"FINDING REAL WISDOM"
a message by Rev. Dr. Bruce Havens
Coral Isles Church, U.C.C.
August 11, 2024
Proverbs 8:1-17 NRSV
1Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?
2 On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand;
3 beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
4 “To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.
5 O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it.
6 Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right;
7 for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
9 They are all straight to one who understands and right to those who find knowledge.
10 Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold;
11 for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.
12 I, wisdom, live with prudence, and I attain knowledge and discretion. 1
3 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
14 I have good advice and sound wisdom; I have insight, I have strength.
15 By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;
16 by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly.
17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
I always try to point out the difference between wisdom, knowledge, and information when I do a sermon on Proverbs. We have a LOT of information these days. A LOT of it “mis-information.” We have a LOT of knowledge. Most of it seems to be used to make misinformation on the airwaves, television, social media, etc. None of this equates to real wisdom. This morning we celebrate and dedicate a new school year. It is a reminder to all of us to keep learning and growing. The hope is we will find real wisdom for living our lives. Today, I want try to address real wisdom from both a Biblical and cultural perspective.
Anyone somewhat familiar with the Bible knows Proverbs is a book about wisdom. And that’s pretty true. These verses emphasize some of the understanding of wisdom in the Bible. Wisdom can be found. It is not hidden or mysterious. The writer tells us wisdom calls out from the heights, along the highways and byways, at the gates of town, at the entry of shops and homes. Now forgive me if I seem rude but to me it seems that unfortunately, it doesn’t always penetrate down from those heights and byways and gates and doors into our minds and hearts. We tend to fill our hearts, minds and time with a lot of information, maybe a little knowledge, but wisdom often seems lacking. How do we move toward wisdom, how can we hear it calling to us from everywhere?
Remember last week I mentioned the 4 - Way Test the Rotary Club uses to decide what to say, think, or do? I think that is one way of beginning to move toward wisdom consistent with Proverbs. The writer of Proverbs reminds us that wisdom is always noble, right, and true. It is also more valuable than silver, gold, or jewels. Those are important basic reminders. But I think the writer gives us something equally valuable to truly understand how to get to wisdom.
The writer highlights 3 words that can help us decide whether something is wise or not. The first word is prudence. Now I’m old enough to remember some women used to be named “Prudence.” But it is not a word one hears often today. But prudence combines the notion of caution and judgment. I get the feeling it invites us to use a higher level of decision-processing before we say or do things. Prudence seems to sum up those 4 questions the Rotary test asks: is it true, is it fair, will it build good will, and is it beneficial to all. So as we seek to find the wise way in life prudence can be a powerful key.
The second word Proverbs highlights is “knowledge.” I’ve already cautioned us about confusing knowledge with wisdom. How can I go back to this word now? I suspect a more accurate word might be “learning.” So here we are celebrating the school year. Obviously, that is all about learning. But kids, here’s a thought you might want to keep in mind. Teachers, parents, and anyone smart enough should also always be learning. The key to wisdom is never to stop learning. Too many adults live their lives by semi-true thoughts they heard someone else say a long time ago, including their parents, and they simply repeat those as if they are unchanging truths. Keep learning, boys and girls. And adults, if you are brave enough. And if you have faith in God’s commitment to Truth, especially examine the things you have always believed. Test them. See if they stand up to qualify as wisdom. Remember at one time people thought the earth was flat. Remember also, some people still do!
The third word Proverbs gives us is “discretion.” One good time to practice discretion might be when someone is about to act or speak foolishly. We may have great advice, wise advice, but, we may want to exercise discretion. In other words, think twice before you give advice. It may not be the right time. It may not be the appropriate setting. And, I believe in the context of our faith, discretion also carries a sense of considering the most loving way to seek to guide or help someone find a wiser way in life. Too often we react out of anger. We blow people up, or blow people away by “correcting” them at the wrong time or in the wrong way. We may think we are being loving but we haven’t really considered how the person might hear what we are saying. Discretion invites us to be wise enough not to bomb someone with our criticism or our corrective words or actions until we ask ourselves, “how might this be received.” Discretion is the better part of valor, goes the saying. Discretion also invites us to understand first, then perhaps, correct the other person. It is also the better part of sharing whatever wisdom we might think we have. One other question I should probably ask myself more often when I am tempted to advise, correct or “help” another person is, do I have enough wisdom to share, or should I keep what I have and let it grow for a while?
Now I often struggle these days to find ways to illustrate what I am trying to share. You may remember I have often said that I get most of anything I consider wisdom from the Bible - and some from my favorite unordained theologian Jimmy Buffett. Just before his passing last year he released an album that included a song that offers what I consider a real bit of wisdom, especially if you know the backstory to it. In his book, “A Pirate Looks at Fifty,” an autobiography, Buffett tells the story of doing training to fly with the Navy’s elite “Blue Angels.” Buffett himself was an avid pilot, flying seaplanes and jets. The short version of this story is that Buffett got the invitation to go up with the Blue Angels. The Navy requires those who get this opportunity to go through some of the training Navy pilots receive. One part of that is the “crash tank.” The crash tank is a water-filled tank where the trainee is strapped into a cockpit-like seat, at the top of a 30-foot ramp. The trainee is then catapulted into the water simulating a real crash. The goal is for the trainee to learn how to escape. Part of what makes it so challenging is that when you are underwater, perhaps disoriented from the crash, and unable to see the surface, you may not know which way is up. They teach the trainees to remember that the bubbles from their breathing out underwater will ALWAYS go up, toward the surface. This is literally a life-saving bit of wisdom. Follow the bubbles and you will get to the surface. Buffett wrote that as he was being strapped in for the test his trainer slapped him on the helmet and shouted at him, “Remember, bubbles up, Rockstar, bubbles up.” And so, Buffett successfully completed the training and flew with the Blue Angels.
The coda to this story is that some years later, Buffett was taking off in his seaplane from Long Island sound. Something, a random wave or something, caught one of his wing floats. It flipped the plane upside down and it immediately began to sink. Buffett had hit his head on the cockpit in the crash. He was disoriented. The dark water of the Long Island sound was covering him. He could not see the surface. In the book Buffett says, at that moment the words of wisdom from his Navy trainer saved his life: “Bubbles up, Rock Star, bubbles up.” He was able to unstrap from the pilot seat of his plane, escape out a window and follow his bubbles to the surface.
The tag to this is that just before passing from cancer last year, Buffett completed a final album of music. In it is a song titled, “Bubbles Up.” Jimmy took that line, “Bubbles Up,” and shares a bit of wisdom as to how that applies to life and living every day, even – or especially if troubles come and leave us disoriented and trying to figure out which way is up. At the risk of doing something more for my ego than your edification, I want to end this message with the words of this song. And since I think it really needs to be sung, I’m going to risk singing it for you, with a little help from some of the band.
Bubbles up my friends. When the living gets hard and you wonder how to keep going, remember: bubbles up – “Just know that you are loved, there is light up above, and joy, there’s always enough… bubbles up.” Follow the bubbles, my friends, follow the bubbles. Amen.
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