The Pursuit of Achievement
Sermon Notes
Introduction:
Today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story, where we’re going through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1 to the last amen in Revelation 22, and today we’re studying another section of Ecclesiastes. Like I said last week Ecclesiastes is a book of the bible primarily focused on the meaning of life, the purpose of life, and today’s text is primarily about the pursuit of achievements. Many people are trying to find purpose and meaning in life through their achievements. They’re trying to find purpose and meaning in life through things like their athletic achievements, their academic achievements, their career achievements. Some of you are working hard to reach certain achievements, because you’re hoping to leave a legacy, to make an impact on this world...Some of you are working hard to reach certain achievements, because you think it’ll help you make more money to buy what you want, to buy your happiness and satisfaction...Some of you are working hard to reach certain achievements, because you think it’ll help you gain recognition and approval from others like your parents, your peers, or even from those who’ve rejected you...Both skeptics and believers are trying to achieve certain things in life, but the question is will the things you’re trying to achieve provide what you’re seeking? Will they provide you with the legacy, satisfaction, recognition you’re seeking? Let’s turn to Ecclesiastes ch 2 and find out. If you open your bible to the middle, keep turning left, you’ll find Ecclesiastes. We’ll start in Ecclesiastes 2:4. Title of today’s message is The Pursuit of Achievements and the big idea is our life achievements are temporary, unless they’re aligned with eternity...Our life achievements are temporary, unless they’re aligned with eternity...
Context:
Here’s your context. Last week I mentioned Solomon is the author of Ecclesiastes, and historically he’s considered one of the wisest, wealthiest, most powerful kings in history. He was so wise, wealthy, and powerful, that people traveled from all over the world just to gain from his wisdom. Well last week he taught us why the pursuit of pleasure fails, and this week he’ll teach us why the pursuit of achievements fails. He’ll teach us why our pursuit of achievements fails to satisfy us, and how to have satisfaction in our work? Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Ecclesiastes 2:4, “I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. 5 I made gardens and parks for myself and planted every kind of fruit tree in them. 6 I constructed reservoirs for myself from which to irrigate a grove of flourishing trees...8 I also amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces...9 I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me. 10 All my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles. 11 When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind.” Solomon’s saying he pursued purpose and pleasure in his achievements. He had the wisdom, the resources, the skill, and the ambition to achieve a highly successful work life. But he says none of his achievements brought him lasting pleasure, and what he’s teaching us is that our pursuit of achievements will eventually fail. Our pursuit of achievements will eventually fail to provide what we’re hoping it’ll provide. It’ll fail us in 3 ways, and here comes the 1st.
Vs. 18, “I hated all my work that I labored at under the sun, because I must leave it to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will take over all my work that I labored at skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.” Solomon says he “hated” all the work he did. He says the pursuit of achievements fails, and the reason it fails is...
#1 It fails to make a lasting impact = The reason the pursuit of achievements fails, is because it fails to make a lasting impact. In vs 18 Solomon says we must leave it, we must leave all the things we achieved during our work life to somebody else when we die. They might use it for evil instead of good. They might use it for building their own selfish kingdom, instead of for building God’s kingdom. They might use everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve within our lifetime, and foolishly squander it all within their lifetime. But this also applies to our legacy, to the impact we make on this world. Some of you are working so hard to leave a legacy, to make an impact on this world, that’ll only be forgotten within a few generations of your family history. I know a little about my great grandparents, I know even less about my great great grandparents. Eventually your legacy will be forgotten even within your own family history. If you’re one of the rare few who’s remembered 100 yrs after you die, eventually humanity as we know it will come to an end, and your legacy won’t matter anymore. A famous English writer named John Keats captured this well. He had this inscription written on his tombstone. “Here lies one whose name, was writ in water.” ...Here lies one whose name, was writ in water...You ever try writing your name in water? You try writing your name in water, try leaving your mark, but there’s no sign you were ever there...Both Keats and Solomon are saying our pursuit of achievements will eventually fail us, because they’ll fail to make the lasting impact we hoped they’d make. They’ll have some impact, but eventually they’ll fail to make the lasting impact we hoped they’d make.
Vs. 21, “When there is a person whose work was done with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a person who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great wrong. 22 For what does a person get with all his work and all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? 23 For all his days are filled with grief, and his occupation is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.” There’s the 2nd reason he says the pursuit of achievements fails. He says the pursuit of achievements fails because...
#2 It fails to give us lasting satisfaction = It fails to make a lasting impact, but it also fails to give us lasting satisfaction. In vs 23 he says instead of our achievements bringing us satisfaction, they bring us grief, sorrow, and a mind that doesn’t rest. Those are all three things that’ll rob you of satisfaction when it comes to your work achievements. The 1st is grief, which in the original Hebrew means pain. According to one scholar Solomon’s talking about the grief, the pain that comes from working hard, from the continual exertion of trying to obtain your work achievements. It’s painful, it wears you out, it wears you down. There was a survey done several years ago asking people this question. “If we could change the 24 hr day into a 25 hr day, how would you spend that extra hour?” 85% of the people said sleep...They’d use that extra hour for sleep...Why?...It’s because of the grief, the pain, the exhaustion of working hard trying to obtain our work achievements. It wears you out, it drains you, it robs you of lasting satisfaction.
The 2nd thing is sorrow. Sorrow robs you of lasting satisfaction in your work achievements too, because you can’t have work achievements without disappointments. In the working world you’ll sometimes fail to meet your goals, fail to meet your deadlines, fail to reach the success you’re hoping for. Walt Disney was fired from the Kansas City Star, because his editor said he lacked imagination...In high school Michael Jordan didn’t make the varsity basketball team...My doctor told me last week he was planning on retiring in a few months, but instead he’s working another year, because the economy’s so bad it doesn’t allow him to live the lifestyle he wants to live in retirement...My point is the stock market sometimes crashes. The actor sometimes doesn’t get the part. The athlete sometimes doesn’t get to start. The entrepreneur sometimes fails before building a better product. Sorrow will come to your work achievements, and rob you of satisfaction.
The 3rd thing Solomon mentions is a mind that doesn’t rest, which is worry. He’s talking about the worry, the sleepless nights that come from trying to obtain our achievements. Some of you are losing sleep over your work, over the pressures of your work. Some of you are losing sleep over trying to make enough money to pay your bills, or to make enough money to live a comfortable life in retirement like my doctor. Solomon’s point is that eventually everybody experiences worry and stress over trying to obtain their achievements. He isn’t saying we can’t ever find some satisfaction in our achievements, he’s saying we can’t find lasting satisfaction in our achievements. Eventually everybody experiences pain, sorrow, and a mind that never rests.
Ch. 4:4-5, “I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to one person’s jealousy of another. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind. 5 The fool folds his arms...” There’s the 3rd reason the pursuit of achievements fails. It fails to give us lasting impact, lasting satisfaction, and...
#3 It fails to give us lasting recognition = The pursuit of achievements fails to give us lasting recognition, which Solomon says creates jealousy. In vs 5 he says it causes us to fold our arms, meaning to stop working. When people don’t recognize the hard work you do, you’ll have the tendency to fold your arms, to get bitter thinking “What’s the point in working so hard if nobody cares? What’s the point in working so hard if nobody notices?” The reason you feel that way is because you’re looking for recognition. You aren’t working out of a genuine love for God and others, instead you’re working out of a love for recognition,. That’s why it bothers you when you aren’t recognized, and it’s also why working for recognition fails. It’s because people won’t always recognize all the work you do. The people within your own house won’t always recognize all the work you do. How many times have you taken out the trash, cooked, done the dishes, paid the bills without anybody saying thanks for what you’ve done?...How many times have you gone the extra mile at work, done the right thing, helped propel the company forward without being recognized?...People will always fail to recognize all the work you do both at home and in the office. Even what little recognition you might get doesn’t last. There are people in our church who’ve broken some amazing athletic records, sales records, all kinds of records, and they were celebrated in the moment, but forgotten the next...Mothers were recognized on Mothers Day, and Fathers will be recognized soon on Fathers Day, but the rest of the year they serve endlessly with very little recognition...You’ll always be let down if you’re working for recognition. It can cause you to fold your arms, to underwork out of bitterness. But it can also cause you to overwork.
Vs. 6, “Better one handful with rest than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind. 7 Again, I saw futility under the sun: 8 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. ‘Who am I struggling for,’ he asks, ‘and depriving myself of good things?’” The phrase “no end to all his struggles,” implies a person who doesn’t stop working, it’s a person who overworks. Some people crave recognition so much, that they can’t stop working. It doesn’t matter how much they achieve or how much wealth they accumulate, they crave the recognition so much they can’t stop working. They’re like Elon Musk always trying to stay relevant and in the spotlight, craving recognition. In vs 8 Solomon gives us an example of a guy who had no companions as a result of overworking. He was successful, but he destroyed all his relationships over the years by overworking. He had no family, no friends, no companions left in his life to give his inheritance to. There’s plenty of people who are like this. They might even say they’re working hard for the people they love, but they end up not having any time for the people they love...I knew a wealthy woman who said she’d give up all the money her husband makes, just to have him home at night. She wanted his relational presence, more than his financial presents...If we overwork it’ll kill our relationships, and we’ll be left without companionship and recognition like the guy in the text. The pursuit of achievements eventually fails to provide you with lasting impact, satisfaction, and recognition. So what’s the answer? What’s the solution to finding lasting impact, satisfaction, and recognition in our work? Look at what Solomon said in vs 6.
Vs. 6 states, “Better one handful with rest than two handfuls with effort and a pursuit of the wind.” Solomon’s teaching us there’s 3 kinds of people when it comes to work. There’s the person who folds their arms, they don’t work or they underwork, and there’s the person who has two handfuls, they take on too much, they overwork. We’ve already talked about these two, but the 3rd one Solomon mentions is the person who has one handful with rest, meaning they have a balanced life of work and rest. They don’t underwork or overwork, they have a balanced life of work and rest...Sleep experts say we don’t just need length of sleep, we need depth of sleep. We need REM rapid-eye-movement sleep...Solomon’s saying we need to work hard with one handful, but we also need to rest physically and have even deeper rest spiritually. We need a deeper REM kind of rest for our soul. There’s a restlessness in our soul driving us to pursue achievements. We become restless when our pursuit of achievements fails. We become restless when we don’t find lasting impact, satisfaction, and recognition in our work. So we need to work hard, but we also need to find rest for the restlessness in our soul. We need to find rest for the restlessness in our pursuit of achievements, and the key to finding that rest is found in ch 2.
Ch. 2:24-25 states, “There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy, his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, 25 because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him?” There’s the answer, there’s the solution to having rest in our pursuit of achievements. It’s to find our rest in the Lord, it’s to align our lives and our work with the Lord. Only God is eternal, therefore only God can give us lasting impact, satisfaction, and recognition in our lives and our work. Jesus says in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest...29 You will find rest for your souls.” Jesus is the only God who can give rest to our restless and sinful souls. He died for our sins on the cross and offers us rest from the pursuit of achievements. First he offers us rest from feeling we have to achieve our salvation. He offers us rest from feeling we have to earn a relationship with him. Jesus says come to me and I’ll give you rest, not do things for me and I’ll give you rest. His grace and love is received not achieved. When you receive his grace and love it helps you rest from having to achieve your salvation, and it also helps you rest from having to achieve lasting impact, satisfaction, and recognition in your work. You’ll find rest when you realize the greater impact, is to align your work with the eternal purposes of Jesus. You’ll find rest when you realize the greater satisfaction, is found in Jesus. You’ll find rest when you realize the greater recognition, is to be recognized by Jesus. So the way to find rest in your pursuit of achievements, is to have a deeper REM rest in the achievements of Jesus. The deeper you rest in the achievements of Jesus, the deeper your rest will be in your pursuit of achievements. You’ll be able to enjoy working hard for his kingdom and glory with one handful, while resting and sleeping well in the hands of his sovereign love.
The Big Idea:
This is the big idea of the message. Our life achievements are temporary, unless they’re aligned with eternity...Our life achievements are temporary, unless they’re aligned with Jesus and his eternal kingdom...John Piper once preached a sermon against chasing the American dream to retire early and spend the rest of your life vacationing on a seashore. Piper said, “With all my heart I plead to you, don’t buy that American dream!…As you stand before the Creator the universe and give an account of what you did, what will you say? ‘Here Lord, here’s my shell collection!’...Don’t waste your life.”His point isn’t that we shouldn’t ever take vacations or collect seashells. The bible teaches we can certainly enjoy those things. What Piper’s saying is we shouldn’t make those things our greatest pursuit in life. We shouldn’t waste our life working so hard to achieve things that won’t matter in eternity. Our massive seashell collection won’t matter in eternity.
Yet most people are burnt out, stressed out, emotionally and physically worn out working so hard to build their own temporal kingdoms. They’re on the pursuit of achievements, pursuing lasting impact, satisfaction, and recognition in temporal things that’ll eventually perish. What are those things for you?...What’s the pursuit of achievements look like for you?...Are you working hard to achieve salvation, to achieve God’s love?...Are you working hard to achieve something great, to make an impact in this world?...Are you working hard to achieve a lot of money so you can have satisfaction and live a comfortable life?...Are you working hard to achieve recognition and approval from others?...What are you working so hard to achieve in life?...In the words of C.T. Studd, “Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.