#5 Eleven Layers of Wallpaper (Ecclesiastes 2:18-26)

Notes

Brandon Hill explores the frustrations and futility of work in Ecclesiastes 2:18–26, showing how toil under the sun—marked by sorrow, vexation, and the reality that others will inherit our efforts—can lead to despair. He traces a rich biblical theology of work from creation (where it is good and kingly) through the fall (where it becomes painful and frustrated) and into the gospel, where God himself gives the gift of enjoyment in food, drink, and labour. The sermon contrasts the vanity of striving apart from God with the liberating joy available to those who please him in Christ, calling listeners to honest, diligent work, generosity, and ultimately priestly service in proclaiming the gospel. It ends with a powerful turn to the Lord’s Supper as the place where we remember Christ’s redemptive work that infuses our daily toil with meaning.