Worship While You Work Ecclesiastes 2.24

Worship While You Work

Ecclesiastes 2.24

     Work and wealth are things that a lot of people think about. Many people probably think about work and wealth more than anything else in life. Jesus talked about these things a lot, and He gave us important warnings about the temptation to greed. In my message today I'm going to focus especially on Ecclesiastes 2, and Solomon's wisdom about work and wealth. He was certainly one of the richest men who ever lived. We can approach work and wealth in unhealthy ways or healthy ways. Work and wealth can ultimately destroy us and separate us from God. Or, they can be a wonderful blessing for which we give thanks and through which we glorify God now and forever.

Solomon

     So, who was Solomon? He was the son of the Israelite King, David, undoubtably the greatest king of Israel. He has the unique distinction of being both the wisest person and the most foolish person in the whole world. A famous example of his wisdom is shown when two women came to him with a dilemma. They both had newborns. One had slept upon her child and smothered it. During the night she switched the dead baby with the living baby of the other mother. But that mother knew her own baby, and she knew that a foul thing had been done to her. She appealed to Solomon. He listened, and then decided to find out who was lying. “Bring a sword,” he said, “I’ll cut the baby and half and give one piece to each mother.” Immediately the mother of the living baby cried, “No. Let her have it.” With this Solomon knew who the true mother was. But Solomon’s foolishness is also well-known. One wife wasn’t enough for him. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines who turned him away from God. With that turning eventually came confusion, doubt, and despair. He talks about this a lot in Ecclesiastes. “I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure” (2.10). Yet, in the end, he found this to be nothing but “vanity” and “grasping for the wind” (1.14). Solomon talked about a lot of things that he thought would bring him pleasure and happiness. Work and wealth were two of them. Solomon was very wealthy and a hard worker. He had built the Temple and had built Israel into a great nation. But because he drifted away from God, all of this was worthless, “vanity,” as he called it. The same will happen to you and me if we let God drift out of our lives. No matter how hard we work or how hard we pursue happiness in this life, without God, it will all blow away like dust in the wind. Nevertheless, Solomon did find his way back to God. He repented of his foolishness, and he found the eternal significance and happiness that only God can give. In terms of work and wealth, he said it this way: 

Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God. Ecclesiastes 2:24

     The key words are, “This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.” Now, let’s expand on that and see how our work and wealth come from the hand of God. Here are four key concepts: Dedication, Thankfulness, Stewardship, and Spiritual Rest.

Dedication

     The Bible says, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Colossians 3.23). This is one of the first keys to finding significance and happiness in our work. Dan Doriani, a professor at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, wrote in his book* about work that many people, when asked about their work start out by saying, “I just…” “I’m just a truck driver.” Or, “I’m just a teacher.” Or, “I’m just a stay-at-home mom.” We all know there are people who do have really important jobs, but compared to them, we don’t feel ours is that important. Doriani goes on to talk about a guy who owned a hamburger place. Is he “just a small business owner”? No. He is honest. He pays fair wages. He produces good food for families to enjoy. He mentors young workers to inculcate in them a good work ethic. He uses the fruit of his labors to support his family, his church, and other charities. When your work is dedicated to God, everything about it is connected to God, and when it’s connected to God, it’s good.

Thankfulness

     In the Parable of the Rich Farmer notice how Jesus says "The ground produced..." Farmers work hard, but the food they produce depends even more on the sunshine, topsoil, and a few inches of rain. A wise farmer gives thanks to God for these things. Notice that the foolish farmer in the parable never once does this. Psalm 115 says it well, “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy and because of Your truth.” God gave us this earth. He gave us our life. He gave us our minds and bodies. He gave us each other. A Godly view of work and wealth always depends on thankfulness God.

Stewardship

     The Bible never condemns wealth. It condemns the love of wealth and the misuse of wealth. The Bible always commends Christian stewardship. The Bible is full of rich people like Abraham, Job, Solomon, The Wisemen of Christmas, Joseph of Arimathea, who donated his grave to Jesus (for only three days!), Lydia, and many others. But the one thing these people all had in common with each other is their love for God that was so strong that they had a kind of indifference to their wealth. I have often met people like this, and I truly marvel. The more indifferent they are to wealth, the richer they usually become. On the other hand, I have met many people who are hungry, hungry, hungry for wealth. They are always trying to make that fast buck. The vast majority of these people are never going to become rich. And the few of them who do become rich will end up like Solomon – frustrated – because life is going to come to an end. They’re going to find out, “It ain’t going with them.” And where they’re going there’s nothing to buy but the misery of life without God. John Wesley, the famous leader of the Methodist movement, once preached a sermon about wealth in which he said: Make as much as you can. Save as much as you can. Give as much as you can. I can’t argue with that. 

Spiritual Rest

     Dedication, Thankfulness, Stewardship: These are three marks of anyone with a divine perspective on work and wealth. But there is one more: Spiritual Rest.  One of the most famous passages in the Bible about work and wealth is found right in the Ten Commandments. “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” “Sabbath” means “rest” in Hebrew. As the commandment goes on it tells us to work six days and rest on the seventh just as God worked six days to create the universe and rested on the seventh. “Rest” here doesn’t really mean “go to the beach,” as much as it means, “go to church.” To be sure the beach is good because God made it, and He wants us to enjoy things like that. But He definitely wants us to go to church first where we remember our greatest treasure as Peter told us, "Knowing you were not redeemed with corruptible things like gold or silver from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but by the blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish or spot" (1 Peter 1.18-19).  By remembering them and by living them, we then can go on to enjoy everything God gives us. Paul explained it this way in 1 Timothy 6.17: "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” Take careful notice of these last words, “who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” God wants us to enjoy His blessings. But, it is in the remembrance that these are His blessings that we “worship while we work” dedicating our work to God, being thankful, practicing good stewardship, and always resting from our labors to listen to God. Out of this flows the next two verses: "Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,  storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (1 Timothy 6.18-19).

     This is exactly what Jesus was saying in the Parable of the Rich Fool. “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” There is nothing wrong with treasures… as long as our greatest treasure is God. 

Conclusion

     Throughout his book Solomon struggles to find anything good in this life because he was always looking “under the sun.” But when he began to look above of the sun, that is, to God; he began to understand the real meaning and purpose of life and the real path to happiness. Work, not because you have to, or simply to get as rich as you can. Rather, bring your work and worship together. Work with God in mind. Dedicate your work to Him. Be thankful for the rewards He gives us. Use those rewards wisely as a good steward for the sake of God’s kingdom and not only for your personal pleasure. Always seek the spiritual rest of God’s word and worship that your earthly work might be the better, and that you might avoid the temptations of laziness on the one hand and greed on the other. Amen.

* Doriani, Daniel, “Work: Its Purpose, Dignity, and Transformation” 2019

Michael P. Walther, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Greenville, Illinois

Eighth Sunday After Pentecost, August 3, 2025