Work is Meaningless - Ecclesiastes 2:17-26

            

Our work, whether paid or volunteer, or even lack of work, is often central to how others see us, and even how we see ourselves. How quickly, when you first meet someone new, does the topic of what you do for a living, or where you work, come up in the conversation? For many people, a large part of our identity lies in what we do for a living instead of simply being something we do. Work is only one part of who we are as a person.

In Genesis 1:26–28, “God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” We’re created and given the work of caring for God’s creation, but our identity lies in being created in the image of God; we’re image-bearers of God who have a responsibility to care for and develop the potential God has placed within his creation for him and his glory. So often we do our work for our own honour and glory. The Teacher sees our work as meaningless in the long run.

The Teacher begins reflecting on work with some really strong words. He uses hyperbole, saying something in an extreme way in order to get his listeners’ attention, “So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” I love my work, and like every job, there are days when you go “Wow” that was a good day; but there are also those hard days where you ask yourself “Why?” When things are bad at work, it can impact our entire life: our relationships with our boss, co-workers, and even families and friends as we carry the hard stuff home. There are days when you wonder if maybe your work’s meaningless in the long run.

The Teacher goes on, “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? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless….  What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.” You can work your fingers to the bone, and yet in the end you die just like everyone else, rich or poor, and someone else benefits from all your work. This is a regret I’ve heard way too often, that they spent all their time working at the expense of relationships with their spouse, kids, or friends. This happens because we take a good-thing, work, and turn it into a god-thing that becomes our meaning and purpose in life over God, as Timothy Keller writes.

When we take reflect on gathering wealth in order to create a legacy, it’s wise to ask, “Are large inheritances wise, do we do our children and grandchildren a favour by leaving them large inheritances?” Do we value something we haven’t worked for; do we use it wisely? You may have worked hard for all the right reasons, to benefit your family, loved ones, community, but when you die, you no longer have any control. Research on passing down family businesses shows that “Only about 30% of family-owned businesses survive into the second generation; 12% are still viable into the third generation. Only about 3% of all family businesses operate into the fourth generation or beyond, according to research by the Family Business Institute.” Future generations are often more interested in finding their own career path rather than following in their parents’ footsteps. The second generation hasn’t put in the same kind of blood, sweat and tears that their father or grandfather did, so they don’t have the same passion. There are other reasons, but you may put your life into your work or business only to have it not make it anyway after you die. Meaningless.  

Yet work is good, we can take joy in our work. But we now live in a fallen world and our work is impacted by sin and brokenness due to the fall into sin. As God tells Adam in Genesis 3:17–19, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Yet we live in hope knowing that Jesus is returning and even our work will be renewed and restored to good and very good.

While the Teacher sees his work as meaningless, and as we saw last week, his work accomplished a lot of amazing things, yet our work is part of God’s plan for his creation, and for shaping who we are. God is our example in how he created “very good” and the very good carries over into Jesus’ work in redeeming us and all creation. The Teacher is looking at work as being “under the sun,” rather than looking at our work as part of God’s work. Our work is a way of creating shalom, of leading to flourishing, both as individuals and as a community. Business profits enable companies to create new things, offering ways to provide for their families through the pay employees are given; they’re part of the structure of our communities and contribute to the common good. Our work is part of our stewardship of God’s creation; it has meaning because we do our work as if we’re doing it for the Lord, Colossians 3:23–24, “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.”

Our faith shapes how we work. There’s the importance of ethics in our work, honouring God’s values and ways in how we do our work and run our businesses and organizations. As bosses, our faith encourages us to invest in our employees, to help them develop the skills and talents they have, treating all those we’re responsible for with respect and honour, even if it means that they might outgrow your company and move on to work somewhere else. As employees, it means that we give a fair day’s work to our employers, it looks like encouraging your fellow employees and sharing your knowledge with them to help them grow, even if it means they advance over you.

All our work contributes, whether it’s at home, in the fields, in the service industry, white-collar or blue-collar work, it’s all part of God’s work. A person who was working in a care home, washing seniors, cleaning floors and toilets and people, felt like she was invisible both at work and in the community. She shared how she hadn’t seen the value of her work until a senior and her daughter stopped her in the hallway and thanked her for how she took care of her mother, sharing how the dignity she showed her mom impacted her soul. Her faith recognized that every person in the care home: all her co-workers, bosses, and directors, were all image-bearers of God. This shaped how she went about her day, understanding what Paul’s getting at when he calls us to do our work as if for the Lord, no matter what it is.

Ask yourself: how does my work contribute to the common good, how does it help people, how am I serving and growing my field of work? Am I showing my faith in how I do my work competently and with respect for the customer, boss, and fellow employees, are there opportunities to share how my faith shapes my work and life.

The Teacher offers this advice, “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.” The Teacher finally understands that in the end, it’s the simple things of life where we find joy and meaning with family and friends, thanking God for the satisfaction found in our toil. We work knowing that in the end God provides, this is why Jesus calls us to depend on the Father and not worry, but to trust that just as God cares for the birds in the air and the flowers in the field, he cares even more for you, allowing us to share together our food, our tables, and our fellowship.