Wisdom is one of those things we all aim for as we go through life. We try to teach it to our children from an early age. We want them to avoid the mistakes that we or others have made. So what do we do? We teach them the same way people have done it for millennia: through the use of proverbs. You probably heard these sorts of things over and over again from your parents or your teachers as you were growing up: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. A bad workman blames his tools. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. One of my favourites is "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
How about these: A picture is worth a thousand words. All’s fair in love and war. Often they involve contrasts: Better late than never. Better safe than sorry. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread; Waste not, want not; or are simply pragmatic: "You can’t take it with you." I quite like this one: "The only stupid question is the one that is not asked." Useful in a bible study setting.
The book of Proverbs has lots of these sorts of short pithy statements, intended to teach young people how to be wise in this world. In fact it contains several collections of proverbs, collected it seems, by several different people. These sayings came from people observing the world around them and noticing the things that work and the things that don’t.
The only trouble is, sometimes they leave us with a dilemma. Sometimes we find that what worked in one situation backfires in another. In fact as you read through Proverbs you realise that the writer has already worked this out himself. So we find in Proverbs 26:4: "Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be a fool yourself." But then the next verse says: "5Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes." Simple answers just don’t work in this world.
That’s what we found in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes isn’t it? The teacher has set his mind to understand everything that’s done in this world and what does he conclude? It’s all vanity, meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Why? Because "What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted." The wisdom of Solomon, if it’s taken in parts, separated out into proverbs and sayings, is flawed, because it’s based on observation of a fallen world. What works in one place doesn’t work somewhere else. All our efforts to systematise the world, to catalogue it, analyse it, explain it, are at best partial. I remember when I was working as an engineer something would fail and I’d give it to one of my staff to fix. But it wasn’t enough simply to get it working again. Dropping it on the floor might have done that. No, I wanted them to tell me why it had failed and what they’d done to make sure it didn’t happen again. If they couldn’t explain the failure then they probably hadn’t really fixed the fault and it’d happen again.
Well that’s what the teacher finds. This wisdom, as good as it may be isn’t sufficient to explain a world like the one we live in. Why is that do you think? With all our twenty first century wisdom and knowledge why are we still struggling to understand the world we live in?
Well, when we get to ch 3 we discover that part of the reason we can’t understand all that happens in this world is because God has made it like that: "I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him." (Eccl 3:14 NRSV) A few verses earlier we read: "11[God] has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." There’s something about the world that pushes us to admit our weakness, to look beyond us for an answer. We know there’s more to life than we see at first glance. As the X-Files constantly reminded us, there’s something out there.
When we look at the world and see its crookedness, its perverseness, its inbuilt futility we realise that we need something or someone greater than ourselves to make sense of it all.
Does this futility and perverseness in the world surprise you? I think lots of people are surprised when people they’ve looked up to do the wrong thing. Whether it’s a politician who’s been arrested for drunk driving, or a Christian minister who’s had an affair with one of his parishioners, or a football star who’s been taking drugs, we’re often surprised that such a thing could happen. Yet if you think about our Christian theology, we shouldn’t be, should we? Isn’t this just the sort of thing we expect in a fallen world? Didn’t God tell Adam and Eve that their relationships in the world were going to be broken as a result of their disobedience? Didn’t he say that from now on there’d be pain and struggle as they tried to control the world; weeds to dig up, sweat as they ploughed the land, pain in childbirth?
When you listen to the world news each night you’ve probably noticed that there are so many parts of the world where corruption is the given. Our wheat board was involved in a controversy involving bribery and corruption a few years ago, weren’t they? But here’s the puzzling thing: everyone knows that injustice and corruption are wrong but no-one seems to be able to stop it.
Again this has been going on for millennia: The teacher says "16I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well." And in ch4: "Again I saw all the oppressions that are practiced under the sun. Look, the tears of the oppressed--with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power -- with no one to comfort them." I’ve just been to see the film "The Kite Runner", set in Afghanistan. It’s a wonderful film but the subject matter is so tragic. Here’s a culture that’s so rich with music and drama, beautiful architecture, displaying grace and beauty despite the arid landscape in which they’re placed. Yet all that is destroyed by power hungry people who are more intent on controlling others than on restoring their country to its former glory. And what’s worse, those who know it’s wrong are powerless to do anything about it. What hope is there for a nation, for a world, where that sort of thing can happen year after year, century after century and no-one seems to be able to stop it? Where power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely?
Well, there is hope for the world. Where human wisdom fails, God’s wisdom continues to operate. The Teacher knows that this is not a closed universe. He knows that God continues to monitor what goes on here. He says (3:17): "17I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work."
Even if his observation of the world seems to say the opposite, he knows that in the end God will judge the righteous and the wicked. But more of that next week.
So what about wisdom? We’ve seen that for all our studies of history we never seem to learn. Despite the fact that we all know what’s right and what’s wrong, that we all understand that corruption and injustice are wrong, yet corruption and injustice continue to thrive. We Australians pride ourselves in being the fairest of the fair, yet our Wheat Board agrees to pay bribes to an Iraqi trucking company to get the contract they’re after. State police force after police force are put under the microscope over accusations of corruption. We never seem to learn our lessons? So what value is wisdom? Why not forget it and just do what works? Be pragmatists rather than idealists? As one proverb puts it, "Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise." So why be wise in this world?
Well, in ch 7we get this long series of proverbs that remind us that despite the perverse nature of our world, despite the apparent futility of life on earth, there is value in living wisely. The secular humanist view of the world may lead to despair, but a Judaeo-Christian world view encourages us to live with an awareness of God’s presence within us.
Just look at these verses: "1A good name is better than precious ointment." A person’s reputation is priceless isn’t it? That’s why we have such strong laws about libel and slander. The person who lives wisely will be a person whose name is honoured by those they move amongst.
"5It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. 6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fools." Our world is full of people whose words are like the crackling of thorns under a pot. If you’ve ever used an open fire you’ll know that if you want good heat you use solid wood. But if all you want is a bright flame that flares up for a moment and then dies away throw on some kindling, some of the desert thorn bush that he has in mind here. It’s very showy but has no substance. I don’t listen to breakfast radio but this seems to me to be a good description of the sort of thing I see advertised for these shows. Vain laughter with no substance. A diversion perhaps, but a diversion doesn’t overcome the problems we face, it simply masks them for a moment, until the flare of light dies down and there they are still. Much better to hear the rebuke of the wise, to be reminded of the things in our life that need to be changed so we can get more out of life.
"11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. 12For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it." Wisdom is given to us to preserve our life, to protect us from the adversities that life will inevitably bring. It prepares us to face the futility and meaninglessness of life because it gives us a broader perspective than just life under the sun. For Christians wisdom reminds us that we live not under the SUN but under the SON.
But finally, notice the warnings that are included in this passage. Not only is a good name better than precious ointment, but the day of death is better than the day of birth. That sounds back to front, doesn’t it? Which would you rather go to, a baptism or a funeral? Most of us would prefer a baptism wouldn’t we? So why does he say that the day of death is better than the day of birth? Well it might be that the day of death heralds something better waiting for us. Paul did say (Phil 1:21-23 NRSV) "For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. ... 23I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." But the teacher doesn’t seem to have a future view here. Rather I think he’s saying that you understand more of life at a funeral than you do at a birth. I mean at a birth the general mood is one of excitement and hope for the future. This child could be a future prime minister in the making. They’ll make us so proud of them.
The most wrinkled, ruddy face is beautiful when it’s on a new born baby. Optimism rules at a birth, doesn’t it? This is not the moment for thinking about the brevity of life, for remembering that the moment we’re born we start to die, as Eric Bogle sang.
On the other hand at funerals the mood is more factual and in a sense more vital. At that moment we’re forced to stop and reflect on life’s uncertainty, on the fact that some day we’ll have to give an account to our maker. We’re reminded that the same fate is suffered by all people. Death is the great leveller. As Bill pointed out last week, it doesn’t matter what we accumulate in this world, in the end it’ll all come to nought. So at that moment we’re forced to think about where our priorities lie.
He warns us about anger and rose coloured glasses in vs 9&10: "9Do not be quick to anger, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. 10Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this." Anger achieves nothing. It may be unavoidable at times, but remember the warning of Ephesians 4: "do not let the sun go down on your anger." There are a few people here who can remember back to the "good old days." I can. Life was beautiful back then wasn’t it? Churches were full. Everyone loved one another. There was a real sense of community. Everyone knew their neighbours. Well if you can remember those things listen to what he says here: Thinking that the good old days were better than these days doesn’t arise out of wisdom. It’s merely the selective memory of old age. We choose to remember the good things and forget the bad. Much better to live in the present, accepting the inevitable change that life brings, and seeking to live wisely under God.
But notice he says to avoid the extremes: "15In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evil-doing. 16Do not be too righteous, and do not act too wise; why should you destroy yourself? 17Do not be too wicked, and do not be a fool; why should you die before your time?" There are those who ignore the constraints of righteous living altogether. They’ll come under God’s judgement in the end. And there are those who turn righteousness into a fundamentalist legalism. They’ll destroy themselves and their religion in the end, by righteousness; or at least by overzealous application of the rules of righteousness. We need to remember that: "19Wisdom gives strength to the wise more than ten rulers that are in a city. 20Surely there is no one on earth so righteous as to do good without ever sinning." No one is righteous. No, not one. For Christians part of being wise is acknowledging that we can never achieve righteousness by our own efforts. Only the righteousness that comes by grace through the death of Christ will suffice.
And one final warning: "14In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them." Don’t think God loves you just because something good has happened to you. Remember that the day of death is better than the day of birth. God loves you even when things go wrong. In fact it’s at that moment that his love for you is greatest because that’s when you need it the most.
Well we could say more about wisdom, about the folly of those who ignore wise advice, or who take it but then forget the person who gave it, or how easy it is for a fool to destroy all the work of the wise in an instant. Ch 9:13-18 will tell you about that. But we don’t have time. For now remember that wisdom is a gift from God available to all who ask in faith. Let me leave you with a verse from James 1: "5If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you."
For more sermons from this source go to http://www.stthomasburwood.org.au
