The Bondage of Gangnam Style Ecclesiastes 5:8-20 What’s the Point!?! Sermon 08

Gangnam Style! That’s a hit song by South Korean musician, Psy and the first YouTube video to hit a billion views making it YouTube’s most watched video ever. We were trying to decide who had the most Gangnam Style on staff. What do you think? (Carson’s head on Psy’s body). Or? (Sarah Leafblad’s head on Psy’s body). But hands down, I thought this was best Grace Church Gangnam Style (Aiden Leafblad’s head on Psy’s body). What you may now know is that Gangnam Style is much more than a song. It refers to a lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district of Seoul. Gangnam is a 15-square-mile neighborhood that’s one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the world. It has no equivalent in the U.S. The closest approximation would be Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Beverly Hills, Manhattan's Upper East Side, and Miami Beach all rolled into one. South Korea's richest and most influential companies are headquartered there. It’s wealthiest people and superclans live there, families who run companies like Samsung and Hyundai. 41% of attendees to the prestigious Seoul University come from Gangnam. Imagine if 41% of Harvard’s undergrads came from one neighborhood. Psy, the son of a wealthy Korean family, has seen "Gangnam Style" from the inside. He’s ridiculing the emptiness of Gangnam Style. Yet, the truth is, most people long for some level of Gangnam Style, failing to realize there’s a dark side, The Bondage of Gangnam Style. Most of us would love to live in Gangnam. We want more money and more of what money can buy. Yet, we miss The Bondage of Gangnam Style. Money is a very controversial issue in our culture. There’s this rigorous, cantankerous debate between the rich and the poor. This is, in part, how we got two political parties, Democrat and Republican. Some argue that rich people are rich because they’re smart and work hard, and poor people are poor because they’re dumb and spend all their money on video games, fast food, and lottery tickets. So there’s this debate between rich and poor. Others think, “No, actually, the rich are the evil, bad guys. They steal everybody’s money. And the poor, they’re virtuous.” So the debate is between rich and poor, who gets the black hat and who gets the white one? Who’s the good guy? Who’s the bad guy? Did you know that the Bible’s focus is not on rich or poor? The focus of the Bible is on righteous and unrighteous. In the Bible there are people that are very wealthy and righteous and there are people that are very poor and righteous. There are also people who are very rich and unrighteous, and people who are very poor and unrighteous. With God it’s really not about rich or poor, it’s about righteous and unrighteous. It’s the condition of your heart. In the Church we need to grow past this categorizing of rich and poor. It’s not God’s yardstick. It’s about being righteous or unrighteous. Gangnam Style though is a reflection of today’s economy. It’s not about money; it’s what you do with your money. Most have little knowledge of economies but it’s very important to know if we’re going to have a biblical worldview of money. If you want to be righteous, you need to answer two questions: How am I going to make my money? How am I going to spend my money? And how you answer those two questions will determine whether you have a righteous or unrighteous view of money. Our day is the most complicated economic period in history. A couple of hundred years ago, the economy was driven by commodities. Most of us would have been farmers. If you wanted something, you’d have to grow it, kill it, or chop it down. It’s how you got things. It transitioned from a commodities’ based economy to a goods economy. For example, if I want a cup of coffee, I’d have to grow coffee beans. Grind the coffee beans. Boil the water. I’ve got a lot of work to do. But then a goods economy came along and someone else would grow the coffee beans and you buy them. They might even grind them for you. Rather than having to go chop down a tree, you could buy lumber. Rather than having to get a cow, you could buy milk. So we went from a commodities based to a goods economy. Then, we moved to a service based economy. Now, all of a sudden, someone will do all the work for you. You don’t have to grow your own coffee beans or grind them. You can go to a restaurant. Somebody else makes the coffee. Somebody else delivers it to you and it’s a service. After that, we went from a service based economy to an information based economy, primarily with the advent of the printing press and then the second reformation, which was in the area of technology. With the Internet, the amount of information on planet earth is doubling every two years. We’re in an information based economy. Some of you don’t deal with commodities or goods, you don’t deal with services. You dispense information. You work in the tech industry. You’re a teacher. You’re a lawyer, a CPA. You’re a counselor. You specialize in distribution of information. But the economy we live in today is being dominated more and more by experiences. Enter Gangnam Style. So you and I spend lots of money, but we don’t get a commodity. We don’t get a tree or a cow. We don’t get a good. We don’t get ground coffee beans or a cup of milk. We don’t get a service. Nobody comes over and rubs our back or mows our lawn. We don’t even get an information distribution where we learn a new fact. But we give a lot of our money for an experience. We go to concerts, watch movies. We go skydiving or bungee jumping. We go on cruises or hunting trips. We go to theme parks like Disneyworld or Six Flags. We go to a 3D movie. So you go there and you say, “What do you get?” And for the first time in our economy, you don’t get something. What you take away is a memory, not a tangible good. Fifty years ago, that would have been a completely bizarre notion. “Okay, I gave you all this money. What do I get?” You get a memory.” “No, I want a cow. I want something I can touch.” And as this transition in economies works its way out, the way you get your money is more complicated than at any other time in history. In a commodities based culture there were less things to buy and less ways to spend your money. With all of these different economies we have today, there are an infinite number of ways that you can blow your money. And the deeper down the chain you go, the more it costs you. If you want to grow coffee beans, you can have a cup of coffee for a couple of cents. In a goods economy, if you want a cup of coffee, you can have it for a couple of nickels. In a service based economy, you go to a restaurant and you can get it for a buck. In an information based economy, they try to sell you on all their philanthropy and how they grow whole beans and protect the rain forest and all the workers are really happy. But in an experience based economy, you go to the coffee shop and you pay, not for the coffee, you pay for the experience. They have carpet, lighting, soft chairs…ambiance. You get the smells of fresh beans roasting. Some of you go to IKEA. That’s not a furniture store. They’re selling the IKEA experience. If you go to American Girl, you’re not buying a doll; you’re buying the American Girl experience. At Starbucks, what you’re buying is not just a cup of coffee; you’re buying the Starbucks experience. I’d submit to you that for many of us, the way we spend our money, and for some of us, the way we earn our money, has a lot to do with the experiences surrounding it, which ratchets up the cost. So the way we make money and the way we spend money is very, very complicated. The question comes back to this: Are you going to be righteous or unrighteous with your money? How you get it; how you dispense it? Because the bottom line is that the Bible teaches emphatically that all wealth, money and possessions belong to God. He’s given a portion to you and you’re a manager of His money, not a consumer of your own money. The key question is: Are you going to be righteous or unrighteous with the money that He has entrusted to you? What economy are you going to invest in? Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes is the wisest man who ever lived. He’s also loaded. He’s forgotten more about money than most will ever know. When he talks, we need to listen. Please turn to Ecclesiastes 5:8-20 (p. 555). In Ecclesiastes 5:8-20, Solomon is seeking to protect us from The Bondage of Gangnam Style. Tragically, many of us are enslaved to money (that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a lot of it) and you don’t even know it. You might as well have chains on your wrists and ankles, but God wants to set us free. He wants to emancipate us! A key term Solomon uses in this passage is “eat” or “consume.” His point is that if you don’t have a biblical worldview on money, it will consume you. Don’t believe me. Some of you have a hard time even sitting through a sermon because you’re either thinking about how you’re going to make money or how you’re going to spend it. It consumes you.

1. Money mixed with power is often ruthless. Even if you’re an atheist, you’re going to agree with Solomon’s first point. It’s the “golden rule,” those with the gold rule. Verses 8-9, “If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them. But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.” The rich and powerful often oppress the poor because they can. The poor can’t afford to defend themselves. The rich tend to be the leaders, best educated, most influential, and they gain control. Particularly, they control the money. But for the poor, justice grinds too slowly, costing them an increasingly higher amount of money. They can’t afford to wait in their situation and they can’t afford financially to speed up the process. Everyone has been frustrated by bureaucracy at one time or another. What was intended to be a system of checks and balances to help government operate efficiently and justly often devolves into mutual protection that makes it easy to hide and very difficult to root out corruption. Solomon’s point is that we shouldn’t be shocked by this; it’s the outcome of fallen human nature. Government always comes with a price. Red tape is as old as time. Money is power and power corrupts. Greed always produces injustice. Lord Acton astutely observed, “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Even if there is a change in power, today’s revolutionaries become tomorrow’s bureaucrats. The end result is that little ever changes and those who don’t have a slice of the pie, get the shaft. No wonder Luther said, “government crushes the man, extinguishes him, and utterly destroys him.” Solomon’s point is that when it comes to government, we must be realistic. We’re going to be able to bring about little justice and change in a fallen world. People who are sinners use their power and money to benefit themselves. If you’re looking for righteous change in the world, don’t put your hope in government. Vote, get involved, be active, Yes. And please make sure you’re seeking to bring about righteous change, not just voting for those you think will benefit you the most economically. The bottom line is that until God changes human hearts, you’re primarily rotating sinners through seats of authority, power, and influence. Change doesn’t come until people meet God, so don’t be surprised when crooked people do crooked things. The last phrase in verse 9 is difficult to translate, “But this is gain for a land in every way: a king committed to cultivated fields.” What it seems to mean is that even though there’s always some level of corruption with government, even a corrupt government is better than no government and a leader committed to serve his people by encouraging economic prosperity helps everyone. When everyone benefits, even the king and leaders profit. But not only is Money mixed with power often ruthless…

2. Money frequently masters us. In The Moneylender and His Wife (painting), a famous painting by Renaissance artist, Quentin Massys, confronts us with the choice everyone must make between God and money. This moneylender is sitting at home, a measuring scale and a pile of money in front of him on the table, carefully assessing the value of a single coin. Yet our eye is also drawn to the woman sitting next to him, the moneylender's wife. She’s leafing through a Bible, which presumably was bought by her wealthy husband. She’s having her devotions, except she’s distracted by all the money being counted. As she turns the page, her gaze is captivated by the coin in her husband's hand. This painting makes a vital point. Massys’ adopted city of Antwerp had become a world center for business and he saw how easily money can pull our souls away from the worship of God. All of us feel this tension. We know that God demands our highest love and allegiance. We believe, cerebrally, nothing is more precious than the message of the gospel — the forgiveness of our sins and the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Yet, we’re easily distracted (I know I am). It’s easier to surf Ebay or Amazon, looking at items we’d like to purchase, than listen to what God has said in His Word. It’s easier to read the Wall Street Journal than my Bible. I’ve become a Groupon Junkie. I rarely buy anything but I look. I may need a 12-step program. Have you ever noticed more sermons are preached on lust and sexual sin, than on the love of money and materialism? We’d rather hear a sermon against homosexuality than hedonism. We don’t like to contemplate Jesus’ words in Matthew 19:23, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.” But percentage wise, Hell will have a lot more rich people than homosexuals. We lust for Gangnam Style and money easily masters us. You don’t have to be rich to be mastered by money. As George McDonnell says, "If it be riches that slay you, what matter if it is riches you have or riches you want?” So why all this talk about money? Because Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21). God understands that our use of money and possessions is usually the single greatest indicator of our spirituality. Solomon offers us seven sobering realities on money that we need to know so that our money doesn’t consume us. a. The more we have, the more we want, vs. 10 “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.” Notice that the word Solomon uses is loves – not possesses. The pursuit of wealth can be an addiction that feeds on itself and consumes the one who’s not careful. This is not an attack, nor is there an attack in the Bible against those who are wealthy. It is, however a frontal assault, on money possessing you, on loving money. The appetite for what money can buy is never satisfied. It’s a lifelong struggle. Did you catch how the king describes that greedy, grabbing individual? Empty. “This also is vanity.” Wouldn't it be wonderful to be content? To be free of the burden for more accumulation, to be at peace with where you’re at in life? Why do we make ourselves miserable over that which has no track record of satisfying? Many of you have marital problems that are money related. Money can ruin your marriage. It’s the number one problem in marriages and the number one cause of divorce. b. The more we have, the more we spend vs. 11a, “When goods increase, they increase who eat them.” Do you know what Uma Thurman, Lauren Bacall and Neil Simon all have in common? They were all ripped off by the same slimy financial manager, Kenneth Starr. Starr stole around $33 million from his clients to give his ex-stripper wife a rich and famous lifestyle. One of the frustrations that come with financial success is we then need people to manage and protect our-wealth. We need lawyers, accountants, managers and experts of all sorts. We also attract people who will take our wealth away from us if we let them! That’s one of the reasons we need the counsel of yet even more experts. Rich people find that they have a lot of “friends,” as long as they have a lot of money and are picking up the tab. The more common problem for most of us is that every time our income increases, so does our outgo. If we get a raise, we increase our spending, so we find ourselves continually on the edge of the same financial cliff. c. The more we have, the more we never use vs. 11b, “and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes?” He only sees his money. A person can only sleep in one bedroom at a time and can only consume so much food. One of the status symbols of the rich is that they have more bathrooms. Pickfair, the Beverly Hills estate of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, has 30 bathrooms. The record may be the 41 bathrooms in an 18,400-square-foot Mediterranean-style home in Bel-Air that was recently on the market for a mere $40 million. How many bathrooms can you use? How many beds can you sleep in? Do you have closets full of clothes? How many can you wear? Hoarders is not just a show. And if someone possesses wealth but does not use it to advance God’s kingdom or benefit others, what good is it? Solomon says, The more we have, the more we never use. d. The more we have, the more we worry vs. 12, “Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.” Someone dubbed this “the indigestion of materialism.” World heavyweight boxing champion, Joe Louis, used to say, “I don’t like money actually but it quiets my nerves.” But it doesn’t. Take, for example, a guy who digs ditches all day. He starts at seven in the morning and quits at three-thirty in the afternoon—what a simple game plan! He drives his pickup home. He and his son drive over to the ball field and he shags flies with his boy. He's probably one of those guys who helps coach the Little League team in the neighborhood. He has a great time—just a hard-working, fun-loving, easy-going "working man." When the game ends, he drives home, eats some pizza, watches TV until the 10:00 news, then drops into bed about ten-thirty. Within sixty seconds, you can hear him snoring! There's little anxiety connected with that lifestyle. Not many folks to hassle over. Just put the shovel in ground eight hours a day, five, maybe six days a week. Freedom from those high-pressure decisions that keep others awake. But the rich? They've got a lot on their minds. “But the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep." This isn’t a problem of not having enough food. The rich man has more than enough. What's missing? Peace of mind, a relaxed mentality. He doesn’t have people who love him just for who he is. He’s continually preoccupied with pursuits with financial entanglements—problems that don't go away when he leaves the office long after dark. When he finally drops into bed, he tosses and turns, wondering, "Is the deal gonna pay off? What if I’m caught short? Is he gonna rip me off? Is it too big a risk?" Around and around he turns, over and over he twists. What may be going on here too is a guilty conscience? Maybe he’s scared the IRS is going to catch up with him? He’s been taking cash for jobs. Or, he’s padding his expense account. He’s billing for hours he didn’t put in. But an honest, hard worker sleeps like a baby. e. The more we have, the more we lose vss. 13-14, “There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand.” Did you hear about the latest woes of David Adkins? That’s how the IRS knows him. You know him as Sinbad. He filed bankruptcy for the second time. He owes $375,000 to American Express, $2.3 million in taxes to California, plus $8.3 million to the IRS. At one time he was one of Hollywood’s most successful actors. It’s a tale of riches lost. Solomon tells the story of a wealthy man who tried to hoard his wealth, yet lost it all in some risky investment. Today people lose their money in a bad stock or bad real estate venture. Back then, ships foundered at sea or their camel trains were attacked in the wilderness. Whatever the reason, this man took a gamble and ended up destitute as a result. Even worse, the man was a father, and has nothing to leave his son. The story thus assumes what the Bible teaches in other places: parents should leave a legacy for their children. In financial planning for the future, we should think not only of ourselves, but also about what we can give to our families, including our spiritual family in the church. Fathers and mothers have a duty to save and sacrifice for their sons and daughters. Yet this does not mean that getting and keeping more money should be our primary focus. Just the opposite: the whole point of this story is that counting on money is vanity and striving after the wind. f. The more we have, the more we leave behind vss. 13-14, “As he came from his mother's womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger.” No one leaves this world with more than they came in with. Since we enter this world without any material wealth and leave this world in the same condition, why should anyone labor for and gather material possessions and wealth for just this world? In the end, we leave it ALL behind. I know of people who’ve purchased a new suit or dress for the dead person. When my Grandmother died; they put her glasses on her. I don’t think that she really needed them. It’s interesting that Solomon makes the point that he takes nothing “in his hand.” We can take nothing tangible with us, no material possessions. But we can take intangible things with us into eternity: our character, our conscience, our investments in eternity. One day all our labors will be lost. It’s the reality each of us must face, the reality of our mortality. At the end of one of his most profitable years on the European Tour, someone asked the English golfer, Simon Dyson, if there was anything that he was afraid of "Death," Dyson replied. "I'm in a position now where I can pretty much do as I want...Dying wouldn't be good right now." Whether or not we make as much money as a professional golfer, like it or not, the day will come when we leave it all behind. So what gain is there in living for money? Some people wait until their deathbed to think about that — if then! But if we’re wise like Solomon, we’ll think about it now. Martin Luther said, “As I shall forsake my riches when I die, so I forsake them while I am living.” One way to forsake our wealth is simply to look around at what we have and say to ourselves, "Now here is something that God has given me to enjoy for the time being, or maybe to give away for the work of his kingdom, but I need to remember that I will never be able to take it with me when I die." Solomon summarizes the many reasons not to live for money in verse 17: "Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger." Darkness symbolizes misery. Preoccupation with wealth inevitably leads to a gloomy outlook on life. We may eat delicious meals in beautiful surroundings, but if our heart isn’t happy, we can’t enjoy the experience. Sickness points to the results of physical strain and natural results of stress. This sickness probably grows out of the emotional strain of constant discontent. Sorrow, or vexation, refers to cares, anxieties, and frustrations that constantly tear at our minds and heart. Anger describes rage over thwarted ambitions and schemes. The physical cost of living for money is amazing. The spiritual cost is beyond description. Each year, Forbes magazine publishes a special report on the top-earning dead celebrities. Last year (2012), the top five were Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Charles Schulz and Bob Marley. They each earned a lot of money during their earthly lives and now their estates are prospering after their deaths. Apart from Jesus Christ, Solomon says it’s all vanity. You can’t take it with you. However, the flip side is very positive: You can send it ahead. Jesus commanded us to “store up for ourselves treasures in heaven” (Matt 6:20). By giving to the Lord’s work and being a blessing to others, our money outlives us. For now, we must remember that in eternal terms there is no own—only loan. We’re not owners, just managers of God’s resources.

3. Only God can give us the power to master money. A newspaper reporter went to interview a successful entrepreneur. "How did you do it?" he asked. "How did you make all this money?" "I'm glad you asked," he replied. "Actually, it's a rather wonderful story. You see, when my wife and I got married, we started out with a roof over our heads, some food in our pantry, and five cents between us. I took that nickel, went down to the grocery store, bought an apple, and shined it up. Then, I sold it for ten cents." "What did you do then?" the reporter asked. "Well, then I bought two more apples, shined them up, and sold them for twenty cents." The reporter was beginning to catch on and thought this would make a great human interest story. "Then what? he asked excitedly. "Then my father-in-law died and left us $20 million," the businessman said. He’d fooled himself into thinking he had done something, forgetting actually he’d received something. Remember that all that you have, you’ve been given. Remember to spend time with the Giver so that you have His guidance and will for what He’s entrusted to you. Please allow me to re-read verses 18-20. This is the heart of Solomon’s message: “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.” In other words, prosperity is not always what it seems, so instead of pursuing wealth, enjoy God’s daily gifts. The first proper use of riches, then is to… a. Enjoy them. Please notice that having wealth and enjoying it are two different things. Verse 19 speaks of those to whom “God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them.” Enjoyment doesn’t come automatically with wealth. We need to give much more thought to the enjoyment of God's gifts than to the accumulation of them. The little things of life–eating, drinking, a satisfying job–are once again high on Solomon's priority list. God wants us to enjoy what He’s given us. These are the things that bring true enjoyment, not a huge bank account, or power or prestige. Some of you are saying to yourself, “But I don't have time to enjoy God’s gifts.” If we're too busy to enjoy the gifts God has given us, we're just too busy! It’s a choice, or a series of choices we make. b. Recognize them as a gift from God. That’s clearly stated at the end of verse 19. Did you notice how many times God’s name is mentioned in these last three verses? The implication is that we must recognize that every gift comes from God, plus the ability to enjoy it. It’s not our cleverness, or competence or our perseverance that has made us rich–it’s God. Notice, too, what God does for the thankful person–He occupies him with gladness of heart so he doesn't brood over the troubled days of his life. “For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.” A grateful person doesn't waste valuable mental and emotional energy on regrets–regret that he didn't finish his education, that he didn't marry so-and-so, that he didn’t have better health, that he didn't take a certain job offer, regrets about this and regrets about that. He doesn’t have time for such useless exercise, for focusing on what God has given is far more important. He’s content with what God has given him and enjoys it.

Conclusion: Ours is an experienced based economy. People attend a sports fantasy camp, go to Disney World, join a Live Action Role Playing or (LARP) Group, go to a spa, bungee jumping, even sign up for a space flight. Did you know that’s not new? God’s economy has always been experienced base. It’s the experience of a Noah building an ark by faith. Or, an Abraham leaving everything to go to a new land because of God’s promise. It’s Lydia opening her home for a new church plant. It’s a little boy giving his lunch to Jesus. Or, Peter letting Jesus use His boat for a pulpit. The fulfilling Christian life has always been an experienced based economy. It’s based though on God’s economy. There’s not an experience more fulfilling than knowing Jesus Christ and walking with God. It’s never boring. There’s nothing more fulfilling than serving Him. There’s nothing more satisfying than investing in His Kingdom. There’s nothing more fulfilling than leading someone to Christ, discipling them, and seeing them grow in their faith. If you think it’s exciting to have a baby, multiply it a hundred times when you’re part of seeing a baby Christian born. God’s economy has always been experience based! God wants us to have an ongoing, personal experience with Him. Do you want to be part of an experience more thrilling than a gold medal in the Olympics, than an African safari, than a trip to the moon…or anything else you can imagine? And it seems pretty simple. It’s living a life of commitment and obedience to Jesus Christ. It’s walking with God. It’s what Henry Blackaby calls “experiencing god.” That’s living in the eternal experience of God’s economy and the experiences never end. They’re fulfilling and exhilarating both now and for all of eternity.