Ecclesiastes: Our Culture’s Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 9:9-10

Pastor David Cay

My question today is: how do we respond to the brevity of life? How do we make the most of the life that God has given us?

As we have said in previous sermons, the teacher in our passage is not a Christian. He is more of an agnostic, and he speaks with our culture’s wisdom. Ironically, this is where cultural wisdom is totally right, and it matches with the Biblical wisdom we find in other parts of the Bible.

Here’s the message of the Bible, to deal with brevity of life, we need to:

1. Seize the day for joy, and
2. Seize the day for work.

Ecclesiastes 7:15-17

Pastor David Cay

My question today is this: Should we aim to live an extreme lifestyle, or opt to live for a more normal life?

Most of us are headed toward a normal life because quite frankly it’s easier. The cost isn’t as high, it’s way more comfortable. There is a lot of social pressure to be like everyone else, to have the same worldview and the same opinions. Many times, we automatically just drift toward what’s common.

We do have a choice, and I think it’s worth choosing because we find that there is a better option between the two, and we learn that when we reflect on our Bible passage today.

Ecclesiastes 3:19-22

Pastor David Cay

We live in a secular culture where a lot of people view the world in terms of just atoms, energy and what they can see. Many atheists make arguments and assumptions that all this spiritual stuff isn’t real.

There are many agnostics who say that there’s not enough evidence to believe in a god or an afterlife, so we can’t really know. Therefore, truly the “enlightened” wouldn’t believe in God or an afterlife; this is all there is.

I know it can feel intimidating talking to someone about faith at work or like at school and talking with intellectuals. But the Bible encourages us not to be afraid, to not avoid people with atheist/agnostic worldviews.

Instead, we should create genuine friendships with atheists and agnostics. We should be ready to explain the reason for the hope that we have in Jesus. Our Bible passage today makes us think about what many atheists and agnostics have proposed today in our culture.