'Man's Search for Meaning'

Very often, questions related to God are raised in the context of life's dilemmas and losses.  Is God there?  What's He like?  Does He care?  Will He help?  These questions surface as we attempt to make sense out of life's experiences that are painful, conflicting, and emotionally disturbing.  We have a tremendous need to understand life and believe that there's some transcendant purpose that will give our personal lives coherence and meaning.  If we don't discover this, life becomes dark, chaotic, and overwhelming.  We're then tempted to agree with Shakespeare's Macbeth - “Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!”  If we get to this level of despair, life becomes obsurd and we can easily become cynical.  Voltaire, the French revolutionary thinker, expressed this - “Strike out a few sages and the crowd of human beings is nothing but a horrible assemblage of unfortunate criminals, and the globe contains nothings but corpses...I wish I had never been born!”  If we're going to avoid this kind of despair and live a life distinguished by purpose and meaning, our lives have to be properly centered in a vital relationship with the living Lord.  The crucial question that has to be thoughtfully considered is the ethical one - “What ought I to be doing?”  In other words, around what should I orient my life? 

King Solomon's Struggle 

King Solomon exposed his struggle with this question in the following line from his journal - “I searched with my heart....till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life (Eccl.2:3).”  This inquiry motivated and shaped the course and character of Solomon's life.  The activities he engaged in, in his effort to answer the question of life's meaning, are the activities in which we still engage in in our attempt to answer the same question.  It seems as though man is hardwired to repeatedly head down the same dead-end streets.

The first line of inquiry Solomon pursued was the noblest of the three he presents in his journal - “...I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven.  It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with (Eccl.1:13).”  Solomon did some tough thinking and risky experimentation.  He thought he could discover life's meaning through academic learning and philosophical reflection.  This is a common conviction.  It was held by the ancient Greeks, by the men of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and by many people today.  Yet, there's a restlessness and inner emptiness that persists.  There's an aspect of our nature that can't be satisfied by enlarged knowledge alone; if it could be, the intellectuals among us would be the most content!  And yet, many academics would agree with Solomon that the pursuit of knowledge above all else is an empty pursuit without permanent value.  In fact, it often leads to greater frustration.  We should never become preoccupied with intellectual inquiry to the exclusion of sincere consideration of  Christian truth claims.  The warning of Paul is very timely - “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ (Col.2:8).”  

The next pursuit that occupied Solomon's attention was self-pleasuring - “I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it? (Eccl.2:1,2).”  This commentary should speak to us because we're part of a culture that's profoundly shaped by the pursuit of pleasure.  Every one of us is affected by the desire to pleasure ourselves.  Is God against all forms and desires of human pleasuring?  No....He created us to desire and experience pleasure.  But it's not to be the focus of our lives.  Human pleasuring isn't designed to bear the full weight of our lives.  Sin is often simply the distortion or misplacement in our lives of those things that God has made good.  But, for many of us, there's a preoccupation with self-pleasuring, and it can take the form of an insatiable need to be entertained or a series of illicit sexual adventures.  Both of these expressions reflect the same erroneous notion that self-pleasuring leads to ultimate fulfillment and a meaningful life....but it doesn't.  Certainly there's pleasure in sin for a season, but it can be a costly business.  King David indulged his lust for Bethsheba and it divided and destroyed his family (2 Sam.11).  The Prodigal Son wasted his inheritance on the 'fast life' and lost his dignity as well as his fortune (Lk.15). And the rich man in Luke 16 banqueted at the table of affluence, but spent eternity in hell.  In the end, those who make self-pleasuring their life's ambition discover that it provides no lasting answer to the question – 'What ought I to be doing?'  The Apostle Paul was right when he wrote - “...the one who sows to his own flesh (sensuality) will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life...”.  

Finally, Solomon set his heart on the accumulation of wealth - “I made great works, I built houses and planted vineyards for myself (Eccl.2:4).”  Materialism is another major preoccupation that shapes the American way of life.  The accumulation of things and personal prosperity are seen by many as the source of happiness, so we tend to use people and love things.  We think we can achieve a sense of inner well-being if we can acquire a bigger bank account or buy a bigger house or drive a more expensive car.  But this too will not, in and of itself, produce a meaningful life.  Solomon knew this to be true - “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity”; it's empty without permenant value.  Frank Sinatra made a telling statement - “whether it's booze, broads, or prayer, if it will get me through the night I'm for it.”  The pursuit of affluence and the accumulation of material possessions isn't an adequate answer to the question....what ought I to be doing?  

It's Absurd

So, after considering the accomplishments of his life, Solomon is overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all.  He concluded that ultimately there was no advantage to being wise as opposed to being foolish, or to being rich instead of poor, because the end of both is the same - “...how does the wise man die? Just like the fool (Eccl.2:16b).”  And he then expresses his anguish - “So, I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind...(Eccl.2:17).”  These 'under the sun' achievements in life are empty,without lasting value, and they only lead to more frustration.  This is counterintutive, but it's true!  Seeking ultimate fulfillment through human endeavors is like chasing after the wind.  This conclusion is disturbing, even though it's true.  If there's nothing in the realm of human achievement, or of a purely natural nature, that can produce real meaning and lasting happiness in life, where can it be found?  Solomon directs our attention to the only answer to the question of meaning and existence; it's the closing line of his journal - “....Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man (Eccl.12:13).”  Reverence God, live in obedience to Him, because this is the highest duty of man.  Our lives, if oriented in this way, will have coherence and extraordinary meaning!  Solomon makes it clear that a meaningful life isn't rooted in things physical or sensual but rather, it flows out of the moral and spiritual choices we make.  There is a way of life that's richer and more rewarding than any other....it's life defined by a commitment to Christ and sustained by a biblical faith.