Gaining Wisdom

Good morning!

We are going to dive right in this morning because we have a lot of ground to cover.

I want to start this morning with a quote that may be familiar to you.

“...’Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes...” -The Cobbler of Preston by Christopher Bullock (1716)

This phrase was popularized by Benjamin Franklin and has stuck around.

While we aren’t going to talk about taxes today, we are going to talk quite a bit about death.

You probably noticed the shift in the structure of our text as we moved into chapter seven.

Moving into this section requires that we talk about something that you may not have thought much about before which is the complexity of life as a believer.

One of my commentaries drew attention to something that I have experienced as I’ve gotten older.

Some of you have probably realized it as well.

Think about what you were taught as a child in regards to how we live with one another.

Things were very cut and dry.

One of the things we were all taught was the idea of truth.

Tell the truth. Don’t lie.

Straight forward, right?

But is it really that simple?

This is not a discussion on relative or subjective truth, but rather the idea that things are not as simple and clear as we would like them to be.

This commentary pointed to something that I hadn’t really thought about before.

In James chapter 2, where he is discussing faith and works, we see the following statement.

James 2:25 CSB

25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?

Do you remember this story?

What were her “works”? Let’s quickly look at it together.

Joshua 2:1–7 CSB

1 Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from the Acacia Grove, saying, “Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.” So they left, and they came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab, and stayed there. 2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land.” 3 Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land.” 4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. 5 At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don’t know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them!” 6 But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof. 7 The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gate was shut.

James said that she was justified by lying to protect the spies that Joshua sent into Jericho.

Wait just a minute.

That can’t be right, can it?

We were told and have continued to teach that we should always tell the truth.

What gives?

Why was it okay, and furthermore, why does James say that she was justified by her actions?

What is being pointed out is something that we learn as we grow up.

Things are not as cut and dry as we would like them to be.

We see this scenario played out in sitcoms all the time.

The wife is getting dressed and she ask her poor, unsuspecting, husband if the outfit makes her look fat.

And what is he supposed to say? If the outfit does, is he supposed to tell her?

What we want in life is for things to be easy.

Isn’t that always the goal?

Do you ever wake up in the morning and say, “I hope I have a horribly complicated day today”?

Of course you don’t say that.

You say, “man, I hope today goes well.”

People struggle with the wisdom literature because it is not cut and dry.

I wanted to spend some time talking about this before we even get into our text today because the text is going to be more difficult than we are used to.

We need to spend some time this week meditating on these verses and allow God to reveal Himself.

Ecclesiastes 7:1–6 CSB

1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart. 3 Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure. 5 It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools, 6 for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

Already this is confusing, isn’t it?

The first line of the opening stanza is easy.

A good name is better than fine perfume.

The character that we exhibit is more important than wealth.

That’s pretty straight forward, but that is where the simplicity seems to end.

The preacher is making comparative statements, but after the first one, we don’t know what to do with these words.

What is obvious is that the preacher wants us to think about and ponder death in order to live in a way that creates change.

This brings us to our first point for this morning.

Live with death in mind.

Now, keep in mind what we just talked about our desire for easy and our discussion last week on living with the right perspective.

Verse one points back to 4:2 in which he makes a similar statement.

Ecclesiastes 4:2 CSB

2 So I commended the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are still alive.

The preacher is telling us that it is better to be dead than to be alive.

Why would he say that?

He believes what we say we believe, that when we leave this life, we are reunited with God, in heaven.

The pain and suffering that we experience in this world are not in heaven.

Because of the promise that we hold too, we can have hope in death.

The purpose of that hope is not to allow us to ignore where we are now.

We are here now, and live in this world.

Living with the end in mind helps us to live for eternal things.

If you have lost a loved one, you know how transformative that process is in your life.

It is devastating to lose a loved one, but it changes the way we look at life.

Our priorities shift and things that seemed important, suddenly aren’t.

In verse one, he is saying that death is better than birth because death has a lasting impact on the way we live.

Celebrating birth doesn’t have that effect on us, but every funeral we attend causes us to anticipate our own.

It causes us to evaluate our lives and put our priorities in their proper place.

He follows up this thought with verse 2.

Ecclesiastes 7:2 CSB

2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart.

To be in the house of morning means that death is the object of our reflections.

If our goal is wisdom, this is one of the ways we gain it.

We consider the life of the person that has passed and we allow that to stir our thoughts and heart.

We strive to live as that person lived.

It is good to consider our own mortality.

Look with me at Psalm 90.

The psalmist is reflecting on the words of a wise man that has passed and is considering his own mortality and the relationship that we as humans have with an eternal God.

So as we read this, think about the life of Moses.

We studied it pretty well last year.

Psalm 90 CSB

A prayer of Moses, the man of God. 1 Lord, you have been our refuge in every generation. 2 Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, you are God. 3 You return mankind to the dust, saying, “Return, descendants of Adam.” 4 For in your sight a thousand years are like yesterday that passes by, like a few hours of the night. 5 You end their lives; they sleep. They are like grass that grows in the morning— 6 in the morning it sprouts and grows; by evening it withers and dries up. 7 For we are consumed by your anger; we are terrified by your wrath. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 For all our days ebb away under your wrath; we end our years like a sigh. 10 Our lives last seventy years or, if we are strong, eighty years. Even the best of them are struggle and sorrow; indeed, they pass quickly and we fly away. 11 Who understands the power of your anger? Your wrath matches the fear that is due you. 12 Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts. 13 Lord—how long? Turn and have compassion on your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us rejoice for as many days as you have humbled us, for as many years as we have seen adversity. 16 Let your work be seen by your servants, and your splendor by their children. 17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be on us; establish for us the work of our hands— establish the work of our hands!

Do you see the perspective that he has?

He is considering his own mortality in order to have the proper perspective on his life.

When we allow ourselves to think about death, it is difficult, but it brings us to a place of real understanding of life.

Receive wisdom as you grieve.

We have discussed previously that wisdom is gained by many experiences over the course of a lifetime.

There are people in your lives that are older than you, that have more life experiences, and have walked with the Lord longer than you have.

If they are still around, spend time listening, and gleaning that wisdom.

If they have already gone to heaven, remember the things they shared with you.

God puts those people in our lives to share the wisdom they have gained with us.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the funeral of a man that I didn’t know that well.

His grandson, however, was one of my very best friends in high school.

During the visitation time, I asked my friend a question.

I asked him what the was the wisest thing your grandfather taught you or told you?

Without hesitation he answered, “Consistency”.

Now his stepmother said, “oh yes, he had the same routine everyday”, which was true.

But my friend said, “No, not that, I mean with church.”

His grandfather had been a member of Liberty United Methodist church for over 50 years.

It isn’t his tenure that Kyle was talking about, it was his commitment to the Lord and to his community.

The most impacting thing that Kyle learned from his grandfather was to love God and love people.

We all know that is scriptural, but Kyle got to see it role modeled by his grandfather.

He knows, by watching his grandfather, what it means to be commited to living like Jesus.

When Kyle reads those words in scripture, they will have greater meaning and impact because of the life and wisdom of his grandfather.

At the end of verse 2, the preacher says that the living should take all this to heart.

And if we have an opportunity to go to a party or a funeral, always choose the funeral.

One of my commentaries said...

“...allow the interruption of a funeral to enrich your life and, ironically, enhance life’s blessings.”

I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve been to a lot of funerals.

It comes with the job.

I can tell you this though, at most of them, I came away from them with a better perspective on life and knowing more than I did when I got there.

In the last year or so, I was blessed by going to the funerals of Tylitha’s mom and Glen’s dad.

I knew neither in life, but the testimonies of those that did reveal the wisdom that both gained over many years of life.

It was obvious that the people that did know them knew how wise they were and they now carry that wisdom.

If you follow Tylitha or Mandy on Facebook you will often find a Totsyism - a nugget of wisdom from their mom.

They both carry within themselves the wisdom of their mother.

This is the purpose of a funeral, to reflect upon the life of the one that has passed from this life into eternal life.

When we go to funerals, the goal should not be to distract those that are grieving from their loss, but rather we should seek words of wisdom.

Ecclesiastes 7:3–4 CSB

3 Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. 4 The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

Ask those that are grieving about what they learned from their loved one.

It will benefit you, of course, but more importantly, for the person sharing it with you, that wisdom will be cemented it in their minds.

Sharing wisdom allows the grieving process to be more than just sorrowful.

It brings joy into the sorrow because they remember how amazing that person was and that their wisdom will live on in them.

If you haven’t already, you need to ask yourself, why did we all of the sudden jump to the topic of death and wisdom?

Death reminds of us how temporary life is.

Our goal and the preacher's goal is to gain God’s perspective on this broken world.

Understanding and taking to heart that we are only here for a short while should change how we live.

Why is it so important that we gain wisdom?

God’s perspective is wise and as we walk through life with Him, we learn from Him.

God purposefully puts people in our lives that have more experience with Him so that we can learn from them.

Put yourself under the guidance of someone wise.

Ecclesiastes 7:5–6 CSB

5 It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools, 6 for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

Life is too short to waste it living like a fool.

One of my high school teachers loved the word fool.

It simply means to live unwisely, and she reminded us regularly that we were all fools.

It is a fact of life that there are people that are smarter than we are.

It doesn’t matter how smart you think you are, there is always someone with wisdom that you don’t have.

It is critical that we find someone in our life that will love us enough to tell us the truth.

All of us are often foolish and we need a person in our lives that can call that out and help us to gain wisdom.

More than likely, God has already placed someone in your life that he intends to fulfill that role.

I want you to think about this during the week.

Who is your mentor?

Are you allowing them to speak truth and wisdom into your life?

Proverbs 13:1 CSB

1 A wise son responds to his father’s discipline, but a mocker doesn’t listen to rebuke.

My hope is that you already have a person in your life that you have allowed to mentor you.

If that person points out foolish behavior don’t be upset with them.

Thank them for loving you enough to say it.

I can’t tell you how many times Glen has quoted 2 Timothy 4:3

2 Timothy 4:3–4 CSB

3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Now this passage is talking specifically about theology, but this same thing happens in the realm of wisdom.

There are some who desire the input of the wise.

There are others that would rather continue to live foolishly and gather around themselves people that will make them feel good about the foolishness.

This is exactly what the preacher is talking about in verse 6.

Ecclesiastes 7:6 CSB

6 for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile.

I don’t know how much experience you guys have with building fires, but there are somethings that are great fire starters, but that doesn’t mean they are good fuel.

When starting a fire you begin with something that is easily combustible.

Which simply means, it catches fire quickly.

before you light that starter material, you gather progressively larger kindling that you feed the fire as it is growing.

The end goal is to have dry, hard wood logs, burning in your fire.

You want hard woods, because they are good fuel.

They burn slow and hot.

Both of those things are desirable for warmth and cooking.

vs 6 is describing using your starter, which burns quickly, in place of your hard wood.

Yes, it will burn, but with barely enough heat to even warm a pot.

If you ever camped much and added pine cones to a fire, you can understand the imagery of this text perfectly.

Pine cones will burn, and they make an incredibly satisfying crackling as they burn.

But that is all they are good for.

They don’t last or produce much heat.

The question that the text is asking of us is which one are we?

Are you turning your attention to a starter that just sounds good, but is really only noise?

Or are you seeking the guidance of someone that loves the Lord and strives to help you gain wisdom?

All of us need a mentor in our lives.

That is how to grow in wisdom.

One of the first steps in the journey to gaining wisdom is to allow the Holy Spirit to soften our hearts to receive it.

If there is a lack of wisdom in your life, it isn’t a brainpower issue, it is a heart issue.

I want to close today by reading together from 1 Kings 3.

This passage records the beginning of Solomon’s reign.

There are three things we need to see in this passage.

He loved and was faithful to God and his people.

He knew that his God-given task was going to require much more knowledge and wisdom than he had.

His request of God was for the benefit for others, which revealed his heart.

1 Kings 3:1–12 CSB

1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter. Solomon brought her to the city of David until he finished building his palace, the Lord’s temple, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem. 2 However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name had not been built. 3 Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you?” 6 And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to your servant, my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. 7 “Lord my God, you have now made your servant king in my father David’s place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership. 8 Your servant is among your people you have chosen, a people too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give your servant a receptive heart to judge your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?” 10 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. 11 So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice, 12 I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.

All of us need wisdom and God has made ways for us to gain it.

To get it though requires that we put aside our childish, selfish ways, and experience difficult things.

We must allow God to lead us into and through difficult things so that we can gain His perspective on life here on earth.

In the process of suffering, we are brought close to God and others which results in gaining wisdom.

We must submit ourselves to the leadership that God places in our lives and allow those godly leaders to speak truth into our lives.