Vanity of Pleasure

I want thank Pastor Matt. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and I recon it takes a pretty amazing pastor to raise a village… Matt is a dear friend and I’m thankful for his vision, integrity and love.

As Matt mentioned, I’m married, have four young children and pastor a church in Australia called “City on a Hill” … we started with a small team and a big vision to make a difference in our city for the glory of God… by His grace we’ve seen hundreds give their life to JESUS, new churches planted, and in a few weeks’ time, we’ll celebrate our tenth anniversary… it’s been an incredible journey, and yet in many ways we feel like we’re just getting started… so I want to thank you for your love, support, and prayers…..

I was actually chatting to someone earlier about my last visit to Texas.

I was hosted by a wonderful family from the Village Church in an amazing home overlooking Lake Lewisville … They treated me to some great Southern Hospitality, and, even gave me the keys to their SUV, which has got to be twice the size of any car I’ve ever seen in Australia…

It was so big you could fit the Sydney Opera House, The Great Barrier Reef and Russell Crow in the trunk…. AND in Australia, we drive on the left side of the road.... I was flying down the interstate and discovered that you call that the wrong side of the road… turns out Texans not only have bigger cars than Aussies, but bigger cuss words as well…

I should confess that I had one “slight” disaster.

While the family were out, I was “visiting” the bathroom upstairs, and after finishing what I needed to do I hit the button on the toilet….

…. and I discovered two things about America… water in the northern hemisphere goes clockwise… and when it’s blocked, the water doesn’t go down it goes UP!…

On this occasion it rose all the way to the top, and was teetering on the edge like a car hanging over a cliff...

At this point my heart was racing, because around me was a white marble floor, ornate statues, perfectly woven white rug…

And so being the “expert” plumber that I am… I think to myself, what can I do to save this situation?

I know… I’ll flush it again!!!

Do you know what happens when you flush an already blocked toilet?

It explodes!!! Like a fountain spewing out water… but not like a beautiful garden fountain… more like a fountain you’d see in Charlie and the chocolate factory…

What does a humble Christian pastor do? Call the owner and tell him I flooded his bathroom and NEED his help?

Of course not…!

I race down stairs looking for whatever I can to clean up the mess…

But I don’t know where anything is … I can't find towels, I can’t find a mop… the best I got was a small fry pan… so here I am trying to ladle this mess into the shower… And I’m doing this fast…cause the last thing I want is the family to come home and see a pastor from Australia on all fours in a pool of my own mess with their fry pan in my hand!

In the end I conceded… called him up and thanks be to God he was more than gracious….

Looking back I did forgot to tell him about the fry pan…

All of which to say if you’re after a decent plumber this weekend…. I’m not your man… but I am glad to be back in Texas and thankful to open up God’s Word with you…

Before we do that, why don’t we pray? Clearly I need all the help I can get.

I want to talk with you about the vanity of pleasure.

If you have a bible handy, come with me to Ecclesiastes chapter two. As you’re going there I’ll begin by sharing the words of a song made famous by jazz artist Peggy Lee.

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Peggy was born in North Dakota before heading to the bright lights of Hollywood in search of success. After a series of setbacks, she enjoyed an illustrious career in music, film and television that spanned six decades.

And in 1969 as she approached her 50th birthday she performed a song titled, “Is that all there is?”

The song was a huge hit, winning a Grammy and finding great resonance with her generation.

Here’s some of her words:

…. when I was a little girl, our house caught on fire I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement..… I stood there shivering in my pyjamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.

And when it was all over I said to myself, is that all there is to a fire?Is that all there is….? If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing. Let's break out the booze and have a ball

…. When I was 12, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth. There were clowns, elephants and a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads. And I had the feeling that something was missing. I don't know what, but when it was over, I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus?

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball Then I fell in love, with the most wonderful boy. We’d take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes. We were so much in love. Then one day he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't, and when I didn't I said to myself, "is that all there is to love?"

If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is…

What do you make of Peggy’s approach to life?

If this life is all there is….. then why not break out the booze and have a ball? Why not make the most of life and pursue a path of pleasure?

You may be surprised to hear – but that pursuit for pleasure is something of what the writer of Ecclesiastes set out to do.

He was a man of great fame and fortune… and yet he became deeply suspicious of life. Instead of purpose he found futility, instead of meaning he found vanity.

And it was out of this deep angst with life, that he set out on the path of pleasure. Like Peggy Lee, he thought “If this is all there is… why not break out the booze and have a ball?”

What did he find?

What did he observe about the pursuit of pleasure?

And how might his story influence our relationship with pleasure?

With those questions in mind, we’re going to navigate our text under three headings.

To begin, let’s talk about:

“When a King goes on Spring Break…”

In the opening of Ecclesiastes we’re told these “are the words of the preacher, the Son of David, King in Jerusalem.”

People have debated who penned Ecclesiastes, but it’s clear that we’re meant to have the life of King Solomon looming large on the stage of our mind.

And what’s fascinating about Solomon is that he thought deeply about his existence and what it meant to find satisfaction and meaning.

Look with me to verse 1,

Solomon says,

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.”

The word “test” suggests that what follows is a deliberate and calculated attempt to learn through personal experience. And the word “pleasure” reveals what he hopes to find.

And did you note were the conversation is taking place?

The heart!

In the ancient world, the heart referred to the innermost being – the mind, the emotions, the seat of the will. In other words, he’s looking for more than superficial pleasure, but something that provides deep fulfilment and lasting happiness and joy.

Do you relate to that pursuit?

Of course you do!

Blaise Pascal famously said,

“All seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end.”

I remember walking into Costco with my four kids.

My eldest daughter was 6 at the time and became transfixed by the HUGE TV that greats you when you walk on in... And next to the HUGE TV is A HUGE JACUZZI display…. And she’s looking at this TV AND HUGE JACUZZI with its cup holders and photos of people smiling and having fun…. And looks at me and says, “DAD....THAT… IS… THE LIFE!!!”

7 years old and she found herself at Costco….

What did she mean… “That is the life”…? she meant that this TV/JACUZZI package was the answer to her deepest desires for happiness and fulfilment.

And we can laugh at the honesty of a child…. but isn’t it true that in the day-to-day trenches of adult life, we’re constantly telling ourselves something similar….?

If I could just have THAT … then I’d have THE LIFE!

Well what if you could have it all?

What if you had time, opportunity and money NOW?

Where would you go? What would you do?

Well let’s see take a look at our preacher’s first stop….

Verse 3:

“I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven…”

The preacher heads to the wine cellar and pours himself a full glass of red.

And confesses that he was guided by wisdom and folly. In the OT “folly” is synonymous with wickedness and stupidity. In other words, there were days he drank slowly and in moderation… and then other days he pushed the limits…

Personally, I didn’t grow up in a Christian family…. and I was about thirteen when I first “tested” my heart with alcohol. My mate at managed to convince the bottle-shop owner that we were 18, which is the legal drinking age in Australia… we thought we’d ease into the scene with a few beers… turns out it was cheaper to get a few more… so we bought a case… I don’t know if you’ve tested your heart with a case of beer, but for a 13-year-old … that’s a lot.

And we spent the night singing and laughing and spewing up in the name of “fun” … we then slept it off… talked about it with our mates at school… and come back the next Friday night and did it all again… that was pretty much the cycle I was on for most of middle school.

And I do wonder If that was something of the path Solomon was on until he decided to test his heart with something new.

Look to verse 4,

I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

Historians point out that Solomon had the most elaborate parties that would cater for 10,000 people but he also spent over a decade building the most magnificent palace.

The palace included a treasury, a hall for Solomon’s ivory throne, a palace for the daughter of Pharaoh, living quarters for his wives, all surrounded by gardens, parks and pools.

Such is the scope of his work, that almost everything he mentions in verse 4 is in the plural. He didn’t build one house, he built houses. He didn’t build one pool, he built pools. He didn’t install one TV, he went to BestBuy… and said, “I’ll take the lot!”

I asked my wife Vanessa what her “happy place is…” For me it's the beach… cool drink in one hand, in the other hand, 48,000 nuggets from Chick-fil-a… that’s my happy place…

For Vanessa it’s the garden…

I should say I’m never in the garden, which may explain why it’s her happy place, but she loves working outdoors.

And it’s not about necessity. She doesn’t need tomatoes to survive… it’s about the pleasure of seeing the work of your hands…

There’s a sense that Solomon is not building gardens because he has to, but because he wants to… he’s creating his own paradise, building his own Garden of Eden…

Look then to verse 7:

“I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and province.

Now when he says he bought “many” slaves he’s being a little modest.

For example in 2nd Chronicles we read that Solomon took a census of all the foreigners in Israel… which tallied 153,600 people.

Do you know how many of the 153,600 were forced into labour by Solomon? 153,600.

Why so many slaves?

You say, “Guy… I suppose he needed many hands to build and run his kingdom” Which is true!

But I want to suggest there’s something deeper.

The mass of slaves is not just about strengthening the empire, but – by his own admission - part of his pursuit of pleasure.

What pleasure is to be found in having an army of servants?

The pleasure of power.

Consider these words by Soren Kierkegaard:

“If I had a servant in my employ who, when I asked him for a cup of cold water, brought instead the world’s costliest wines blended in a chalice, I would dismiss him, for true pleasure consists not in getting my wine but in getting my way…”

You hear what he’s saying?

Pleasure comes from power and being in control.

And there were none who had more control, more power than Solomon.

Look then to verse 8,

“I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the sons of man.”

In addition to booking out Beyoncé, Aerosmith and Taylor Swift... he starts scrolling TINDER… and apparently he got so tired of swiping right, that he hands his phone to assistant says, “you know what? Bring all the ladies in…. “

How many I hear you ask? …. 300. Solomon had 300 concubines. 300 women whose sole purpose was to gratify whatever sexual fantasy he desired.

Bare in mind, this is in addition to his wives, which totalled a mere 700! 300 concubines. 700 wives.

I know what you’re thinking… That’s lot of anniversaries to remember!

How did he keep up?

I have no idea, but either way, he made Hugh Hefner look like a nun.

The preacher sums up his pursuit in verse 9

“So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me. And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them….”

Think about it.

This is a man with more money than Bill Gates, more wisdom than Stephen Hawkins, more creativity than Steve Jobs, more power than Donald Trump, more parties than Charlie Sheen, more followers than the Pope’s Instagram account, and more women than Ryan Gosling and One Direction combined.

What did he find? What were the results of his Spring break?

Well, this leads to my second observation….

“THE MORNING AFTER”

Look to verse 11,

“Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”

I picture Solomon waking up after a huge night out… a handful of women sprawled over his bed… to his left an empty bottle of scotch… to his right a new tattoo…

He lights a cigarette, stumbles out of bed opens the doors onto the top balcony… and as he leans over looking across his kingdom he starts considering his life and the man he’s become.

Did you know the word “considered” literally means to look something right in the eye? He was facing reality. A reality he concludes was void of meaning.

He’s not denying he had fun. He’s not saying he didn’t enjoy the parties or success.

But when he looked at it – when he really thought about it … he could see that it was all meaningless … Like the wind, it came and went and provided no lasting satisfaction.

It brings to mind this sculpture by artist Damian Hirst.

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That’s an 18th century skull encrusted with 8,000 diamonds.

I know what you’re thinking - that would make a great valentines gift… for your ex…. It would set you back about 100milion dollars

Now, it’s not the kind of art I’d want to wake up too, but I do like the concept.

On one hand, it speaks of excessive opulence and prosperity … and yet at the same time it confronts us with our own mortality….

Because while diamonds are forever…. you are not….

The pleasures of this age are good, but they’re also fleeting…. And because they’re fleeting, they’re unable to satisfy the ultimate longings of your heart…

Anyone relate to this? Anyone found themselves reflecting on the emptiness of pleasure?

It’s an odd feeling isn’t it??

It kind of rubs against everything we've ever been told about this world and how we should live our life.

I remember listening to an interview with Russell Brand.

He said:

“I thought it would be good to be rich and famous, it would be good to have stuff, it would be good to have money and be invited to the party…

Well I’ve been invited. I’ve been in…. and we’re having this chat in a swish, private member’s club in East London. It’s super cool. there’s bare brick walls and everyone is double good looking… but I’ve been inside now… I’ve seen the other side of the looking glass and it aunt “flippen” worth it….. it aint flippen worth it.. it doesn’t feed your soul… I still feel empty inside…”

We all grow up believing that If I could just have BLANK… then I would be happy... And then when we get BLANK… we assume that that reason we’re still dissatisfied is that we don’t have enough BLANK in our life..

I have success, but I need more success…

I have beauty, but I need to be more beautiful…

I have good sex, but I need better sex.

I have his approval, but I need her approval…

And we keep running, we keep praying, keep striving and looking for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow…

But what if the preacher is right?…. What if Brand is right? What if the “pot of gold” is nothing but an illusion?

It brings to mind the words of a great philosopher and my vote for the next president….…

Jim Carey...

He said,

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.”

Why is it that good things of this world are never quite enough?

Why aren’t these things ‘the answer’?

I’ve been thinking on this for some time… and I have a number thoughts … but let me share a few…

Firstly, did you notice the most dominant word in our text?

It’s the word… “I”

“I searched…I made… I bought… I had… I became … I surpassed …”

The preacher uses the word “I” 40 times!

Now admittedly, it’s an autobiographical work, but it does hint at just how self-orientated and self-seeking he became.

You say ‘what’s the problem with that?’

The problem is that almost all studies in happiness reveal that a person’s satisfaction does not come from what they get out of life, but the relationships they have in life.

No one comforted themselves on their deathbed by counting the number of Mercedes they owned or the women they slept with… we find comfort in knowing we loved people and people loved us.

But I will never experience the love and joy of meaningful relationships if life is all about ME.

Meaningful relationships require sacrifice. They require you laying down your own agenda and even your own pleasure for the sake of another.

I’ve got a good mate in Australia named Luke. He’s a pastor in our church…. And he was getting ordained by the denomination we’re in, which for a minister is a big deal. It’s held in an a large gothic cathedral, the clergy dress up in gowns, recite liturgy and family and friends are invited to be there as a sign of support and solidarity.

But here’s the problem.

The formal service goes for over 2 hours and is dead boring. And by dead boring, I mean if you sit through the whole thing, you may in fact die…

The other problem was that the sun was shining and the beach was calling my name…… where is my happy place?? I can tell you it’s not crammed into a stuffy church for a service on the cutting edge of the 16th century…

So I’m thinking of all the possible excuses…

The car broke…? My wife is sick…. One of the kids had an “accident”…? That could actually be arranged….

Now you’ll be relieved to hear, that in the end I did go…. but the battle was real…

Why? Cause like so many of our generation I’m prone to worship one God, made up of three persons, “ME, MYSELF and I”

Is that not the idol of our age? An idol that demands we sacrifice the needs of others in pursuit of our own pleasure?

Think about it.

Ever click ‘maybe’ on the FACEBOOK invite cause you don’t want to miss out on a better option?

Ever struggle to commit to your boyfriend or girlfriend because you’re not sure who else is around the corner?

Ever find yourself jumping from one job to the next, one friendship to the next, one church to the next, cause you’re not “getting enough” out of it?

Look. If life becomes all about your needs, your wants, your happiness and what you believe you’re entitled to, you’ll end up one lonely and unsatisfied individual.

In fact it’s more than that…. people who pursue the path of self-seeking pleasure become so absorbed with their own happiness that they not only dehumanize others - in the end – they eventually destroy themselves.

Recently, I had the pleasure of reading the Portrait of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde.

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Dorian is a wealthy and good-looking man, who has his portrait painted by a friend.

The painting is stunning and captures the essence of his beauty. But Dorian laments the portrait because he realises that beauty of will out-live his own skin. He will grow old and worn out. But the painting will live on.

So he makes a bargain with heaven, asking that the painting bear the burden of his age, so he can enjoy life and eternal youth.

Gifted with this, he becomes a disciple of hedonism pursuing the many rooms of pleasure.

In time he meets a gifted actress and together they fall in love.

But after just one failed performance on stage that embarrasses him in front of his friends, he dumps her like a bag of dirty clothes and leaves her crying on the floor.

That night however he notices something about his face in the portrait. It’s changed. He now sneers.

Eager to make amends he goes looking for her only to discover that she had taken her life.

Dorian is then counselled by a hedonistic friend to move on and see her death as an artistic triumph in honour of his beauty. Dorian accepts his advice and throws himself deeper into pleasure embracing all manner of debauchery and sin.

But while his beauty remains … the painting bares his soul… day by day, the shame of his self-centeredness contorts his portrait until eventually it becomes so grotesque that Dorian spends just as much time hiding the painting as he does seeking his own pleasure.

Why did Oscar Wilde write this book?

I believe he knew something of the problem of the self-indulgence.

We all start out believing self-seeking pleasure will fill our souls, but in the end it dehumanizes others and stains us for good.

And this is the sad irony of Ecclesiastes.

Solomon was the richest and wisest man in the kingdom, and yet he lived the life of a fool.

He became so self-indulgent, so self-consumed that despite his garden of Eden and his harem of beautiful women, he finished alone.... his pleasures where not enjoyed with and for others and his own soul was emptied of all that was meaningful, right and good...

There is however a third and fundamental reason why our pursuit of pleasure never ultimately satisfies… and this leads to my final observation… which I’ve titled,

“The Mansion Too Big to Fill”

Immediately after chapter 2, Solomon pens some of the most important words in the entire book…

He says,

“God has made everything beautiful in its time. Also he has put eternity into man’s heart….”

Think about that.

On one hand, he’s saying there’s beauty in this world.

God has gifted us with the beauty of wine and food. The beauty of work, creativity. The beauty of sex. The beauty of friendship and family Wherever you look, you can find beautiful things that were intended to be enjoyed.

And yet at the same time he recognizes, that God has also placed eternity in the hearts of us all. In other words, we are created with a deep desire for eternal beauty, eternal pleasure, a deep desire for eternal happiness, and above all else, a deep desire for eternal love.

The great author Victory Hugo came to a very similar conclusion.

He said, “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”

You have to ask yourself where you can find a love like that?

A love so powerful, so transcendent that it will not only satisfy your deepest longings but will completely transform your outlook on life.

According to the bible, the one and only answer to that question is God.

Psalm 63

“Your steadfast LOVE is better than life…”

Psalm 73:

Whom have I in Heaven but YOU? And beside You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Psalm 16:

In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 84:

Better is one day in YOUR courts than a thousand elsewhere

Psalm 136

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast LOVE endures forever.

Do you hear the heart and passion?

Unlike Solomon who looked at everything under the sun and found nothing, the psalmists looked above the sun … and found everything…

They’re not saying life was easy or that they didn’t experience the frustrations of this world… but what they’re saying is that in the midst of all their striving, all their searching, the rested in God. God was their answer… God was their highest hope. God was their greatest joy. God was their deepest love. God was their everything.

I want you to ask yourself, is that true for your life today?

Do you know this God? Have you tasted and seen that He is good?

Do you know that he is so good, that he willing entered the futility of this world for you....?

Earlier I shared about Dorian Grey and how every act of self-indulgence left its stain on his painting?

Well the glory of the gospel is that when Jesus came to this world, he took on all my sin and shame.

He took on my self-centredness, my drunkenness, my lust, and my greed and my pride... and he took on your self-centredness, and your drunkenness, your lust, your pride and your greed and your pride.

Jesus took it ALL on himself. In other words, he became our painting.

But do you know what happened to the portrait of Dorian Grey?

It became so vile that Dorian couldn't handle the sight of it any more and so he took out a knife to destroy the portrait forever…

What I find amazing about Jesus is that he always knew the cost of coming into this world…

Jesus knew that we’d find his portrait so vile, that in the end we’d take a blade to Him…

And yet the bible says Jesus embraced the horrors of the cross joyfully. Because he knew that through his life, death and resurrection, we’d find forgiven from sin, and set free from our self-indulgence to a new life where would enjoy GOD now and forever…

“This is love”…. This is love…says John..

“not that we loved God, but that he LOVED us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins....”

I’m convinced you’ll not find a greater love than the love of God in CHRIST JESUS.

His love is a love that you can trust. A love that makes all other loves as nothing in comparison.

I gave my life to Jesus some 20 years ago.

I wasn’t raised a Christian. And I through myself at so many pleasures trying to find meaning and purpose in life…. and yet I was rescued by Jesus and secured in his life and love.

And since then my journey has been marked by many highs and lows, and all kinds of doubts and distractions, but I can say that living in His love is the best thing that ever happened.

And I love how JESUS not only meets the deep desires of my heart, but by his grace he has helped me restore all other pleasures in life to their rightful place.

In Jesus I can redeem the pleasure of relationships. Instead of seeing people as objects to use, I can recognise all people as image bearers to love.

In Jesus I can redeem the pleasures of work. Instead of looking to success for my identity, I can rest in and work out of my approval and identity in Christ…

In Jesus I can redeem the pleasure of sex. Instead of seeing sex as a God to worship, but a gift to enjoy. gift given by God, which along with all other gifts finds its ultimate purpose in Him.

In Jesus I can redeem the pleasure of art and creativity. Instead of the wonder of colour and story taking us away from this world, I can see how all colour and story reflects his world and points me to his glory.

Like the sun sitting at the centre of the solar system holding all planets in their rightful place, so Jesus is the only one who can hold all the pleasures of our world in their rightful place.

And so as the band comes up, let me ask …

Where is Jesus in your life today?

Has Jesus captured your heart? Does he still have your heart, mind and will?

Is Jesus more to you than this world? More to you than wealth? More to you than success? Is JESUS more to you than your career? More to you than sex? More to you than your boyfriend? More to you than your father? More to you than your mother? More to you than your life?

Charles Spurgen, who is the fourth member of the trinity, once said,

“If Christ is not all to you He is nothing to you. He’ll never go into partnership as a part Saviour of men. If He be something He must be everything.”

He must be everything!

Solomon was not an atheist. He believed in God. But his God is like the moon; which is there but not here, controlling the tides of life but never occupying the affections of his heart or the direction of his will.

Don’t make the same mistake.

Don’t waste your days pursuing love and happiness in this world. It is not enough. The World is never enough. You were made for God. And your heart will be restless until it rests in him…

Some of you have been pursuing happiness in everything and anything except God. Today the Lords has spoken to you. He’s called out your name and he wants to gift you with His life and love… He will not disappoint you. He will not let you down. His arms are open and he says “come…”

There are others here who know God…. You’ve known God for many years… But perhaps, like Solomon, God has become a distant reality…. I want you to know that God loves you. His mercies are anew everyday and today he’s calling you home… He wants you to remember your first love....to remember that his love is better than life.

And so before we sing, I want us to take this moment to consider what we’ve heard today and go to our Lord together prayer. Would you join me in that?

Father…..

Pray

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Vanity of Pleasure

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Charles Spurgen, who is the fourth member of the trinity, once said,

“If Christ is not all to you He is nothing to you. He’ll never go into partnership as a part Saviour of men. If He be something He must be everything.”