EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview.
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Tom Brady has it all, but he does not have true satisfaction. He has put an enormous amount of effort into his work and has got several Super Bowls rings. He has become the most exact passer in the NFL and he did it by putting lots of time in practice and studying film. After he got on top of the world financially, he started to enjoy the pleasures that riches and fame brought him. However, this only led him to realize that there is something more out there. He was not satisfied at all.
This reminds me of the lyrics of a Coldplay song:
Oh…Time is so short and I’m sure There must be something more…
In fact, I want to spend the rest of my time on this post talking about the similar desire that Coldplay has put forth.
Coldplay – 42 Live
Coldplay perform on the french television channel W9.
I wrote this article a couple of years ago:
The Spiritual Search for the Afterlife
Russ Breimeier rightly noted that it seems that Coldplay is “on the verge of identifying a great Truth” and their latest CD is very provocative. Many songs mention God and other Biblical themes such as dealing with death, and the afterlife and meaning in life and the shortness of life. The song “42” states,
Those who are dead are not dead
They’re just living my head
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well Oh…Time is so short and I’m sure There must be something more
This is the same journey that Solomon went on 3000 years ago in the Book of Ecclesiastes. The Christian Scholar Ravi Zacharias noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term UNDER THE SUN — What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system and you are left with only this world of Time plus Chance plus matter.” Most people are not in the position of Solomon was in because he had a great deal of resources and could see if getting true lasting satisfaction was possible without God in the picture and Solomon went about this experiment. He found out these hard cold facts.
Three things that do not bring lasting Satisfaction
Satisfaction does not come through (#1) learning more, or (#2) putting more effort in your work or (#3)seeking pleasure.
Read Solomon’s words for yourself.
Ecclesiastes 1:16- 2:11
16-17 I said to myself, “I know more and I’m wiser than anyone before me in Jerusalem. I’ve stockpiled wisdom and knowledge.” What I’ve finally concluded is that so-called wisdom and knowledge are mindless and witless—nothing but spitting into the wind.18 Much learning earns you much trouble.
The more you know, the more you hurt.
Chapter 2
1-3 I said to myself, “Let’s go for it—experiment with pleasure, have a good time!” But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke.What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane! Inane!
My verdict on the pursuit of happiness? Who needs it?
With the help of a bottle of wine
and all the wisdom I could muster,
I tried my level best
to penetrate the absurdity of life.
I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do
during the years we spend on this earth.
4-8 Oh, I did great things: built houses,
planted vineyards,
designed gardens and parks
and planted a variety of fruit trees in them,
made pools of water
to irrigate the groves of trees.
I bought slaves, male and female,
who had children, giving me even more slaves;
then I acquired large herds and flocks,
larger than any before me in Jerusalem.
I piled up silver and gold,
loot from kings and kingdoms.
I gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song,
and—most exquisite of all pleasures—
voluptuous maidens for my bed.
9-10 Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What’s more, I kept a clear head through it all. Everything I wanted I took—I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task—my reward to myself for a hard day’s work!
11 Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing.
No band has worked harder than Coldplay (creating 4 of the greatest cds in pop history) and Chris Martin is a very educated man who has achieved the storybook life in many areas. Why has his writing turning more towards spiritual matters now? Could he be traveling down the same road that Solomon was going 3000 years ago?
The Daily Hatch 