A New Pursuit of Happiness ~ Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23 ~ Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Right in the middle of the Bible is a book whose name is probably one of the hardest to pronounce of all the biblical books.

Some call it the book of “Ecclesiastics.”  I’ve even heard it pronounced “eclastics” or “elastics…”

Yet the name of the book, Ecclesiastes, is derived from a Greek word meaning “teacher” or “preacher.”

And this book of the teacher has much to say about the life the teacher had lived…

Here was someone who had it all: all the wealth and possessions a person could ever want.  The teacher worked as hard as a person ever could; studying and amassing all knowledge and wisdom.  This was the greatest possible experience of life—but the teacher is not impressed…

“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” the teacher cries.  Having it all, knowing it all, and doing it all—wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.  There was no peace, no passion, no purpose—no happiness.  Apparently “the high life” was not the “good life…” was not to be found.

The teacher’s words were a blatant contradiction to the popular wisdom of the day.  If you had health, wealth, and prosperity, it was because God favored you;  if you didn’t, God was displeased with you. 

Has much really changed in 2,500 years? 

On the shelves of big-box stores, and all over the TV and radio, popular and powerful Christian voices continue to perpetuate this “wisdom” that health, wealth, and prosperity are signs of God’s favor.

What’s worse is how much our culture glamorizes fame and fortune.  There are reality TV shows, books, and magazines dedicated to the proposition that being rich and famous is the best possible life you.  On top of that, we see thousands of advertising messages every day, promising us the good life (provided that we can pay the price they demand). 

How easily we’re fooled into believing that we can live “the good life” with what we buy, what we know, what we do.  And then, when you have a bad day and you need a little relief, what do you do, but look for quick fixes, cheap thrills, and fleeting pleasures?  Indulge the worldly appetites?  To try and find a little bit of happiness, as quick as we can get it?

We may find some happiness—but even if we do, it never lasts.  So much of what we treasure in life is here today, and gone tomorrow…

The teacher’s lesson for us: life is meaningless, and therefore, our best hope is to enjoy ourselves whenever we can, however we can.

And while this may sound like the ultimate in despair, there’s good news in these words: God is present in our lives.  Even while we scramble around looking for happiness and spend every last bit of ourselves in pursuit of the world’s ideals of the good life, the Giver of Life is already with us.

Even as the world goes mad; as life spirals into chaos; and even when we suffer the loss of everything and everyone good in life, God’s presence is the one unchangeable truth.  The life we need each passing day, and even at the hour of our death, is found in Jesus Christ and him alone.  God is with us to bring us the peace and calm we need so desperately—we need only to go into our room, close the door, and pray.  We need only to feast on the Word of life here in this church, where we breathe in the presence of God in our worship and our fellowship.

It is God’s presence that brings peace and purpose to an otherwise meaningless life.  Amid all the changes and challenges of life, God is here—and God is up to something good.

Amid natural disasters, as terrorism and warfare ravage nations; as our economy teeters on the edge of collapse; as civilization becomes more uncivilized, God is here—and God is up to something good. 

So instead of looking for happiness in stuff: stuff to buy, stuff to know, and stuff to do; what if we just simply took care of each other?  What if we Christians made a daily commitment to serve our neighbors, even in the simplest of ways?  One person at a time; one minute; one dollar at a time…

Just think about that for a moment: one minute; one dollar.  Not much you can get for yourself with that dollar, outside of the dollar store.  But you can certainly give far more than you can get with that dollar: a dollar in a tip jar; a dollar to the homeless person begging in the street; a dollar in the Salvation Army kettle.  What if everybody did that?  Surely we would not be in the mess we’re all in…

We can’t keep up the futile rat race much longer, trying to have it all, know it all, and do it all…  We’ll only shipwreck ourselves while trying to make our proverbial ship come in…  Thankfully, God has given us another way: we invest ourselves in God, the giver of life—and we invest ourselves in our neighbors, the people through whom we give and receive God’s love.  Faith, hope, and love will never fail us.