Wise Work in a Wicked World
The question for today is, “How do we keep our sanity while working in a wicked world?”
A great deal of work is oppressive. (4:1-3)
The opening verses of chapter 4 speak of the oppression of the poor by the powerful. Economic injustice was so severe and so pervasive in the Preacher’s day that he declared it is better to be dead than living and better still to have never been born, because the only alternative for many is a life of poverty, oppression, and misery. And why is he so pessimistic? Because he understands that at the heart of human nature stands greed and envy.
A great deal of work is generated by envy (4:4-6)
The greedy person’s motive. (4) Often the reason someone works hard is to have as much or more than his neighbor. Verse 4: “And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor.” Many of the things we buy, the cars we drive, the things we do are not because we feel the need for those things personally but because everyone else has them and we don’t want to be left out. We can bear to be outclassed by some of the people some of the time, but not too often or by too much. When our income falls below the average of our friends and associates, we suddenly feel discontent with our jobs, irrespective of whether or not our needs are actually being met. Competition and greed drive our economy.
Communism had as one of its principal goals the elimination of this competitive urge. That’s why in my trip to East Germany I found only one kind of automobile, everyone’s house was unpainted, and there was virtually no advertising. They were attempting to get rid of the envy factor and create a society of equality. We all know how miserably communism has failed, but at least it recognized the problem Solomon addresses. Many of us have bought so deeply into the economic systems of exploitation that we don’t even see the problem. Among those who do, the only alternative to the rat race is often seen as dropping out altogether. Solomon speaks about this alternative in verse 5:
The lazy person’s alternative (5). “The fool folds his hands and ruins himself.” Many of those who make up the welfare society, the homeless, and even the back‑to‑nature crowd have concluded that they can’t compete in the rat race, so they have quit trying. Solomon calls such a person by his real name, The Fool, for his alternative is as damaging as that of the greedy competitor. The text says literally, “he consumes his own flesh.” His calm and complacency is unwittingly bringing about self‑destruction, for he is wasting more than his capital. His laziness eats away not only what he has but even at what he is. He loses his self‑control, his grasp of reality, his concern for others, his sense of justice, and ultimately his self‑respect. But there is a…
A happy compromise (6). Verse 6 reads: “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.” The expression, “a handful with tranquility” conveys the twofold thought of modest demands and inward peace. Something of the same concept was conveyed by Plutarch: “He is a fool who leaves things close at hand to follow what is out of reach.” And Cervantes in Don Quixote wrote, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” The point is not that we should never take a risk or never attempt to achieve the unlikely. Rather we ought to have a satisfaction point, to know how to work without striving, to compete without selling one’s soul.
Proverbs 15:16,17 reads, “Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.” We need to learn that less can be worth more if there is more time to enjoy it. Some need to learn to say no to the company promotion that will take them to New York and offer a 50% increase in income, especially when along with that comes increased demands on time, increased pressure to perform, and increased temptations for the kids, while allowing have less time to guide them. Some of the moms who are working, not out of necessity but for discretionary income, should listen to Solomon as he says, “Better one handful with tranquility than two with toil and chasing after the wind.”
Now the issue of how riches are attained leads directly into his second point:
The loneliness of the workaholic (4:7‑12)
Verse 7: “Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless‑‑a miserable business!”
Solomon may be speaking literally here of the bachelor who has lots of money but no one to share it with. I remember reading a few years ago about the case of an elderly heiress who had stored something like $8 million in garbage cans in her house and was then murdered by thieves. She was so busy collecting money she never had time to ask the simple question, “Why?” But I suspect Solomon’s application is really broader than that. Having just spoken of the one who is selling his soul to the company store in order to keep up with his neighbor, he is now hinting that …
Friends are often in inverse proportion to wealth. (7,8) The wealthier one is, often the more lonely he is. I believe this is a profound truth that if widely understood would change a lot of people’s attitude toward riches. I have known some very rich people in my life, and with but few exceptions they are lonely people. They have lots of acquaintances but few, if any, deep friendships. They are often suspicious about people who show interest in them because so often such people have proven to be interested only in their money. They get fewer invitations to other people’s homes because their wealth is intimidating. Ordinary people wrongly suspect that the rich will feel contempt for their modest house, for example, when deep inside the wealthy would love to be accepted just for who they are. Seriously, do you think a college buddy would just pick up the phone and call Donald Trump to see if he can go to lunch? Just the fear of having to get through a half dozen switchboards and secretaries would be enough to keep most people from trying.
Once in a while, of course, you find a powerful and/or rich person who answers his own phone and acts like an ordinary human being, and how refreshing that is! Usually it’s someone who grew up wealthy and isn’t overly impressed with it all. The nouveau riche, on the other hand, the newly wealthy, often have their self‑esteem wrapped up in their wealth and feel compelled to show it off. And usually they are short on real friends. The critical point here is that friends are necessary for survival, and if wealth tends to limit friendships, perhaps we shouldn’t put such a premium on getting rich.
Friends mean survival. (9-12) In fact, they provide three key ingredients for our lives:
1. Encouragement when we fail. (10) “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” You have heard this used as a wedding passage, but it is not restricted to marriage. He is speaking of the benefits of any real friendship. Every one of us will hit bottom sometime. We may lose a job, confront a serious illness, face a possible divorce, watch one of our children get badly hurt—you name it. At a time like that we need a friend to survive, but, unfortunately, at such a time we’re in no shape to go looking for friends. So we need to cultivate friends before we fail.
2. Companionship when lonely. (11) “Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?” Again there is an obvious application to marriage. Of the many benefits of marriage surely one of the greatest is the privilege of snuggling on a cold winter’s night. But Solomon’s words apply beyond that; I believe he is speaking figuratively about companionship when we are lonely. We don’t only need a friend to encourage us or advise us, but sometimes just to be there. When you get a subpoena is there someone you can count on to go with you to court? When you’re in the hospital waiting for a loved one to be operated on, is there someone who will come and just sit with you until the ordeal is over, no matter how long it takes? When you’re feeling vulnerable and exposed and depressed and even disappointed in God, you need a friend.
3. Protection when under attack. (12) The enemy may be someone at work or school, someone jealously spreading rumors about you, someone capitalizing on your former mistakes to keep you down, or someone unwilling to even try to understand you. At a time like that you need someone to come alongside and say to that person, “Wait a minute, I know the one you’re attacking, and you’re not judging the situation rightly.” Recently a lady in our church suffered some very hurtful things from her inlaws. It was fantastic to see her husband come alongside her and say, “I’m on your side. If these attacks don’t stop I’m willing to cut off contact with my folks. You are even more important to me than my own mom and dad.” Hearing that from him gave her a security that couldn’t be bought.
Solomon concludes his treatise on loneliness with a proverb at the end of verse 12: “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” So far he has talked only of two friends; now he mentions a cord of”three” strands. Why? Some have suggested that the third strand that is needed to make a relationship solid and lasting is God. That’s possible. It’s also possible that Solomon is saying in effect, if two friends provide for one another encouragement in failure, companionship when lonely, and protection when attacked, three friends are even better.
However, as valuable as friends are, we need to realize that…
Friends don’t just happen. We have to invest in friends. Allow me to mention very briefly a few factors that militate for and against friendship.
1. Societal factors. We live in a culture and society that is becoming increasingly privatized and individualized. As we increase in wealth, we have less need to lean on our extended families or our neighbors or our fellow‑church members. We also live in a very mobile society where it is hard to put down roots. During the past year we have lost 75 people from our church to corporate transfer. Some who are subject to transfer choose not to make deep friends because of the pain of severing them. Then too our society is so incredibly busy, with dad working 60 hours and mom driving sixty hours a week, taking the kids to dance lessons, T‑Ball, cheer leading practice, etc. All of this militates against friendships among adults.
2. Group factors. Most groups struggle with cliquishness simply because people have a natural tendency to gravitate toward those they are comfortable with, and all of us are more comfortable with the known than the unknown. As a local church grows, size alone works against friendship for several reasons. It’s easier to slip in and out unnoticed, it’s harder to know when someone is missing. A group must work intentionally to counteract these problems by providing opportunities for interaction, for social contact, and smaller group fellowship.
3. Individual factors. I’m convinced that the best way to get friends is to be friendly, but that means more than being pleasant or even available. There are characteristics that we can cultivate that will help us make friends. A positive person will generally have more friends than a negative person, an affirming person more than a critical one, a person who is interested in others more than one who is self‑absorbed, one who allows others to have space more than one who is possessive.
Now the societal issues are pretty much beyond our control, but the group and individual factors we can deal with.
Advancement is often meaningless (4:13-16)
Note: This lesson was cut short for some reason, so I simply offer you Walter Kaiser’s comments on 4:13-16:“How fleeting and altogether temporary is the popularity accorded men. What does it matter if a man even has royal power? In one case, the old king, although born to the throne, becomes foolish, senile, and unable to discern that his days of ruling are over. In another situation, a young but poor wise man may, like Joseph, rise from prison to the throne. Such are the constant ups and downs of life, for although the young man was welcomed at first (v. 15), he, too, will no doubt share his predecessor’s fate: “Those who come later will not be pleased with him.” (v. 16). How fickle people are! Today’s hero is tomorrow’s bum. While rulers tremble and diligently seek to make their thrones secure, the people clamor for change and revolution. Now how can the plan of God encompass the likes of that?”