August 16, 2009

2009 08 16

Smarty Pants

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

Psalm 111        
Ephesians 5:15-20

This morning I would like to start out with a little stroll down memory lane.  The year was 1982.  I was in sixth grade.  Miss Gannon was my Ohio History teacher.  One day, Miss Gannon gave the class a paper to work on.  On this paper, there were 50 advertising slogans, and we had to write down what the product was that they were selling.  Whoever completed the sheet, received a prize...a candy bar.  Miss Gannon probably thought this assignment would give her a free class period.   Now she had the time to grade papers, file her nails, maybe balance her checkbook.  I don't really know what she had planned.

Unfortunately for her, I watched too much television as a child, and I liked candy bars.  I finished the sheet with about 15 minutes left in the class period.  All 50 answers correct.  No one else even completed it.  To this day, I am still not sure what the assignment had to do with Ohio History, but the point of this story...and my wife will gladly verify this for you...is that I am full of worthless information. 

It's true.  I am full of worthless information.  80's music trivia...I can usually tell you the name and artist of a song within the first 5-10 seconds.  I can speak French and share with you about the writing of Rousseau, Flaubert, and Voltaire.  Add all this to my knowledge of TV commercials, and you just might agree that I am full of worthless information! 

Now bear in mind, that I gained most of this knowledge before 1996.  Because it was after that that I began to learn something very important...and it is in your worship bulletin this morning.  Take a look at the last two lines of Psalm 111

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.  His praise endures forever.

Although this Psalm was written by King David, many thousands of years ago, it is our modern day reading of this passage that can be fraught with difficulties.   We don't like the word...fear.  It is a sign of weakness.  We don't want to be afraid of anything, and we don't want anybody to know even if we are.  Take a bunch of people to a scary movie.  There is always a scene where someone or something jumps out from around a corner or jumps out of a closet.  Everybody in the theater jumps or screams.  But you turn to your buddy next to you and ask him if he was scared, and he will deny it every time.  "Uh..no!  I think I sat on something sharp...or I was just stretching!"

No one likes to be afraid, and no one likes to admit it when they are.  So a lot of people stumble over this fear of the LORD.  But to fear the LORD means to respect him...to revere him...to honor him.  King David passed this knowledge and tried to pass it on to his children.  One of his sons was Solomon, whom we heard about in 1 Kings chapters 2 and 3 this morning.  Solomon was the second child of David and Bathsheba.  Although there were other sons born before Solomon, and maybe even others who were better qualified to rule, David appointed Solomon to succeed him as king.  Solomon had gone to Gibeon to offer sacrifices when the Lord came to him in a dream saying, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."

WOW!  Probably most of us right now might be going through our personal wish lists.  "If God offered me anything, what would I ask of him?"  But put yourself in Solomon's sandals, and you might think as he did.  ⁷ "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.  His praise endures forever. 

Solomon wasn't thinking of himself, but out of respect for the Lord, he asked for the one thing that would help him serve God's people the best.  Wisdom.  Discernment.  The knowledge of right and wrong.  Solomon could have selfish.  He could have been greedy.  He could have been like many in his generation and ours...and asked for everything that would make him great in the eyes of this world...but he didn't.  And God responds in verse 11

"Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

On top of that God promises to give him all the riches and honor that he could ever want.  Solomon will have no equal among kings.  ¹⁴ And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."

Out of his respect for God, Solomon asked for wisdom, and out of his love for Solomon, the Lord gave him everything he could ever want or need.  And as long as Solomon feared the Lord, he would be blessed with long life.  Remember...

The fear of the LORD is the BEGINNING of wisdom; all those who PRACTICE it have a good understanding. 

Solomon's reign as king was a great.  He ruled wisely.  He built the temple in Jerusalem and a grand palace for himself.  But after a while, he lost his fear...respect for the Lord.  He no longer practiced the wisdom with which the Lord had blessed him. 

1 Kings 11:3-4 (Solomon) had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.  As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

Solomon's life serves as a great example and a terrible warming.  It is not only necessary to gain wisdom, but to put God's wisdom into practice. 

^{Ephesians 5:15} Be very careful, then, how you live-- not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

I have no problem with poking fun at myself.  Over my years, I have gathered to myself plenty of useless bits of knowledge.  In reality, we are all full of worthless information.  Our minds are filled with people, places, and things...all of it pulling us and our lives in a million different directions.  But God has a plan for each of our lives.  When we fear him....when we respect and honor him, then we can seek him and find him.  When our hearts and our minds, are open to him, he will share that plan with us...his good and perfect will. 

In reading verse 18, I wonder if Paul was writing this passage just for me.  ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  As I have shared with you in my life's story, in working in a liquor store I have gained lots of knowledge of beer and wine...liquor and whiskey.  More worthless information.  In my personal experience with alcohol, I know all too well what it leads to...emptiness and regret

Paul tells us that we are not to fill ourselves with the distilled spirits, but we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Let us not fall prey to the knowledge of this world, but let us be filled with God.  It is by the Spirit that we can live our lives as truly wise.  It is through the Holy Spirit that we can make the most of every opportunity living in faith and sharing God...with each other...and with the world.  What does that sort of life look like?

¹⁹ Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Speak to one another...sing in your heart...and give thanks to God.

You could read all the books in the world and obtain all the facts and information from every event from the beginning of time to this present moment.  Perhaps you might consider yourself to be pretty smart.  But you still would not be wise.

Join with me in reading the last two lines of our welcome this morning.  The fear of the LORD is the BEGINNING of wisdom; all those who PRACTICE it have a good understanding.