With your Bibles in hand, please turn the pages to Ecclesiastes 5. Ecclesiastes in found right after the book of Proverbs. It is a thin little book and may take a little bit of time to find. We’ll be covering chapters 5 and 6 this morning.
We see the text this morning and we are face with the question: “How do I approach my possessions?”
We live in the wealthiest Country on Earth. I was traveling this week to Fort Bragg and while I was there, my hotel room was in the old BOQ—the Bachelored Officers Quarters. It was a nice room with what you would typically think you would need in a hotel room, bed, TV, dresser, bathroom, and closet. For added comfort there was a microwave and refrigerator. They don’t put Lieutenant is those BOQs anymore, or any other Officers in there like they used to. As we could imagine, the biggest complaint to living in those rooms was that it was too small or that they had too many belongings to live there. What else do you need? We have come from a nation that once was comfortable with a room with a bed—to a nation that needs an apartment with rooms and rooms of things.
Several years ago, I traveled on a tour of Vietnam. We slept in homes along the northern rice patties that housed an entire family. The individual rooms were divided by curtains and contained a mat.
We Americans take for granted all too often the possessions that we are able to own. We have become so dependent on those things that make our lives easier that we forget how privileged we are to have them.
Now, I want you to hear me correctly. This is not a sermon on how bad it is to own stuff. I own stuff—I have over 5000 comic books stacked in 30 boxes in my closet. But, I do want us all to consider the right way to approach to our possessions.
Solomon knew something about having possessions. He was the richest man on Earth. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 9 that he received about 25 tons of gold each year. If you’re wondering; a stripped down Hum-vee is about 5 tons. So, Solomon received the equivalent of 5 solid gold hum-vees a year.
2 Chronicles 9: 20 says:
20 All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. Silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. (2 Chronicles 9:20, ESV)
Solomon know what it meant to be rich, beyond his wildest dreams. In Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 and 6 he lays out some wise principles for approaching our possessions. And this morning we can look to this passage to see how—in our rich land—can we approach our wealth and possessions with wisdom.
The first way Solomon teaches us to approach our possessions is through satisfaction.
1. Satisfaction
Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 says:
“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11, ESV)
Solomon teaches us that if you love money—you will never be satisfied. You will always want more. It is a thirst that cannot be quenched.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24 ESV)
You will never be filled if you love money—because what you need is Christ, And Christ will never run dry.
This year’s measured snow pack in California is the lowest on recorded history. They are experiencing a severe drought. They need more rain, and not only more rain, but snow so that it will melt and provide their land with water through the summer.
This is exactly how we will live if we place our satisfaction in money. We will be continually dry.
But Christ gives living water—that never runs dry.
We should approach our money with the satisfaction knowing that our worth is not found in our wealth—our wealth is not found in what we possess—but in what Christ paid for on the cross.
Christ loves us enough that he paid for our sin through his death, to buy our pardon from hell. When we place our satisfaction there. That is when we are able to truly enjoy the things that we are blessed to have.
We should approach our possessions with satisfaction. We should also approach our possession with gratefulness.
2. Gratefulness
While we have been given much, w e should be grateful for what we have.
Look with me from Ecclesiastes 5:19
[19] Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. [20] For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Chapter 6:
[1] There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: [2] a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. (Ecclesiastes 5: 19-20, 6:1-2 ESV)
There is a tendency to feel guilty for the blessings that we have. Sometimes our culture makes us feel like we have done something wrong if we have more than someone else. But on the contrary, we are to be grateful for what we have and feel free to enjoy these blessings! This is not to say that we don’t give—one of the greatest ways to enjoy riches is to be in a position to give a portion of these riches to those who are less fortunate.
But, Solomon tells us that we are to accept where we are and rejoice in in our toil. We should feel free to be grateful for what we have!
Charles Dickens said
“Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” (Goodreads quotes)
Are we doing this? Reflecting on our present blessings? Do you consider what you have? Are you grateful? Or do you take it for granted?
When you start to take your blessings for granted, take a look at other cultures.
Understanding the plight of others helps you be grateful. How well do you know other cultures? How well do you know the economy of other countries?
If you spend anytime in El Paso, take a trip to the border. It is a simple as driving to the west side along I-10. There is a section of road where you can see UTEP on one side and the city of Juarez on the other. That is a good place to bring your life into perspective. You don’t even need to cross the border. As you pass you can see rows and rows of houses that make your house—you know the one that you complain about because the counter tops are not the right color?—seem like a mansion.
This isn’t about feeling guilty about the blessings that we have been given: it is about accepting where we are and rejoicing in those blessings!
We should approach our possessions with satisfaction and with gratefulness—but finally, with humility.
3. Humility
Look at Ecclesiastes 6:12:
[12] For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 6:12 ESV)
We work hard for money. We work hard for the things that we have. But there will come a day when all of the things we have worked for will pass away.
It is truly humbling to know that everything you are working for day in and day out will be nothing but dust in a few hundred years.
I am fascinated when I see photos of the city of Pripyat in the country of Ukraine. Pripyat was the closets city to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown in 1986, exactly 30 years ago next Sunday. Priyat was not a city as advanced as ours—but advanced enough to be a city of nearly 50,000. The city was abruptly and quickly evacuated following the disaster and remains uninhabited. After years of the radiation breaking down, photographers have been given a limited and monitored access to visit the city.
What we are able to see is an empty city of decay, of rust, and of vegetation. What we are also able to see is an opportunity to see what would happen if we all would suddenly disappear.
We cannot take the stuff with us when we leave this earth.
I am reminded of the old church sign that said “I’ve never seen a U-Hual being pulled by a hearse.”
What we have in material possessions are so insignificant in terms of eternity. It will all pass away. There will always be a newer model. There will always be something greater.
So, we approach our possessions with humility because we should never place our faith in those things that will pass away! There is something far greater—far more important. And that is Christ. He is much better than all things on this Earth.
While the things that we buy make us happy for a season, Christ can make us happy for eternity.
When we approach our possessions with humility, we then are able to see things the way they truly are. On one hand, we are blessed by them—for we have an advantage that we may not have had before. But, on the other hand, these possession are as fleeting as dust in a storm.
Are you looking at your possessions with humility? Are you considering how they will be gone tomorrow?
My wife and I were laughed the other morning as we were both going through our Facebook and Youtube pages.
“Who would have thought, 15 years ago when we were getting married that we would spend the morning, sitting next to each other watch videos on our telephones?”
I was content playing video games on my Gameboy!
The Gameboy is in a box somewhere, with only a couple of the cartridges to be found. One day, I actually throw it away.
The possessions we have today will be gone tomorrow because they are not as great as we think they are.
We must place our faith in something much greater.
So, how are you approaching your possessions?
Are you approaching them with Satisfaction in what you have?
Are you approaching with true Gratefulness that you have them at all? Are you approaching them with humility knowing that they will only be around for a little time, and that there is something much greater?
We place far too much emphasis on the things of this Earth. They will all pass away—they are all for a season. But in Christ there is something different.
Many times we like to buy something, because we “deserve it”; but the truth of the matter is that what we truly deserve is death and hell.
The Bible teaches us that we all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and deserve and eternal death (Romans 6:23).
But Christ paid that penalty with his own life and defeated death for those that choose to accept his payment. He rose again to prove that he had defeated that death and justified our faith in him.
This morning, you may have been living a life fixed on the things of this world. You have bought everything you can buy but you are here continuing in your sadness—because there is nothing that can buy happiness. You may have seen this system based on possessions actually fails to deliver its promises.
This morning I want to tell you that Christ never fails to deliver his promises. When you follow Christ, you will not be disappointed. You may actually find yourself disappointed in yourself—but never in Christ.
I want to provide you an opportunity today to follow Christ. To recognize that he is more important than all of the riches in the Earth. This morning, I will be at the front along with other Chaplains—I invite you to come and tell one of us of your decision to follow Christ.
If you are already a follower of Christ but have placed too much emphasis on possessions that possessing Christ, this is an opportunity for you to declare your course correction and turn back to Christ.
It is also an opportunity for those that are here to pray with a Chaplain about some of the hurts that this world can bring.
Whatever your decision, whatever your need—you come.
Let us pray.
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This sermon was preached at Sage Hall at Fort Bliss, TX on 19 April 2015.
All Scriptures marked ESV: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.