God is Greater Than…Wealth: The fourth and final trap of our series is the materialistic life. The materialistic life believes that more money, wealth, and possessions will lead to lasting meaning and satisfaction. Money isn’t inherently evil, but it is uniquely tempting for us. How do we avoid a life of hollow consumerism? Watch here. Recorded on May 22, 2022, on Ecclesiastes 5:8-20, by Pastor David Parks.
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This message is part of our “God is Greater Than…” sermon series. There are several common traps that human beings have fallen into for thousands of years. Traps of believing that certain pursuits are satisfying enough to take the place of God in your life. But in the end, these pursuits reveal themselves to be ultimately meaningless and lead to a hollow and deeply unsatisfying life. Our series will examine the traps of pursuing pleasure, wisdom, work, and wealth before coming to the conclusion that God is greater than all.
Sermon Transcript
All year, we’re focusing on, The Greatness of God. And today, we’re continuing a sermon series called “God Is Greater Than…” And we’ve said that there are several common traps that human beings have fallen into for thousands of years. These are traps of faith, of believing that certain pursuits are big/important/satisfying enough to take the place of God in your life. But in the end, these pursuits lead to a life of hebel, the Hebrew word translated as meaningless; ultimately, these pursuits lead to a life that is hollow and deeply unsatisfying. Our series has examined the traps of pleasure, wisdom, and work, but has come to the conclusion that God is greater than all, and it’s only in him that life has meaning/significance which will last forever. Today, we’ll consider the trap of pursuing wealth, of making/accumulating more and more, something we will call the materialistic life. But again, how could it be such a bad thing to have money?? How could the pursuit of more money, wealth, or possessions become a trap? If you have a Bible/app, please open to Ecclesiastes 5:8.
Ecclesiastes 5:8-20 (NIV), “8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. 9 The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields. 10 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. 11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? 12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. 13 I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, 14 or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. 15 Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. 16 This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? 17 All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger. 18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.”
As we’ve said, in this series, we’re assuming that King Solomon is the author, which means that Ecclesiastes was written almost 3,000 years ago. And we’ve said that King Solomon decided to go on a journey of discovery. He went on something like a quest to understand everything that is done under the sun — a phrase that means basically everything done in this broken world apart from God. And he did this in order to find out what, if anything, is truly meaningful, what among all the possible activities really matters in life — what really gives us meaning under the sun? He considered the hedonistic life, a life of pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain. Then he considered the intellectual life, a life of pursuing more and more wisdom and knowledge. And then last week, we saw that Solomon considered the productive life, a life of pursuing accomplishments in your work or achievements in your career. But none of these ways of living brought lasting meaning. What did he try next? Look back at v. 8.
Ecclesiastes 5:8-9 (NIV), “If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.” Let’s pause here. So next, on this quest for meaning, King Solomon considered wealth. But what did he find? He found that this too was hebel, meaningless, a vapor or breath. How so? The first example he gives is rooted in corruption. Don’t be surprised if you see the poor oppressed or denied rights or justice. Why? Because one official is eyed by a higher one and over the two of them, others are higher still. The greater the bureaucracy, the greater the chance of corruption. The increase from the land is taken by all. The land has enough for everyone. The king himself profits from the fields. So why do the poor have to be mistreated? Those who have should share with those who have not, or at least show care to deliver justice for them. But this is not the way of this broken world, is it? Life isn’t fair and people do not always concern themselves with the needs of others. In fact, sometimes people use their positions of power or they use their wealth to take more and more from those in need. This creates a system that’s rigged. So the pursuit of wealth, the materialistic life, doesn’t always work, and certainly, some are born into better positions than others. This is hebel. Let’s continue with v. 10.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 (NIV), “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.” Whoever loves money… What does that mean? Whoever gives their heart to the pursuit of wealth/money/possessions. Whoever is captivated by these things. Whoever prioritizes these things above all else. Ok, so what happens when you love money? Are you happy? Satisfied? Fulfilled? No! Whoever loves money never has enough. They are never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless, or hebel. “As goods increase, so do those who consume them.” Here, Solomon uses the analogy of food to show the folly of the materialistic life. The more you eat, the more you can eat; the more you consume, the more your appetite/hunger grows. And isn’t this true? Were we all satisfied the first time we got a smartphone? Despite the fact that no one had ever had a smartphone before smartphones (so it should theoretically be possible to live without them), as soon as we all got one what did we want next? The new model! A newer smartphone, a bigger screen, more storage, 2 cameras, no, 3 cameras! Another thing I noticed over the years: Holly and I got married when we were 19 years old. We were young and our combined incomes totaled up to next to nothing. I like to say we had $4, but our bills were only $3, so life was good! And over the years, our incomes grew. As we gained more knowledge and skills, as we progressed in our careers, our compensation grew. But you know what? So did our bills. So did our expectation for the type of life we wanted under the sun. We outgrew our apartment and bought a house. We outgrew that house and bought a bigger house. It’s funny how that works. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We outgrew our apartment and our house because we were having kids and our kids were growing, so it was only natural to need more space. But the point is that making more and more money doesn’t automatically satisfy. More is not necessarily better. In fact, the more you make, the more you think you need in order to consume more and more.
v. 12 points to one of the results of this life of greater and greater consumption. Of making more and consuming more. “The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.” Not only does more money lead to more expenses, but it also leads to worry, anxiety, and fear over losing your money. The sleep of a laborer is sweet. Why? Because they’re worn out from working. They don’t have trouble sleeping at night, even if they don’t have an abundance of wealth. But the rich, on the other hand, it’s the abundance of the rich that permits them no sleep. This is the mo money, mo problems principle that The Notorious B.I.G. wrote about. Well, King Solomon wrote about it a little bit earlier, but the principle is the same. The materialistic life doesn’t work because of corruption and injustice. But also because the more you get, the more you want. Consumption is like a hunger that is never satisfied and it only causes more problems. v. 13.
Ecclesiastes 5:13-15 (NIV), “I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.” Some people hoard their wealth/possessions. And whether they are motivated by greed, or by fear of some threat (real or imagined), either way, it doesn’t help them. Wealth is hoarded to the harm of its owners. This is so twisted. In the Bible, we understand that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it”, says Psalm 24. This means that everything that comes into our possession, every dollar, our homes/cars, everything is a gift of God for us to steward for his glory and our joy. So it is in fact a grievous evil under the sun to find people who are hoarding their wealth to their own harm. Our wealth is simply a tool. Just like a hammer can be used to build up or to destroy, so our wealth is a tool that can be used to build up or to destroy. As people who love God and seek to follow him in every area of our lives, we then are under an obligation to use our wealth for good. Another example of the meaninglessness of the materialistic life is found in v. 14. That through some misfortune, wealth that was made was lost. This not only affects the person but also their legacy. When they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. Solomon doesn’t give any examples here, but there are too many to list. I know people who have suddenly lost their job for a variety of reasons. I know people who had an accident that not only was financially devastating but prevented them from going back to work. I know people who have had huge amounts of savings wiped out through financial mismanagement or theft or through a sudden downturn in the stock market. Some of you might be feeling the pain of that today. The market has not done well this year. The truth is, there are no guarantees in life when it comes to our money. None of us knows for certain what will happen tomorrow. We can plan and save, but still not be ready for the day of disaster. But what if we don’t experience that day? What if our plans succeed and we have enough money to deal with the ups and downs of life? Then what? “Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.” This totally fits what we’ve already seen in this series. Death is the end of so many of these traps. What happens if you are able to become a billionaire? What happens if you store up for yourself the wealth of a small country? Do you get to take anything with you? It’s a grievous evil to hoard your wealth for your own harm; it’s a terrible thing to not be able to leave an inheritance. But it’s also hebel to think you will be able to forever keep or enjoy the wealth you make in this life. v. 16.
Ecclesiastes 5:16-17 (NIV), “This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.” This passage picks up on several themes that have already come. What does anyone gain from a life in pursuit of wealth? All their days, they eat in darkness. What does that mean? I think this is similar to losing sleep by worrying about your wealth. As your consumption grows, so your obligations and worries grow. As you worry about potential thieves or people who might steal or squander your wealth, the circle of people you really trust starts to shrink. You start to isolate yourself. But this doesn’t lead to a life of love, joy, and peace. It leads to a life of frustration, affliction, and anger. Does anyone want to sign up for that kind of life? Doesn’t that sound amazing? Of course, not. And yet, so many people, so many stories in our culture (books, tv, movies, social media) claim just the opposite. We are obsessed with the rich. We read the gossip about their lifestyles. We watch shows about their houses and cars. We envy their extravagance and imagine what it would be like for us to live like that. People play the lottery or do embarrassing things on reality tv all with the dream of going from rags to riches. Social media only makes this worse because we see a carefully curated stream of what looks like the amazing life of the rich and famous. The underlying message of every advertisement is that you just need a little more and then you’ll be happy. But this is just simply false. In the same news feeds that we see the opulence of the lifestyles of the rich, but we also see their problems. We watch their court cases, we read about their divorces, we see the problems of their kids, but somehow we overlook these things in our envy for their stuff. Solomon knew of these problems firsthand. Despite his vast wealth, remember in his time silver was considered worthless because of how much gold he had, remember he built himself an enormous palace with every form of pleasure at his disposal, despite all that, his family, his relationships with women, and his legacy were a mess. So much so that after his reign was done, the kingdom of Israel was divided and never returned to the glory it saw under King David and King Solomon. Let’s finish with v. 18.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 (NIV), “This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.” Again, Solomon introduces God into this life under the sun. And what does he say? He concludes not with a return to the hedonistic life, a life pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain, but he does say that we should find things we enjoy in this broken world. It is appropriate for a person to eat, drink, and be satisfied. Why? Because instead of seeing your money/wealth/possessions as the key to your happiness (which, ironically will ensure you are not happy) or solely as something you earned all by yourself. But as a gift from God. As the grace of God. As a blessing given so that we might learn how to be wise stewards. Do you see how this takes off so much of the pressure and worries that come with money? Also, not every day will be difficult. In this world, there is much trouble. Jesus clearly taught that we should expect trouble! But sometimes, we are able to enjoy our wealth, our possessions. This too is a gift of God! Our God doesn’t want us to be miserable. He wants us to be able to laugh and have fun and be satisfied, made whole. In fact, this type of abundant life is what exactly Jesus came to secure for us. But we have a decision to make. We can only follow and obey one master. Our God is a jealous God and will not share his glory with another. So first, we must see and understand the trap: that we might believe the marketing hype, and think that the pursuit of money, wealth, or possessions will lead to a life of meaning. It will not. It will only lead to more problems. Wealth isn’t inherently bad or evil, but it is uniquely tempting to take the place of God in our lives. So what do we do? How do we avoid the trap and be obedient to our true Master? I have three suggestions. First, read the Bible. There is so much wisdom in the Bible about wealth. I think of Jesus’ teaching in Luke 12 that, “life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” Or I think of the Apostle Paul’s instruction at the end of 1 Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” There are hundreds of passages like this. My second suggestion is to practice generosity. Nothing combats consumerism and materialism like giving money away. You can give to the Lord, you can give to those in need, and you can give just to be a blessing to others. But growing in generosity fights against the self-centered, harmful, and deeply unsatisfying life of greed and ever-growing consumption. Third, and finally, I would always encourage you to look to Jesus. Here is one who left all the riches of heaven, all the wealth of being not just the king of a nation, but of all creation. Why? In order to generously give up his very life so that we might be saved from sin and death. So that we might find the life that truly satisfies both now and forever more. Look to him. Trust in him. Serve him. He’s the only master who won’t crush you or hold you in bondage. Instead, he will free you and give you everything that you need and more. For he is great and he is good. Let us pray.