18th January 2024

18th January 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Ecclesiastes 2v18-25)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Henry Ford was something of a pioneer and genius. His Model T car caused a revolution in the world of automobiles and the fact that you probably have a car outside your house this morning owes more than a little to the life and legacy of Henry Ford. His cars were built quickly and cheaply whilst his workers were well paid and to this day the Ford motor company still bears the name of it's founder even though he died over seventy five years ago.


Even so, Henry Ford lived to witness the death of his only son Edsel. If you read anything about their strained relationship it seems that Edsel could never please his father. Ford senior was known to berate his son and publicly humiliate him and yet when Edsel died, Henry Ford was utterly distraught and died just several years later. I have often wondered if part of Henry Ford's issue was that he didn't know when to stop being the famous industrialist who had transformed the world of transport. Ford loved his son but maybe Henry Ford just couldn't bring himself to pass his life's work to the next generation.


Solomon understood this too and pondered the reality that everything you work for will ultimately pass to "the next guy" (v18). That is usually the normal way of things but what if the person coming behind you is an idiot? You built your business over fifty years and it took "the next guy" just three years to bankrupt your firm. Your farm was in your family for two hundred years and "the next guy" sold it as soon as you headed for the nursing home. You spent three years developing a computer system only to be told by "the next guy" that it was no longer required. This struck Solomon as more vanity, like trying to catch the wind.


The notion that a life's hard work will inevitably pass to someone who didn't do any of the hard work caused Solomon to despair (v20-21). It seemed to him like vanity and even more, a great evil. That's hard language but it still resonates with us. We define ourselves by our work and we like to think our forty years of employment won't just fall to bits after our retirement. So what do we gain from a life of employment? Solomon was under no illusions. He knew that we can't go on forever and someone good or bad will inevitably follow us. Furthermore, even when we are working, our jobs can bring us sorrow, worry and often sleepless nights (v22-23).


Solomon's conclusion to all of this might surprise you. I don't think Solomon would do well on TikTok or YouTube because he didn't offer "ten tips to improve your working life" or "twenty five things you can do to establish your legacy", instead the wise King said "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?" (v24-25) To pull all of this together that me paraphrase Solomon's argument - one day a fool might inherit your business and there is nothing you can do about that. In the meantime, try and find something in your work to enjoy, sit at the dinner table tonight with a thankful heart and enjoy every bite of that steak or every sip of that coffee. Why? Because work, eating and enjoyment are given to us by the Lord.


I cannot stress this enough - the Christian life is not expected to be endlessly dour, hopeless and humourless. Yes we know and accept the vanity of life but our faith in Christ has changed our outlook on such things. My business might fall into the hands of someone else but Jesus deals in the eternal which we cannot lose. My work my not fill me with joy but Jesus blesses me with daily bread which I am to receive thankfully. My sleep may be interrupted with thoughts of tomorrow's boardroom meeting but Jesus prays for me and calls me to rest in Him. 


We don't deny the vanity of this world but in the midst of life under the sun we confidently look to Jesus who gives meaning even when all seems futile. Brothers and sisters, eat your dinner with thankfulness, do not fret about the abilities of "the next guy" and strive not to place all your worth in the job that you do. Your greatest treasure is Christ and one day you'll see that you did not believe or work in vain. Come Lord Jesus we pray.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q45 Which is the first commandment? The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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