Rev. David Holwick V [Very well-received]
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 13, 2014
Ecclesiastes 4:4-6
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I. Tranquility in Maine.
A. Our final visit to the Triehy cabin in Warren, Maine.
1) They bought it just after we got married but they can
no longer afford the taxes.
2) It is the last time we will be able to sit on the back
deck in the evening listening to the loons...
3) Several church families have vacationed in Maine this summer.
a) Very relaxing atmosphere, if you can ignore the traffic
jams on Route 1 going and coming.
B. Back to the rat race.
1) A friend from Ohio wanted to visit this summer so we gave
her our church schedule:
a) July -- VBS and Mission to Newark.
b) August -- Peach Festival and Lancaster for Moses play.
2) Summer always has less of some things, but more of others.
C. Can you find peace of mind within all the bustle?
1) King Solomon was a rare ancient person who could have
anything he wanted.
a) He was much like a modern person in that regard.
b) Solomon did a little of everything, always seeking
the best and most meaningful way to live.
2) His conclusion is very meaningful for today. #34583
a) You might call it the "Handful Strategy."
b) How you use your hands makes all the difference.
1> What are you grabbing onto?
2> Even more important, what are you letting go of?
II. Two-handful strategy.
A. What motivates your work ethic?
1) We often assume it is self-interest, otherwise known as
greed.
a) The more we work, the more we earn, and the more we
can buy for ourselves.
b) Solomon suggests it is more narrow than this - we work
so we'll have more stuff than our neighbor has.
1> Even if we don't do EVERYTHING so we can get ahead
of others, we do many things for this reason.
2> It can be a motive with a twist:
Consider this illustration from the Netherlands.
The national lottery there came up with a variation.
ZIP codes specific to one street are picked randomly.
Everyone who lives on that street -- and who bought
a lottery ticket -- splits the grand prize.
Sales went way up, and for an interesting reason.
It wasn't so much because everyone expected to win, but
because they would hate to have their neighbors win
while they sat it out.
If we can't get ahead of them, at least we don't want
to end up BEHIND them.
#64455
2) Focusing on material things alone is a dead end.
a) Solomon famously calls it a "chasing after the wind."
b) Billionaire John D. Rockefeller ironically said the
key to happiness is always just a little more.
c) You end up with two handfuls of stuff (verse 6) but
it doesn't bring happiness or contentment, and
other areas of your life suffer.
B. Surrendering to the rat race leads to loneliness.
1) In verse 8, Solomon says driven people can end up all
by themselves.
a) You become estranged from those closest to you.
2) Back in 1985, Charles Swindoll encountered a 47-year-old
guy who experienced this.
He had a high-pressure job and was very successful.
He worked six-and-a-half days a week and was on his way to
working seven days a week.
He was a classic, driven workaholic.
But in the process of getting ahead he had lost his
relationship with his wife and kids.
The guy said they were like strangers living under the
same roof.
His son would no longer speak to him.
His younger daughter told him bluntly, "I don't like being
with you anymore."
His wife was afraid of him.
This is a man who was earning six figures 30 years ago.
He had a country club membership, a luxurious car and a
private jet.
Yet he had recently been caught embezzling over $15,000
from the company.
They didn't put him in jail, but they made him pay it back
and then they fired him.
He had lost his job, lost his reputation, lost the one thing
that gave him identity, and his family was happier when
he wasn't around.
His pitiful question to Swindoll was, "How do I go back and
do it over?"
Tears were streaming down his face.
#64454
C. Most of you aren't that bad.
1) We love the stories of the unhappy millionaires because
we are not in that boat. Or are we?
2) You don't need a private jet to be in over your head.
a) Whether you are management or an hourly worker, you
face the same dilemma.
b) How much time are you devoting to your job, and why?
c) You need an income, but how big an income?
d) Is your family, and your friendships, suffering
because of your work priorities?
III. No-handful strategy.
A. Some answer the rat race by dropping out altogether.
1) They don't drive themselves to death.
2) But they don't produce anything, either.
3) You might call this the "No Handful Strategy."
a) Instead of grasping for things, they fold their hands
and go to sleep.
b) Solomon expands on this in Proverbs 6:10-11:
"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding
of the hands to rest--
and poverty will come on you like a bandit and
scarcity like an armed man."
B. The antidote to being a workaholic is not laziness.
1) As Solomon says, this ends up being self-destructive. 4:5
2) Too much work is bad but too little can be worse.
a) Everyone needs to do something.
b) Even if it is not a regular job, do something that
contributes to society.
1> Volunteer at the library.
2> Do some yard-work for a neighbor.
3> Do something in your church...
IV. One-handful strategy.
A. Produce enough to fulfill your real needs.
1) Strivers scramble to get on top but end up frustrated
and lonely.
2) Accepting a more modest lifestyle leads to contentment.
3) God is not going to measure you against your neighbors -
he measures you against you.
B. Relax the other hand.
1) Better a handful with tranquility than both hands full.
a) Not two handfuls, just one.
b) There is beauty in a simplified life.
1> Enjoying the quiet things.
2> The secret of Ecclesiastes - life can be enjoyed in
spite of its frustrations, if God is on your side.
2) There is a middle way between grasping and escapism.
a) Jesus himself worked very hard, but he also knew when
to get away and rest.
b) Is this a balance you are experiencing right now?
V. Keep your priorities in order.
A. Christians can be awfully busy.
1) Some have noted a few people in this church seem to do
everything.
a) And then we give the new assignments to them, too.
b) Which they should gladly accept, of course.
2) Is your busyness getting in the way of God's plan for
your life?
B. You can fit in more than you think.
1) Jar illustration: #5236
a) [Put big rocks in first.] Is it full? [Most said “no”]
b) [Then gravel.] Is it full?
c) [Then water.] Is it full? [Most said “yes”]
d) [Then sugar.] Is it full now?
2) What you can take from this:
a) It is always possible to cram more into your life,
up to a point.
b) But the big stuff has to go in first or it will never
fit.
C. What is the Big Stuff in your life?
1) Put God first.
2) Have an orderly approach to everything else.
3) Then you will learn the secret of contentment.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 5236 “The Big Rocks!” John Gillmartin, Gillmartin's
Sermon-illustrations-each-week, 000124-4, January 24, 2000.
#34583 “The Rat Race,” H.V.L., RBC Ministries, Abe Kudra Collection.
#64454 “You Can't Go Back and Do It Over,” David Holwick, adapted from
Charles Swindoll, "Living On the Ragged Edge" (Word Books:
Waco, Texas, 1985) p. 119.
#64455 “The Postcode Lottery,” David Holwick, adapted from "Selling a
fantasy," by Adam Piore, The Week magazine, September 6, 2013,
page 44.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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