Owl #5 Series

<The owl commercial launches the message>

Did you know that that commercial is almost 50 years old? It’s memorable. It points to a question, provides a practical experiment and even an answer. However, the wise old owl is only validating his own personal knowledge and experience so is that wisdom?

Some claim google is wisdom personified. I wouldn't claim this. Google, wikipedia, youtube videos are all purveyors of knowledge. But knowledge is not the same as wisdom.

Do a Google search for the word ‘wisdom’ and find a quarter billion posts?

Ask a friend what wisdom is and they may tell you it's the insight you gain just after you do the wrong thing.

Dictionary.com defines wisdom as: the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight.

By this definition there can be several sources of wisdom and while these aspects of gaining knowledge are good and right for example...

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious.

Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me something more precious.

Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.

Author Unknown

While seemingly true, the story fails the test of Godly wisdom because it falls short of the divine perspective. Hence the reason Jesus' life, death and resurrection confound people and why God’s Spiritual direction often gets confused with human brilliance.

The full name of Proverbs in Hebrew is the Proverbs of Solomon. However, this fact is debated. Some say Solomon wrote under pen names and others believe there are few written by later scribes. Whatever the truth is, today’s scripture is written by Agur. They are more than just “wisdom sayings”, but an oracle. An oracle is a word from God - a direct revelation versus an observation like the other proverbs. The first verses point to the never ending knowledge, power and everlasting nature of God. As it reaches our verses, the reminders of the Son of man bringing God’s kingdom to humankind in the last days and the future hope when the messiah returns. It focuses on directing the reader’s attention beyond the everyday consequences of one’s action to the future when God holds everyone accountable for their deeds.

Four weeks ago, we began unpacking four verses of one proverb to help us all come to see the depth of God’s truth. The scripture we will unpack is the one you heard at the beginning of service - Proverbs 30. In the last two week, we learned God uses small movements to make big changes as a way to ensure we recognize his role in our lives and the power he possesses because we could never have dreamed those 12 original knuckle heads would help the movement grow to over 2.3 billion today. This week we move to verse 27 but let me give you a little background.

Let’s begin today with a single verse from Proverbs 30:27

locusts have no king,

yet they advance together in ranks

Locusts are a form of grasshopper. While it's true they have no king, they create the most damage when they gather together. In fact, researchers have proven the swarm begins when a single locust rubs up against another. In the process, they begin working in tandem and by design begin to cross the paths of others increasing the swarm. In 1989, the swarm in Africa included some 60 countries and caused crop damage in excess of 4.5 billion dollars.

It’s interesting that science proved what scripture already reported. It’s just as interesting to consider that when Christians gather together they also advance the kingdom more readily. That is, the coracle begins with a single passion but then evolves into a more formidable force when others join ranks.

1 John 3:8 says, “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

It's been said before, the church is God’s way of entering into the world today. As part of the rank and file, our actions are in effect the presence that continues destroying the devil’s work. It's a work we do best when we begin to swarm together. Every great swarm begins as we connect with the words, ‘Someone ought to do something.’ In saying or even thinking those words, we are effectively hearing God’s call to action.