Sermon 2

Vain? Who, me?

Passage: Ecclesiastes 1:2 "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." (KJV)
"'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!'" (NIV)
van·i·ty (vān'ĭ-tē): lack of real value; hollowness; worthlessness.

Today, I put two different translations of the same passage up there. The King James version, as usual, gives the traditional and well known tone, whereas the New International version gives it a more modern understanding.
I have always found Ecclesiastes to be a very somber, depressing chapter and so I never bothered to read the whole thing. Then, for some strange reason, I decided to read it one day. Throughout the first few chapters, thought to have been written by King Solomon, the phrase "vanity" is used repeatedly. Something to emphasize, though, is the definition given above. This "vanity" does not refer to thinking highly of one's self, but rather is referring to worthlessness, or in other words, meaninglessness (and yes, surprisingly that is a word). So, Solomon says that everything is meaningless, and he says it 33 times. Wow. Going through the little titles my particular version of the Bible has, I find these: "Everything is Meaningless"(1:1) "Wisdom is Meaningless"(1:12) "Pleasures are Meaningless"(2:1) "Wisdom and Folly are Meaningless"(2:12) "Toil is Meaningless"(2:17.... the passage below it begins with 'So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me') "Advancement is Meaningless"(4:13) and "Riches are Meaningless"(5:8). Jeez, I would always think upon seeing these, this sure makes life, well, meaningless.
But fear not!
Solomon wasn't saying that life was meaningless. Not. at. all.
The last two passages of this book say the following: "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (12:13-14) (fear, in this context, means: "to respect highly; to feel reverence toward God".)
There! Did you see that?
Solomon spends a whole bunch of time, saying how no matter what you do, it will do nothing for you in the end. In his own words, "what does man gain from all his labour at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever." (1:3-4) Then, just as you are feeling pretty down indeed, he says that God will take note of everything you do and remember it. And the "Bible overview" at the back of mine says this of Ecclesiastes: "This book reminds us that a life without God leads to meaninglessness and despair." Despair, indeed.

Stop and take a look at life around you. Do you spend day after day worshipping at the altar of money? Do you shun the charities even though you have money to spare? Do you delight in degrading other people for your own selfish gain?
What Solomon seems to be getting at is that as you go through life, you need to try and work for those things that would please God, who delights in joy, happiness, peace, and love. Look at the common idols such as Mother Teresa, who said,
"The poverty of the poor must be so hard for them. While looking for a home I walked and walked till my arms and legs ached. I thought how much they must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food and health" when she first gave up her life at the Loreto Monastery for a poor life on the street, yet still kept at it;
and Martin Luther King, Jr., who said in his famous speech as the conclusion,
"From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
They devoted their life to making the world a better place for mankind and putting the world before themselves. Even if these two examples were not religious, they still would be doing God-pleasing activities, and the "love of God" or Holy Spirit would still be in them, whether they realize it or not.
Go ahead. Make a difference. Change the world. Laugh lots. Care more.




This is a picture that always comes to mind whenever I hear these words. It is called "All is Vanity" by C. Allen Gilbert. It is fairly thought-provoking, very famous, and titles itself straight from the Bible.



Think about it.



~God spede