5/30/21 Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 “Are You Wise or Are You Not Wise?”

28 May 5/30/21 Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 “Are You Wise or Are You Not Wise?”

5/30/21   Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31           “Are You Wise or Are You Not Wise?”

As I was doing a little research for this week’s sermon, I happened across a wonderful quote from one of the founding fathers of this country, John Adams.  He said, “I am apt to believe that July 4^th will be celebrated by succeeding generations as a great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”  I think that this is also a great quote for Memorial Day.  I would like you to think of all the soldiers who have given their lives in defense of this country as craftsmen.  These are the people who have crafted freedom for us today.  As you can see from this quote, our country was founded on the principles of God, not many gods as we want to today, but the one and only God.  It was also founded on freedom and not Communism like many want today.  This is one of the reasons that I try to stick to the written word of the Bible when I preach.  If I did anything else, I would be disgracing the memory of all of these brave men and women.  Today, we are going to be talking from the book of Proverbs and I am quite excited about this.  This passage has been the center of controversy for centuries because scholars have tried to read into the Bible more than is there.  Let’s see if we can learn a little more about wisdom.

David Parks tells this wonderful story of two goats who happen to meet each other on a narrow ledge just wide enough for one goat to pass.  The goats stood facing each other and they wondered, “What shall we do?”  They couldn’t back up as one of them would surely fall over the edge because they cannot back up very easily.  They could not go around each other as the ledge was far too narrow.  Now if the goats had no more sense than humans, they would have begun butting each other until one fell over the edge.  However, goats are smart animals and have a lot of sense, far more than many humans.  What they did was one goat laid down and the other walked over him.  There had to be willingness for one to lay down so the other could walk over him.  Many humans would have got caught in arguing who was to lay down first because we have a hard time humbling ourselves.  We have a hard time being wise like these two lowly goats.

Before we begin, I would like to remind everyone that this is poetry.  The ancients didn’t write poetry the way we do today.  They would never rhyme anything.  We have many different forms of poetry in the Bible in various places.  Most of the proverbs use a short form where a statement is made and then answered in some way.  In this reading we have personification.  This means that the author was writing like wisdom was a real person and it had characteristics like a real person.

This has led to many problems over the years because the person who sounds most like the descriptions here of wisdom is none other than Jesus Christ.  When we look at verse 22, we see that wisdom was made by God.  In the 300’s AD there were many who felt that this had to be a description of Jesus.  Therefore, God made Jesus so they did not always coexist.  This led to all kinds of problems and finally this notion was rejected at the Counsel of Nicene.  Out of this controversy came the Nicene Creed which you should look up and read.

Over the centuries this problem has kept popping up and Christians have been rejecting it because this passage is talking of wisdom and not Jesus.  This is one of the reasons that some of the major religions today insist that Jesus was a great prophet but He was not equal to God.  The debate continues.  This has been your theological lesson for the day.  I know that we don’t have to worry about such things because all we have to do is believe and that is the basis of everything.

The first thing I would like you to notice about this passage comes from the first 4 verses where we find that wisdom is everywhere.  Please remember that King Solomon wrote most of the proverbs.  Also remember that Solomon could have had anything that he asked for in the world and God would have given it to him.  Solomon didn’t choose riches or fame or anything like that.  He chose wisdom.  So, these verses are written by someone who knows something about wisdom as he was considered to be the wisest man in the world.  The first nine chapters of Proverbs are dedicated to wisdom.  In chapter 8 we have the call of wisdom and it comes from everywhere.

We also need to realize that wisdom and knowledge are not the same thing.  Some of you might be considered to be very smart.  Some of you have college degrees or some of you just find learning easy.  You have knowledge.  So how many of the people who you know that you consider being smart are wise?  Probably not that many.  A wise man once said that wisdom comes from failure.  If you think about it, this is a pretty good statement.  We do learn a lot more from our failures than our successes.

Anyway, we read in the first 4 verses that wisdom is everywhere.  Wisdom is calling out to people.  It is there for everyone to use.  If I didn’t know better, I would almost say that it is like prevenient grace.  It is everywhere and it is there for the asking.  It calls out to you.  It wants to be used.  So why is it that we are so afraid to use wisdom if it is everywhere?

I’m just going to mention a couple of reasons why we are afraid of wisdom.  If we decide to use wisdom and become what others consider to be wise, then we will have to step out and be noticed.  We would have to be bold in our lives.  And I don’t think, for the most part, we want to be bold.  We don’t want to stand out.  We teach our children at a young age not to stand out too much or others won’t like us.  And if you aren’t sure of my reasoning here then I ask this, “How many of you would be willing to stand up here and take my place for a Sunday or two or three?”  I think that each and every person here is wise enough to do this but you lack the courage to stand out and do something different.  Of course, you also might not be gifted in this area but that is a whole other topic.

I think there is another reason why we don’t use wisdom and that is because we don’t need to use it.  We have agencies, companies, bosses, and the government to do our thinking for us so we don’t have to be wise.  There are not too many of these people that do our thinking for us who are Godly.  Therein lays the problem.  We seem to have the so-called wisdom of Satan leading us and this can only end in something bad.  Satan’s so-called wisdom wants to lead us down the path of communism.  This is bad and has never worked.

Godly wisdom is there for each of us to call upon.  We don’t need other people or things to do our thinking.  We don’t need to be afraid.  When I preached from 2 Timothy at baccalaureate a few years ago, we found that God did not make us to be afraid.  If we are afraid, then we need more of the Holy Spirit and a little less of Satan.  And wisdom is right there for the taking.  It is just like so many things that God offers us.  We only have to accept it and we will find; you will find that Godly wisdom will take you to places that you never dreamed possible.  You will be doing things that you thought were quite impossible.  I only have to look at my own life to know just how true this is.  God loves you so much that He not only wants to give you the Holy Spirit to live inside of you but He wants you to have all of His wisdom, all the wisdom of God.  Don’t be afraid.  Grab onto these things before it is too late.

As we move on to the rest of this passage, we find that God made wisdom first before anything else was made.  Notice that it does not say that this is Jesus.  Nowhere in any of the translations did I find this.  And yet because this sounds so much like it might be Jesus, many people have read in between the lines to support their view.  Most of you know me by now and know that I will take the readings of the Bible as they are written.  The reason I will stick to the reading here is that if this was Jesus, then all the rest of the Bible is false.  Jesus was there at the beginning and wisdom was the first thing made at the beginning.  That is how I read it and I think that I am right in this.  Many scholars back me up here.

So, we have wisdom as the first thing that God made.  What does that tell us?  It tells us that wisdom is one of the most important things that God ever made.  Also notice how the author here tells us that wisdom was a woman.  This is incredible because women were not held in very high esteem in those days.  She was with God before the oceans were made.  She was there with God before the mountains and hills were made, before the rivers and springs, before the heavens and the skies.  She was there for the making of all these things.  She was not only there but she had a very active part.  She helped to make all these things.

So, the next time you wonder about something in nature, it was wisdom that put it there.  She made sure that there would be an ample water supply for everything.  She made sure that we were made as males and females so that we could keep the species going.  She made sure that all the little things in our bodies were put together perfectly and they all work.  She has been and is a miracle maker of the first degree.

And the beauty of all of this, as I have said earlier, is that this wisdom in available to all of us.  We can have the same wisdom that helps some animals have camouflage coloring.  This is the same wisdom that tells us to go to our elders for advice.  This is the same wisdom that tells us to come to Jesus.  This has been the plan forever.

This plan from forever is a plan so that we can have the best lives possible.  Yes, we may have set backs in our lives.  Yes, there will always be problems.  Yes, Satan runs this world.  An integral part of this plan is that we accept Jesus.  It is also very important that we accept the Godly wisdom that He provides for us.  We will not be making things like new plants or animals.  But we can tap into this same wisdom that made all things, to help us get through our daily lives.  This is the love that Jesus Christ has for us.  This is the love that He has for everyone in the world if they would only accept it.

Then we read as to why we should be doing all this in the last few verses.  Wisdom was at the side of God for all of this creating.  Being in His presence gave wisdom much delight every day, every hour, every minute.  This delight caused wisdom to rejoice continually in His presence.  And not only is all of this true but wisdom also delighted in being in the presence of us human beings.  She delights to be with us and help us.

Now let me go back to the part where we have given up our wisdom to things like our government, to just name one.  When was the last time you felt wonderful about paying taxes?  When was the last time the government delighted in getting your taxes?  Have you ever received a notice of wisdom from any form of government?  I worked for the Post Office, which is sort of government, and I found very, very little wisdom there.  As a matter of fact, I would say that I found very little knowledge either.  So, I think that the question is, “Why do we insist on making our leadership into gods who cannot keep us from rioting, who cannot keep our borders secure, who cannot grant us freedom of religion when we have the perfect God who is standing there pleading with us to accept Him and His wisdom that will solve all of our problems?  God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the angels and wisdom not only want to help us, but they delight in doing so.  When we break our problems down, we find that this isn’t rocket science.  The answer is simple: believe.

This whole section has been nothing but good news.  The only bad news we have today is when we are disobedient.  God is there and He has always been there waiting for us to come to Him.  He has sent Jesus to us.  He has given you the Holy Spirit which will live in you all the time if you just ask.  He has also given you wisdom if you choose to accept it.  All God does is give and give and give to you.  The very least you could do is receive.  It is all there.  All you have to do is receive it.

I would like to sum this up with a story Martin Scarce tells of a young university graduate who was really quite full of himself and his academic accomplishments.  One day he was crossing a large river on a barge.  An elderly gentleman was running the barge.    The smart university student decided to ask the old man three questions: 1) “Do you know anything about physics?” “Nope”, replied the old man. The young man replied, “Then 1/3 of your life has been wasted!” 2) “Do you know anything about philosophy?” “Nope”, replied the old man. The grad said, “Then another 1/3 of your life has been wasted!” 3) “Do you know anything about social sciences?” “Nope”, replied the old man.  Again, the student said, “Then another 1/3 of your life has been wasted!” Suddenly, the barge hit a large object, took on water rapidly, and overturned. Both men were thrown into the water. The old man cried out to the smart young student, “Do you know anything about swimming?” The young man replied “No.” “Then your whole life is wasted!” replied the old man.

We have lots of things that parade around us in the form of knowledge.  But these things will get you nowhere.  You need the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and His wisdom or you are nothing.  Nothing!  Our whole lives are wasted when we don’t have Jesus.  And all He wants to do is give to you.  This is how much God loves you.  Grab a hold of Jesus and you will never be the same.  Take His wisdom and fly.  I praise the Lord that He is so good.  And thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.