Rev. Douglas A. Hicks, Ph.D. Bon Air Presbyterian Church August 20, 2000 The Dream of Wisdom Texts: I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Ephesians 5:15-20 One of the wisest people I have ever known was Dr. Thomas Langford. Tommy, as his friends and former students called him, was my theology professor at Duke Divinity School. Dr. Langford had a sense of calm reflection and genuine presence about him; he was the kind of person that students (and everyone else) would go to for advice when the decisions that really mattered would come up. If I had to place a photo next to the word wisdom in my dictionary, Tommy Langford s photo would be there. Dr. Langford would arrive in class just after the bell would ring. He was one of the most active people I knew, but he never seemed to be in a hurry. He was near the end of his teaching career when I had the opportunity to be his student. He no longer needed to bring lecture notes to class I don t know if he ever needed notes, but my guess is that when he was a lowly junior professor, he brought notes to class just so he would look prepared to his students. We spent the entire semester of our course in Christian Theology discussing the Apostles Creed. The topic for each day would be a word or short phrase from that Creed. The first day we discussed the words I believe and what it meant to believe, or to put one s faith in, or to trust, or to doubt, or to know. On other days we discussed God and The Father and Almighty and so on, proceeding through the creed and through the semester. He taught us that all of the central concepts of Christian faith are in that short Creed. As he arrived without notes, Dr. Langford would ask one of us what the subject of the day was. Someone would say, Suffered under Pontius Pilate or Crucified, dead, and buried, and he would say, Oh yes, and he would begin. It seemed to us that he had the wisdom to speak about anything, but only when someone would ask him. Tommy Langford closed his eyes when he lectured. It was as if he went to a place inside himself where he was able to process his ideas. In other words, he kept his notes in his head, along with the stories of his life, and he was able to put them together for his students in a way that brought theology to life. Dr. Langford made Christian doctrine not only relevant, but interesting and crucial for understanding why the world is the way it is and what our part is in it.
I still remember those lectures. It wasn t facts or arguments that made it all make sense or that made Tommy Langford wise; it was the sensitivity that he had for communicating the gospel and for knowing his students. Tommy wasn t wise just because he was smart. He was wise because he had compassion and patience. Students knew that he cared about us not just as students, but as human beings and as future leaders of the church. And finally, students went to him because he had a sense of joy about life that was contagious. Who is the wisest person you know? Who is someone who combines good understanding with compassion and a joy for living? To whom do you turn in a time of crisis? Whose picture would you place with the word wisdom? It s easy to lament the general lack of wise people today. Who are our wise leaders? As we take a look at the national or international horizon, there aren t many politicians whom we would call wise. In the past three weeks, a lot of money was spent on national political conventions. There was a lot of lobbying, and posturing and fighting, if we include the Reform Party. But as I think back over the speeches that I heard, it would be difficult to say that there was much wisdom. Even closer to home, most of us are all in too much of a hurry to be wise. Wisdom requires patience to understand all parts of a problem and more important, patience is needed to know the people around us. Wisdom doesn t seem to sit well with our lives marked by fast food, instant messages, over-commitment and overtime. Yet the Bible suggests that we aren t the first society to be short on wise leaders. The Old Testament lesson tells us about a king who flirts with wisdom, who might be an exceptional leader. King Solomon, in today s passage, encounters God in a dream. God asks Solomon to make a request. The young ruler is overwhelmed by the task of being king, so he asks God for the gift of wisdom, for an understanding mind. The text says that God is so surprised to find a leader who doesn t ask for wealth or for some advantage over his enemies that God grants this wish immediately. God fills Solomon with the spirit of wisdom. The verse that follows our reading goes like this: Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream. Just a dream? Does this mean that the encounter didn t happen? Or that it had happened in some way that was beyond human understanding? Throughout the Bible there are profound encounters with God that occur in dreams. To hear from God in a dream can be a powerful thing. Just ask Jacob, or Mary, or Joseph. 2
But dreams have to be realized to come true. In the case of King Solomon, the question is whether he will make the most of God s gift, or whether wisdom will remain simply a dream. Solomon showed moments of brilliance, like in a custody battle for a baby. This is a familiar story: Solomon is holding court, and two women approach him, fighting over a child as fiercely as the very worst of today s divorce-court battles. Who has a rightful claim to the child? Who is the legitimate parent? Here, in perhaps the most brilliant flash of wisdom in all of the Bible, Solomon orders: Cut the baby in half! Who would be the first to cry Uncle? That one, Solomon said, was the boy s mother. But, sadly, the rest of the story is different; for most of his life Solomon did not live up to the dream. Yes, he built a beautiful temple and other palatial buildings, but he held the kingdom together on a shoestring. He treated his own people ruthlessly. The text says that he owned seven hundred wives, and if that wasn t enough, he kept three hundred concubines in reserve. Solomon s subjects, his people, were made to pay for his wild and lavish lifestyle. He built for his women temples to other gods, and he worshiped some of those gods himself. God says these words to Solomon: If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life. (I K. 3:14) In the end, Solomon does not keep the statutes or the commandments. He doesn t show wisdom and God punishes him for it. Solomon s reign is challenged by warring factions, and when he dies, the kingdom is split. I must admit that I enjoy the stories like this one in the Old Testament, because the Hebrew authors refuse to make their leaders look too good. We see leaders, warts and all. Solomon himself, a child of David and Bathsheba, knew that his father was no saint. David had ordered Bathsheba s husband Uriah to be killed so that he could have her. In fact, Solomon falls in a long line of Israelite leaders who showed flashes of wisdom but who failed even as God worked through them failed to fulfill God s dream for their lives. In the end, Solomon falls short because he does not make the most of God s gift of wisdom. He wastes this gift and becomes a self-serving leader like the one that God had criticized in the dream. Our New Testament lesson helps us understand God s call for wisdom, even amidst human failures like Solomon s. Ephesians, a letter we attribute to Paul or one of his followers, encourages us to live as wise people. Like the Solomon story, these words are realistic about how human beings are, and the traps that we can fall into. Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because 3
the days are evil. The suggestion here is that there really aren t many wise people living or leading in the city of Ephesus in Paul s time. Their political conventions, and religious ones, too, apparently, had more lobbyists and power-mongers than genuine leaders. The letter continues with its a cautionary tone, So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. Paul acknowledges that there are all kinds of debauchery going on in Ephesus not just from drinking wine, which was a customary thing to do but also in the loss of understanding what the will of God is. The Solomon story defined wisdom as the understanding to discern what is right. (I K. 3:11). We get the sense from this passage in Ephesians that not many people in Ephesus were discerning what was right. When I explore these two passages together the story of Solomon and Paul s cautionary words about wisdom what jumps out at me are these two insights: First, we are called to seek God s gift of wisdom for ourselves and in our leaders. But second, running through these passages like an undercurrent is the caution that we must be careful not to trust too much any claim to human wisdom. In other words, we should strive towards the wisdom, but we should keep our expectations in check. Only God is fully wise; it is our faith in God, and not in ourselves, that should guide us. Paul goes on to offer us some guidelines for trying to be wise people. After telling us what NOT to do, he continues: But be filled with the Spirit. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts. Does this mean that Elvin, because he is our music leader, is our example of wisdom in this congregation? I won t try to answer that question directly But it is clear that this passage about singing and making melody to the Lord is about a whole way of life, of being joyful. So joyful that we sing out! The passage goes further: Give thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Gratitude is also a vital part of wisdom: Giving thanks at all times for everything. Wise people do not take credit for their own success, or their own brilliance or kindness or compassion. They give thanks to God continually for every part of their lives. So we return to my earlier question: Who is the wisest person you know? Does he have the understanding to discern what is right? Does she show compassion to others? Does he sing songs and live in a spirit of joy? Does she reflect a spirit of gratitude? Dr. Tommy Langford, my theology professor, died earlier this year. He had just retired and he had struggled with health problems for many 4
5 years. Last year he learned that he had a heart condition that would limit his remaining days of life. As one of the leading theologians in all of the United Methodist Church, he wrote his own memorial service. It was one of the most beautiful worship services that I have ever had the privilege to attend. The service, rather than being a somber and sad occasion marking death, was a time to celebrate the resurrection hope that we all have in Jesus Christ. The service was a tribute to the life of wisdom that Tommy had lived. Friends and family members stood up to declare how throughout his life, Tommy Langford had discerned what was right. And the entire worship was marked by joyful songs and hymns and spiritual songs, and by a spirit of gratitude for his life. Our scripture passages today remind us that wisdom like that is a rare gift indeed. When wisdom is personified in a teacher, or a family member, or a friend, or in Jesus Christ, we celebrate it and we try our best, in our limited way, to emulate it. Let us never think we can make ourselves wise. But we are called by God to pursue wisdom: We strive for the understanding of what is right. We sing joyful songs. And we give thanks to God at all times and for everything. Amen. Prayer: O God in whom we live, and move, and have our being, we give you thanks for all that is in our lives for gifts like courage, and patience, and wisdom. We ask that you would grant us the courage to change what we can change, patience to accept what we cannot, and wisdom to know the difference. Amen. I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 10 Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David. 11 The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established. 3 Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." 6 And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and
6 you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. 7 And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?" 10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 12 I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. 13 I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you. 14 If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life." Ephesians 5:15-20 15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.