S69E2 | When MEANINGLESS is MEANINGFUL | The Poverty of Wealth | Rev. Nick Korir

For those that are guests, can we appreciate our visitors one more time? We have many, many visitors today. We appreciate you and we welcome you. We are going through a series on the book of Ecclesiastes today. This is one of the final books that we've been going through the Old Testament. Over the past three years as a church, we have been going through the Old Testament. Next month and the month after, we're going to look at the book of Isaiah. But this month, we're looking at the book of Ecclesiastes. So we are now on chapter 4 to chapter 6. Just for those that were not here last Sunday, this is the breakdown for the month. The first sermon that we looked at last Sunday was the monotony of life, the monotony of life. Today, we're going to look at the poverty of wealth, the poverty of wealth. And we're looking at chapter 4 to chapter 6. I'll come upon chapter 5, but generally chapter 4 to chapter 6 talks about wealth. And Solomon speaks about this. Next Sunday, we're going to look at the reality of death and we'll conclude with a certainty of faith. With a certainty of faith. Now, just before we get into the message, please help me fill in this statement. You know you have made it as a Kenyan. You know you have arrived as a Kenyan when dash dash dash. Okay? Can you feel in that blank? You know you've made it as a Kenyan. You know you have arrived as a Kenyan. When? Can I give you some ideas? You know you have made it as a Kenyan when you send a Pesa to someone without even checking your balance. You just send. You know you have made it as a Kenyan. When you go for shopping in Naivas and you just pick things without looking at their price. You just pick them. You need them. And you pick them. How Wangali Bay you don't compare. You know prices to be able to see. So my brother and sister, if we compare prices, We have not arrived. You know you have arrived when you go to town, maybe you drive to town, and you don't know how to pay kanjo parking fees because You know, you have arrived. I think I'm saying all of them. Now, turn to your neighbor and tell them yours. You know you have arrived when you have made it. You have made it when this and that happens. So, Are you seated next to someone who has arrived? I'm a bad or a Kondjiani. Please encourage a brother or a sister. If you go to a petrol station, if you go to a petrol station and you say, jazz a tank. You know you have. Yes, you know you've arrived. Or when you go home, when you go home, you know, when you go home with all your relatives and everybody calls you chairman. You know you have arrived. Or you know you've arrived when your children start correcting your pronunciation. You know where they are and where you are. You know you have arrived. When they start correcting your pronunciation and you don't know how to tell them, do you know my teacher in Therift Valley used to tell me English. You know it is here. We today we want to talk about wealth. Tell your neighbor wealth. Now, some of us are thinking that this message is for the wealthy or this message is for those that are rich. If you're here and you desire wealth at one time in your life or the other, if you're here and you're trusting God to be able to increase your riches in one way or the other. Let me see by a show of hands. If your hand is down, God is seeing your hand and God will deny you that which you hope and you pray and you wish for amen. So if your hand is up, this is your salmon. Are we together? This is your salmon. We're talking about wealth. Now remember last Sunday we Solomon had wrestled. Solomon is a writer of Ecclesiastes. He had wrestled with the issue of happiness, the issue of fulfillment, the issue of satisfaction in life. And that's what we talked about last Sunday. And he explored knowledge, he explored accomplishments, he explored pleasure. But remember we talked about where true happiness is. That was from chapter one to chapter three. From chapter four we see Solomon shifting gears and Solomon begins with wrestling around the issue of wealth and the issue, issue of riches. Now many of you know Solomon probably, undoubtedly, was probably the richest man that ever lived. In fact, many people have tried to estimate his worth. And many people have said he was worth about 2.3 trillion dollars. Just to give you a picture of the wealth that this man had immersed. How many know that this man has the moral authority to talk to us about wealth? Amen. Amen. So we're looking at Ecclesiastes chapter five. Today we're looking at chapter five. I'll look at verse 10 to verse 20. And because of time let me just progress with the sermon. I'll make reference to the respective passages within this scripture reading that we are looking at. But today I just want to highlight two perspectives of wealth that Solomon brings out very, very clearly in this passage. There are two perspectives of wealth. Now the first perspective I have called it the hoarding of wealth. The whole, you know, I'm married in Murangah. Holding, Ecosida, but I hope I'm getting it right. The hoard, please read. Don't hear what I'm saying. Just read. One last if you can. Can we celebrate literacy in this place? Amen. The hoarding of wealth. And the other perspective that he gives, I'm calling it the holding of wealth. The first perspective, I've called it the perspective of greed. And the second perspective is the perspective of grace. Let me begin with the first, the hoarding of wealth, the perspective of greed. Now he shares with us the general principle in verse 10. Verse 10 of Ecclesiastes chapter five. Verse 10 says whoever loves money never has enough. Whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. And he says this too is meaningless. And the principle around the hoarding of wealth is the more you have, the more you want, but the less you are satisfied. His concern is how come the more you have, the more you want, but the ultimate thing is the less you are satisfied. And Solomon raises two issues in this passage that are associated with wealth, that many times affect your ability to be satisfied even if you're getting more. And I just want to highlight the two things that he highlights that affects your ability to be satisfied with the wealth. And I've called the first one worry, worry. The first one is worry. In verse 11, he says, as goods increase, so do those who consume them. Can we read it together? And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? Verse 12, the sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them what? No sleep. One of Solomon's observations is this. There is a hidden cost to wealth that many times we don't factor in our desire to gain more. There is a hidden cost in your wealth increasing. How many know and as Solomon puts it here, the more you have, the more people are on your payroll. The more you have, the more parasites surround you. The more you have, the more watchful you become. The more you have, the more the taxman comes for it. The more you have, the more you're hounded and Solomon brings out this issue and says, you need to recognize that as wealth increases, the number of people that depend on that wealth also does what? Increases. The more people you need to manage that particular wealth. You need bankers and lawyers and accountants and consultants. So he tells us that as your wealth increases, so do the demands around that wealth increases. But he says also, the more you have, the more you have to lose. The more you have, the more you have to lose. And that's why many times, and he describes it in this passage, he doesn't understand why the wealthy don't sleep. They stay up at night many, many times and why? Because of worry. They're worried about the wealth. But there's a second thing that he says sometimes can deny you satisfaction from the wealth that many times we pursue in life, which is worth and I've called it worth. The more you have, the more you realize that it actually doesn't matter. The more you have, the more you realize that it actually doesn't matter. From verse 13 onwards, he says, I have seen a grievous evil under the sun. Wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners or wealth that is lost through some misfortune. So that when they have children, there is nothing left for them to inherit. Solomon describes a man that is wealthy, but unfortunately this man is self-centered. This man is insecure. This man has everything that he wants. But unfortunately, he cannot experience the meaning, the worth, the significance that many times we pursue in wealth. He cannot experience that satisfaction that many times we're looking for in amassing riches. In fact, let me say this phrase. If you risk what you have to get what you don't need, you won't enjoy what you have and you might also lose what you need. If you risk what you have to get what you don't need, you first won't enjoy what you have and unfortunately sometimes you may actually lose what you actually need. How many of us here know that money can buy food, but money cannot buy an appetite. Money can buy a beautiful house, but money can never buy a home. Money can buy a pillow, but money can never buy peace and stillness as you sleep at night. And right in the middle of Solomon's discussion about wealth, we see Solomon bringing out his greatest critique about wealth. He brings out this critique in verse 18 and verse 19. Verse 18 and 19 says, this is what I have observed to be good, that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and find satisfaction for their toil under the sun because God is the one that has given it to them. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions and the what? Ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil because this is a gift from God. Solomon says the most meaningful gift that God has given us is not wealth, it is not riches. The most significant gift that God can give us is the ability to enjoy the wealth, the riches and whatever it is that God has given us. And Solomon here gives us the more meaningful and more important element of wealth and riches is the ability to do what? Enjoy. When our sons were about three years old, I promised them for their third birthday to buy them a gift they had talked about for a long time and I had saved for nine months a remote controlled car, a very big remote controlled car. And I had saved and on their birthday we went to buy this remote controlled car. You should have seen them picking it off the shelves as if it's gold, you know, and walking to the till and they, you know, when your son, the car is bigger than your son, but he can carry it, you know. He's actually carrying the car confidently, he doesn't want any help, he's carrying it so carefully, he put, we went all the way home but unfortunately we got home a bit late that evening but regardless what time we were getting home, there is no way that gift will remain unwrapped. So they unwrapped the gift, they tore the thing open and they removed the car and they realized the car needs what? Batteries. So I don't know why people do this. Have you bought gifts and they sell you the gift without the batteries? I don't know why in the world this happens. So then they realized this thing cannot do what? It can't operate, it can't work and they looked at me and I don't know why some of these cars have, they need like 16 batteries, you know, who in the world has 16 batteries, you know, lying around in the house to be able to put. So I kid you not, we scrambled, we went to every clock, you know the clocks you have in your house, we removed every battery, we went to all the remote controls, we removed all the batteries in the house, we scrounged all around the house because these guys were not sleeping. If they have not tried, they are gift. And finally by God's divine grace, we found enough battery and the batteries were working and finally you should have seen their face. When finally it lit up and they could move the car forward, backwards, the thing could turn, you could see their lives had never been the same again. But you know that's you and I. Many times God has given us so many gifts, but we celebrate the gift more than celebrating the ability or the power to enjoy it. And God says, stop focusing on the gift. Ask God for something more significant and what is more significant? The power to enjoy the gift itself. Because when more is a goal, guess what? Enough never arrives. The more you want, the less you are satisfied with what you already have and the less you are satisfied with everything else that God will be able to give us. The issue here is this. Many of us keep trying to solve a satisfaction problem by using more and it doesn't solve that problem. The point is possession is not equal to enjoyment. You can have and there are many people that have it all, but they have never ever enjoyed what they have. That's why Solomon dedicates an entire chapter and I ask you to go ahead and read chapter six. He describes the plight of a man who has everything but does not have the ability to enjoy. He focuses an entire chapter to describe how discouraging it is to have something and not have the power to be able to enjoy it. Now at the end of chapter five, he gives us the secret of how to enjoy. So let me look at the second perspective. So the first perspective is the perspective of what? Holding, which is the perspective of greed. The second one is the perspective of holding, the perspective of grace. Because holding says it is mine, it is mine to keep, but holding is different. Holding is a different posture. Holding says it has been entrusted to me and I am just but a steward. It has been placed under my care. It ultimately belongs to somebody else. It ultimately given to me by somebody else and I am just but a product of God's grace. God has graced me with this meal, this evening. God has graced me with these clothes. God has graced me with the vehicle that I have. God has graced me with the loved ones that I have. I am just but a steward of that which God has given me. What I want you to notice is at the end of chapter five, from verse 18 to verse 20, I want you to notice how many times Solomon mentions the name of God. He mentions God's name so many times. He begins by saying, God gives people wealth. He mentions God five times in these three verses and what he is saying, I want you to notice that his language has changed. I want you to notice that he has changed his tone. He is basically saying it is God that is the giver of wealth. He is reinforcing Deuteronomy chapter eight, verse 18, that says it is God that gives us the power to make wealth. He is reminding us where wealth actually comes from. I want us to notice the Bible is not anti-wealth. The Bible acknowledges that we serve a God that is generous and a God that wants to bless his people, a God that wants his people to prosper. Abraham was wealthy. Job was wealthy. Even if you went on to the New Testament, Joseph of Aramethia was a wealthy disciple. We see wealth being prominent within the scriptures as a product of God's blessing to his people. The issue here, the problem is not having wealth. The problem is this, wealth having you. That's where the problem is. When wealth has you and when wealth controls you and when wealth determines your life, that's where the problem begins. Wealth can be something either you steward or wealth can be something you worship. And Solomon is reminding us that we should not get ourselves to the place where we worship wealth. You know, this morning I just want to remind you, perhaps you do not need something else. Perhaps this morning what you and I need is the grace to enjoy what we already have. And that becomes the greatest gift that God can give you or that God can give me. Maybe you don't need another phone. Maybe you don't need another car. Maybe you don't need another house. Maybe you don't need another family. Maybe you don't need another promotion. don't need another promotion. Maybe you don't need another salary. Maybe what you need is the ability to enjoy what you already have. You went on holiday at the end of last year and many of us went on holiday and you are happy even if you are in the village you are happy but there are many of us that were happy until they checked their phones and on their Instagram page they saw their friends and where their friends were and instantly the happiness disappeared. Right there it disappeared. There's nothing about the blessing. The blessing has not changed. The village has not changed. The people have not changed. What happened? Your reference point has changed. It has moved from God blessing you with these loved ones. Blessing you with this home. Blessing you with this place. It has moved to your friends. Your reference point has moved to others. And comparison can transform a blessing into a burden without changing the blessing a single bit. One of the quickest ways for you and I to stop enjoying what God has given us is when we begin to compare ourselves with others and what God has given others and one of the greatest prayers you can make this evening as you get to your home and you sit in your living room as you get to your home and you sit on your bed to be able to say Lord thank you because this is my portion for today. I say thank you. I say thank you for this bed. I say thank you for this meal. I say thank you for this brother, this sister. I say thank you for my wife, for my children. I say thank you because this is what you have given me. Imagine the job you once prayed for is the job that you're complaining about. You prayed for the house that you're in. Remember when you prayed for it, now the house is too small. You prayed for the business that now consumes your life and takes you away from the most important elements of your life. You prayed for your children that are now an interruption. They are now the ones that are frustrating you and interrupting your life. You prayed for the opportunities that you are now even too busy to enjoy. There is nothing wrong with ambition, brothers and sisters. There is nothing wrong with growth. But ambition without contentment is slavery. It is slavery. Sometimes many of us are asking God what's next? What's next? And God is asking you have you enjoyed what you already have? Have you enjoyed what I've already given you? Some of us become very good at making money, but we have forgotten how to make memories. How to make memories with the people that God has already given us. And we see a generation that is now becoming so obsessed with extraordinary experiences that they have lost the capacity to enjoy ordinary blessings, the blessings that God has given us. Perhaps today your greatest wealth will be seated around the table eating dinner with you. Laughter with your children, tea with your spouse. That evening walk, sitting across a friend and just talking with them is your greatest wealth. Worshiping here with God's people. This could be our greatest wealth, but many times we do not see it that way. Enjoyment increases when God gives to you, but it doesn't end with you. When God gives to you, but you begin to allow it to flow through you to others. That's when wealth or you discover the greatest joy in wealth. When you don't buy things for yourself anymore, you're able to do things for others. It becomes 10 times more significant. Is your wealth a tool of enjoyment or is your wealth a tool of enslavement? Let me conclude by giving us what I call the enjoy principle and I want to leave this with us because I feel this is the secret that will allow us to unlock joy in every single gift that God gives us. We will be able to experience His joy in these gifts. I call it the enjoy your wealth principle. Number one, E, so that we can remember it easily. E is enough. Enjoyment begins