Ecclesiastes 4:1-16

OK, well, my name is Kent Del Housaye. I'm a pastor, so it's OK, I'm a pastor. I've been doing it for a long, long time. Pastored churches in California, Arizona and Idaho. Dave Gibson is a good friend of mine. And so when Dave is out gallivanting around the world, he called people like me and said, “Hey, would you step in for me?” So Dave is in Quito, Ecuador, right now having a great time, I'm sure.

But today we're together and he told me you were going through Ecclesiastes and called me about the passage I have and I got to talk to you about power this morning. I'm like, thanks, Dave. It's a great way to start the day, but it's going to be good. It's going to be really good.

Before I begin and talk about this, though, a little about me. Just so you know who I am, in addition to being a pastor, I'm actually involved in an organization called Idaho Family Policy Center. We are the organization that's been in the news lately if you've been tracking. Getting a lot of attention for having the audacity to try to put Bibles back in public schools.

That's us. I think you are in favor of that. And so we're working hard to create public policy that glorifies Jesus Christ. So Idaho Family Policy Center is a public policy ministry, the only one like it in the state of Idaho, but trying to advance the Lordship of Jesus in the public square and it's not easy. It's a battle out there. And yet I would love your prayers and your support of IFPC.

I am the church engagement director, which means my job is to go out and interact with pastors and churches. Which I'm great with because those are my people and these are my places. So here I am today getting a chance to do what I love to do the most, which is teach the Bible.

I'm a Bible guy and I love teaching the Bible and I get excited about it when I get the chance. So I'm going to have to hold myself back a little bit. I got a little bit crazy today, you know, kind of tell me, let me know, OK? But I'm looking forward to opening the Bible for you today. And I'm told this is a church where people actually have Bibles. So if you have a Bible, I want to invite you

to turn to the book of Ecclesiastes with us this morning. And we're going

to go to chapter 4 and we're going to talk about the vanity of power.

Just a word about Ecclesiastes. This is a book. It's the Journal of Solomon.

Who actually called himself Coheleth, the teacher. And this book is basically a cautionary tale. It's his admonishment and advice about how to live your life. He's kind of done it all. And now he says, here are some things you should do and some things you should not do. Pursue this and don't pursue that. And this is an old man's reflection in his personal journal about life on earth and how we ought to live. And today we're going to talk about another caution. And this is important because you might know this, but one of the greatest accusations against all religion in the world is that it's all about power and control. That is the biggest accusation.

Now, I cannot speak for other world religions. I can only speak for the Christian faith. And I know for a fact it is absolutely not about power and control. The way of Jesus is about service and love.

And so we're going to talk about this difference. Way of living life that Jesus brought. But long before Jesus came along into this world, it was Solomon Coheleth who shared wisdom about God's plan for us and how we ought to live it. So as we get in this morning, I want to pray real briefly and ask God to bless our time in the Word.

Heavenly Father, thank you for everyone here, Lord, getting us together to worship you Lord, to proclaim your name and to declare your word. And I pray today, God, that you would speak in and through me. You give me the words to encourage us, your people, Lord, that we would follow you and do what you say. And so, Father, as we talk about wisdom and about the vanity of power today, I pray that we would learn to more faithfully walk in the way of Jesus and to live a life of service and love to others. So God open our eyes, challenge us and I pray that you would speak to us and through us in Jesus name.

Amen.

So I want to frame today's talk with a quote from John Adams, who wrote in his old age a letter to his friend Thomas Jefferson. And here's what he wrote in his message. He said “power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak, and that is doing God's service when it is actually violating all of his laws.”

So in his old age, John Adams is warning. About the pursuit of power and people will use power in the name of God. When in reality, they're going against everything God has to say. So beware of the person who comes to you

and says the way of Jesus is the way of power. That is not the way of Jesus.

Power is a fascinating concept. There is a good power and there is a bad power, right? There is a good power that comes from the Lord and power to transform, the power to do miracles, the power to change things, the power to save. There is a lot of wonderful power that comes from God. But then there's another kind of power that is human and people pursue it for a purpose and it's easily misused and often abused. It is the power to manipulate and control other people. And now we see this on display all the time in the world, people pursuing power, misusing and abusing it.

It was Francis Bacon who once said “it is a strange desire to seek power and yet lose liberty.”

So there's an interesting caution here about the pursuit of power. And Solomon is going to tell us today that pursuing power is vanity. Now, vanity gets misunderstood. Oftentimes it's rendered as meaningless. And whenever he says this is vain or that is vain, people think, well, he means that's meaningless. So why bother writing the book in the 1st place if it's so meaningless. Why are you telling us about it? No. Vanity means vapor. It means brief. It means temporary. It goes like smoke through your finger.

It disappears like the wind that passes by. So therefore deal with it in the present.

And oftentimes when something is vanity, there is something good about it and there's something bad about it. It can be used correctly and it can be misused and abused. And so this is a cautionary warning here in Ecclesiastes 4 about the pursuit of power as vanity.

And so what we're going to do here today is talk about the four problems.

The four problems with pursuing power And so if you have a job or you go

to school or you have a house with people in it, you live in a neighborhood.

You live in a community. Power is an issue, power over others. Now, some of it's legitimate, some of it is official and it's formal. Other forms are not. And yet what you'll see in life is this consummate desire of people to climb over other people, to control them and manipulate them and have power over

them. That is not the way of God. And we're going to prove it today.

So if you look at Ecclesiastes chapter 4, we're going to talk about the Meaningless escaping this meaningless vain life. And the first thing I want you to see is this work, and that is so cool. This is the coolest podium. You got to see it sometime.

E. Power is vanity because it leads to oppression (4:1-3)

Power is vanity, first of all, because it leads to, and here's the first caution, oppression. So let's read verses one through 3. Here's the first caution about the pursuit of human power, Solomon says, “Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and behold the tears of the oppressed. They had no one to comfort them. On the side of their oppressors, there was Power. And there was number one, to comfort them. And I thought the dead who were already dead, more fortunate than the living who were still alive, but better than both, is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.” This is a caution. Solomon here in chapter 4 is now launching into a discourse on the vanity of power. And he said, I'm observing

something, I'm seeing something in the world, and it is this human being who gets power. And then all the people who suffer because of it. And then he says twice, that the people are not comforted, they are controlled.

Now, this is all kinds of things to say about the government, isn't it? We can draw all kinds of conclusions about the purpose of government here, and yet the caution here is that power can be misused and abused, he said. Again, I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. On the side of the oppressors, there was power. Power. What is this power he's talking about? The Hebrew word for power is this word coak, and it refers to strength, might, or force that can be misused to control, to manipulate, and to exploit others.

Jesus taught us that this is not the kind of power that we are to pursue. This is not his ideal. And even though the world says all religion is about power and control, they do not know the teachings of Jesus then, because Jesus.

Told his disciples very clearly, very clearly, that this is not our way.

We are not trying to assume power to control, to manipulate other people. Instead, you're called to serve them. And I want to give you the example in Matthew chapter 20. This is the passage where the mother of James and John come to Jesus and say, hey, you know, we want a little favor. Could you

let my son sit on your right and your left in the Kingdom of God? And what did Jesus say? It is not mine to give. It's the father's and then he does a little bit of teaching about the way. Of Christ. In these verses Jesus calls them together and he says, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them. They're great ones. Exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant. Whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. And to give his life as a ransom for many.

So here's this collision course where James and John are seeking power, are seeking positions, seeking authority, and Jesus said time out. That is not the way it is for you. That is not what this is all about. It's not why I came. It's not why I exist. It is not my ministry. I came to serve, not to be served. So to follow me means to do the same thing. He said the leaders of the Gentiles,

That's how they lead. They dominate, they control, they manipulate.

Literally the authority is down. They exercise authority down on others, they Lord it over them. But it will not be that way among you. In other words, that is not the way we do it in the church, not the way we do it among my people. No, you are called to serve, not to control. There was an author who once put it this way. He said the cancer to the greatness of a man or woman is not the desire to be better.

But the oppressive mentality is better than. Someone else? That is so true. I had a high school pastor that used to teach us when I was in high School. He used to talk a lot about how when you are in

Christ you may be better off. You are not better. And this whole elitist

mentality is not consistent with the way of Jesus. You're better off because

you've been forgiven, you've been saved. You know where you're going when you

die. That's a gift.That is not an excuse to see yourself as better than other

people. That's just not the way of Jesus and certainly not to control or

manipulate other people. That is human fallen power.

And that leads to oppression. It leads to grief, it leads to disaster. And when we see this played out on the world stage. Governments around the world, it does lead to grief, watch people suffering in countries where there is power exerted upon them. Freedom is something that we value and celebrate in this country, and we're grateful for it. It is a gift. It's also consistent with the Gospel. So instead of pursuing power, pursue something else.

F. Power is vanity because it leads to Corruption

We'll talk about what that is next. Second, caution. Power is vanity because it

leads to corruption. Here's another admonition. Here's another concern, Solomon writes. “Then I saw that all toil and all skill and work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and is striving after wind. The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh”

That's not cannibalism. Eats his own portion, is what it's saying. “Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and striving after the wind.” Solomon here is now attending to another cautionary tale about power. If you pursue power, it will lead to corruption. He said I saw all this toil and all the skill.

The work comes from a man's envy of his neighbor. Do you see this much today? You've heard a phrase keeping up with the Joneses. I don't know the Joneses are, but we're all trying to keep up with them, apparently. But now it's not just keeping up with the Joneses, it's doing better than the Joneses, right?

Envy is something that is very deep and very profound, and we all see envy of neighbors all over the place, especially this time of year, the envy of his neighbor. This word for envy in the Hebrew language is this word keena, and it

refers to an intense, emotional kind of jealousy. That consumes us. It's the kind of envy.

You're always thinking about it. It never leaves your mind. It's always sitting in there. Gosh, I wish I had. If only life would be better if I had this or I had that. How come they get it and I don't? How come they have it and I don't? This is called envy. And it's interesting because Jesus, when he was crucified, we can learn from the New Testament. There's an episode in Matthew 27 where Pilate.

Actually says in his judgment on Jesus before his crucifixion. It says that he knew that it was out of envy that they delivered Jesus up to the cross.

This is in Matthew 27 verse 18. Pilate knew, He knew. It was so obvious that the religious leaders delivered Jesus up to be crucified because they envied him. Why did they envy Jesus? Well, His teachings, His miracles, His followers, His claims. They did not have the influence among the people, and Jesus was undermining it. Who is this guy to come along and steal our power? And up until this time, the religious leaders had power and manipulation over the people. People did what they were told by the religious leaders. And then Jesus

came along and upended that, and they were envious of him. And that's why they killed him.

That's why they turned on him. That's why they threw him on the cross and tortured and killed him. Because of envy. So if you wanted a biblical argument against envy, you got. Why would we ever want to be involved in something that put Jesus on the cross? Why would you ever want to participate in something that actually is so corrupting it eats your soul like a corrosive acid? If you want to be an unhappy, miserable person, then be an envious

person, never looking at what God has given you and how He provides for you, but always looking in somebody else's lot and saying I wish I had that. Oh life would be better if I had this. That is not the way of Jesus and that is a form of power, power manifested in our souls.

This corrupting, ongoing, unquenchable, insatiable thirst to have what other

people have. And the thing about envy is, it never stops. In fact, the story is told that Rockefeller, famous John Rockefeller, was asked the question how much is enough. John, and his response was just a little bit more. Just a little bit more you're going to find among people who supposedly have it all that it's never enough. It's never enough.

And envy feeds this. You've heard the phrase power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And there's truth to that. Why and how? Because it feeds an insatiable, sinful envy. That is not the way of Christ. It is not the way of Solomon. And so he's cautioning us against it. Better is the person who leads in quietness. Satisfaction contentment.

To be thrilled with what God has provided you, that always envying

what others have. So don't be corrupted by the pursuit of power.

I normally preach for like an hour and a half, so I've got to shorten it up a little bit for you here. No, I'm just kidding.

G. Power is vanity because it leads to Isolation

Power is vanity because it also leads to isolation. Oh, this is a big one. Look at verse seven. Another caution here. Solomon writes, “I saw vanity under the sun, one person who has no other, either son or brother. Yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks. “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure? This is the vanity and an unhappy business.” And then here, interestingly, is the famous passage about relationships and friendships. Why did he drop it here? Well, we'll talk about that. He writes, “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him who was alone when he falls, and has not another to lift him up. Again. If two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, 2 will withstand him. A three fold cord is not quickly broken.”

Solomon here is cautioning again about the pursuit of power and saying when you are focused on having power, on accumulating power and control, in other words, when you're climbing the ladder and you want to be the boss and you want to have control, you're going to give something up along the way. Guess what? It is relationships.

You're going to give up people. I have 3 kids. My oldest is 18 years old, he's about to graduate high school. I have a 16 year old and I have a 12 year old daughter. And my oldest boys are in that stage now. They want to go out and make money. Like I want to go out into the world and make a lot of money. And my oldest is like, I want to be an investment banker.

And I said, man, oh gosh, I want to tell you, son, I had friends who went and did that. They went to college and got an economics degree, and they went to Wall Street and became an investment banker. And they worked for 10-15 years. They became millionaires, but they worked 100 hours a week. And they had no relationships, no wife, no children, no life, nothing. And I talked to them after the episode and said I got a whole lot of money and I worked really, really hard and I got all the things the world says I should have, except people.

And they're the lonely ones.

To step on other people along the way in the pursuit of power leads to a sad isolation, a lack of relationships. You've all heard the phrase life is lonely at the top. You've heard that. And if you read the biographies of people, how many of them are out there you can read? I've read several of them. And always at the end they say, gosh, if I could live life again, I wish I'd worked more. I wish I'd made more money. I wish I had gotten that second home or that boat. Nobody ever says that. Nobody. There's not a book in the world, I don't think. I haven't seen it that makes that case. Every one of those books says at the end, I wish I had paid attention to my kids. I wish I had more balance in my life. I wish I knew when to call it a day and go home and be with my family. I wish I had chosen a different career that didn't eat. But I was so consumed with accumulation about having it all that I got nothing. Ended up empty.

And everybody gets to the end and they evaluate their lives. I just had my parents in town visiting. They're 75 and they were here for Thanksgiving. And they're in this stage of life at 75 where they're reflecting about everything in

their lives. And they just reminded us of Thanksgiving, that they don't remember all the stuff. They don't celebrate all the stuff. They said it's all about the relationships, It's all about my friendships. It's about the people in my life. And, and they said all we want to do is make memories with our family. That's all we want to do.

And I've heard that over and over and over again as a pastor, I hear people say that. And sooner or later you've got to believe them. Sooner or later you hope the kids will listen and be like, gosh, because every one of them says, well, it's not going to be like that for me. It'll be different for me. It won't. It's the same tale told over and over again. If you want to pursue power, you're going to be lonely because you cannot have great careers and lots of money and lots of stuff and have really formed relationships with others. You got to choose like Jesus said.

Can't serve God and Mammon right. Mammon is not just money, it's power, it's influence. It's the world. You can't have it all. No matter what the world says, you can't have it all. You're going to make a choice. Is it going to be the stuff, or is it going to be the people? It's relationships. So Solomon is saying

here, “Two are better than one.”

Better to have relationships than have all the stuff. And this is an old man who's lonely because he pursued all the stuff. He had 1000 ladies in his life, but he was lonely. He had all the riches, more than anybody in the whole world, and yet he was lonely. So you choose to listen to that and say, maybe Solomon. Is a cautionary tale.

H. Power is vanity because it leads to ignorance

Power is vanity because it leads to ignorance. And he finishes up on this. He goes on to say he was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice. For he went from prison to the throne, though in his own Kingdom he had been poor. I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that youth who was to stand in the King's place. There was no end of all the people of all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this is also a vanity and a striving after the wind. So one last caution about power, if you make power your pursuit in life.

You will end up ignorant. That's not a typical thing you'll hear. Well, what you're saying is if I pursue power, I become naive, I become more ignorant, dumb. Yes, that's what Solomon is actually saying here. Better was a poor and a wise youth than an old foolish king. Who and what does it say? No longer knew how to listen to advice. One thing that's noticed about people in power.

If they don't listen to others. They don't listen. Their counselors get fewer and fewer and fewer. And generally, the more power you have, the less you trust other people. We just talked about relationships. And so you're so smart, you're so ready, you're so put together that no one can teach you anything. And you're good. People around you get silent because you don't listen.

The foolish man or woman is the one who no longer listens to advice. And he's warning about that. If you want to be a powerful person, well, you might get power, but you will lose your awareness, You will lose perspective. It leads to ignorance, the Hebrew word. Here in the book of Ecclesiastes, there's this diametric relationship between wisdom and foolishness. Pastor Dave's probably been talking about it, but the word shakam and the word kazil, chakam for wisdom and kazil for foolishness, and the whole book contrasts these two ideas.

There is wisdom and there's foolishness, and they are opposites. And in wisdom literature like the book of Ecclesiastes. The difference between a wise person and a foolish person is listening. If you want to do a litmus test to find out if someone is a wise person or a fool, watch if they listen. If they listen or they tuned out, the wise person is the one who, according to Solomon, fears the Lord and obeys His commands. Fears the Lord and obeys His commands. The fool is the one who does neither. A wise person is the one who listens to God.

Throughout the Bible, the word for listen and the Old and New Testament

means two things. It means to hear and obey. I've had this conversation with my kids all the time. What's the difference between listening and hearing? Hearing means you just hear us talking. Right. He said, oh, I heard you Dad, I heard you. Well, why did you do what I said? Because I don't want to or because I, I, I'm tired or I'm, I don't want to do that right now. Can I do it later?

No, no, no, no, no. If you say you listen to me, you will hear what I say and you will do what I say. And in fact, the Bible says you are not hearing and listening to the Lord. If you don't obey Him, you can memorize all the scripture you want. You can have all the Christian life worked out and have to go to church every Sunday and look really nice and clean on the outside. And in reality you don't obey what the Word says. You live your own way. You are not listening to God. The wise man or woman listens to God, which means they

hear and obey.

And Solomon commends this. He said it's better to be poor and young and wise. Then to be old and rich and foolish. You see that? It's better. And why? Because the young, wise, poor person will replace the old, rich, foolish person. That's the justice of God played out. And we've seen this happen before. And if you haven't noticed it, watch it. People will be exalted when they humble themselves. Have you noticed that pride doesn't the Bible say, comes before the fall. And great is the fall, but humility before the Lord, which is listening, it's hearing, it's obeying, leads to exaltation. And Solomon is saying that right here.

So what can we learn from these 4 warnings?

Power is vanity because it leads to oppression, corruption, isolation and ignorance. It is not the way of Jesus. It's not the way of Coheleth. It is the way of the fool, not the way of the wise person. So then what would Solomon commend? Like, what would you say we should do if we shouldn't be pursuing power and control and manipulation and to climb the ladder? And I told people this. I've managed lots of people in my life in roles I've been in and I got to say, management is overrated, folks.

Managing people, like really everyone wants to be the boss until they become the boss. Or like being the boss stinks. Spare you the pain. Instead of pursuing that, what should we be pursuing? So I want to give you 4 things that come out of this chapter. Solomon himself does give us 4 things we should be pursuing instead of power. Are you ready? If you're taking notes, we're going

to go through these quickly

#1 Instead of control, pursue comfort. Not comfort for you, comfort for others. Instead of wanting to control other people, be a comforter of others. How does that work? A comforter meets the needs of others and puts their interests first. A selfless person does not focus on their needs and desires, but focuses on somebody else's needs and desires. In other words, not getting power, but giving it away. Seek the comfort of others. In fact, this is what he said in the first part of the chapter. Twice. He said there was no comfort. There was no comfort. So what he's saying is there should be comfort. You should be comforting other people. Power is a wonderful thing when it's used to comfort others, not to control them. Does that make sense? Power is a good kind of power when it's used to comfort and protect. And care for other people rather than controlling them.

#2 Instead of envy, pursue tranquility. In verse 6. “He said better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil. And by quietness, he doesn't mean sitting there and not talking. The word there means calmness, contentment, satisfaction, fulfillment. He's saying it's so much better to sit back and look at your life and say thank you God for what you provided me. I'm grateful for XYZ rather than looking at somebody else. Keep your nose in your own bag. This is my stuff, this is my lot. This is what God has provided me and I'm not going to measure myself by the Joneses. I'm instead going to look at my life and in quietness. Or satisfaction. I'm going to bask in the goodness of God in my life. We've all heard. Count your blessings, right?

Didn't we just do that this week? Thankfulness. Why are we told to be thankful? Because God is some dude in the sky who just wants to be thanked all day long. Because he's egotistical. No gratitude. And thankfulness serves us. It helps us. When you express gratitude and thanks for what God has given you, you do better. You're more satisfied. You're more fulfilled. Just put it to the test. Rattle off 10 things you're thankful for, and you will feel better today.

It really works. Solomon commends this.

#3 Instead of riches pursue relationships. I know, I'm only 49, so I'm still just a young pup. Wet, behind the ears, green, all that stuff. Now I feel like I'm getting older and I am, I can tell you because my joints are hurting, but you know, you're getting older when you have meetings with people and you start talking about your aches and pains versus like what you did that week. Anyway, I've been doing that. I'm only 49, so I'm in the middle stage of life, so to speak. And yet I already understand, I've already come to the conclusion that life is not about stuff and things like I at times I've fallen for that. I need to get this, I need to have this. And if I have this, I'll feel secure and content. But I really, really believe I'm coming to believe and understand and I believe other people who have declared. That life really is about relationships. It really is about people. If you don't have relationships, you have nothing.

That's the gift of the church, by the way, being a family. We have built in community, built in brothers and sisters in the family of God, so we are less lonely. And there's statistics out there that actually say that people who go to church are happier than those who don't because they don't have relationships. You have the opportunity for relationships in the family of God. It is not about the stuff, it is not about riches. It's about relationships. And then

4th instead of folly, pursue wisdom. I've been having this conversation with my boys. They're 18 and 16 and, well, you know, they make some interesting decisions in life and say a lot of really interesting things and do a lot of fascinating things. And I'm perplexed and befuddled and I cringe at times.

But I realized they're teenagers and they're trying to figure this out. But we're talking about wisdom. What's it like to grow in wisdom and not foolishness? And how does it affect the trajectory of your life? And is wisdom really more satisfying than foolishness? And I go, well-being a fool is fun. Yes, even the Bible admits it. It's fun at the moment. Being a fool may be fun in that moment when you crack a laugh and you make a scene. And you lose control. Maybe that's fun for the moment, but almost always you regret it, It's not so fun afterwards, right?

So don't fall for that lie. Folly may be fun for a season, as the Bible even says sin may be. Enjoyable for a season, but wisdom lasts and wisdom does satisfy.

Become a wise person. Seek the wisdom of God, which is to listen to God and obey Him. In Solomon's words, fear God and do what he says. That is what the end of the book says. By the way, here's the grand conclusion.

Fear God and obey his commands. That's what life is all about. That's wisdom.

So become a man or woman that listens to God, that hears and obeys His

word, and it will bring satisfaction and fulfillment. Now if you don't believe me, believe Solomon. Smartest guy to ever live outside of Jesus himself. Smartest guy. But it's notable that Solomon is not in the Hall of Faith. Have you ever noticed in Hebrews 11? He's not there, but his father is. Why was Solomon not commended in the Hall of Faith? Because he acted foolishly and he's warning us even though he's so smart. He was dumb. Don't be Solomon. This is his cautionary tale and warning.

This is the reality, God told Solomon. You know what? You've been a fool. And because you're foolishness, I'm going to strip the Kingdom from you. But because I loved your father. I'm gonna take it from your son. I'm gonna let that happen, but you just ruined your children's lives because you're foolish decisions. You wrecked the Kingdom of Israel because of your foolishness, Solomon, I believe this is after that has happened and he has rendered his judgment on Solomon and Solomon says, Yep, you're right, I got it.

So this is a cautionary tale, and you have to ask yourself, will I listen to what Solomon says, or will I listen to my own passions and pursuits? Friends, I hope you will spend some time this month thinking about these four things.

Instead of control, pursue comfort. Instead of envy, pursue tranquility. Instead of riches, pursue relationships. Instead of folly, pursue wisdom. And I want to encourage you because it might be a little bit much to take in right now, but to focus on one of those. Focus on one of them and justice maybe this month, the last month of this year as we go into the center of materialism in our culture, the center of all these, even though it's Christ birth and we know that there's a whole lot of other stuff that goes on this season, maybe focusing on one of these and say, you know, and instead of pursuing control, instead of pursuing power, instead of pursuing manipulation, I want to pursue tranquility this Christmas.

Or I want to focus on my relationships rather than the gifts. I want to focus on wisdom this Christmas rather than being the class clown. And making everybody laugh all the time. I want to say something meaningful to my son, I'm picking on him. But I guess. But my oldest son is working on the yearbook. They're doing the final year book for their senior year, and you have to produce a quote. And so we've been hounding him about finding like a decent quote that actually has meaning to it rather than some lyric from some song he

likes.

Like, hey, hey, son, why don't we pursue wisdom and pursue something that's meaningful and profound and theological and biblical. There's 2000 years of history of people who have said really meaningful, profound stuff in addition to Scripture that you can focus on. So whatever it is this Christmas, I'd love for you to choose one of those things to focus on. And maybe it's comforting.

Maybe you want to take this Christmas instead of comforting yourself, comforting others. Serve. You get the idea. So I want to do this. I want to just take a moment, give you just about maybe a few seconds to talk to God. Take one of those, focus on God and ask Him to help you with it. Ask for His blessing.

And then I'll close this in prayer. So just go ahead and close your eyes and

bow your heads. Take a minute and just talk to the Lord and then we'll wrap.

Heavenly Father, Lord, we are all before you today. We have seen your word. We have heard from Coheleth.

God, I pray that we have ears to hear and eyes to see and open hearts to receive the truth that Father, in a season, in a world that often makes everything about power and everything about control and everything about influence, God, I pray that we would actually embrace service and love and contentment. Father, I pray that we would push back on that narrative and remind the whole world that the way of Jesus is the way of service.

And sacrifice. I pray, God, that would reflect in our lives this Christmas, Lord, as we push back on the narrative of power and as Christians, in the name of Jesus, we would pursue things like the comfort of others, like tranquility and contentment in our lives, the relationships you've put in our lives rather than

the riches, and the wisdom instead of the folly. God, I pray that we would all pursue these things and that you would do profound work in our lives as we do.

Free us, God, from the pursuit of power. And empower us by your spirit instead to serve and love and give this Christmas. Thank you for your

word, thank you for your truth. We want to obey what you say in Jesus name. And God's people said, Amen.