(Not) Working in Vain

In June of last year, renowned quarterback Tom Brady was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame, and he delivered the kind of speech that you would expect from an extremely successful person as they look back on their career. One of the most quotable lines that got passed around was, “To be successful at anything, the truth is you don’t have to be special. You just have to be what most people aren’t: consistent, determined and willing to work for it.”

That sounds great, and it's probably true. That's what you have to do to be successful. But his comments leave an important question unanswered: why would anybody want to be consistent and determined and willing to work for success? What's the point of being successful at anything?

Earlier in his career, during an interview, Tom Brady was less inspirational but perhaps more honest about these deeper questions. He asked the interviewer, "Why do I have three Super Bowl rings, and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey, man, this is what is.' I reached my goal, my dream, my life. I think, '…it's got to be more than this.' I mean this can't be what it's all cracked up to be. I mean I've done it. I'm 27. And what else is there for me?"

At this point the interviewer asks him, "What's the answer?" And Brady replied, "I wish I knew. I wish I knew."

Tom Brady is far from the only person who has worked hard, been dedicated, arrived at the peak of all of their hopes and dreams, and looked around to wonder "Is this it?" And in those moments of honesty, when people realize the emptiness of success, something strange happens: they all start talking like they're in the book of Ecclesiastes.

Like Tom Brady, King Solomon had arrived. As a young man, he had arrived at the most powerful position of the most blessed nation on earth, at the top of the pile of God's covenant blessings.

And over the last two weeks we considered how Solomon enjoyed the pleasures that were available to him from those blessings. And while those things did feel good for a very short time, in the end he was left with no real satisfaction.

But Solomon did not just enjoy luxury. He also worked hard. The book of Ecclesiastes reveals the quest of someone who was consistent and determined and willing to work to make something valuable out of their great gifts.

And today we're going to look at a number of passages in Ecclesiastes that could form Solomon's hall of fame speech. And he looked back on his accomplishments, and all the work he put in to them, what kinds of things did he have to say?

But more basically, what did he have to say about work itself, and why anybody else should work to try to accomplish anything?

1. Work Is a Gift (2:24, 3:13, 5:18-19)

And we'll start out on a positive note. Ecclesiastes recognizes a basic truth that work is a gift, and it does offer some temporary satisfaction.

“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” (Ecclesiastes 2:24).

“Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:18–19).

Work is a gift. And the right kind of work feels like a gift. There is pleasure to be found in a job well done. Even if you're young, you know the feeling of cleaning your room or building something or learning something and being able to stand back and think, "I worked hard, and I did something, and it feels good."

Work is good and feels good, and this is one reason why people need to be careful with video games. Video games can give you that sense of reward for accomplishing something when no real work in the real world has happened. Video games can be enjoyed as a leisure activity, something we do to rest after the work is done. But we need to know that working hard and doing real things in the real world is of far greater value and brings far greater pleasure than making stuff in Minecraft.

And this is God's gift. Work is not bad. Adam worked before the fall. Enjoying that work is a part of God's gift to humanity.

2. Work Is Necessary (4:5, 10:18-19)

Second, Ecclesiastes shows us that work is necessary. We need to work to survive. And one of the ways that Ecclesiastes represents this is by talking about what happens when we don't work—when we're lazy.

4:5 says, “The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.” "Folding his hands" is a reference to resting instead of not working. His hands are idle. And because of that, he had no food, and his body has nothing to eat but itself. If you don't work, you don't eat.

10:18 says, “Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.” Homeowners, you get this. Properties need maintenance. Stuff breaks that needs fixing. Laziness leads to leaking roofs.

The next verse there in chapter 10 says something very interesting about work: “Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything” (Ecclesiastes 10:19).

I don't think this verse is saying that money is the answer to all of the real questions in life. That would go against everything else in this book.

But I take this as a recognition that in this life, most of the things we need have a cost associated with them. If you're going to enjoy bread or get your roof fixed, you need money. Money is necessary to live.

Which means that work is necessary because money doesn't grow on trees. You need to work so you can earn an income so you can live.

So work is a gift, and its also necessary.

3. Work is Vain

But… there's always a "but" in Ecclesiastes, isn't there? While work is a necessary gift, Ecclesiastes tells us that this side of the Garden of Eden, work is also vanity. That means work is like a puff of vapour—temporary and ultimately meaningless. And throughout the book we see four reasons for why work is vain.

a. Because our Accomplishments Get Left to Others (2:18-21, 26)

First, work is vain because our accomplishments get left to others. That's what verses 18-21 tells us: “I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 2:18–19).

You might accomplish great things, and leave them to a fool who will run them into the ground. This sounds a little rough, considering that "the man who will come after me" is most likely his son. But how many stories do we see, just in the Bible, where a good king works for years to fix up the kingdom, and leaves it all to his son who runs it into the ground as soon as he can?

And sadly, that was Solomon's experience. This great kingdom he ruled over was not to be enjoyed by anybody after him.

“So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil” (Ecclesiastes 2:20–21).

This is a great evil because, as is often the case, someone who receives a great inheritance they didn't work for will not appreciate it or use it properly. That is not always the case, which is why we see the word "sometimes" here. Sometimes hard working and wise people will receive an inheritance and steward it wisely and carefully.

Sometimes this transfer of wealth is even God's purpose, like we see in 2:26: “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 one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:26).

There are many situations we can think of in which the righteous benefit from work that the unrighteous put in But often enough a big landfall is taken as an excuse to be foolish and lazy, and Qoheleth laments that the fruit of his labours might be nothing more than enjoyment for a fool.

Inheritances are not just a thing of the past. North American is experiencing what is being called "The Great Wealth Transfer," as a relatively wealthy generation passes on and leaves inheritances to their children and grandchildren. By next year, the total inherited wealth just in Canada is expected to total $1 trillion, and that number will just go up in the years ahead. And we will see, lived out in front of our very eyes, the vanity described by Qoheleth as many people receive and squander what they did not work for and which they do not have the character to handle, and all of that work that went into all of that generational wealth will have been so much vapour.

b. Because It is Painful and Never-ending (2:22-23, 5:17)

Second, work is vain because it is painful and never-ending. Look at 2:22-23: “What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 2:22–23).

Later on, in chapter 5, he describes a lifetime of working like this: “Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger” (Ecclesiastes 5:17).

Work is hard, life is painful, and when we lay upon our beds at night it's hard to fully rest as we think about what we've done or about what has to be done next. And according to Qoheleth, this just isn't worth the benefit that we get from our work. You can't pay someone enough to outweigh the cost of work itself.

It sounds like he's complaining, but Qoheleth is honestly reflecting on the cost of work outside of the garden of Eden. This is a part of God's curse: that work will be painful and wear us down until we return to the dirt.

There are pleasures in work, but those pleasures are often outweighed by the pain. And that's the second reason why work is vain.

c. Because More is Never Enough (4:4, 6-8, 5:10-12)

The third reason work is vain is because more is never enough.

How many people have you met who have said, "You know what? I make enough money. I have enough things. I don't need anything more. I don't need that promotion. I don't need that raise. I don't need a bigger house. I don't need a newer phone. I don't need to read the flyer because I've already got what I need."

That's pretty rare, isn't it? And this is not a new problem. Even in Qoheleth's day, he recognized that people worked hard to get more, not because they needed more, but because they wanted more. Ecclesiastes 4:4: “Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.”

Qoheleth looked around him and saw people working hard and developing their skills just so they could keep up with the Joneses—just like today. He saw that economies were driven forward by greed, just like modern capitalism. There really is nothing new under the sun.

And it's not great. After remarking that a "handful of quietness" is better "than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind," in verse 7 Qoheleth tells us that “Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, ‘For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business’” (Ecclesiastes 4:7–8).

Doesn't this sound so modern? Doesn't this bring to mind pictures of busy executives in big cities, working away to get more and more and more, never satisfied, never having enough, never slowing down to ask "what's the point?"

Down in chapter 5 Qoheleth reflects on this whole idea when he writes, starting in verse 10, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity." It's absurd to love money because more will never be enough.

Verse 11 tells us that as goods increase, so do those who eat them. In other words, the more you have, the more you need to spend what you have. You buy more stuff, you need space for that stuff. You need insurance for that stuff, and you need to pay people to maintain that stuff. Your business grows, you need to pay more staff. More requires more.

Verse 12 tells us that riches do not satisfy because while “Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much… the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.” Whether this is literally indigestion caused by eating too much, or worry over their many possessions and business ventures, the idea again is that a rich person has more problems to deal with because of their wealth.

More requires more. It's the law of diminishing returns. The more stuff we get, the more our stuff takes from us. And so we keep on needing more just to keep up.

All of our accomplishments and accumulations under the sun are mere breath because more is never enough.

d. Because Nothing Lasting Is Ever Accomplished (3:1-15, 22, 5:13-16)

Fourth, and finally, work is vain because nothing lasting is ever accomplished.

Whatever your job is, the effects of your work are not going to last. You build something—in a few years its going to be torn down. You clean something—it's going to get dirty again. That's really the point of this famous passage in chapter 3:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:1–8).

These verses have always puzzled me. Like, isn't this all kind of obvious? Sometimes you do this, sometimes you do that.

But Qoheleth's point here is actually quite challenging. He's telling us that whatever we do, eventually it's going to be un-done. Everybody who is born is going to die. Everything that gets planted will eventually get plucked up. Things that get built up will get broken down and vice-versa. If you're weeping, it won't be long before you're laughing. If you're laughing, it won't be long before you're weeping. Every experience has a time for its opposite experience.

Which means that nothing ever lasts. War never lasts, but neither does peace. The pile of stones you piled up is going to be scattered again. The counter you just cleaned is going to be filled up with dirty dishes before long. The garage you just tidied is going to get messy again. The budget you just balanced is going to get off balance again. The person you just helped is going to need help again.

And we know that this is the right track because, after all of these reflections in verses 1-8, he asks in verse 9, “What gain has the worker from his toil?” (Ecclesiastes 3:9). If everything we do is going to be un-done, then what do we actually gain? All our work is like shovelling in a snow storm.

These thoughts are further developed in verses 10-15:

“I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end" (3:10-11). Notice what he's saying so far: we're busy, we're aching for eternity, but we can't see the big story.

Then, verses 12-13 say that there's nothing better than to enjoy our work and it's fruits. This is the best we've got.

Then listen to where he picks up in verse 14: "I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away” (3:14–15).

Here's what he's saying: nothing we do can change God's eternal purposes. Nothing we do is truly unique or can meaningfully add or take away from what is happening in the world.

In other words, our work doesn't really make a difference. It accomplishes nothing lasting. And that's why Qoheleth tells us again in 3:22, “There is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?” (Ecclesiastes 3:22).

The best you can do is enjoy the work itself, because you can't see what the long-term effects will be. In other words, don't rejoice that you're changing the world. Don't rejoice that you're making a difference. You're probably not.

And the greatest example of the temporariness of our work is that when our life is over, we all die and we don't take any of our work with us.

People say all kinds of syrupy things at funerals, and we pretend that all of our accomplishments mean something, but Qoheleth knows that whether you made great changes or not, whether you improved people's lives or not, whether you were lazy or hard working, we're all going to die with nothing the same way we were born.

Listen to chapter 5:13-16:

“There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind?” (Ecclesiastes 5:13–16).

There are no U-Hauls behind hearses. You're born with nothing, you work hard, and you can't take any of what you gained with you when you die. It's all just a game of Monopoly. Whatever we get in this life isn't good for anything when this life is over.

It's all just a puff of breath. Every pay day, every tax return, every garage sale, every pension check, every acre, every savings account, every stock and bond, every title deed, everything is all just a puff of breath. Work, and all that it accomplishes, is vain.

But we have no choice. We have to work because, according to Qoheleth, it's better than whatever is coming afterwards. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” says Ecclesiastes 9:10.

"Sheol" was the place of the dead at this point in history, a shadowy place where souls lived on in dreary forgetfulness. There's no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom there, so however vain work is, you might as well give yourself to it.

No wonder Qoheleth said "I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun" (Ecc 2:18). What's the point?

4. "Not In Vain"

And friends, this is where so much of our world today is stuck. This is where they live. Working for the weekend, working to retire, getting more so they can get more, driven by envy, running on the hamster wheel, with only a bleak and hopeless eternity ahead of them.

Think of Western Canada, full of conservatives who place a high value on working for what you want in life. And Ecclesiastes just pops that bubble and says, "Good for you. All you got is vapour."

And vapour is all we can get. It's the best this world can give us.

It was the best that we had, until one day when everything changed. A Jewish Rabbi lay dead, his life work seemingly gone up in vapour just like everybody else.

And then he took a breath. And then he got up. And then he walked out. And suddenly, death no longer had the final word. Jesus is alive and has promised to share His eternal life with all who believe in Him. His resurrection means that we, too will be resurrected when we belong to Him. And because of that, everything is changed.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians 15, which is all about the resurrection of Christ and what that means for us. Paul reflects on the hopelessness of life apart from the resurrection in verse 32 when he writes, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32). These words come from Isaiah, but they reflect the language and perspective we've heard this morning. If there is no resurrection, we're stuck in Ecclesiastes.

But, jump back to verse 20: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20–22).

Verse 49: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49).

And then he tells us this, in a section I need to read in its entirety: “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’” (1 Corinthians 15:50–57).

Qoheleth wasn't wrong, he just couldn't see the whole story. He had no idea what was coming. Resurrection hope has rescued us from the dreary meaninglessness of life under the sun.

And it shouldn't be a surprise to us, after this morning, what Paul tells us to do with all of this resurrection hope. Knowing that we will rise with Christ, what are we supposed to do in the meantime?

Work.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

In the Lord our work is not in vain. Jesus has broken us out of the cage of life-under-the-sun and make our work in the Lord be more than just breath.

What is the "work of the Lord"? It's everything that the Lord has told us to do. It includes our jobs, in which we serve not just our employers or clients but the Lord Christ himself (Col 3:23-24). It includes all our service to our family, our church. All the good works that God has prepared for us to do.

As we work in the Lord, we accomplish things that won't just be left to others, because instead of storing up treasures on earth, we store up treasures in heaven and leave spiritual legacies that can impact the eternities of people for generations.

As we work in the Lord, our labour is not just painful and never-ending. We can rest in Christ and look forward to eternal Sabbath

As we work in the Lord, we can be satisfied with what we have and look forward to being fully and finally satisfied in the age to come.

And as we work in the Lord, we know that all of our work here is just an internship for the real meaningful work we get to enjoy forever in eternity. In the end, we're not working for anything here on this earth. We are working to hear our Lord say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23).

So friends, I have no further encouragement for you this morning than what we see here in verse 58. This week, God has prepared good works for you.

• That work might include sitting in a chair and praying for your grandkids or the kids at FAITH night on Tuesday.
• It might mean calling up a friend and spending time across a coffee table as you listen and encourage them.
• It might mean going out the door to use your body or your brain in hard labour.
• It might mean changing diapers and preparing lunch for ungrateful toddlers.
• It might mean sitting down to learn and study things you don't really enjoy that much but you know are important.
• It might mean raking your neighbour's yard.
• It might mean cleaning your room.

Brothers and sisters, do this work for the Lord, by His strength, in His presence. And know that it is not in vain. All of our work has eternal value and purpose. We are planing seeds that will burst to life in the New Creation that is coming because Jesus rose again.

And before He rose again, He died. Before our work could be set free from futility, Jesus had to take on to Himself the curse for our sin and drain it dry. And so as we eat and drink this morning, we remember the suffering saviour and the price He paid to liberate us from futility.

And we proclaim His death until He comes to bring the kingdom we're so hungry for.