Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon audio available [[here|http://www.firwoodchurch.com/podcast/ecclesiastes-under-the-sun-part-2-the-great-experiment/]].

! 1. INTRODUCTION

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!! i. Paint-Stripper for the Soul

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Two years ago, around six months before Gideon Thomas, our young son, was born, I remember setting about preparing the nursery.

We were fairly new to the house, the room was still kitted out for the 13 year old boy who had been the previous occupant.

The carpet was black, the walls red and the ceiling white; he was a Manchester United supporter.

I remember ripping out the carpet and stripping the walls.

It was hard work, but the difficulty really began when I turned my attention to the skirting boards.

They were painted black also and it was really tough going to remove the paint.

I tried sandpaper, it didn’t touch it; I tried an electric sander, and I broke it; I tried a flame thrower, it just smoked and stank out the house.

Eventually I tried paint stripper and the results were amazing.

The thick layers of black over white paint just peeled off.

And then I spotted the real problem, the layers of paint were holding the skirting board together.

As I stripped of layer after layer, the rotting wood just crumbled and so, foolishly, I took the decision to rip out the skirting boards.

The plaster began to break away from the wall…

Ecclesiastes has this same effect.

Ecclesiastes is paint stripper for the soul.

Solomon considers our ruined world and our sin-corrupted, God-hating bent and concludes,

'Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

vanity of vanities!

All is vanity.'

(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

I should explain myself.

What do I mean when I say that Solomon’s scrutiny of all that occurs ‘under the sun’ has the same effect as paint stripper?

What do I mean and why is this necessary?

!! ii.

Darkness and Light

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Hundreds of years later, the Apostle John writes,

'And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.' (John 3:19-21)

In John’s dichotomy, Jesus is the light who comes into the world and bids men and women to follow him and receive the light of life (John 8:12).

However, John observes a seemingly strange reaction to this light.

Rather than loving Christ, running to Christ, and receiving Christ, instead we see men and women fleeing the light and preferring the darkness.

If we truly want to see our communities, friends and loved ones transformed, we need to ask why it is that men and women love the darkness.

John writes that men and women loved their darkness because the darkness hides their evil deeds.

This requires careful thought because rather than answering our question, this poses a bigger question: why is it that men and women prefer darkness and evil deeds to Christ and the light?

The truth is that men and women are blind to the horror of the darkness and their evil deeds and blind to the blazing glorious, beautiful and wonderful light of Christ.

This means that we see the things of this world, money, sex, job, family, TV as more attractive than Christ.

This means that we fail to see that Jesus Christ is infinitely more valuable and infinitely more worthy than any other thing.

It is vital that believers understand this as this is fundamental to the way in which we think about evangelism and our own salvation.

For men and women to become Christians, two things must happen.

Firstly we must see ourselves as we truly are; radically depraved sinners in need of rescue and we must see this world as it truly is; broken and sin-ruined.

Secondly, we must see Christ as he truly is; ultimate, glorious and of infinite worth.

This is why Ecclesiastes is so important.

Solomon strips away the deception, exposes humankind and reveals this world as it truly is.

My prayer, as we work our way through this book, is that the Holy Spirit would shine the light of Jesus into the hearts of men and women that they might see the futility of living for lesser, petty treasures and instead see the beauty, splendour and glory of Christ.

This is where we finished last week; the end of it all is that we would see God as he is and that we would respond in love and obedience,

'The end of the matter; all has been heard.

Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.' (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

! 2. THE GREAT EXPERIMENT

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In verse two of the first Chapter, Solomon concludes,

'Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

vanity of vanities!

All is vanity.'

(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

But how, we must ask, does Solomon arrive at this conclusion?

We find that his conclusion is a result of methodical enquiry.

Solomon is embarked upon a great experiment,

'And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.'

(Ecclesiastes 1:13)

Before we consider the results of this enquiry, we must first ask whether we can have confidence in Solomon’s conclusions.

We find in these opening chapters five reasons why we can rely upon the conclusions of Solomon’s enquiries.

!! i.

People fundamentally do not change

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An objection that is often raised in respect of the authority of Scripture is that this is an old book, written from within and to a culture that is very different from our own.

There is, therefore, a tendency, even within Evangelicalism, to subordinate Scripture to our own views, perspective and cultural norms.

This chronological snobbery (as C.S. Lewis terms it) is most often seen in respect of Old Testament texts which, when viewed superficially, may appear out of kilter with New Testament thought, and, even more so with 21 Century sensibilities.

As we saw last week, however, Solomon observes that there is ‘nothing new under the sun’,

'What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,

"See, this is new"?

It has been already

in the ages before us.' (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

We considered the way in which Solomon identifies that our craving for sensory gratification invariably leads us to pursue and desire innovation.

More than this, however, Solomon is observing something fundamentally true about mankind and the universe in which we live.

At its most essential level, things do not change.

You and I are not all that different from Solomon’s subjects circa 800BC.

Men and women, fundamentally speaking, do not change.

We display the same flaws, idiosyncrasies, foibles and quirks.

This is the answer for those who seek to diminish the authority of Scripture and the authority of this book.

We can be confident that Solomon’s observations of his culture and his contemporaries are still relevant and that his conclusions still stand firm because people substantially and fundamentally remain the same.

In observing people, Solomon is, by extension, scrutinising us.

We can be confident that Solomon’s conclusions with regards to his time are true, because our time is as his time.

!! ii.

This is a methodical enquiry

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We return to verse fifteen, Solomon resolves,

'[…] to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.'

(Ecclesiastes 1:13)

We dealt with the scope of Solomon’s enquiry last week; Solomon determines to examine ‘all that is done under heaven’.

This is an equivalent phrase to the repeated refrain, ‘under the sun’.

Solomon’s enquiry is expansive.

Consider also the nature of Solomon’s enquiry, ‘I applied my heart to seek and to search’.

The two Hebrew words, here translated, ‘seek and to search’ are significant.

The near-synonyms to ‘seek and to search’ represent two kinds of searching, ‘one penetrating in depth, the other going out in extent’.

In other words, Solomon is concerned with both detail and breadth; the close-up and the wide-angle shot.

Solomon’s enquiry is concerned with the minutia and the context.

!! iii.