’s Mona Lisa is one of the world’s most famous paintings. NOTE: This sermon was originally preached at Stone Ridge Bible Chapel in Hamilton, Ontario. A 2017 study vindicated that logic as it found that “appreciating beauty takes conscious thought-and therefore, distracting a person can prevent them from fully taking in the work of art before them.” In other words: beauty is best enjoyed when there’s nothing around to steal attention away from where it’s supposed to be fixed.
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