Far too easily pleased...

Lately I've been listening to a great sermon series on the book of Ecclesiates by Matt Chadler called "beyond the sun". This name is coined from Job chapter 31 and refers to the reality that there is no hope for true life on this earth, our only hope lies beyond the things we can see; our only hope lies beyond the sun with God. Some of these ideas are taken from him.

Have you ever wondered "what is life about"? This is a rather ominous question to ask but it is one but the Bible speaks to clearly in the book of Ecclesiates. In order for the words of the Bible regarding this question to have any meaning to us whatsoever we most first understand the difficulty in answering it and for that we need ice cream.

There was a Basken Robbins ice cream shop close to my house growing up and once in a blue moon my Dad would take my brothers and I to get ice cream. Since we didn't go very often and I never knew when i would get to go again I always wanted to make the most of my opportunity - I wanted to get the best flavor. A huge problem arose here because Basken Robbins is famous for their 31 falvors and there was no way that I could know which was the best. I always agonized over my decision and left either wondering if I had chosen the right flavor or assured that I had chosen the wrong one. I bring up ice cream to illustrate the difficulty in deciding upon the best when there are so many things to choose from. Knowing the best flavor in Basken Robbins was impossible for me because I had not tasted them all and it would have taken someone with great resorces to make that possible. Similarly in order us to know what is best in life, we want to hear from someone who has tasted all of it. If ever there was a man who tasted all of life it was King Solomon. The Bible tells us that he was the wisest and wealthiest person to ever walk the earth - he had great resources and is the perfect person to answer the question of what life is all about.

In Ecclesaties Chapters 1 the Bible tells us that Solomon set out to determine the meaning of life. In Chapter 2 we see the king chase the 6 favorite things of man (wealth, power, religion, friends, work, and pleasure) in three different stages.

In stage 1, Solomon pursues pleasures and friends by throwing huge parties and denying himself nothing. Let me paint the picture for you. Solomon ate the best food, drank the best wine and ate and drank as much as he liked of whatever he liked. He had an endless supply of DQ blizzards and never had to eat leftovers! Solomon had every type of entertainment possible. His itunes library contained a million songs and, he had every video game and owned every movie. Solomon's palace was like the "cool" house growing up, the one that had the big TV, the swimming pool in the backyard, and the game room - Solomon had lost of friends. He threw parties with his friends every night and when those parties weren't exciting enough he threw bigger and better ones.

In stage 2, King Solomon chases after work, wealth and power. Solomon wanted nothing more than to feel the satisfaction you feel after a long run or after finishing a big project. He built mansions upon mansions, planted forests, made lakes and had dominion over it all. As soon as the emotional "high" from building and aquiring one thing wore off he would build something else even bigger and better.

In stage 3, Solomon pursues women. There was no sexual fantasy or dream relationship that was not a reality for solomon. People wonder what it is like to meet the perfect guy or perfect girl - Solomon had it. Solomon had wives with every hair color, eye color, body shape, and tone of voice. He knew what is was like to be in love, to be touched in every way, make love in every way, and be cared for in every way. There was nothing this man didn't experience!


Listen to what Solomon concludes about his experiences...

"All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor, and this was my reward for all my labor."

I didn't understand this verse at first. How could Solomon's heart be pleased by worldly things? I thought that only God could bring fullness and satisfaction to a person's life. The key to understanding Solomon's words here can only be found by reading on. If you as the reader stop at the green you will be left scratching your head because Solomon's word don't seem to match up with what we have heard about God. But if you keep reading and apply what comes after the comma to what is before it, if you connect the blue with the green then you will understand the profound statement Solomon is making . "...my heart was pleased because of all my labor, and this was my reward for all my labor." The main point is that all Solomon had to show for his life of seeking pleasure was... just that... a bunch of pleasures.

As a christian I always thought that people who didn't know God would never be happy. I thought that the thing Christianity had going for it was that God made you happy and other worldy things didn't. I have learned that I was wrong. Solomon proves that there is enough under the sun to keep you happy if you try hard enough. This is why people change jobs, change wives, change husbands, buy new cars, toys, and clothes. When we get tired of wearing the same outfit or pair of shoes we go and buy another - it keeps things exciting. This is why college kids sit in class on their computers and check facebook, look at baseball highlights on espn, or look at wedding pictures of their friends on myspace. We hope for that next email, that next coversation, that relationship one day or that next exciting sports moment to relish in.

We use all these things to numb the unsatisfaction the boredom in our lives due to something missing. What is the missing element? Eccleciates 3:11 says that "God has placed eternity in the hearts of men". This means that in our hearts, at our very core, God has placed a desire for how things were before the fall and how they will be one day in heaven. This desire is one that longs for complete and total satisfaction. The hole where eternity fits in our hearts is huge and only eternity can fill it. This is not because of the square block in a round hole idea where substitutes for eternal satisfaction and comtentment almost fit but not quite. No, it is because the substitutes for the satisfaction found in God are so minutely small. Filling the huge eternity shaped hole in our hearts with worldly things, with the temporary, is like trying to fill up a lake by thowing pebbels in one by one. We try one thing (throw one pebble) and when the the lake doesn't fill up we wonder why and throw another. Our pebbles take differnt shapes, mine often look like accomplishements I long for, a thrilling expereince, a relatioship, or a new thing. The truth is we can stand on the bank and through pebbles into the lake our whole life but we will never be able to fill it up and likely won't even see the fruit labors.

So what does Christianity have going for it? Not happiness. I would say that if you are looking for happiness then Christianity is not for you because as a believer you are guaranteed unhappy times. John 16:33 says, "In this world you will have trouble". The world has lots of things that can make you happy. They won't make you happy forever and you'll have to move from one thing to the next like Solomon but you can do it. What Christianity has going for it is that in God you will be able to find a satisfaction, a peace, and a contentment that cannot be found anywhere else under the sun. Those that find this experience great joy and abundant life (John 10:10) and those that don't will spend the rest of their life throwing pebbles and looking for it.

Are you tired of throwing pebble after pebble into the lake, trying thing after thing to make your life seem full? Do you long for more than temporary satisfaction? Then consider making Christ the center of your life - make him your treasure!

C.S. Lewis in his book The Weight of Glory, "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."