Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Ecclesiastes 2:12-17), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• [12] In his exploration of life “under the sun,” life without regard to God, Solomon goes before us in the experience of existential crisis, in order to report on it for our benefit. He discovers that, apart from a relationship with God, there is only existential crisis to be had. Does it help you to know that Solomon experienced the existential “crisis to end all crises”? Does it help you to know that God’s Word includes this material, that God is aware of this problem so many of us face? Why/How can it be merciful of God to allow you personally to discover this truth?

• [13-15] In some sense, obviously, wisdom is better than folly. Do you prize practical wisdom, smart living, common sense? Do you value education, critical thinking, abstract thinking? Would you consider yourself a lifelong learner? Do you see planning for the future thoughtfully as a necessity in life? Do you rely on your memory, capacity for understanding, and ability to think well to give you your best shot at a good life and making a memorable name for yourself? Is your wisdom a central part of your identity? Do you usually think of yourself as the smartest person in the room? … If so, why?? What do you hope to gain through your wisdom?

• [15, 17] A life that merely ends in death is a life defined by death. Such a life is to be hated. It is intolerable, unbearable, maddening, because we know that life is better than death—we just can’t prove it, apart what God says. It makes perfect sense that we (sinners living in a broken world) would experience such existential suffering. Does it make sense to you? Have you ever hated life? Does it help you to know that this experience is normal? Why do you think people wouldn’t consider it normal? Why would you be opposed to such an honest confession of struggle?

• [16] What bothers Solomon about the idea of death bringing an end to life is that the dead are forgotten. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ says that God remembers us when he looks upon his beloved Son. Jesus himself is our eternal memorial. Death doesn’t define your life—Jesus does. Are you worried that you will be forgotten? Do you believe that, in Christ, God is always remembering you? How does it change your existential dread to know that God graciously remembers you? How does it change the way you live your life in this world to know that you are known and remembered in heaven? Does it change the way you think about the value of your own wisdom/understanding/memory?