WEBVTT 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:02.540 So as I shared with the kids, we are starting 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:06.200 a new series and we are looking at wisdom in 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:09.759 the biblical tradition, namely three books of 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:13.779 the Old Testament, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and 00:00:13.779 --> 00:00:17.239 Job, all of which come at this question of wisdom 00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:20.960 from unique angles. And so we begin today with 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:23.300 the book of Proverbs. Will you pray with me? 00:00:25.769 --> 00:00:28.170 As we hear your word, O God, help us to trust 00:00:28.170 --> 00:00:31.710 in you with all our heart and not to rely on 00:00:31.710 --> 00:00:35.869 our own insight. Speak to us, we pray, and make 00:00:35.869 --> 00:00:40.590 straight our paths. Amen. Our second reading 00:00:40.590 --> 00:00:43.469 is from the third chapter of Proverbs. Let us 00:00:43.469 --> 00:00:48.090 listen together for God's word to us. My child, 00:00:48.250 --> 00:00:51.039 do not forget my teaching. But let your heart 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:53.439 keep my commandments for length of days and years 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.380 of life and abundant welfare they will give you. 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.619 Do not let loyalty and faithfulness forsake you. 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:02.740 Bind them around your neck. Write them on the 00:01:02.740 --> 00:01:05.340 tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:07.840 and high regard in the sight of God and of people. 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:12.519 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:16.019 not rely on your own insight. In all your ways 00:01:16.019 --> 00:01:17.959 acknowledge him and he will make straight your 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:22.030 paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear 00:01:22.030 --> 00:01:25.909 the Lord and turn away from evil. This is the 00:01:25.909 --> 00:01:30.480 word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. We have a 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:33.959 lot of walkers in our neighborhood. We have sidewalks 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:36.700 and broad paths and lots of people are out walking 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:38.879 all times of year, walking their dogs, walking 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:42.280 their kids, walking just for the sake of walking. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.819 And it wasn't that long ago I was driving through 00:01:44.819 --> 00:01:46.859 the neighborhood and I saw a man, middle -aged 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:49.599 man, walking, probably walking his dog, and he 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.659 was wearing a tactical vest. And I thought this 00:01:52.659 --> 00:01:55.329 was strange. And I tried to figure out why he 00:01:55.329 --> 00:01:57.670 might be wearing that vest, and I couldn't come 00:01:57.670 --> 00:02:00.650 up with anything. Maybe he's a veteran, and he 00:02:00.650 --> 00:02:02.969 is comfortable wearing that when he's going out 00:02:02.969 --> 00:02:06.109 for a walk. I saw another one a little while 00:02:06.109 --> 00:02:08.069 later, another one a little while later, and 00:02:08.069 --> 00:02:11.569 then I started to see people wearing these slim 00:02:11.569 --> 00:02:14.009 -fitting life preservers as they were taking 00:02:14.009 --> 00:02:18.229 a walk. And I started to wonder. If walking in 00:02:18.229 --> 00:02:20.810 my neighborhood had suddenly become so dangerous 00:02:20.810 --> 00:02:24.729 that people needed to wear protection from who 00:02:24.729 --> 00:02:29.349 knows what, drowning while walking? Weeks and 00:02:29.349 --> 00:02:32.449 weeks later, after living with this confusion 00:02:32.449 --> 00:02:36.009 for so long, I came upon an article that was 00:02:36.009 --> 00:02:40.080 weighing the benefits of weighted vests. And 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:42.199 a light bulb went off. These were not tactical 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:44.800 vests. These were certainly not life preservers. 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:50.240 These were weighted vests. And people had learned 00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:54.139 about these, probably online, maybe through social 00:02:54.139 --> 00:02:58.539 media or fitness influencers, and the trend had 00:02:58.539 --> 00:03:01.080 started to catch on, spreading throughout my 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:03.300 neighborhood. Everyone knew what was happening, 00:03:03.419 --> 00:03:08.780 except, of course, for me. The problem is, obviously, 00:03:08.780 --> 00:03:11.520 that I am not clued in to the latest fitness 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:18.759 trends. The wise sages of our time dispense wisdom 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:24.860 in viral snippets and we receive and adopt their 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:29.699 wisdom one idea at a time, one discipline or 00:03:29.699 --> 00:03:34.879 diet or product at a time, all in our pursuit. 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:39.199 of a good life, a fulfilling life, a meaningful 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:45.020 life, a well -lived life. So if you were to sit 00:03:45.020 --> 00:03:48.580 down and read the book of Proverbs from cover 00:03:48.580 --> 00:03:52.960 to cover, you might think that what you are looking 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.120 at is the ancient world's version of Twitter 00:03:56.120 --> 00:04:00.520 or maybe TikTok. What you would find there is 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:05.060 a compilation of often random and almost always 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:10.219 brief nuggets of wisdom. And reading from one 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:12.759 to the next is a little bit like scrolling through 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:17.060 the wisdom of the internet, 140 characters at 00:04:17.060 --> 00:04:20.220 a time. And there in the book of Proverbs, you'll 00:04:20.220 --> 00:04:24.259 find advice for work and for harvest, for investment 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:28.779 and companionship, for business dealings and 00:04:28.779 --> 00:04:32.319 for big decisions. And as you read it, you scroll 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.480 and you swipe your way through and you find some 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:38.019 that don't resonate with you. You set those aside. 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:40.000 You find some you like and you click like and 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.240 you share it or retweet it or post it or whatever 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:45.639 it is you're going to do. You'll find some good 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:50.620 ones in there. Proverbs 18 verse 2, a fool takes 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:53.639 no pleasure in understanding but only in expressing 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:57.680 personal opinion. That one might be evergreen. 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:03.879 Proverbs 19, verse 21, the human mind may devise 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:06.180 many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord 00:05:06.180 --> 00:05:09.379 that will be established, something we would 00:05:09.379 --> 00:05:13.319 do well to remember. Chapter 22, verse 2, the 00:05:13.319 --> 00:05:16.040 rich and the poor have this in common, the Lord 00:05:16.040 --> 00:05:21.079 is the maker of them all. Proverbs 16, verse 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:25.800 31, gray hair is a crown of glory. It is gained 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:28.459 in a righteous life. We're working on that one 00:05:28.459 --> 00:05:30.560 as a memory verse in the Anderson house right 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:37.579 now. It is true, the book of Proverbs is scattered, 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:43.459 sometimes contradictory. It can feel a bit of 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:47.839 a mess. And this may be how our own quest for 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:52.459 wisdom feels at times. Our efforts to live well 00:05:52.459 --> 00:05:55.680 are also fragmented. Scattered and inconsistent 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.819 as we pull wisdom and advice and advice from 00:05:59.819 --> 00:06:02.360 this source and that source wherever we can, 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:05.180 trying out new plans, new programs, embracing 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:10.420 new ideas and attitudes. And isn't this the nature 00:06:10.420 --> 00:06:16.399 of wisdom? That it's changing all the time? I 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:18.500 recently read an article in the New York Times 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:21.639 that was looking at changes over the course of 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:25.100 a long period of time in the genre of self -help 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:27.819 books. And the author of this article pointed 00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:30.720 all the way back to 1936 as kind of the beginning 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:34.500 of this genre. The author Dale Carnegie published 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:38.079 a book called How to Win Friends and Influence 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:42.079 People. And in this book, Carnegie argues that 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:45.910 the key is to always be friendly. even when you 00:06:45.910 --> 00:06:49.050 don't feel like you should be friendly. It's 00:06:49.050 --> 00:06:51.410 to always be positive, even if you're not feeling 00:06:51.410 --> 00:06:55.430 positive. So if you're feeling down, smile. If 00:06:55.430 --> 00:06:58.709 you're feeling sad, whistle or hum a bright, 00:06:58.790 --> 00:07:01.629 happy tune and that this was the key to having 00:07:01.629 --> 00:07:05.170 a positive influence over the people around you. 00:07:05.370 --> 00:07:07.670 So that was the beginning of the genre, but the 00:07:07.670 --> 00:07:12.310 author titled this article Is today's self -help 00:07:12.310 --> 00:07:19.089 teaching everyone to be a jerk? And she points 00:07:19.089 --> 00:07:22.050 to some recent books, books that have been at 00:07:22.050 --> 00:07:24.290 the top of the bestseller list, at least in this 00:07:24.290 --> 00:07:27.730 genre, for weeks and weeks on end. Here's one 00:07:27.730 --> 00:07:32.709 title, The Courage to be Disliked. And another 00:07:32.709 --> 00:07:35.529 title, which I will paraphrase slightly, The 00:07:35.529 --> 00:07:42.100 Subtle Art of Not Caring. The author writes this, 00:07:42.220 --> 00:07:44.980 the self -help genre has determined that the 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:48.540 answer to the present moment is to be unapologetically 00:07:48.540 --> 00:07:53.639 self -interested and broadly unapologetic. And 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:56.160 as it often does, social media has taken these 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:59.540 ideas and sort of distilled them down to their 00:07:59.540 --> 00:08:02.839 essence, to their core, in a phrase that is often 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:07.339 repeated online among influencers, I guess, and 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:12.050 that is this. Protect your peace. Protect your 00:08:12.050 --> 00:08:14.389 peace. I'm not sure how that relates to love 00:08:14.389 --> 00:08:16.449 your neighbor, but they'll have to save that 00:08:16.449 --> 00:08:19.769 one for another sermon. Protect your peace. This 00:08:19.769 --> 00:08:23.389 apparently is the prevailing wisdom of the present 00:08:23.389 --> 00:08:27.069 moment. Though I have my doubts about self -help 00:08:27.069 --> 00:08:29.689 books, and I certainly have my doubts about social 00:08:29.689 --> 00:08:35.450 media influencers. The quest for wisdom, our 00:08:35.450 --> 00:08:40.820 effort to live A good life in a complex world 00:08:40.820 --> 00:08:46.080 is not easy or straightforward. And maybe that's 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:48.759 why the book of Proverbs is all over the place. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:51.620 But even though the book of Proverbs is all over 00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:54.460 the place, there are deep currents running beneath 00:08:54.460 --> 00:08:57.080 the fragments on the surface. And one of those 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:00.220 has to do with this question, where do we begin? 00:09:01.299 --> 00:09:04.059 Where do we start this quest? Where does this 00:09:04.059 --> 00:09:10.139 effort begin? Where does wisdom? begin. Now, 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:14.379 often we default to looking to ourselves for 00:09:14.379 --> 00:09:18.200 wisdom or to figure out what constitutes wisdom. 00:09:18.620 --> 00:09:21.240 After all, who else can decide what is meaningful 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:28.360 to me? Who else can choose the best path for 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:32.460 me? So, we tend to rely on our own instincts, 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:36.279 our own gut. our own inner voice or insight, 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:41.759 and we seek out what feels right to me. In her 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:44.200 2006 book, Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:49.700 writes, God dwells within you as yourself, exactly 00:09:49.700 --> 00:09:55.259 the way you are. God dwells within you as yourself, 00:09:55.480 --> 00:09:59.690 exactly the way you are. Now, all of my kids 00:09:59.690 --> 00:10:02.289 at a certain point in their development got to 00:10:02.289 --> 00:10:03.909 a place where as we would drive around town, 00:10:04.009 --> 00:10:06.350 they'd start to recognize our surroundings, start 00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:08.629 to feel like they knew where they were, and then, 00:10:08.649 --> 00:10:11.470 of course, felt like they knew how to get where 00:10:11.470 --> 00:10:14.169 we were going. And so from the back seat, they 00:10:14.169 --> 00:10:16.669 would say, when I'm stopped at a red light, Daddy, 00:10:16.710 --> 00:10:19.490 go this way. And do you know, sometimes they 00:10:19.490 --> 00:10:23.090 were right. But of course, sometimes they were 00:10:23.090 --> 00:10:25.629 wrong. And they might say, Daddy, go this way, 00:10:25.669 --> 00:10:27.250 and I would say, oh, is that the way we should 00:10:27.250 --> 00:10:31.929 go as I turn this way? Now, I didn't ignore them. 00:10:32.250 --> 00:10:34.909 I knew that what they were doing was giving voice 00:10:34.909 --> 00:10:37.750 to an important developmental stage. Their little 00:10:37.750 --> 00:10:39.809 brains are growing, and they're working, and 00:10:39.809 --> 00:10:42.289 that's good, and I want to encourage it. I won't 00:10:42.289 --> 00:10:44.889 ignore it, but I certainly won't let them tell 00:10:44.889 --> 00:10:49.250 me how to get where we're going. Now, this is 00:10:49.250 --> 00:10:53.039 the nature of my relationship. with my own inner 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:57.659 voice. I do not think my inner voice is God within 00:10:57.659 --> 00:11:03.100 me as me, exactly as I am. My inner voice is 00:11:03.100 --> 00:11:05.840 more like the kid in the back seat telling me 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.259 which way to turn at a red light. It's not to 00:11:09.259 --> 00:11:14.159 be ignored. Self -knowledge is important. And 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:16.740 it can reveal things to me about myself, maybe 00:11:16.740 --> 00:11:19.360 some good things, maybe some weak things, but 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:21.000 if I let it get behind the wheel, there's no 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.019 telling what kind of trouble I'm going to end 00:11:23.019 --> 00:11:28.519 up in. And if the quest for wisdom begins with 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:34.100 the self, then it also ends with the self. And 00:11:34.100 --> 00:11:37.059 we have set the boundaries for this quest from 00:11:37.059 --> 00:11:40.100 the very beginning. We have predetermined how 00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:45.600 far we will go and no farther. Proverbs 1, 7 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.940 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of 00:11:47.940 --> 00:11:51.379 knowledge. Later on, chapter 9, verse 10, the 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:55.200 fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 00:11:56.779 --> 00:12:00.840 The quest for wisdom is not easy. It is not straightforward. 00:12:01.419 --> 00:12:04.899 But here is where it begins. It begins with the 00:12:04.899 --> 00:12:08.649 fear of the Lord. Now, fear can mean a whole 00:12:08.649 --> 00:12:10.529 lot of things, so we need to be careful. We're 00:12:10.529 --> 00:12:13.409 not talking about fear the way a child fears 00:12:13.409 --> 00:12:16.309 the monster under their bed. We're not talking 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:19.009 about fear the way a parent fears that something 00:12:19.009 --> 00:12:21.909 terrible might happen to their child. We're not 00:12:21.909 --> 00:12:24.590 talking about the fear of spiders or heights 00:12:24.590 --> 00:12:29.470 or small spaces or anything like that. What we're 00:12:29.470 --> 00:12:33.450 talking about is facing something that is more 00:12:33.450 --> 00:12:37.220 than the self. something that is outside of us, 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:42.200 above us, something that has the power, power 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:45.940 over us, the power to expand the self, the power 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:49.259 to transform the self. We're talking about what 00:12:49.259 --> 00:12:52.940 it means to acknowledge that in this life, there 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:58.419 is purpose that goes beyond my own goals, that 00:12:58.419 --> 00:13:01.740 there is meaning that runs deeper than my own 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:05.480 fulfillment. that there is reality more profound 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:08.639 than my own experience or my own possessions. 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:13.080 There is more to this life than what I happen 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:19.360 to make of it. And it may very well be that a 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.500 weighted vest is a really great way to build 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:27.240 strength in your legs as you go for a walk. And 00:13:27.240 --> 00:13:30.679 it may very well be that in this tumultuous world 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:33.519 that we live in, that sometimes it's going to 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.299 be more important for us to protect our peace 00:13:37.299 --> 00:13:40.700 than it is to care for the neighbor in front 00:13:40.700 --> 00:13:43.919 of us. I'm willing to grant that there is good 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.679 advice out there in self -help books and social 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:51.620 media and all of it, but wisdom and good advice 00:13:51.620 --> 00:13:57.059 are not the same thing. Proverbs says, trust 00:13:57.059 --> 00:14:00.820 in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely. 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:05.700 on your own insight, i .e. the kid in the back 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:11.679 seat. Do not be wise in your own eyes. The world 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.419 today, and perhaps the world always and forever, 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:20.220 is full of advice, but often lacking in wisdom. 00:14:21.179 --> 00:14:25.360 Good advice places all things in the service 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:29.440 of a greater self, but wisdom places the self 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:34.299 in the service of greater things. The beginning 00:14:34.299 --> 00:14:37.419 of wisdom is having the humility to open ourselves 00:14:37.419 --> 00:14:41.799 to the One who can really transform us, the One 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:43.899 who made us, and the One who can do surprising 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:49.279 things through us. We can protect our peace, 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:56.220 or we can open our lives. And opening our lives, 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:59.779 we can find courage, We can find clarity and 00:14:59.779 --> 00:15:03.360 we can find the conviction to be faithful, to 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:11.639 be fruitful, to be wise. Let us pray. God, grant 00:15:11.639 --> 00:15:16.440 us wisdom, but more than that, grant us the humility 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:21.600 to continually be searching for the wisdom that 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:26.590 you provide. to always be opening ourselves to 00:15:26.590 --> 00:15:30.210 you and your work of transformation in us and 00:15:30.210 --> 00:15:33.490 in this world. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.