Meanwhile Back on Earth - 7/2/2023 Sunday Sermon

Meanwhile Back on Earth

Read Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:16 Meanwhile, back on earth… Let’s Pray!

Who is overseeing this world’s overseers? 3:16-22

Up to Ecc. 3:1, we saw “under the sun” 9 times, along with 3 occurrences of its sister phrase “under heaven.” That’s 12 times in 45 verses, an average of once for every 4 verses, and never further apart than 8 verses.

And so, not surprisingly, “Under the sun” occurs 5 times in these 22 verses, an average of once every four verses, never further than 8 verses apart.

Who is comforting those who have no have no comfort? 4:1-8

Solomon’s party days are over and he is now looking around and seeing the people he leads, and the people of other ethnicities, and he is finally overcome by how hard they have it.

Who will seek people out like God does in verse 15, who will find people in the depths of despair in time to offer them comfort? No one earth seems to care about lost souls? Do you?

Solomon’s conclusion: we are to comfort the shepherdless V. 9-16

There are individuals all around us in this city and county and across both state lines who are in danger of falling – won’t you be on the lookout for those you can help not fall? Won’t you be one of Jesus’ picker-uppers?

But remember this passage is for more than married couples- it’s about the power of having a Christian friend like I did in Doug Barr, who came alongside me and helped a fallen Dan stand, who helped warm a cold-hearted Dan’s heart, who introduced me to the love of God who still binds as as forever friends today.

Here’s what Solomon is saying in verses 13-16: I wasted YEARS selfishly looking after myself, setting a lousy example for me kids, when I could have been helping THOUSANDS of others with my time, my strength, my money – now I can only beg all the Jews and Christians who read this later not to be as foolish as me. I hope they hear me and become comforters of others before its too late for them to make the impact God wanted them to!