OPEN: Tonight at 11:59 pm, over one billion people all across the world will be watching as the “ball” drops in New York City’s Times Square. That got me to wondering about the history of the New Year’s Eve “ball” and what I discovered was intriguing:
· The 1st "time-ball" was installed on top of England’s Royal Observatory at Greenwich in 1833
· After the success of that event, approximately 150 such time-balls were installed around the world. But few survive and still work.
· The tradition is carried on today in places like the United States Naval Observatory in Washington, DC, where a time-ball descends from a flagpole at noon each day - and of course, once a year in Times Square, where it marks the stroke of midnight.
· New York actually held a New Years celebration as early as 1904, but it wasn’t until 1907 that they “dropped” an iron and wood ball and adorned with a hundred 25-watt light bulbs. It was 5 feet in diameter and weighed 700 pounds
· From that date until today, the ball has dropped every year except 1942 and 1943 during the City’s WWII “dim-outs”. Crowds still gathered in Times Square during those years and greeted the New Year with a moment of silence followed by chimes ringing out from One Times Square.
· Over the years, the “time-ball” has undergone about 4 re-designs – the most recent one was created for the Millennial celebration in the year 2000 by Waterford Crystal. It’s a geodesic sphere, six feet in diameter, and weighing approximately 1,070 pounds. It’s covered with a total of 504 crystal triangles that vary in size.
· And each of those triangles has a special designation: Hope for Fellowship, Hope for Peace, Hope for Wisdom, Hope for Unity, Hope for Courage, Hope for Healing, etc.
The Name of the ball itself? The Star of Hope
APPLY: Why would they call the New Year’s ball the “Star of Hope?”
Because each new year IS a time for hope
It’s a time for opportunity
It’s a time for us to grasp hold of our future/ our destiny
What Proverbs 17:24 is telling us is that: we have the opportunity to “lay hold of our destiny and future” for this coming New Year. The hope for our future depends upon us.
But that hope doesn’t lie in “wishing upon a star” - which is essentially what those triangles on the Star of Hope actually are all about. The “hope” for fellowship, peace, wisdom, courage and so on are not based upon promises, but upon a wish for we’d like to see take place in the next year.
Proverbs 24 is saying that the Wise man has a powerful future waiting for him because he keeps his eyes on wisdom. By contrast, the fool has his eyes on something else… his eyes are on the ends of the earth.
What’s the difference between the two? And how can I (and you) avoid become like the wise man and get the best God wants to give us?
I. Well, let’s take a look at the fool first
“The fool’s eyes,” says Proverbs “wander to the ends of the earth.”
This verse has always interested me – because I can visualize this guy
ILLUS: Years ago, my dad told me about a woman he observed while he was picking berries in a strawberry patch. This woman would pick a strawberry here… and then she’d look up and see another strawberry a couple of rows away and off she’d run to pick that berry.
Then she’d look up and see another berry a few plants away and off she’d go, again and again and again all across the patch.
Dad said that in the time it took her to fill one bucket he could fill 10.
Her eyes were always wandering across the field looking for the easiest berry’s to find.
And the fool is like that… he’s always looking for the easiest berry in the patch. He’s always seeking an easy way to get ahead in his life.
· He’s the guy who invests in the future by buying lottery tickets
· He can’t seem to stay married… because no person is ever good enough
· He can’t keep a job because no job is good enough
· He can’t stay in one church, because no church is good enough
There is always a rainbow waiting for them over the next hill. Their eyes wander constantly to the ends of the earth. They are constantly comparing:
Ø themselves
Ø and their families
Ø and their jobs
Ø and their potential
to something else or to someone else
AND THEY ARE NEVER SATISFIED
Like that woman who hurried from bush to bush in the strawberry patch they are constantly running from bright bobble of life to the next. Always hoping that the next ring they grab will be the brass ring.
And in the end, they have done less with their lives than they could have.
II. By contrast, the wise man has two advantages over the fool
1st he is focused.
A discerning man keeps wisdom in view (Proverbs 17:24)
He’s not running all over the place looking for an easy way to live his life.
He realizes that the only lasting success in life comes by sticking to the task at hand.
A preacher I enjoy reading, named Rubel Shelly, once observed:
You can’t build a championship team in a day.
No single sales meeting can transform a company into a success.
No weekend marriage or parenting seminar can completely heal a struggling family.
No one sermon can help set a church right or remove its troubles.
You can’t make a success of life by looking for easy fixes. By running pillar to post for solutions. The greatest achievements can only accomplished with consistent, focused effort.
And that was what the wise man does… and he focuses on achieving one central objective.
Does anybody know what it is the wise man pursues in his life? That’s right – Wisdom.
Solomon (who wrote Proverbs) was once asked by God to name the one thing he wanted
When Solomon asked for wisdom God responded,
"Since you have asked for (wisdom) and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies… I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart…. Moreover, I will give you what you have NOT asked for— both riches and honor— so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.” 1 Kings 3:11-12
Solomon learned from experience that wisdom gained him an advantage in life. It gave him an edge. And it was that advantage, that edge, that gave him his wealth and power and position.
After all, what’s the purpose of wealth if you don’t know how to spend it?
What’s the value of power if you don’t know how to exercise it?
What’s the use of having a position of influence if you don’t know how to use it?
Too many people believe that if they only had power, wealth, influence, they’d be happy. And so they struggle and strain to gain those things… but they don’t have the wisdom to know what they have right now. And so they are never (ever) satisfied with what they have.
ILLUS: A poet once observed:
We squander our HEALTH
In search of Wealth
We scheme and toil and save
Then squander Wealth
In search of Health
And all we get’s a grave.
We live and boast of what we own
We die and only get a stone.
“A discerning man keeps wisdom in view” Proverbs 17:24
The 2nd advantage the wise man has over the fool was that he knows where to look for wisdom.
Where did Solomon get his wisdom?
He asked God.
Why? Because wisdom comes from God.
James 1:5 says “If any of you LACKS WISDOM, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”
Now there are other places to look for knowledge and information, and even for what men value as wisdom. And those places may seem to have merit. But any other source that God will eventually lead to contradictory advice because it will be based upon man’s experience.
For example, these are examples of men’s wisdom:
· Look before you leap… but he who hesitates is lost.
· Many hands make light work… but too many cooks spoil the broth.
· Clothes make the man… but we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.
· Nothing ventured, nothing gained… but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
· If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again... but don’t beat a dead horse
· If you lie down with dogs you’ll get up with fleas... but if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
The wisdom of man has its weaknesses because man’s wisdom is always based solely upon what mortal men and women can experience and observe.
And our experiences will always be limited.
And our observations will only be able to see so much.
ILLUS: It’s like a man wanting to see as far as he can so he climbs a high mountain. But no matter how high the mountain… he can still only see so far. He’ll always be limited by his own eyesight and the edge of the horizon.
But by contrast - the wisdom of God comes from way far above.
There are NO limits to His vision
There are no boundaries to what He can see.
He knows the Beginning from the End
In Isaiah 46:10 God tells us: “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”
When we look to God for His wisdom in our lives we’re not only better off than the fool…we’re better off than anyone else because we have an advantage others don’t have. We have access to the Wisdom of God in our lives.
And we show that we have the wisdom of God when we DO what He asks us to do.
Remember Jesus once told the parable about how two men built their homes (song – “Wise man built his house upon the rock”)
Jesus ended the parable by saying
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does NOT put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” Matthew 7:26
But, "… everyone who hears these words of mine and PUTS THEM INTO PRACTICE is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24
We show that we have gained God’s wisdom when we DO what He asks us to do.
That’s why it is so critical that we keep exposing ourselves to His wisdom (BIBLE)
· In Church
· In Sunday School
· In mid-week Bible studies
· In our personal devotions
The more of God’s wisdom we can get into us…the greater our advantage in this world.
So, here are the ways to ensure a good New Year for 2007
#1 KNOW God’s Wisdom
#2 DO God’s Wisdom
#3 REPEAT
Do this again and again and again – as often as you can.
The key thing to remember is that – both as individual Christians and as a church – we have access not only to God’s wisdom but also to His power. Our ability to create a great New Year for our lives isn’t limited simply to what we know and can personally do with our lives. God’s power and working in our lives is the single most important advantage we have.
As one wise man observed
“I place no hope in my strength, nor in my works; but all my confidence is in God my protector, who never abandons those who have put all their hope and thought in Him.” Francois Rabelais
If we hold on to God… to His wisdom and His power… then we will succeed in this coming year. And we will lay hold of everything God wants us to have. Granted, it may seem to be that It may seem that our future may be in doubt at times… but the end result will never really be in question.
CLOSE:
One of my favorite stories has to do with the 1959 Biblical epic’s called “Ben Hur”
One of the most famous scenes in that movie was the climatic chariot race, which required 5 weeks of filming, 15,000 extras, and 18 chariots – nine to be used by the stunt crew during practice.
In the spirit of authenticity, Charlton Heston actually learned to drive the 4 horse vehicles. But after weeks of practice, he expressed concern about the final shoot.
He took the stunt coordinator aside and “I can drive the chariot,” he told stunt coordinator Yakima Canutt, who was directing the scene, “but I’m not sure I can win.”
“Chuck, you just make sure you stay in the chariot,” Canutt replied, “and I’ll make sure you win the race.”
Likewise, God is saying to us: “Just stay in the chariot… and I’ll make sure you win the race.”
