My Best Friend Wisdom: Proverbs 8:22-36 - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

I’ll never forget the time the three of us called my grandmother on her birthday. When Becca took the phone, she asked her how she was doing, my grandmother always said, “I’m old.”

Becca then replied, “you’re not old, you’re experienced!”

She certainly was right about that. My grandmother grew up in a coal mining company village during the Great Depression. My uncle served in Vietnam, and she was a widow for 38 years.

Whenever I think of wisdom, I think of her. I also think of my paternal grandfather who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War 2. (I should add that my maternal grandfather also served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War 2, but he passed away before my first birthday.)

Blow and Ring (p) by David Seibold on flickr. CC BY-NC 2.0

 I also think of the many people I’ve met over the years who faced unimaginable hardships and trials, and still lived fulfilling lives.

I remember the late June and Walter Klingensmith, members of First Lutheran, said it best when I visited them on their 77^th wedding anniversary, and I asked them, “what’s your secret?” They looked at each other, smiling, and said, “you learn to laugh and not sweat the small stuff.” The late Lillian Gabelli, also a member of First, had all five of her toes broken when a fellow resident of the personal care home ran over them with his wheelchair. The first words out of her mouth, after she finished crying out in pain, were “I forgive you.”

I learned that wisdom is about perspective and the ability to weigh the things that matter against the things that don’t.

I should point out that you don’t need to be over eighty to be wise, as I’ve gained plenty of wisdom from people who were not old-slash-experienced.

When you think of wisdom, who do you think of? What did they teach you, and are you putting their wisdom into practice?

It’s beautiful how Solomon speaks of wisdom as a person in our reading for today. Like a project manager, construction foreperson, or a composer, wisdom brings God’s creative plans to life. Every part of creation, from the waters to the mountains, to the hills, to the skies is established in its proper place within the cosmic symphony of life. For the individual, wisdom is the ultimate life coach, whose instruction leads to purpose and fulfillment.

It's important to bear in mind that though God gave Solomon wisdom which brought him worldwide acclaim, he failed to apply that wisdom throughout his reign, with disastrous results.

I said before that when I think of wisdom, I think of people whose knowledge and experience gave them a healthy perspective on what’s right and what’s wrong; what really matters versus what does not.

To me, the most unwise people are like Solomon, who get everything they want, yet value none of it. They are consumed with desire for more combined with a paranoia of losing it. The unwise believe they are entitled to everything they want. All of humanity, along with the planet and its resources exist solely for the purpose of their exploitation.

When I think of the meanest and most miserable people I know, what strikes me about all of them is that most have no reason to feel that way. They aren’t poor, they aren’t suffering, they aren’t deathly ill. Many of them live quite comfortably; they have spouses and children; they’re healthy. Looking at the pictures they share on social media, you’d think they’re living the perfect life.

But they’re bitter. They nurse grudges. They’re impatient and rude. They must settle every score, no matter how minor. They love you only when you give them what they want, and the moment you don’t, you’re the enemy. But the unwise person is their own worst enemy, while they are toxic to everyone and everything in their orbit.

To be wise, on the other hand, is to see things as they really are. The be wise is to know the difference between what is life-giving versus life-wasting, and the difference between the things that matter versus the things that don’t. Most importantly, to be wise is to live not by your desires, instincts, or impulses, but by the Word of the Lord. To be wise is to learn from your mistakes, to have the humility to seek forgiveness and the meekness enough to give it. To be wise is to understand that your well-being depends on the well-being of others. When you are wise, you bring life to everyone they meet.

While age and experience can certainly create wisdom, you don’t need either of these to be wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God is God, you are not, and that is good. You will gain wisdom through instruction, practice, and discipline. Failure and hardship will teach you life’s greatest lessons. You will gain strength forged through pain. Your trials will give you character. The key to living well depends not on happens to you but how you choose to respond to it.

To be wise is to be thankful, seeing God’s hand in the gifts you receive and the gifts you give. To be wise is to trust God. To be wise is to obey God’s Word. 

Proverbs 8:22-36 (NRSVue)

²² “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
    the first of his acts of long ago.
²³ Ages ago I was set up,
    at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
²⁴ When there were no depths I was brought forth,
    when there were no springs abounding with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains had been shaped,
    before the hills, I was brought forth,
²⁶ when he had not yet made earth and fields
    or the world’s first bits of soil.
²⁷ When he established the heavens, I was there;
    when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he made firm the skies above,
    when he established the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he assigned to the sea its limit,
    so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
³⁰     then I was beside him, like a master worker,
and I was daily his delight,
    playing before him always,
³¹ playing in his inhabited world
    and delighting in the human race.

³² “And now, my children, listen to me:
    happy are those who keep my ways.
³³ Hear instruction and be wise,
    and do not neglect it.
³⁴ Happy is the one who listens to me,
    watching daily at my gates,
    waiting beside my doors.
³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life
    and obtains favor from the Lord,
³⁶ but those who miss me injure themselves;
    all who hate me love death.”