Workin' 9 to 5

Jon Ladd

The book of Ecclesiastes, infamous, divisive, settles a hypothetical as old as human thought: If a man could have everything he ever wanted, with no limits, could he be satisfied? One brave soul volunteered to put the question to the test, and he introduces himself as the Teacher. He was king over Israel for a time, and sought out what contentment and happiness there was to be found in this world. He even opens the book with an abstract to his experiment to keep you from suspense. Let’s see how it went.

“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’” - Ecclesiastes 1:2

Ancient languages can be so opaque. Tell us how you really feel, right? Clearly the Teacher’s search ended in, if anything, more existential angst than the average impoverished laborer of that time had. What went wrong for him? Well, that word ‘laborer’ was choice: the Teacher quickly found a relationship between work, meaning, and happiness. So he went on to tackle some major undertakings. He constructed for himself houses, vineyards, gardens, parks,  and reservoirs. Through toil he amassed untold wealth, slaves, singers, and concubines. In his own words, in chapter 3, verse 9, “I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me."

But you’ve read the abstract, you know how this turns out. Only two verses later he would write, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” (v.11)

One would wonder why achieving these goals didn’t satisfy, and one need only read on, for the Teacher himself knows what robbed his work of meaning. In chapter 3 verses 18-19 he writes, “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless.”

And there it is. Not only has the wise one answered our question to the negative, he has also told us why that is. Everyone dies eventually, and everything they loved or achieved passes on to another, or is forgotten. Those hearing this for the first time might be saying, “Wait, this is in the Bible? Like, the one with Jesus in it?”

The very same! And in this thick, complete, perfect book we will find the answers the Teacher could only catch flickers of in his searching as recorded throughout Ecclesiastes - answers that would touch on his exact yearning. What if there was toil that not only satisfied in this life, but whose fruit followed the laborer beyond death? What if there was a treasure that could not be diminished, and crossed over to eternity with the one to whom it’d been given? Praise be to God, who answered the yearning that burns in the heart of all fallen people, with the person of Christ Jesus, who the Teacher would have longed to know the way you and I do (Matthew 13:17).

Paul toiled to be the first to share the gospel in unreached regions of the world, working day jobs as he went so as not to be a burden (1Thessalonians 2:9; Acts 18:1-4), and not one hour of his work, which cost him nights of sleep and brought him many physical beatings, would go to waste. This is because all that his labor built was on the foundation of Christ.

“If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved - even though only as one escaping through the flames.” - 1 Corinthians 3:12-15

In this way one can labor unto life, and not unto death, and the sweat of one’s brow can turn to gems on the foundation of Christ, to His glory, instead of falling meaningless to the dust of the earth. It is not this work that saves us, but it is the only kind of work that will satisfy us, whether we achieve the goals we set out to, like the Teacher, or are taken before we see them complete.

“I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” - Philippians 2 16b-18