Transcript
Perhaps like me you had the best of intentions at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown. Bake a bit of bread. Re-visit that musical instrument sitting in your cupboard. Work on that side-hustle you dreamed would bring in some extra income.
And then reality strikes 6 weeks later. Your sourdough starter is dead. Your ukulele still sits unpaid in the cupboard. And the ABN application form still sits in your downloads folder on your computer.
There have been some good things.
You’ve done things you never dreamed you’d be able to do like watch a Broadway Musical or Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre. All for free in the comfort of your own home in your PJs.
But when all is accounted for, your ambition is shattered, your assignments are late and you feel busy and stressed but you know that it can’t be! There’s nothing else for your to do!
It’s all meaningless. It’s all distraction.
What’s the point!
Speaking of the bard … Shakespeare’s known for totally getting the human condition and painting a verbal picture of our despair and joy and hardship with both humour and sincerity. People of all stripes feel like he gets them.
And yet when it comes to meaninglessness and distraction, Shakespeare WISHES he’d been the one to pen the words of Ecclesiastes.
Solomon, the wise teacher, king, son of David, he gets us.
He tried it all: wisdom, pleasure, folly, work, wealth, relationships … it was all meaningless.
He says:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. Ecclesiastes 1:1-5
Now here’s my play on if Solomon were writing Ecclesiastes during the Covid19 Lockdown:
“The eye never has enough of seeing, not the ear it’s fill of hearing.” Ecclesiastes 1:8
becomes “I’ve binge watched all the series on Netflix and there’s nothing new on Spotify to listen to.”
“I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly.” Ecclesiastes 2:3
becomes “Alcohol plus pranking the neighbours was not a good mix.”
“Acquiring a harem—the delights of a man’s heart” Ecclesiastes 2:8
becomes “Watching porn online to feel good in the moment.”
“I undertook great projects.” Ecclesiastes 2:4
becomes “Check out the new shed. I stood outside Bunnings for over an hour so I could get the supplies. Hear that tap dripping? No? Neither do I.”
“I amassed … the treasure of kings and provinces” Ecclesiastes 2:8
becomes “I’ve been using Online Retail Therapy to self-medicate for my quarantine.”
“I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone” Ecclesiastes 2:7
becomes “No one can beat me at Settlers of Catan.”
“I amassed silver and gold for myself.” Ecclesiastes 2:8
becomes “Nine weeks ago I bought stock in ZOOM. Just saying …”
“I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.” Ecclesiastes 2:8
becomes “Yeah, my TikTok went viral last week.”
Solomon says:
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 2:17
Perhaps like Solomon, you, too feel a lack of purpose and dignity in life, particularly in lockdown.
You lack reason for getting out of bed in the morning. Your life is missing a sense of worthiness or self-respect.
What did Jesus have to say about Purpose and Dignity?
Jesus entered a world, our world, in a time where like us people were finding their purpose and worth in wisdom, pleasure, folly, work and relationships.
And to these people, to us, he said, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. And “Follow me."
He asked for men and women to join him in his Kingdom work, to bring people into a right relationship with God. To love God and love others perfectly.
He showed us how the true wisdom of living found in loving God and loving others perfectly. He showed us how to feast and party with forgiven sinners. He showed us the foolishness of the world and its leaders in living for self. He showed us that to work was to lay down your life and pick up your cross daily, but the burden is not heavy for Jesus carries it with us. And to rest was to be found in him. And relationships are healed and restored when we love as he loved and serve as he did.
Our dignity comes from being agents of his Kingdom work. Spilling out in our COVID19, physically distant restrictions, the fruit of the Spirit of Christ: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
This is our purpose and dignity. To be as Christ. To love God and others perfectly.
This is our reason for getting up in the morning.
This is our “For what!”
Solomon concludes:
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:12-14
Perhaps you would love to know for yourself what Jesus taught and how he lived. You can explore a biography written by a contemporary of Jesus, translated from Ancient Greek into English, included in the Bible. Send us a message and we’ll connect you with a student who can read this biography with you or join one of our online discussion groups.
At University Fellowship of Christians we are in a unique position to speak into the University realm of conversations and ideas and worldviews and point those who are questioning, confused by the world's lack of answers where authenticity becomes the ethical standard.
Christians and churches (both local and further afield) partnering with us in this important work makes a massive difference in young people's lives as staff and students are showing up and are here for these types of conversations.