Sermon Discussion Questions:
1. Why do you think greed is the "invisible sin"? What comes to your mind when you think of "greed"?
2. Of the many different faces of greed (corruption 5:8-9; frustration 5:10-12; stinginess 5:18-20; uncertainty 5:13-17, 6:1-6), which one do you relate to most?
3. What's the key to using your money wisely, according to Ecclesiastes? See Eccl 5:18-20
4. "Life is a gift to be received and enjoyed, not gain to be earned and controlled." What does that mean?
5. How does the certainty of our death and the brevity of life alter how we should think about our money? See Matt 6:19-21
6. Does God want us to be rich?
Stefan Thomas has two guesses left before he loses more than 400 million dollars forever. Thomas was given a special USB drive called an Ironkey that gives users ten attempts to unlock it before it seizes up and encrypts its contents forever. Thomas has tried all of his most commonly used passwords, and none have worked. He misplaced the piece of paper that contained the password and is unsure what to do. There is no “forgot my password” option. The drive contains a payment of 7,002 Bitcoin that Thomas received for making a video in 2011 explaining what crypto-currency was to the public. At the time, Bitcoin were as valued at just under a dollar. Today? One Bitcoin is worth just under 60,000 dollars. In a USB drive, smaller than his thumb, Thomas has a fortune of 405,377,078.94.
But he has only two guesses left.
“I would just lay in bed and think about it,” Mr. Thomas said. “Then I would go to the computer with some new strategy, and it wouldn’t work, and I would be desperate again.”
“There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture.” (Ecc 5:13-14)
The book of Ecclesiastes has been working to show us that finding all our meaning, hope, and joy in this life is as secure as a fortress made of snow. The blazing sun of futility will rise and you will soon find yourself sitting in a puddle of despair. And of all the things in life that we believe are dependable in protecting us from the life’s uncertainties, few are as alluring as money. So, turn with me to the book of Ecclesiastes, starting in chapter 5, verse 8. You’ll find this in the pew Bible on page 555.
10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? ****12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. 13 There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger. - Eccl 5:10-17
Greed is the invisible sin. No one thinks they are greedy, and everyone can find someone else to point to who is more stingy, more materialistic, and say that's a greedy person. Let me encourage you, as we walk through this passage today, to open yourself to the possibility that greed may be a sin you struggle with. Let’s examine the many faces of greed, and then look at the certainty of death.
The Many Faces of Greed
Corruption
If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. - 5:8
Authority is a gift given by God to be used to protect and serve those under their authority. Parents watching over children, pastors watching over churches, kings watching over nations. This is God’s good design. But, the Preacher tells us that while the oppression of the poor is a tragic thing, it is a common thing—so common that you shouldn’t be surprised. Why? Because one high official is protected by one higher up, and they are protected by those even higher—they all are “looking out” for each other. This is the exact opposite of God’s design for authority. It is like firefighters driving around and starting fires. Why would they do this? We get a hint in the next verse, which is admittedly difficult to translate.
You may notice a small footnote in your Bible at verse nine that says “The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.” The ESV translates it as: “But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.”
I was helped with this by my friend Ryan Sikes who knows his Hebrew far better than I do. Ryan’s translation reads: “and earthly gain is over all (of them), (like) the ruler of a cultivated field.” In this reading, “earthly gain”—that is, greed, is what stands over all the corrupt authorities the way a person has dominion and authority over their own field. The lust for more is what cultivates this willingness to invert justice, the same way a farmer cultivates his crops.
Either way you read the passage, the meaning is clear: money is a powerful liquor that can dull the conscience of those who are supposed to be impartial. The doctor receiving financial kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies, the politician lobbying on behalf of a large corporation, the pastor avoiding confronting a wealthy member in the church on their sin…money can warp us.
How do you know if you are a greedy person? Are you willing to compromise your morals, convictions, or look the other way for financial gain, to keep your job?
Frustration
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12 Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. - 5:10-12
If you get married to money, it will be a sad marriage of unrequited love. You will give her your heart, and she will offer you no satisfaction in return. If you love money, you’ll work hard in life. You’ll make more money, your goods will increase, and after you cash the check and buy the home and check your portfolio you’ll find that the thrill and satisfaction is as lasting as smoke in your hands.
The Preacher contrasts the modest life of a day-laborer with the rich man. The simplicity of a laborer may mean that his plate is not as sumptuous and full as the rich, but his sleep is better. The rich man is portrayed as the glutton who has gorged himself and is robbed of sleep from his indigestion. If you’ve ever gone back for the second bowl of ice cream, you can relate. But this isn’t limited to food. The Preacher is telling us that there is an entire classification of problems that are generated by having more money that you would not have if you did not have that money. If you think hoards of money will cure your anxiety without qualification, you’d be mistaken. Less money may mean less comforts, but it may actually translate to more peace.
How do you know if you are greedy? Are you constantly frustrated with your financial situation? Is it never enough? Do you lay in bed at night worried about the problems that your hoard of wealth has generated?
Maybe you have heard the old adage that money is the root of all evil. That is close to being true, but it is missing a central word that the Preacher supplies, and the apostle Paul expands on: the love of money.
The Apostle Paul warned us in his letter to Timothy: “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Tim 6:8-10).
How do you know if greed resides in your heart? Do you desire to be rich? Do you love money? Do you find yourself immediately impressed with those who are financially well-off? Do you look down on those who make less money than you? Then be warned. You are walking into a trap that will kill you. Paul warns us that it is through the craving for money that some have wandered away from the faith entirely. Why would a desire to be rich lead some to walk away from Christianity? It must be because living for Christ will, at times, require you to walk away from gaining and keeping your money. We are commanded to be generous with our money, which means that if you are obedient to Christ, you will not keep all of the money that you could keep—but if you love money then giving it away will kill you, and you may eventually say: This isn’t worth it anymore!
Do you struggle with greed? How hard is it for you to give money away? To tithe to the church? To support missionaries or give to those in need? Or, to put it even more starkly: when was the last time that you altered your life, your plans, because of your commitment to generosity?
You cannot serve two masters, you will either hate one and love the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Stinginess
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. - Eccl 5:18
Later, the Preacher is going to ask: “Who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life?” (6:12). Well, the Preacher knows. He just told us what is good. He isn’t contradicting himself here—the question in 6:12 is just meant to highlight the rarity of the wisdom expressed here in 5:18. Here is what is good and fitting with the few days of life you have: eat and drink and find enjoyment in your work with the short time that God has given you, this is your lot. The “lot” is the prescribed boundaries and circumstances of your life given to you be the sovereign God. Remember our illustration of Ecclesiastes: you are not a helicopter pilot in life, you are a passenger on a train, headed to a destination that you did not choose, with no option of changing course or getting off. The destination is the grave, and the ride is much shorter than you think. This is your lot. Rage against it if you like, but it will not change the fact.
The question the Preacher is trying to answer for us is this: how do you enjoy the ride? A life of greed certainly isn’t the answer, but that doesn’t mean that a life poverty is better. He shows us:
Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. - Eccl 5:19-20
One of the reasons that God has given you money is so you could experience the joy of giving it away. But that isn’t the only reason. Here, Solomon rather shockingly tells us that one of the purposes of money is for it to be spent on enjoying life. Eat and drink, throw parties, take the kids to Silverwood. When you receive from God’s hand His gifts of wealth, possessions, then your life isn’t spent nursing all of the “why wasn’t my life like *this”—*you will be like children at Silverwood, who will not much remember the sore feet and sunburns, because your heart will be so preoccupied with the joy of the gifts He has given you!
Is the godliest person in regards to finances the person who always orders off the value menu? Apparently not. We may be surprised to find such positive teaching on wealth and possessions here in the midst of such dire warnings. But the Preacher does this often, like casting pearls into puddles, showing that while much of the human experience of wealth is dangerous, it is not inherently wicked. Later, rather surprisingly, the Preacher says:
Bread is made for laughter, and wine gladdens life, and money answers everything - Eccl 10:19
What’s the key to being able to use and enjoy money rightly? He told you in vs. 19: see that it is a gift from God. Your wealth, your possessions, the very power to even enjoy them, to accept and enjoy them—all are a gift from God. We could summarize the entire book of Ecclesiastes with one sentence: Life is a gift to be received, not gain to be controlled. Life is a gift to be received and enjoyed, not gain to be earned and controlled. The money that God has given you to steward right now, has been given to you as a gift for you to enjoy. Money sours when you start viewing it as not a gift, but something you earned, and something that gives you control over life. Money is how I protect myself from the future, money is how I guard myself from life’s uncertainties. Use your money that way, and it will turn into a mud puddle. But receive it as a free gift from God? Then it becomes a pearl.
Greed doesn’t always look like lavish spending and big houses. Sometimes it looks like the person who hoards their money and never actually enjoys life. Sometimes, it looks like the person who sees no value in the laughter that bread brings, or the gladness that wine offers—why waste money on luxury when we could save it! My wife and I subscribe to the Dave Ramsey method of handling our finances—we are big believers in no debt, in only spending the money you have, in saving for emergencies, in tithing to our church and supporting missionaries. I am not trying to undermine a life of thoughtful carefulness in handling money, not at all. But, there is kind of greed can hide itself as frugality and financial wisdom, when in reality it is just another means by which a person is using money to control life.
If you want to find out if greed resides in your heart, consider whether or not you are free to sometimes use your money for no other purpose than to simply enjoy life, to bless others with joy. God cares about your joy.
Uncertainty
There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14 and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15 As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16 This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17 Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger. - Eccl 5:13-17
Riches can hurt you. The picture presented by the Preacher is that of a man who, according to verse 17, fills his life with a solitary focus on making money; he burns himself up, works late into the night, wakes up early, till he is sick and constantly needled with frustration. He earns his wealth, but he pays dearly for it…only, to lose it all. They are lost in a moment in a bad investment. He reaches his grave with no inheritance to give to his son.
You can sacrifice everything to build the business, get the degree, climb the ladder, only to lose it all. But that isn’t the only evil that riches can bring:
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: 2 a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. - Eccl 6:1-2
Here is a man who has *everything—*wealth, possessions, honor—whatever his heart desires, yet…he doesn’t get the chance to enjoy them, but a stranger does. The “power to enjoy them” that the Preacher speaks of is likely referring to his life. This is the man who has everything, but before he is allowed to eat his cake, he dies and leaves it to another to enjoy. This is a “grievous evil” under the sun.
If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 For it comes in vanity and goes in darkness, and in darkness its name is covered. 5 Moreover, it has not seen the sun or known anything, yet it finds rest rather than he. 6 Even though he should live a thousand years twice over, yet enjoy no good—do not all go to the one place?- 6:1-6
The other scenario is almost the exact opposite. Starting in verse 3 the Preacher asks us to consider what it would be like if a man had a hundred children and lived for two thousand years…but wasn’t able to enjoy anything good in life…what’s the point? Everything is grey, cold, drab, and lifeless. If your soul is not satisfied with what money can buy, with the joys of family and legacy, then the Preacher says that a stillborn child is better off. This is a hard illustration to embrace. The Preacher isn’t attempting to minimize the pain of stillbirth or a miscarriage. He is just trying to show that the absence of life characterized by a stillbirth is a dramatic, but fitting comparison with the rich man who can’t enjoy life. It would have been better had he never experienced any of life’s good things than to experience them and be incapable of enjoying them.
Do you want to be rich? Consider how insecure money is. Maybe you sacrifice everything…only to lose everything in a moment. Greed has many faces; it can look like corruption, it can look like frustration, it can look like stinginess, and finally it can look like a life consumed with the anxiety of uncertainty.
But I wonder if you have caught a theme the Preacher has been slowly weaving into the text thus far? One commentator says that the further you study Ecclesiastes, the more you begin to smell the crypt. Death and money are wound together here.
The Preacher cites the book of Job in verses 15-16. Job was an exceedingly wealthy man who lost his entire fortune in a day and confessed: naked as I came from my mother’s womb, naked shall I go to the tomb. And, of course, this isn’t only true if you have some rare calamity befall you like Job. Job is confessing what is true for all of us. We bring nothing into the world, and we will depart with nothing. Whether you lose all of your money in a bad venture, or you die with millions in the bank—those millions will stay, and you will go. If you can buy a golden casket, it will not stop you from turning into dust. No amount of money will stop the grave. Do not all go to one place?
The Inevitability of Death
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. 8 For what advantage has the wise man over the fool? And what does the poor man have who knows how to conduct himself before the living? 9 Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. - Eccl 6:7-9
Much like the way you and I eat a meal, yet a few hours later find ourselves hungry again, so too does the accumulation of money fail to provide lasting satisfaction. It is a bucket with holes drilled in the bottom. By the time you scoop the water and carry it anywhere else, you have to double back to scoop it again. And if the meaning of your life consists in keeping the bucket of satisfaction from money full, then we—whether we are wise or foolish, rich or poor—are striving after wind. Better to enjoy what your eyes can see than fantasize about what you don’t have, to enjoy what is in the bucket, then burn yourself with frustration at what is lacking.
Why is life like a leaky bucket? The Preacher continues:
10 Whatever has come to be has already been named, and it is known what man is, and that he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he. 11 The more words, the more vanity, and what is the advantage to man? 12 For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? - Eccl 6:7-12
What does the Preacher mean by bringing up the statement “it is known what man is, he is not able to dispute with one stronger than he”? What is man? Man is finite, mortal, and brief. The reason that money is such a foolish god to hope in is because your life is so short. The Preacher says your life os only a few days…which passes like a shadow. Accumulating wealth takes time. But how much time do you have? We all live as if we are guaranteed long lives, but we are not. And whether you die a millionaire or barely scraping by, the grave levels us all. Naked we came into this world, and naked we all shall go.
Do you remember that scene from Aladdin where Aladdin and Abu enter the cave of wonders, and are told to touch nothing but the magic lamp? They are surrounded by mountains of gold and gems, and poor little Abu is just salivating, going insane with desire, so he leaps out and starts grabbing as much as he can, only to find that the walls start collapsing in around him, and eventually all of the gold melts into useless sand. That’s exactly what is going to happen to all of us. One day, you and I are going to watch everything we worked so hard for in life be taken from us. As we approach the doorway to eternity, our investments and accomplishments and money will be rendered utterly useless.
Which is why Jesus taught us:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. - Matt 6:19-21
Jesus isn’t only commending that we use our money for the kingdom of God, but also He is inviting us to recalibrate our treasure. We value gold and diamonds and gems here on earth because they are rare and precious. They are not common. Jesus here is inviting us to see how heaven’s economy works. What does heaven value, what do they believe is precious? All of the images of gems, and gold, and radiant wealth in the Bible’s description of heaven are all there to point you towards a far better kind of a wealth, a wealth that Peter describes as “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Pet 1:4). What is that? It is the only thing that matters: unveiled communion with the source of all beauty and glory and goodness—God Himself. To commune with the God whom we are made for is worth forsaking all the combined wealth of this earth.
In the kingdom of God, the man who forsakes that heavenly treasure—to be with God—for earthly money is as foolish as the man who quits his job because he has become so engrossed with all the money he is earning in the board game Monopoly.
Sometimes, preachers on television and YouTube will speak as if God’s will for your life is to become healthy and wealthy. Does God want you to be rich? Of course! God’s will for your life is that you would be wealthy in the only kind of riches that matter—not with the moth-eaten, rusty, perishable wealth of this world, but with the imperishable, undefiled, and unfading wealth of heaven. How do you do that?
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich,” (2 Cor 8:9).
Jesus was infinitely wealthy in heavenly treasure because He perfectly communed with the Father. But though He was in the form of of God, He did not count equality with God something to be taken advantage of, and so He humbled himself by taking on the form of man and becoming obedient, even unto death on the cross. If Jesus were to enter into a bank in heaven that didn’t measure dollars, but measured what heaven valued, what would His balance be? Perfect. Paul says that Jesus was rich in heavenly treasure. Now, following Paul’s own words here, let’s imagine we walk into that same bank…what is our balance? Do we commune with God? Do we love Him? Do we treasure Him above all other things?
If you are not a Christian here today and are under the impression that Christianity is about taking fairly decent people and making them better, then listen carefully:
Our standing in heaven wouldn’t read “fairly decent.” It wouldn’t even read “zero.” In regard to what heaven values most, our bank statement would read: “debtor…enemy of God.”
Our sins sunk us under a weight of debt that we could never pay back. Jesus, the One rich in heaven and rich in righteousness, went to the cross so that He could switch our bank accounts. Friend, if you know yourself to be a sinner in God’s eyes who has earned nothing but judgment, then look to Jesus Christ now. You have not valued God the way you ought to have, you have not received the money He has entrusted you as a gift, you have abused it as a means of gain. But Trust in Him, and He will take your debt, He will take your sin upon Himself, and pay its penalty in full with His own death. And, He will then credit to you His own righteousness. For your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
Friend, don’t lay up treasure here on earth where moth, and rust destroy, and thieves break in, and stock markets crash, and jobs are lost, and tragedies empty your lifesavings. Lay up treasure in the only secure place there is: in heaven.
Brad Yasar, another tech entrepenuer who has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in forgotten Bitcoin passwords, has hidden his hard-drives out of sight: “I don’t want to be reminded every day that what I have now is a fraction of what I could have that I lost.”
Christian, be reminded every day that what you have now is only a fraction of what you will one day have with Christ.
