We Need Wisdom!

Announcements

Parents & Volunteers Lunch today after 10am service in 112.

Gospel Community Night, Sep 12, 5:30pm

Youth Group Fall Kick-off Sep 15, 6:30pm

Scripture (Barb): Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20 ESV

Introduction

General: “We live in a world where information is widely privileged over wisdom… It is a world in which no one ever thinks to ask whether twenty-four hour news channels are a good thing, a world in which… information technology is a more important… college class than philosophy, a world in which “Have you heard the latest?" is a more pressing question than “Do you know the truth?”… The truth is that we have never known so much and understood so little.” ~ Iain Provan, 2001

Personal: We don’t lack information. We lack wisdom. Information ≠ wisdom. Knowledge ≠ wisdom. Education ≠ wisdom. Status, power, position, popularity, a platform, wealth… these things aren’t the same thing as wisdom. We don’t lack information, knowledge, education, wealth, privilege, or power. We lack wisdom.

Subject: What happens when a society has more information than it knows what to do with, yet lacks wisdom? What happens when a people have an abundance of knowledge yet a shortage of understanding?

Biblical: In the passage in Ecclesiastes today, Solomon shows us what happens when a society lacks wisdom. You can apply this across the board to any group of people: a nation, a state, a people group, a business, an organization, a church, or a family.

Big Idea: A society that lacks wisdom is like a foolish man who doesn’t know who he is, what he’s doing, or where he’s going. A people who lack understanding cannot see themselves for who they are, have no idea what to do next, and wander aimlessly without direction because they don’t know the way.

Body

The foolish man doesn’t know who he is. A society that lacks wisdom cannot see itself for who and what it is.

Explanation

The foolish man thinks he is wise because he has status, wealth, and popularity (Ecc 10:5-7).

Even though he knows nothing, he thinks he knows everything. He loves to hear himself talk and offers his opinion about everything—as if it mattered (Ecc 10:12-14).

The fool thinks he is God’s gift to the world, but doesn’t realize who he really is: Ecclesiastes 9:17-10:1). He’s nothing more than ruler among fools shouting everyone else down, a sinner who destroys much good, a dead fly who ruins the whole bottle of perfume.

Illustration: A society that lacks wisdom is an arrogant society that cannot see its own flaws or acknowledge its own mistakes. People who lack wisdom don’t take responsibility for their own actions. We have all the information in the world at our fingertips, but we cannot even understand our own identity as human beings, and we cannot accept the reality that we are sinful people.

Application: But Jesus tells us who we are (see Titus 3:3-7). In Christ, we understand who we are: Sinners who were saved to become heirs of eternal life.

The foolish man doesn’t know what he’s doing. A society that lacks wisdom has no idea what to do next.

Explanation

The foolish man is ignorant—he doesn’t recognize true wisdom (Ecc 9:14-16).

The foolish man is incompetent (Ecc 10:8-10).

He digs a pit but falls into it.

He quarries stone but drops it on his foot.

He splits logs with a dull axe.

He wastes money on parties while his roof is caving in (Ecc 10:18-19).

The foolish man is impatient (Ecc 10:11).

“It is easy to be constantly dissatisfied with the present. Most of us are stuck in the habit of looking to “the next best thing,” which we believe will finally secure what we most desire. In our impatience, we dislike and disregard the present while longing for a better tomorrow. yet living this way is to turn our back on life itself. As Christians, we are called to live life fully in the present moment, even when the present consists of toil, grief, or pain.”

Illustration: A society that lacks wisdom is an impatient and incompetent society that doesn’t know what it’s doing. People who lack wisdom are never satisfied, and although we have more entertainment than ever before in history, we are more bored than ever before in history. We have all the information in the world in our pockets, yet we don’t know what to do with our lives.

Application: But Jesus gives us purpose (see Acts 1:8; Matt 28:19). In Christ, we understand what we’re supposed to do in life: Be witnesses for Jesus who make disciples of Jesus.

The foolish man doesn’t know where he’s going. A society that lacks wisdom wanders aimlessly without direction because it doesn’t know the way.

Explanation: Ecclesiastes 10:2-3, 15… drawing

Illustration: A society that lacks wisdom is a society that doesn’t know where it’s going, or even that it’s on the wrong path. People who lack wisdom lack direction in life, and end up chasing a happiness that they never quite catch. We have all the information in the world on our phones, yet we don’t know how to be truly happy.

Application: But Jesus shows us the way (John 14:5-7). In Christ we understand that Jesus is the way to live a meaningful life in a loving relationship with God the Father.

Conclusion

A society that lacks wisdom is like a foolish man who doesn’t know who he is, what he’s doing, or where he’s going.

It would be easy to get angry and judgmental and forget our own sinfulness, and instead point our fingers at everyone else in our society and scream, “You fools!” But that’s not what Jesus did. Look at Matthew 9:35-38.

We don’t need more information. We don’t need more knowledge. We don’t need more training. We don’t even need more education. We need wisdom. We need truth. We need Jesus.

And then we need to go into the fields that are ripe for harvest and love people into the Kingdom of God.

“We all need wisdom from above and from outside us—and from before us—if we are going to know what life is all about. We all need to know Truth… We will not find this Truth by watching TV chat shows. We will not find it by listening to powerful politicians, to famous actors and performers, to polished prosperity preachers, to eloquent college professors, or to professional athletes. We will find it only in God’s revelation in Jesus Christ, who is the touchstone of all reality and the focus of all wisdom. It is in Jesus and in the great story of human history woven around Him that we will find the solid Rock on which to stand and against which to measure all the truth claims that people make about the world… It is the house built on this ancient Truth that will still be found standing at the end of time.” ~ Iain Provan

What are you building your house on? And who are you inviting into it?