I was shocked to learn of the death by suicide of the son of a friend of mine. He was in his early twenties. He was bright, talented, and part of a lovely family. He left a suicide note saying that he could not go on. Life was not worth living. This was, by any estimation, a tragedy. It is even more tragic to realize that an event like this is becoming more common.
The media sometimes report the sad statistics about the increasing suicide rate in America. There is an epidemic of anxiety and depression among young people. One counselor said, “Kids are having trouble finding a reason to get out of bed in the morning.” They are seriously wondering if life is worth living.
The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible uses the word “meaningless” or “vanity” as a description of life. It means emptiness or futility. It refers to that which cannot satisfy. It is the Hebrew word habel, or Abel. When Eve gave a name to her son, she named him Abel. He died prematurely.
The writer of Ecclesiastes tells us, “All share the same common destiny — the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. . . . The same destiny overtakes all and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward, they join the dead” (Ecclesiastes 9: 2-4).
We are left with the impression that, apart from further revelation on the subject, that death is final, and that life is empty, meaningless, and vain.
Frankly, we have a hard time with this. We can’t handle the magnitude of death. When I reached out to my friend to express my sympathy, I struggled to find language to convey my thoughts. I finally told him, “There are no words!” I could see it in his eyes. The anguish was overwhelming. There was nothing I could say except, “I am so sorry. I am praying for you.”
Is life worth living? Some people answer “No!” Life is a trial, a labor, with little profit. Others say “Yes!” Life is a gift from God, and it is to be enjoyed. Ecclesiastes alternates between both points of view. The writer of the book is realistic. Life is both a blessing and a trial. The same baby that brings you so much joy can also grow up to break your heart.
In view of that, people generally live one of two ways. One way is a worldview confined to the experience of humanity “under the sun” without God. It is described a “folly.” The other worldview says we were created for a purpose and life is worth living. Ecclesiastes says this is the way of “wisdom.”
The former worldview says get all the pleasure you can out of life now because after death there is nothingness, extinction. The latter worldview says enjoy the blessings of life now. But know that life “under the sun” cannot give what only God can give, ultimate satisfaction and eternal life.
The book raises the question: how can we believe that life is worth living if everything seems subject to “time and chance?” “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise, or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11).
The children of privilege seem to have all the advantages. But in the final analysis they are subject to the same “time and chance” that overtake the rest of us mere mortals. What does the writer mean by “time and chance?” These are the unexpected circumstances that surprise us and upend our lives: a mass shooting, a pandemic, a hurricane, a young man’s suicide.
Is there an unseen hand of Providence influencing these circumstances and their outcomes? Ecclesiastes raises the questions but doesn’t provide complete answers. If this assessment of life seems dark and pessimistic, it is because the writer is observing life “under the sun,” which, apart from God appears meaningless, a “chasing after wind.”
But we are not left here. We are pointed in chapters 11-12 toward a resolution. The mood changes. Yes, “there are many days of darkness,” but we are being told to lift our eyes to the light. We are encouraged to reverence God, and to embrace life.
Life is worth living! There is a purpose for every life. God has “put eternity in our hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This means that he has put the yearning for immortality in every heart, a yearning that only he can satisfy.
Ecclesiastes does not give us a complete statement of life after death, but it launches us into the New Testament where we read that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Derek Kidner said it well: “Ecclesiastes asks the questions. Christ is the answer.”
Pastor Randy Faulkner