Money Is Meaningless without Jesus

Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 and 5:10–6:12

Main Idea: Instead of trying to find satisfaction in money and possessions, find it in Jesus and His gifts.

1. Pursuing Satisfaction in Money Is Meaningless.
   1. You’ll never have enough (5:10).
   2. You’ll attract leeches (5:11).
   3. You’ll not sleep well (5:12).
   4. You’ll hurt yourself (5:13).
   5. You’ll never be truly secure (5:14).
   6. You’ll leave it behind (5:15-16).
   7. You’ll be a miserable person (5:17).
2. Antidotes to Satisfaction in Money
   1. Meaningful relationships (4:7-12)
   2. Contentment and joy in what God has given you (5:18–6:9)
   3. Jesus (6:10-12)

Disney showed a short film in theaters before Big Hero 6 (2014) called The Feast. The story is told entirely through the eyes of a dog. In the beginning he is homeless and scrounging through trash desperate to find food, when a man finds him and takes him home. He is so happy to have a meal that he devours a bowl of dog food. The man begins to feed the dog table scraps like bacon, eggs, and ice cream, to the point that the pup becomes dissatisfied with regular dog food. Then the man falls in love with a woman, and they begin to eat healthy and feed the dog only dog food. The dog loved the scraps and no longer wants just dog food. But when the man and the woman break up, the man begins to gorge himself on junk food that he also feeds to the dog. Despite that he now has the food he loves, the dog knows that his owner is miserable. He orchestrates a reunion with the ex-girlfriend, and eventually the couple gets married. Now, the dog loves living in a happy home where he contentedly eats his bowl of dog food.

We resonate with that story, and our hearts say, “Yes! Contentment with what you have and having people to enjoy life with is better than having a lot of stuff!” The Bible agrees with this sentiment and offers much wisdom on the topic. Proverbs 15:16-17 says, “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure with turmoil. Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.” So a modest meal in a loving family is better than a filet mignon eaten in solitude. Solomon says something similar in Ecclesiastes 4:6: “Better one handful with rest than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.” The argument is that one handful of money, possessions, and food is better than two handfuls of that stuff when you are not satisfied and are chasing the wind. Better is a little when you enjoy what you have with the family you have than having a bunch of stuff with no one with whom to enjoy it!

The problem is that while our hearts resonate with a story about joy in contentment, our hearts are also prone to gravitate away from that compelling story toward discontentment. Even in the short movie, the dog starts out homeless and longs for any food. He was once grateful for just a bowl of dog food, but he becomes dissatisfied with it. The same is true for us. Our hearts begin to think that to be truly happy we need more than we have right now. This is a problem regardless of our financial station. The pull for more than we have is strong. No matter what our tax bracket, we think more is the answer.

I have a friend who is an extremely wealthy and generous Christian, but he once wrote this on Facebook: “I must be missing something. I was just reading an article that is speculating that Romney will run in 2016 and a remark was made that the wealthy, making $200,000 per year, will get all the tax breaks. First of all, $200,000 per year is not rich . . .” What? $200,000 isn’t rich? Most of us read that statement and think he is ridiculous for making it, but we have the same mind-set. We think that whatever we have is not enough—whatever we have is not wealthy. And yet millions of people in the world, if not billions, would kill to have what we have right now and we take for granted! Our hearts are fickle and pull us away from contentment to the craving for more and more and more. In Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 and 5:10–6:12, Solomon exposes the foolishness of seeking meaning and satisfaction in money, and instead he calls us to contentment and joy in what we have (Phil 4:11-13)!

Pursuing Satisfaction in Money Is Meaningless

Solomon has made the point all along in Ecclesiastes that if this cursed world is all there is, then everything is meaningless. It does not matter how much pleasure, success, or stuff you have, you come away empty. Solomon’s purpose is to expose the foolishness of life without God and to show us, through the Spirit, that everything is meaningless without Messiah Jesus.

He has already shown us that money and possessions will not bring meaning and satisfaction to life. Solomon knows this full well—better than most. After all, he had more money and stuff than anyone ever had before him. Previously in Ecclesiastes, Solomon condemned both extremes when it comes to money (4:4-7). He condemned the lazy man as a fool, and he condemned the workaholic because working hard to earn more money will not satisfy. Instead, he called us to contentment and joy in what we have. Here in the middle of Ecclesiastes 5, he takes up this topic again in more detail. His main point is to show that the idea that money and possessions bring meaning and satisfaction to life is absurd (Enns, Ecclesiastes, 71). In fact, he bookends this passage on wealth with the keyword hevel(“futile”) to show that pursuing satisfaction in money is meaningless, and he gives seven reasons this is the case.

You’ll Never Have Enough (5:10)

Those who love money will never be satisfied by money, and Solomon calls this kind of discontentment “futile.” Solomon’s statement has nothing to do with tax bracket; he does not mention an amount. His statement has everything to do with the heart. You can love money and have a lot, and you can love money and have a little. The issue is not how much you have; the issue is the heart. The issue is failure to be content with what you have. There was a time in your life when you would have jumped at the opportunity to have the income, family, and house that you presently have, but now it is not enough.

The sinfulness of the human heart causes us to see what we have right now as not enough. You can see this reality in the people who win a jackpot in Vegas and go right back to the same slot machine to get more (Begg, “In Search of Meaning”). A reporter once asked Rockefeller, who was the richest man in the world, “Which million that you have earned was your favorite?” And Rockefeller answered, “My next million” (Begg, “In Search of Meaning”). Nothing is ever good enough. Solomon’s point is difficult for most of us to believe because we think if we had more money we would be the exception, and we would be satisfied with what we had. But our own experience tells us that is not true—after all, there was a time in our lives when we would have thought what we earn right now is a lot of money. We thought we would be content. Satisfied. But we amaze our friends and surprise ourselves to discover that we are not content.

We can see from the time we were children and on into adulthood the thing we thought would make us truly happy never really did. When I was a child and had a Nintendo, I desperately wanted the WrestleMania Nintendo game. I asked my parents to get it for me for Christmas. I thought that was all I needed to be happy. I was so excited to get it that I woke up at 4:00 a.m. before my parents or any of my brothers on Christmas day and ran downstairs. I found the wrapped gift that looked like a Nintendo game, and I ripped it open, revealing WrestleMania. I plugged it into the game system and started to play. By the time my parents woke a few hours later, I was bored of WrestleMania!

We are not naturally content with what we have (Driscoll, “Redefining Riches”). We are always looking to the next thing. Solomon’s point is that since you will never have enough, it is not worth making the pursuit of money and possessions your life’s goal!

You’ll Attract Leeches (5:11)

Like the rapper Notorious B.I.G., Solomon says that money creates all kinds of problems. Solomon says the more money you make, the more leeches will want a piece of what you have, and ultimately you will watch it go away. The person who has wealth does not really get to enjoy the fruits of what he has earned (Longman, Ecclesiastes, 165). Creditors, family, “friends,” the IRS, and more will consume what you have. Everyone will have a hand out to get what you got.

One tragic story that shows the truth of this statement involves Bernie Kosar, who used to be a star quarterback in the NFL. Kosar made tens of millions of dollars in his playing career. And he also made at least that much, if not more, as a businessman after his playing days. And yet he had to file for bankruptcy. A reporter asked him about this, and he revealed that there was a time in his life when he was paying 60 cell phone plans. He told the reporter that he only used one cell phone, but he was paying for 60 plans (Brennan, “Athletes”). In addition to this, an ex-wife, attorneys, the IRS, former teammates who needed thousands to get out of debt, the economic recession, and foolish financial advisors mooched millions off of him. Now we might think we would be different if we had as much money as he had, but Solomon says we are kidding ourselves!

You’ll Not Sleep Well (5:12)

The author says the common worker will sleep well regardless of how much he has because he is content with what he has. His work tires him, it gives him what he needs, and it gives him good rest. In contrast, the wealth of the rich will not allow them to sleep. The rich person’s appetite for more and more never allows them to rest or to enjoy what they have. They constantly think about the next business deal or the leeches that will take from them, they fret about an investment that might go bad, or they lie awake worrying about a recession (Greidanus, Preaching Christ, 150). Worry and anxiety are their actual rewards.

I remember watching a YouTube video of a motivational speaker who wanted to teach young people how to become successful and rich, and he gave them the examples of stars like Beyoncé and 50 Cent. He said these stars would go days without sleeping and they would miss meals just to capitalize on the moment. Their motto was that you can sleep when you are dead! That is the reason the wealthy cannot sleep; they keep worrying about the next venture. However, those who are not rich but still love money also run into the problem of restlessness. They lie awake at night thinking and worrying about money. Solomon warns us in this verse that money does not bring peace, rest, or enjoyment to life!

You’ll Hurt Yourself (5:13)

The author says there is a sickening evil under the sun, which calls us back to the curse of Genesis 3. Part of the brokenness of this world is that riches held back by their owner hurt him! Hoarding riches does not help you; it hurts you. Being stingy with what you have can destroy your family because of your workaholism, it can ruin your health because you do not sleep well, and it can harm your character. An interesting article, written by a non-Christian, called “What Wealth Does to Your Soul,” argues that making lots of money makes you selfish, unhappy, and dishonest (Lewis). The article cites studies that revealed the richer people are the more likely they are to cut off other drivers, not give pedestrians the right of way, and take candy from children. Sounds like Ebenezer Scrooge to me! The Bible is clear that the joyful life is the generous life, not the stingy, selfish life.

You’ll Never Be Truly Secure (5:14)

Ecclesiastes 5:14 describes a man who loses his wealth in a bad venture. It does not tell us the exact nature of the bad venture. Perhaps an economic recession hits the man hard. We had some friends who were wealthy and generous, and they lost almost everything in the real estate collapse and economic recession. Others lose their fortunes in a bad business move, pyramid schemes, gambling, or with a posse like so many athletes have. In fact, statistics say that within two years of leaving professional football, 78 percent of players are bankrupt or are in financial distress (Torre, “How [and Why]”).

The problem is that the man in Ecclesiastes 5:14 has a family to provide for, and yet he has nothing to give or leave to his family. Even if he did, Solomon has already depressingly stated that leaving a legacy will not work because your family will probably squander it (2:18-19). He was right. Statistics tell us that “60% of families waste away their wealth by the end of the second generation. By the end of the third generation, 90% of families have little or nothing left of money received from grandparents”(Voorhees, “Why Most Families Lose Their Wealth”). Thus, Solomon argues that wealth is an insecure basis for happiness (Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, 314). After all, Proverbs said that wealth sprouts wings and flies away (Prov 23:4-5), which leads to the next reason.

You’ll Leave It Behind (5:15-16)

Ecclesiastes 5:15-16 echoes creation and the curse of Genesis 3. We brought nothing into this world, and we will lose everything when we die. After all, Ecclesiastes has made it abundantly clear that we return to the dust. The point is that if we do not lose our money in a bad business deal, then we will certainly lose it at death. Thus, we lose it one way or the other. We enter this world naked, with nothing in our hands. Every parent knows this is true. Babies do not come out of their momma’s stomach holding the cash necessary to pay the hospital bills. And we die the same way—with nothing. Paul says the same thing in 1 Timothy 6:6, and a country song called “Trailer Hitch” makes the same point. You never see a hearse with a trailer hitch, so why spend all this effort to make so much money when death will cancel all of our work and earnings? Jesus asks us why we would kill ourselves to make as much money and accumulate as much stuff as possible when we will lose it all in the end anyway. He calls that foolishness in Luke 12. Steve Jobs (1955–2011) had a net worth of $10.2 billion when he died. We all know how much he took with him. Not a penny.

You’ll Be a Miserable Person (5:17)

Solomon’s final point is that the rich man eats in darkness with much sorrow, sickness, and anger. This man does not enjoy life. He is lonely and has no one with whom to share his wealth. Thus, trying to find satisfaction in money and stuff is meaningless. It never truly brings satisfaction, and then you die. This point is illustrated in the poignant story by Tolstoy called, “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” The story is about a content peasant farmer who says that he needs just a little land to be happy. The Devil overhears the man and commits to getting him more land in an effort to destroy him. The peasant farmer gets a little land but is not satisfied, so he trades it for more land but is not satisfied. This goes on repeatedly till the man dies in his quest for a huge chunk of land, and the story ends with the servant burying him and this telling statement: “Six feet from his head to his heels was all he needed.” Death is the great equalizer! It cancels out all the earnings we have! Why kill yourself to gain more money, more stuff, and more land, when you are just going to be shoved into a hole in the ground at the end and eaten by worms?!

Antidotes to Satisfaction in Money

Meaningful Relationships (4:7-12)

The author writes this:

Again, I saw futility under the sun: There is a person without a companion, without even a son or brother, and though there is no end to all his struggles, his eyes are still not content with riches. “So who am I struggling for,” he asks, “and depriving myself from good?” This too is futile and a miserable task.

Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.

The point is simple: we are made for community and meaningful relationships. Why kill yourself trying to make so much money when you have no one with whom to share it? Meaningful relationships bring more joy than any amount of money ever could. When you are blessed, there is greater joy in sharing that blessing with another. If you stumble and fall, a companion who can lift you up and even save your life is invaluable. A cold winter night and its chill can be overcome by the embrace of your mate. Someone attacks you who is stronger than you? Well, wait until you and your beast of a friend gets hold of him! You struggle to win the battles of life going it alone? A friend on either side will give you the strength to endure and succeed. Of course no three-cord strand is superior to our Triune God! Never forget. Jesus who was sent by the Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit died for a church, not just individual souls. We were created and redeemed for community, a community beautifully displayed in our Triune God.

Contentment and Joy in What God Has Given You (5:18–6:9)

Solomon follows his condemnation of the love of money with another carpe diem passage. He calls us to contentment during our short life. The key is not how much or how little you have but rather how you view what you do have. The basic idea is to enjoy what God has given you instead of craving more, more, and more. Enjoy food, enjoy drink, enjoy your work, and enjoy your spouse and your family because until you enjoy what you already have, new things will not help or satisfy. Why should God provide more for you if you are not content with what He has already given you (Driscoll, “Redefining Riches”)? You can be so concerned about what you do not have that you fail to enjoy and show gratitude for what you do have!

The end of chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6 explain that what you have, where you are in life, and the ability to enjoy those things are all from God. It is not just what you have that is a gift from God; the ability to enjoy it is also a gift. To be able rightly and fully to enjoy the things of this world is a gift of God’s grace (Garrett, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, 315). God gives this ability so that you do not remember the misery of this cursed world because time flies when you are having fun. The key factor to all of this is God. One can only enjoy material blessings as rightly intended and designed in dependence on God.

Chapter 6 begins, echoing the curse with the language of “sickening tragedy,” by presenting a man who has everything the world says you need to be truly happy (interestingly, the very things promised to Solomon in 2 Chr 1:12). But God does not give him the ability to enjoy what he has. What makes this situation more awful is that someone else will enjoy that for which the man worked so hard (cf. Eccl 2:18-23). Thus, a man can live the American dream but find it is actually a nightmare!

What should we make of God’s sovereign choice mentioned here? God sovereignly allots things to us, and He even allots the ability or inability to enjoy what He has given to us. God chose what you would get and where you would be stationed in life. He chose the life, family, job, skills, looks, and intellect you have. But why in the world would God give someone something but withhold the ability to enjoy it? Because He knows what is best for us. He gives some the inability to enjoy what they have because in His goodness He will not give you something that drives you away from Him. He knows there is no such thing as happiness apart from Him.

Jesus teaches His disciples that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven—so hard that it takes a miraculous work of Almighty God (Greidanus, Preaching Christ, 144). Perhaps one way He saves the rich is by the meaninglessness of riches that cannot be enjoyed. When you get to the top and get everything you ever wanted but still feel empty inside, then you know that there must be something better and more satisfying out there. God wants to expose our need of Him and show us that riches cannot be ultimate. Disallowing the ability to find satisfaction in stuff is God’s goodness to us because nothing but God can ultimately satisfy!

Ecclesiastes 6:3-6 shows that a man can have the blessed life of the Old Testament—wealth, kids, and long life—yet not be satisfied. If you cannot enjoy life, then a stillborn baby is better off (6:3). Why? Because the rich man is all alone. He does not get a proper burial (6:3), which means he is unlamented and no one misses him (Hunt, Ecclesiastes, 28). People might be at your funeral to fight over your money, but they do not shed tears of sorrow for you. People will deeply grieve over a miscarried baby but not this man. And the stillborn baby at least gets to rest like the laborer in chapter 5, and the baby does not know the pain of this world. On the other hand, this man experiences the misery of no rest or satisfaction. Again, death is the great equalizer that makes all of the wealthy man’s accomplishments as null as a miscarried child who did nothing and had nothing.

All the work a man does is for his mouth, but his appetite is not satisfied (6:7). Life is a treadmill; we work so that we can eat so that we can have the strength to work so that we can eat (Kidner, Ecclesiastes, 61). We have uncontrolled appetites to consume food, money, technology, and so much more, but the problem is the “more” we get is never enough because the human heart was made to be satisfied only in God alone. Thus, no amount of money or things will ever fill our void (Hunt, Ecclesiastes, 22). Interestingly, the wise really have no advantage over fools, and the poor wise man cannot get a leg up either (6:8). The problem of dissatisfied appetites affects every station of life, and even if the poor man figured out how to make his way in the world and get some success, he would be as unsatisfied as the rich man. Therefore, Solomon concludes that the sight of the eyes is better than the roving appetite, and he writes “futile” over the whole section (6:9). It is better to be content with what you have—what is right in front of your eyes—than constantly crave more!

All of this misery is to expose our need for God and drive us to contentment in Him (Kidner, Ecclesiastes, 60). That money and things are fleeting and fail to ultimately satisfy reveals our need for God and shows that everything is meaningless without Jesus, who is the final antidote to materialism. “I am satisfied with Jesus” has always been the song God desires to be the theme of the human heart. This is the focus of our final section.

Jesus (6:10-12)

Duane Garrett helpfully points out that the final verses of Ecclesiastes 6 are a reflection on the early chapters of Genesis and the fall of mankind (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, 317–18). It repeatedly references Adam and even the naming of things (6:10; cf. Gen 2:19). It is known what man is, and Ecclesiastes has consistently said that man is “dust” (3:20). The words Adam and dust are semantically linked because man was made from the dust and is heading back to the dust due to the fact that in Eden he tried to contend with God, who is stronger than man! Who knows what is good for Adam (6:12)? This phrase calls us back to the time before the fall when everything was pronounced good. Now, however, fallen Adam’s days pass like a shadow. Only God can tell what will happen after we pass off the scene.

Recalling the curse and how things were “good” prior to the fall causes us to long for the promised Savior implied in Genesis 3:15 who is to come and reverse the curse. That is exactly what Jesus came to do. This is illustrated so beautifully by the “3 Circles” gospel presentation (Scroggins, “3 Circles”). The first circle shows that God has a design for everything in His world. God intends the material gifts He gives us to be used in certain ways that will cause us to flourish. Thus, he has a design for sex, food, relationships, work, and yes, money. These things are not “good” or “bad” in and of themselves. They can be used in good and godly ways that benefit us or in evil and sinful ways that harm us.

The second circle shows that our departure from God’s design, which the Bible calls “sin,” inevitably leads us into brokenness because we are not using things as God designed them to be used. For example, God gave us food as a gift to be used for nourishment, pleasure, and fellowship. But when we overindulge, which the Bible calls “gluttony,” it causes brokenness in our lives, like body-image problems or health problems. Or if we misuse food in terms of anorexia or bulimia, brokenness looks like health problems or psychological problems. The same is true of money. When we do not use money as God designed—for provision, contentment, and generosity—then we become broken. Thus, love of money, hoarding, and failure to be content causes all of the harm we have seen in Ecclesiastes 5–6. It makes us miserable, lonely, insecure, and distrustful.

The problem is that we try all kinds of things to get out of the brokenness, but we just end up more broken. Some think they are empty and broken simply because they do not have enough things. They try to make more money and consume more goods, but it never fills the void. We cannot get out of the brokenness ourselves, and that is where the good news comes in. The final circle shows that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, taking on Himself all of our sin and brokenness so that He could secure forgiveness, freedom, and a new start for us (2 Cor 5:17). We are called to recognize that we are broken, to repent of our sin and brokenness, and to trust in Jesus. When we do, He then makes us new creations who are filled with the Spirit and now have the ability to recover and pursue God’s original design for our lives.

Conclusion

What this gospel transformation looks like with money is that now, instead of being miserly and stingy, we are content and generous. Paul points this out when in Ephesians 4 he talks about putting on the new man. What does that look like in regard to money? Ephesians 4:28 says, “The thief must no longer steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.” Made new in Christ, we are now free to recover God’s design for our money, which means we are no longer stingy, but we work hard to provide for our families and to give generously to others. The gospel motivates all of this, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:9: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.” The gospel transforms us into people who deeply enjoy what we have and generously meet the needs of others. When we see our hearts pulled away from that story, let us repent and find satisfaction in Christ!

Reflect and Discuss

1. When you read stories or watch movies about people who don’t have a lot but are extremely happy, how do you feel?
2. Why do we think being wealthy applies only to the people in tax brackets higher than ours?
3. Solomon warns both the lazy man and the workaholic. How can we strike a balance in our lives?
4. What are some things in your life you thought would make you happy if you got them, but the happiness didn’t last long?
5. In what ways do you have trouble “clocking out” when you leave work? What are some steps you should take to disengage from work and to rest better?
6. How can you fight against anxiety in the arena of money?
7. In what ways does contemplating death help you view money and possessions more biblically?
8. In what ways do meaningful relationships bring more joy than a lot of money and stuff?
9. Money can be a positive in the Bible. What are the ways we can view and use money rightly?
10. How does the gospel motivate us to be generous people?