The Worlds Okayest Pastor

What Truly Matters When Everything is Meaningless

• Jason Cline

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Ever feel like you're running on a hamster wheel, chasing things that never quite satisfy? You're not alone. King Solomon, arguably history's wisest and wealthiest person (with an estimated $2.2 trillion in today's currency), tried it all – pleasure, wisdom, achievements – only to declare everything "meaningless." His ancient words in Ecclesiastes cut straight through our modern obsession with experiences, knowledge, and success.

This fascinating exploration of Ecclesiastes reveals Solomon's three-part journey through life's empty pursuits. First, he indulged every pleasure imaginable – from wine to women to wonderful possessions – only to discover that temporary thrills leave permanent emptiness. "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired," he wrote, yet still found himself grasping at wind. We hear this echoed in a relatable story about cultural expectations pushing us toward experiences that promise satisfaction but deliver disappointment.

Solomon then turned to wisdom, amassing knowledge beyond anyone in his time. Yet he recognized a brutal truth: the brilliant philosopher and the complete fool share the same fate. Death equalizes everyone, rendering human wisdom ultimately limited. This powerful insight challenges our information-saturated world where we often mistake knowledge for purpose.

Finally, Solomon examined meaningful work and achievement. Despite creating magnificent buildings, gardens, and a lasting legacy, he worried about what would happen to it all after his death. "I must leave them to the one who comes after me," he lamented. This speaks directly to our contemporary obsession with career success and legacy-building.

The solution? Reorienting our lives toward eternal values rather than temporary pleasures. When we work "as for the Lord" rather than just for human approval, even ordinary activities take on extraordinary significance. As Solomon concludes, fearing God and following his commands isn't just religious duty—it's the pathway to a meaningful life.

What void are you trying to fill with temporary things? Listen now to discover what truly satisfies, and why "if you miss God, you're going to miss everything."

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And before I forget, because Ken was praying, there's a little container outside. Cooper Byers is one of our students here and his senior project this year is to collect blankets and donations to help with the Brown Bag Diner. So I will have a flyer that I can hand out. I'm actually going to text one out later today with all the information. I did share it on our Facebook page. But all of his project is focused on two things. One is collecting blankets that we're going to distribute. He's going to distribute this winter to a couple different locations and then all the donations go right towards helping the Brown Bag Diner, which is something we do here at the church twice a week it's Monday and Friday for about two hours. We offer meals to really anyone who comes. We have a lot of people around this area that walk and pick up lunch and that's something that we've done for almost two years now and I continue to pray that we continue to do it because it's a need. Right, feeding people is an important need and we've had some really cool encounters. We've actually had a couple people come to our church through that. I've been with actually had a couple people come to our church through that and some. Really. I've been with that group a couple times. I'm telling you they have some of the coolest conversations around coffee that I think I've ever had. But we're going to continue to support that and again, this is Cooper's senior project, so make sure we come out and support him. Okay, all of that. We've been talking about the idea of what life looks like under the sun.

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Solomon was an incredibly wise man. So 1 Kings 3, 3-14, this is actually where it comes from, where his wisdom comes from. It says that Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burnt incense on the high places. It wasn't perfect, but he tried. The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices for what was the most important high place and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar and at Gibeon.

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Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream and God said ask for whatever you want me to give you. Can you imagine God showing up and saying hey, listen, I will give you whatever you want me to give you? So Solomon answered you have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You've continued this great kindness to him and then given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Now, lord, my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father, david, but I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?

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The Lord was pleased that Solomon asked for this. So God said to him since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you, nor have asked for the, so God said to him I will give you what you have not asked for, both wealth and honor, so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands, as David, your father, did, I will give you a long life. So he comes to God. Or God comes to him and says listen, what do you want? He says I want you to make me, someone who's wise and discerning and God's happy. He says listen, you're not thinking about yourself, you're thinking about other people. And God blessed him with incredible wisdom, right? So this is where Ecclesiastes comes from, the wisest man who ever lived.

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But God also gave him wealth. I'd have to check my numbers and you can check this, my numbers for me, but from what I understand, when I was doing a little bit of research, if you look at the wealth that Solomon amassed in his lifetime, in today's numbers it was somewhere like 2.2 trillion dollars. Again, I'm not sure how close that is, but let's just say that's a lot of money, right? He amassed great wealth. His kingdom was vast. You can still see parts and remnants of his garden and parts of his palace, and these are massive, right. So God gave him not only that, but he gave him great wealth. And so here you have a man who has everything you could ever want, like he lacked for nothing. And then you read Ecclesiastes 1, you're like this dude was just not happy, like he reflects on life and he's like I have all of these things, but none of them matter. They're meaningless. The word we talked about this last week is hevel. It's a grasping of the air. At the end they all disappear. So he gets into chapter two and he starts to kind of break down a little more in depth, right? So chapter two of Ecclesiastes, verses one through 11, solomon writes. He writes, I said to myself come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.

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But that also proved to be meaningless. Laughter, I said, is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish? I tried cheering myself with wine and embracing folly. My mind still guided me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

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I undertook great projects. I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers and a harem as well the delight of a man's heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

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And all of this, my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing. My eye desired with me. I denied myself nothing. My eye desired. I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took the light and all my labor and this was the reward of all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless. Chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun. And he stands and he's overlooking his kingdom, everything that he's built. And if you read through that passage, he had some interesting things. I don't know if you know what a harem is, but a harem is like a collection of women. I never understood that I love being married. I couldn't imagine being married to anybody but one person, right. But there was a thing with kings they had women, everything he desired, he sought after, he wanted to please himself.

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I remember when I was 21 years old. 21 is like a big age for kids, for adults, right. So up until I was 21, I was like the good kid. I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't party, I didn't do anything like that. I wasn't someone who drank. I never touched a cigarette, I never did any kind of drugs.

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But when I turned 21 years old, I convinced myself that I had to go out with some friends and have a drink, and I was like this is my right, this is my rite of passage as a 21-year-old I'm going to go out and I'm going to have a drink. And so I got together some people my older brother was there, jeff, and we were going out with his friends because I had friends, but all my friends were still like 20 and 19,. Right, and you shouldn't do that ever. So we got to this bar and we find this place and it's a sports bar and I'm liking it because I'm watching games and I'm eating my chicken wings and I order this drink, because this is what I was told to order. Someone said you know, if you really want a good drink, this is a good drink. I'm like, all right, I'm like I'm going to drink this. Mind you, I have never had alcohol in my life to this moment, right. Never had alcohol in my life to this moment, right. And so I remember I'm sitting there and I'm eating my food and I'm drinking this drink.

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And about 20 minutes into drinking, I'm sitting there and my mind is running wild, like there's like people dancing around me and I'm thinking this is awkward for them. Can? Does anyone know what I'm thinking? And I'm like like I'm running through all the different decisions I've made, like how did I get here Right and I have this? I had this weird kind of like out of body moment where, like, I see myself sitting there and my brain is just like do something, do something, do something, do something. I'm like don't do anything. Like just like, like don't get up, don't get up, don't move. This is going to be bad for you. Like I'm telling you don't get on the dance floor. I know you feel like it, but don't do it, don't do it.

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And I remember sitting there and all of a sudden I had this like moment of clarity and I was like why do people do this for fun? I was like this is miserable. I'm like sitting here in the corner of this bar, everyone's having a good time, and I'm like please don't talk to me, like don't even acknowledge me, because all I can think is I'm going to do something and say something stupid. And for the first time in my life I realized my brother told me he's like you're buzzed. And I'm like this is stupid. I was like why did people seek this, but I think it was because we're told to do things like this right. Culturally. We feel like we have to step into being an adult by doing adult things. Listen, not everything that people say brings pleasure brings pleasure. It doesn't. And so I feel like this is where Solomon is. He's like I'm going to do everything I can to fulfill every desire that I have, because there's nothing stopping me. And he gets to the end of the conclusion he looks over everything that he does and he says this is just useless. I'm still not content. Now hear me, there's nothing wrong with doing things that make us happy. There's not, not at all.

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Uh, second timothy, um the 214, or sorry, first timothy 6, starting verse 11. Paul is writing. Timothy says but you, man of god, flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you were made good confession in the presence of many witnesses, in the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who will testify, who, while testifying before Pontius Pilate, made the good confession. I charge you to keep the commands without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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This is Paul speaking to Timothy, kind of like final words for him, he said, who alone is immortal and who lives in an unapproachable light, whom no one has seen nor can see. To him be honor and might forever Amen. He says command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. He says God provides us things so that we can enjoy them. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the things that God has given us. Paul continues, says command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they do not take hold of life that's truly life. And so Paul says listen, timothy, the things that God has given you, enjoy them. But then you go to 2 Timothy and he gives them a warning.

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In 2 Timothy, 3, 1 through 4, it says but mark this there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy without love, unforgiving, slanderous without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And so Solomon is having this realization that he loves his pleasure. And again, it's not wrong to enjoy things, but our life is not supposed to be about the pleasures we achieve. It sounds funny and listen, that story is funny.

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That moment in my life, my first drink, was weird. I would never want to do it again. But we live in a culture that tells young people that you have a time in your life where you have to seek pleasures first. Go live it up, be free, have sex with whoever you want, it doesn't really matter. And then Solomon says all of those things lack one thing they don't pursue God. We can have all of these experiences. It's so weird to me that we talk about we want to have life experiences. Sometimes we sacrifice our own conviction to have a life experience because we feel like we've never really lived. And here you have a man who's lived life to the full and he said, listen, all of that was utterly meaningless. He's like I enjoyed it, but at the end of the day it brought me nothing At the end of my life. As I reflect back on everything that I've done, everything that I've chased, it's Hebel, and so often we live in this world that teaches us we can just acquire one more thing.

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It's kind of funny, but the other day I was hanging out with Doug Doug's, a friend of mine. He's played bass here a couple times. We were hanging out with Cody and we were working on some stuff and we were talking about our guitars. I'm currently collecting I want to say collecting guitars, because that's not right. I'm playing them. I'm not just buying them, I'm actually learning how to play them. But the common theme among anyone who's a guitar player is how many guitars do you need? And every guitar player I've ever met says well, just one more.

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There's this desire right to always have something more, because you and I, we live in a consumer mentality that we just want whatever's next. So we run and we run and we run and we chase after these things. That at the end of our life we chase after pleasure, we chase after experiences. And here you have. The wisest man in the world says listen, all of that is useless Because it doesn't actually accomplish what we're looking for. There's something missing in us. That's why we do it right. That's why we continue to seek these things is because we're trying to fill a void that those things will never fill for us. They can't. So pleasure Seeking pleasure is not bad, but seeking pleasure for pleasure's sake is not right. So then we step away from pleasure. We seek wisdom. We live currently. Technology gives us more information than we've ever had available to us.

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I was talking, I was at a young adult retreat yesterday and I was talking about it, but I recently counted all the books that I own. They're not on my office, but the amount of books I currently own is 562. Don't tell my wife, but I have four boxes of other books still in the back of my car that I haven't unpacked yet, that I just bought off of someone I like to read. I'm a big reader. My goal in life is I would love to have an entire basement that's just like a wall of books, and I want one of those cool little slider ladders that you can scoot around on but we chase wisdom right Again, or a ladder that you can scoot around on but we chase wisdom right Again. Not bad, but I've actually seen people seek wisdom so much that they actually talk themselves out of a relationship with God. They became so smart that God just didn't make sense right.

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So again, solomon Ecclesiastes 2, 12 through 16, says that I turn my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more the king's successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, we would agree, just as light is better than darkness. The wise have eyes in their heads while the fool was walking in darkness, but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. Then I said to myself the fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise? I said to myself, this too is meaningless, for the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered. The days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die. At the end of our life, we all die.

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You could be the smartest man in the room, and it doesn't matter the world we live in. It's weird sometimes because the people who we think are the smartest man in the room and it doesn't matter. You know the world we live in. It's weird sometimes because the people who we think are the smartest tend to be the ones who struggle the most, the people that. There's two people that I, when I talk about faith, with that struggle with faith, and it tends to be those who have a lot of money and those who have a lot of knowledge. They've allowed these things to try to replace something in them again that's missing. They try to fill a void.

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If I can just learn the meaning of the universe, if I can just figure out the right argument, if I can just read enough, if I can study enough, if I can just understand everything, solomon did this. The wisest man who ever lived, he says in Ecclesiastes 1 18 says for with much wisdom comes much sorrow. The more knowledge, the more grief. James 3 1. He kind of echoes this. He says not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you that know who we teach will be judged more strictly In the conversation. The context of that he's saying listen, those of you who know much will be challenged and be judged according to what you know. And so we seek wisdom. Pleasure is not enough, so we seek to understand the world around us. I think that's where a lot of philosophers fail. Again, I've seen people talk themselves out of a relationship with God because they had to be the smartest person in the room, because if something happened that didn't make sense to them, if something was going on that they couldn't wrap their mind around, it couldn't be real.

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There's a book I started reading recently, called Dinner with Skeptics, and I've read it a couple times. Actually, this is the third time I think that I've read through it. But I like this book because this book poses the questions that I think we all struggle with. Why do bad things happen? Why does the world seem to be falling apart? Why does it feel oftentimes that God isn't intervening like we hope? And really, the conclusion of this book comes to a simple answer, and that's because you and I aren't God.

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Job had this conversation with God. Remember the book of Job? Job is a man who had everything lost. Everything went through incredible turmoil. At some point in his argument, in his questioning of God, god shows up and says hey, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? I don't think you were there, were you? I don't think you understand how many hairs are on the head of the birds. He challenges Job. He says listen, you want to know wisdom, but reality is you can't understand where I'm coming from because you don't have the capacity. And so we seek wisdom to try to gain knowledge, and in the process, Solomon says it's useless Because the fate of the fool and the fate of the wise is death. We all come to the same end.

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This book is challenging to read because it's definitely depressing. Solomon wasn't writing this to encourage you, but his perspective, I think, is honest because at the end of the day, the reality is we are constantly pursuing things that really don't matter. There's temporal things the earth, the money we make, the relationships we have, like the jobs we make, the relationships we have, like the jobs we seek, the cars we drive. These things are temporary. They fade At the end of this world. They fade. And then there's eternal things, and here you have Solomon saying listen, I have chased everything in this world that was temporary and I have found that it still leaves me empty, it still leaves me lacking. And then the last part of his conversation. It's like I've sought pleasures, I've sought wisdom. Maybe if I just work, maybe if I work really hard, it'll matter.

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Starting in verse 17, it says so I hated life because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it was meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun because I must leave them to the one who comes after me, and who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? They will have control over all the fruit of my toil, under which I have poured my effort and skill. Under the sun. This too is meaningless.

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So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave it all, all they own, to another who has not toiled for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune.

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What do people get for the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun, all of their days? Their work is grief and pain. Even at night, their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment To the person who pleases him. God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Again, solomon is looking at the temporary and saying listen, I am trying to do everything I can to give my life purpose and I've come to realize, as my wisdom follows me, that all of these things are useless. And he wraps up the end of chapter 2 and says I see now, what's the purpose of toil if you can't enjoy it? These are things that God wants. He wants us to enjoy these things, but ultimately, serving him is what gives all of these things purpose. So we end with chapter 2, with this idea that what do we do? If all of this is meaningless, then what is the point of trying?

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I have three boys, and Miles is three, about to be four, and we do not build Legos with Miles. Miles is like a no Lego kid, so I'll tell you why. So the others who we build Legos and they're like look at this really cool thing that I made and they'll put it on display. Now Everett sometimes picks them apart and reconfigures things, which is fine with me, but if you build a piece of Lego with Miles, within five minutes he's going to destroy it. A couple months ago, I built him this little cat thing that I was like, oh, this is so cute, he'll love it. And I built it and he was like, oh, it's so cute. And he walked over to the steps and threw it down the stairs and I was like buddy, I was like I don't know what to do with you, but seriously, you were trying to build anything with a kid because they don't understand the value of it.

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He doesn't understand how important that is. He didn't labor to build it. My labor went to him and he chucked it. That's what Solomon's saying. He's like we toil and labor all of this and we hope that the person who takes it does something with it, but we don't know. But again, he's talking about all of these things. They don't matter because they're temporary. So what has to be the eternal focus? So how do we look at Ecclesiastes and say, god, this is really depressing. What should I do? Should I sit and do nothing? Should I just live in this world and die? No, no, no, no. I think that would be useless. So, in order to understand Ecclesiastes and Solomon actually gets to this at the end. But we're not there yet. But we're actually going to jump to the New Testament.

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In Colossians 3, 23 through 24, it says Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 1 Corinthians 3, 12-14 says If anyone builds on the foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person's work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive reward. And then Matthew 6, 19 through 21, says do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there, your heart will be also.

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And so, again, solomon is looking at all these pursuits of life and listen. In Ecclesiastes 12, the very last verse, he comes to the same conclusion that all of these things are meaningless apart from God, because all of these things are temporary. And so, you and I, we live constantly in this struggle in a world that tells us make your castle bigger. And then we read the gospel and God says worry about my kingdom first. I love the interaction. Again, 1 Kings God comes to Solomon and says what do you want? He says well, do you want? He says well, I want wisdom. And God says great, I'm also going to give you this Because you chose the better.

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At 21 years old, I sat in a bar and I was miserable because I had listened to the world. Tell me, you have to have this experience. That is junk man. I'm telling you, young people don't listen to the world. They have no idea what they're talking about. They don't. But we live in a culture that says you've got to do this and this and this. And here the wisest man in the world says I did all of it and it still wasn't enough for me.

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But the one thing that continues to bring peace in my life, and the one thing that continues to help me stay focused, the one thing that continues to reward itself over and over, and over and over again, is my pursuit of God. I have never come to the table and been found wanting. I have never come out of my time with God and said, oh, that was meaningless. It's never been meaningless. It's never been hevel. It's always been purposeful. The purpose of my life is to live and build the kingdom of God. That's why we exist. That's like everything we do as a church has eternity in mind, because that's the only thing that lasts. That's the only thing that's the only thing worth investing in.

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Just because you haven't experienced certain pleasures in this world doesn't mean you're missing out. You are not. Trust me, you are not. But if you miss God, you're going to miss everything.

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I didn't find God until I was 15. I didn't find God until I was 15. Sometimes I wish I could go back to those 15 years before. I think I would have loved to have known him when I was younger and when I was struggling with trying to figure out who I was. Instead, I found him in the middle of some pretty weird darkness in my life, and my goal and my hope and my prayer is to walk into people's lives and say listen, you're chasing things that are useless. Let me show you the one who's not, because I'm telling you and I'm living proof, the pursuit of God is not only eternal, but what we get on this side of heaven is incredible. My life's not perfect. I don't have all the things that I want, but I have everything I need. God has to be enough and Solomon says it All of the things of this world apart from God, several, and that's coming from the wisest man that ever lived. Alright, let's pray.