SPECIAL DAYS: Trinity Sunday, Children's Sunday

June 6, Lesson: Proverbs 8.1-4, 22-36

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INTRODUCTION:

Adding Them Up ⁽¹⁾

Joe's wife bought a new line of expensive cosmetics guaranteed to make her look years younger. After a lengthy sitting before the mirror applying the "miracle" products, she asked, "Darling, honestly, what age would you say I am?"

Looking over her carefully, Joe replied, "Judging from your skin, twenty; your hair, eighteen; and your figure, twenty five."

"Oh, you flatterer!" she gushed.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Joe interrupted. "I haven't added them up yet."

1. Is he wise?

Another Dog ⁽²⁾

Howard came home from work one evening and there was his wife Miriam in the kitchen crying out loud.

"What's the matter, darling?" he asked her.

"I just don't know what to do," said Miriam. "Because we were eating in for a change, I cooked us a special dinner-but the dog has just eaten it."

"Don't worry," said Howard, "I'll get us another dog."

2. Is he demonstrating wisdom?

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MAIN BODY:

1. It happened at Gibeon.

1. Solomon was dreaming.

1. God appears in his dream and says, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."

2. With deep humility Solomon acknowledges his limitations in governing Israel and then says, "Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?" (1 Kings 3:9, NRSVA).

2. The story continues with the conflict between two women each claiming to be the mother of a child.

1. Solomon asks for a sword and commands that the child be divided in two, each woman receiving half.

2. The mother of the child wanting her child to live pleads for Solomon to give the child to the other woman.

3. "All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice," (1 Kings 3:28, NRSVA).

2. One of the greatest needs of the people of the word is wisdom to administer justice.

1. It would do more to rehabilitate the meaning, purpose and power of Christianity than anything else that could be done.

2. "Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever," (Daniel 12:3, NRSVA).

3. Lets define wisdom as: "The insight into the true nature of things and the ability to discern modes of action with the view to the results.

1. Where is this taking me?

2. What will be the result of this course of action?

4. The question arises as to how one is to acquire wisdom.

1. It is not based on intelligence, although intelligence is a necessary component.

2. It is not based on position, although position may be helpful.

3. It is not based on wealth, although wealth may enable exploration.

4. It is not enough to know the difference between earthly wisdom and the wisdom that is from above.

1. This is well-described in James 3:14-18.

"¹⁴But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. ¹⁵Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. ¹⁶For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace."

5. Listen again to the words of Solomon who writes in Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-36, (NRSVA)

¹ Does not wisdom call,
    and does not understanding raise her voice?
² On the heights, beside the way,
    at the crossroads she takes her stand;
³ beside the gates in front of the town,
    at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
⁴ "To you, O people, I call,
    and my cry is to all that live.

²² The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
    the first of his acts of long ago.
²³ Ages ago I was set up,
    at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
    when there were no springs abounding with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains had been shaped,
    before the hills, I was brought forth--
²⁶ when he had not yet made earth and fields,
    or the world's first bits of soil.
²⁷ When he established the heavens, I was there,
    when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he made firm the skies above,
    when he established the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he assigned to the sea its limit,
    so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
    ³⁰ then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
    rejoicing before him always,
³¹ rejoicing in his inhabited world
    and delighting in the human race.

³² "And now, my children, listen to me:
    happy are those who keep my ways.
³³ Hear instruction and be wise,
    and do not neglect it.
³⁴ Happy is the one who listens to me,
    watching daily at my gates,
    waiting beside my doors.
³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life
    and obtains favor from the LORD;
³⁶ but those who miss me injure themselves;
    all who hate me love death."

1. There is a vital contrast that grabs our attention and focuses thought.

2. For whoever finds me finds life and obtain favor from the LORD.

3. Those who miss me injure themselves; all who hate me love death

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6. What are the component parts of wisdom that we ought to be seeking.

1. Wisdom is the ability to follow directions.

Following Directions ⁽³⁾

Lost on a back road in Alabama, a motorist asked the way to Montgomery. An old farmer, sitting on a fence, looked down the road, scratched his head and gave explicit instructions. Half an hour later, after following the farmer's directions carefully, the motorist found himself back at the starting point. The farmer was still sitting on the fence, in placid contemplation of the landscape.

Hey, what's the idea? the motorist demanded. I did just what you told me, and look where I wound up!

Well, young feller, the farmer explained, I didn't aim to waste my time telling you how to get to Montgomery till I found out if you could follow simple directions.

2. Wisdom is the ability to humble one's self.

If I Were God ⁽⁴⁾

A wise and religious man sat under a mango tree in his garden in the noonday heat, and he looked at his pumpkin vines growing nearby. He said to himself, "How foolish God is. Here he puts a big heavy pumpkin onto a weak vine, which can't do anything but just lie on the ground. And then he hangs those small mangoes onto a tree which can hold the weight of a man. If I were God, I think I could do better than that."

Just then a bit of a breeze came up and knocked a loose mango off the tree. It fell right on the man's head. Now he had a bump on his head which made him a sadder and wiser man.

"Suppose," he thought now, "that there had been a pumpkin up there, instead of a mango .... Never again will I try to plan the world for God, but I shall thank God that he has done so well."

3. Wisdom is the ability to acknowledge and encourage the virtue in others.

Forgiveness ⁽⁵⁾

Abba Mios was asked by a soldier whether God would forgive a sinner. After instructing him at some length, the old man asked him: Tell me, my dear, if your cloak were torn, would you throw it away? Oh, no, the soldier said. I would mend it and wear it again. And the old man said to him: Well, if you care that much for your cloak, do you think God does not care as much for a creature?

4. Wisdom is the ability to listen.

Seeking Wisdom ⁽⁶⁾

Over time I've read five books that have told five slightly different versions of the same story. I call it overflowing tea. The setting changes, but the cast of characters remains the same: There's always a wise monk (or hermit), living in a remote place, and an earnest student who has made a pilgrimage to see him, traveling a long distance to find his teacher.

The student arrives seeking wisdom.

The serious student, his head filled with questions, is annoyed, and becomes more and more frustrated when his teacher refuses to answer his questions.

Pour me a cup of tea, the monk eventually says, and I will tell you when to stop. The dutiful student starts pouring the tea -- and pouring and pouring the tea. The bowl fills, and he is horrified, watching as the tea finally spills out of the cup and over everything. Exasperated, the student finds the courage to speak.

Can't you see the cup is full? It can hold no more!

And so it is with you, the wise teacher answers. Your mind is full of too many things. Only when you are empty will there be room for more knowledge to come in.

5. Wisdom is the ability to develop and use patience in allowing others to struggle as God allows each of us to struggle.

Man who hovered over a cocoon which was found in the corner of his office window.
He agonized over the struggle.
He wanted to help.
So he opened the cocoon.
The butterfly could not fly.

We want to protect people.
We cannot keep them fully from harm and danger.
We can only give them sound information that may help them to recognize danger.
We can provide examples which may help them to have courage to be able to deal with danger and not get killed.
We can all do this if we are willing to look beneath the surface of things beyond the obvious to see the potential.

6. Wisdom brings the capacity to stand on one's own two feet.

Leaning ⁽⁷⁾

Anthony DeMello, in his book One Minute Wisdom, tells of a disciple who was always at his prayers. His Master said to him, "When will you stop leaning on God and stand on your own two feet?"

The disciple was astonished. "But you are the one who taught us to look on God as Father!"

"When will you learn that a father isn't someone you can lean on but someone who rids you of your tendency to lean?"

7. Wisdom is the ability to stay engaged, even when tried, worn or discouraged by what is observed or done by one's self others.

Good Judgement ⁽⁸⁾

Confederate Army General Simon Bolivar Buckner, whose West Point friendship with Ulysses S. Grant survived the Civil War, liked to tell the story of an old resident in his Kentucky home who was celebrated for his down-home wisdom. Uncle Zeke, a young man once asked, How does it come you're so wise?

Because, said the old man, I've got good judgment. Good judgment comes from experience, and experience well, that comes from poor judgment. Such is the process of life - growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour.

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7. The Apostle Paul also had much to say about wisdom and where it resides for the Christian.

1. Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

1. 1 Corinthians 1:24 (NRSVA) ²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

2. 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NRSVA) ³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

3. Colossians 2:1 through Colossians 2:3 (NRSVA) ¹For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. ²I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ himself, ³in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

2. This is why he could declare in 1 Corinthians 2:2 (NRSVA) ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

1. What other source is there?

2. Can we do any better than Paul?

CONCLUSION

1. What To Do? ⁽⁹⁾

There is a great scene in the movie [Lord of the Rings] when Frodo Baggins is told by his good and wise friend Gandalf of the power of the ring that Frodo owns. Frodo learns of the dangers of owning the ring. He learns that he will have to travel to the dangerous lands of Mordor to get rid of the ring.

As Frodo looks down at the ring in his hand he says that he wishes that the ring had never come into his possession.

Wise Gandalf says, "So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

2. We have to decide!

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