Sermon Cloud

INTRODUCTION

This morning we are going to be dealing with wisdom and folly. Solomon is going to help us to check our jersey to see which team we’re playing for.

There are many ways in which we categorize ourselves: by gender or race, by economic status, by our educational level, by political party, by height and width and all kinds of interesting compartments we like to stick ourselves and others in. Solomon in his wisdom is going to classify humanity in two ways- the wise and the fool.

Now, in our culture of political correctness many of you may not like Solomon, or the Bible for that matter, making this kind of distinction and calling someone a fool. If you really think this, guess which team you’re probably on? If at any time you think to yourself “hey he’s picking on me,” it’s probably a good sign that you might very well be one of the fools that Solomon is pointing out.

Two things to keep in mind through this study- first, I’m only the mailman. I don’t write the mail, I just deliver it so don’t shoot the messenger. Second, this is good for us. Even though it might hurt our feelings or spank our inner child, sometimes our inner child needs a good ole whoopin’ to snap us out of our coma. And, often we are not aware of the areas in which we have become fools, so it is critical that God is gracious enough to show us through His word so that we can come to Him in repentance and turn from our current course.

Before we jump in, it’s probably necessary to define wisdom. The easiest way to define it is “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” This doesn’t mean that we know all that God knows; it simply means that if we are to be wise, we should have the mind of Christ. We should think and act in such a way that it is in accord with His thoughts and actions. Wisdom thinks God’s thoughts after Him, and it follows those thoughts in life. Who is God, what does He say, what should I do? That is a basic but good definition of wisdom.

We don’t need to be a genius, we don’t need to be innovative, we need to be humble and obedient.

Solomon gives us some tips on how to spot a fool, and how to not be a fool.

STUDY

Fools Never Learn

Verses 13-16- Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me. 14 There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded.

Fools never learn!

Solomon tells us a story about a little city and a mighty power coming against it. This little city is saved by a poor but wise man. The only way this city could be saved would be by profound wisdom, and it is saved. But, the city that is saved doesn’t revere the wise man with gratitude, instead the people begin to despise his wisdom and follow their own path again.

A fool is ever hearing but never learning. A fool is given instruction again and again and yet continues to pursue folly. A fool forgets the wisdom that saved him, much like the city that forgot the poor wise who through his wisdom saved them.

I believe that we often resemble this city because wisdom may come to us in a way that we don’t expect. We think the way to get wisdom is to pay tuition for the professionals to give it to us, when in reality wisdom comes often in the most unexpected way, through the most unexpected source. A wise person remembers the wisdom, a fool, because of their sinful pride, quickly forgets and refuses to learn the lessons of life necessary to make them wise.

Our culture is fascinated with youth and celebrity but disdainful of elderly wisdom. We want new and innovative ways to do life, but shun sound experience and counsel from those that have gone before us. We worship our pop idols and have no clue about the history of our faith.

We can memorize facts and trivia about Brad and Jen, JLo and her flavor of the month, bands, movie stars, athletes and their stats, but ask a question about church history, or theology, or biblical characters, and we look like deer in a headlight.

I believe that’s because in our foolishness we prove what we treasure the most, delight in the most, and desire more than anything. We demonstrate who or what has the greatest influence and sway in our life by what we find our greatest satisfaction in.

Trust me, if you can tell me all about Mark McGuire’s rookie statistics, you can memorize passages of Scripture. If you can give me the history of a band, you can learn church history. If you can tell me about all the relationships in Hollywood, you can learn how the Old Testament and New Testament relate to one another.

But we find ourselves steeped in facts and trivia without much wisdom. We prize information, but have not developed an appropriate framework to wisely utilize that information. We pursue more experience in this life, but lack the ability to connect our experience to meaningful ways to live that are wise. So, we gather and gather but we become more and more foolish.

Unlike the fool, Jesus in His humanity grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:52).

Now, if God comes in the flesh and sets a pattern for us to live, and that pattern was one of growing in wisdom and stature, we should always be ready to learn.

The challenge for you and I is to set aside childish things while remaining like a child in our faith. A wise person knows the ways in which they should grow as well as the sins which should decrease. As we increase in wisdom, we should decrease in pride. As we increase in wisdom, we should decrease impatience. As we increase in wisdom, we should decrease our unbelief.

You and I don’t need more information, more experience, more insight or facts, what you and I need is to do what we know already. Many of you are struggling right now with things that you already know what the problem and solution is, but you don’t want to follow what is right, instead, like the poor wise man, you ignore wisdom and act like a fool.

More information will not necessarily translate into transformation because transformation only comes by wisdom. If you want your life to change, you shouldn’t expect only things and circumstances to change.

Many of you think that if you get more information, another counseling session, greater insight, a new book, another pastor, a different friend, then everything will work out. The problem is that you want things to change, but you don’t want to change. You want what is outside of you to be different, but you don’t want what’s inside of you to be different.

The wisdom of Christ looks like this: John 13:13-17 "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 "Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 "If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

If Jesus really is Lord then we should do whatever He asks of us. Simply knowing what to do is not where the blessing is, but doing them.

 

James tells us not to be merely listeners, but doers of the word. And He also encourages us to ask God for Wisdom, recognizing that it is God who supplies it.

 

Let me give you an example- Grace and I have been married for 9 + years. After about a year into our marriage, I started to pack on a few extra pounds that has continued until I have lost my six pack under my keg. I’m built like a brick. If my head were about 12 inches wider I would be a perfect square. I lost my neck, my waist, and my ankles, which have turned into cankles. I look like my measurements are 48-48-48. It doesn’t take a physicist to tell me that my problem is eating while not being active. I don’t need anyone to teach about calories coming in vs. those being burned. I know it’s not my shirt that makes me look fat, it’s my fat that make me look fat. Now, some of you might say, well he’s just husky. That’s a word mothers’ use for kids to replace the word fat.

 

What I need is not more information, I need to simply be wise and get active again. Stop making trips to Krispy Kreme and Baskin and Robbins. Stop eating food that ends in “itos.” That would be a good start, but that takes wisdom not information.

Let’s continue…

Fools Have Big Mouths and Never Listen

Verse 17- The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

Fools have the biggest mouths and never listen!

Wisdom often times comes if the form of a whisper instead of a shout. Since it is heard in quietness only the wise hear. Fools simply refuse to listen and fools have a tendency to have big mouths.

Being loud is not always a mark of a fool. When the prophets and apostles preached, when a preacher cries out to believe in Christ, he’s not a fool. But, more times than not, a fool is loud. The way the big mouths reach us is through media. They’re on the television, they’re on the internet, the radio, they have book deals and newspaper columns.

They speak through amplification and can reach an audience with their folly that was once unheard of.

He contrasts the king of the fools with the wise person. The wise person doesn’t need to shout to make their point and they don’t need to throw a fit to get you to listen. They simply wait until you want wisdom then they give it.

I remember in martial arts there is a saying that the teacher will show up when the student arrives. Basically that means that the teacher won’t teach until the student is ready to learn. That’s not wax-on, wax-off theology, that’s a good principle. We need to be ready for wisdom. We need to have our ears open and our hearts prepared to take in what the wise say to us. This is why a humble and teachable spirit is a key ingredient to wisdom after the fear of God. If you won’t listen, the people that are truly wise probably won’t say anything. A wise person knows when someone is ready to listen.

How many of you truly have wisdom? Some of you do. You know who God is, you know what His word says, you follow Christ and you’re an ambassador for Him. There are people around you that could desperately use your insight if you would be willing to give it. They could benefit from your studies, from your experience, and from your relationship with Jesus. But, if they’re loud, won’t listen, argumentative, and hard hearted, don’t waste your time.

How many of you are that person who needs that counsel. But because of the façade you have erected, and the volume of your words, no one can get a word in edgewise. You present yourself as having all the answers to all the questions. You give off an air of righteousness and piety. You like to talk about how much you’ve figured out in your life. A wise person will sniff you out a mile away. They probably won’t get in a fight with you about it, they probably won’t even tell you to stop being a loud know it all, they’ll just stop teaching you or they might never offer you what you need because though you need it you act is if you don’t.

Who is the self-appointed king of all media? Howard Stern. He has the biggest mouth of our day, with the widest reach in our culture. He is the king of idiots. He engages daily in nothing but a total idiot fest. If you listen to the show, you can actually feel your life being sucked out of you by his idiocy. He totally degrades women. He mocks handicapped people constantly. He tries to get people to do the worst or say that worst thing they have ever said or done on his show. That’s his format, to see how low people will stoop to be in his presence on his show. He has a huge market share. He commands millions because he has so many listeners.

Does his power, volume, and reach make him wise? No, not even close. Never assume that because someone is the loudest that makes them wise. It usually means he’s the ruler of the fools. Some people are fools, and some are the rulers of fools. That’s the way it is.

As a preacher, you get quite a diversity of responses to your preaching. You realize very quickly that people don’t want to hear what God wants to say. You also realize that the more accurate you are with the Bible the more fingers you get in direct proportion. People don’t want to be called fools, people don’t want to consider their sin and how they need forgiveness. People don’t want to come on a Sunday morning to hear a guy tell them that they have been lied to for so long that they have believed the lie instead of God’s truth.

But the wise realize there is nothing sweeter than for their pride to be slain. The wise realize that when God’s word is preached, they should listen. The wise realize that hard words produce soft people and soft words produce hard people. The wise seek out God’s thoughts so they can follow them.

Here are a few more marks of a fool…

Fools Are Destructive

Verse 18- Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Fools are destructive!

Another mark of a fool is their insatiable appetite to destroy things. They destroy marriages, friendships, companies, churches, and all the lives of those connected to them. They are like a sucking black hole that swallows up everything around them in chaos and destruction.

Think of liars, abusers, adulterers and murderers- they are all fools because they are all destructive. Fools leave in their wake a path of destruction. One sinner knows how to destroy much good and so the way we choose our friends, our spouses, and our employment will demonstrate our own wisdom or folly.

Some of you want power. You pursue it spiritually, physically, emotionally, and financially. But the problem is that power without wisdom is tyranny. This is why wisdom is better than power.

A wise person realizes that their wisdom is much better than brute force, and they will steer clear of fools that are skilled in destruction. A wise person has no interest in becoming a casualty in the life of the fool when they explode. This doesn’t mean we don’t love or engage fools, but we are very careful not to set our allegiance and invest our hopes or resources in a fool who destroys.

Jesus in His wisdom creates. He created this world, He creates a new life in us, and He creates life where there is death. When we see Jesus and His reign as a King, He is primarily interested in construction rather than deconstruction. He doesn’t simply sit around tell about all of the foolish and wrongs ways, He is the Way. He doesn’t tell us how futile a search for truth is, He is the Truth. And He doesn’t only tell us how meaningless life is, He is the Life. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Someone that is wise and interested in following Jesus will naturally point to Jesus as the only way, the only Truth and the only life, because they are wise in Christ who is ultimate Wisdom personified. Someone that is wise will find themselves more concerned and compelled to construct than to deconstruct. Perpetual deconstruction only leads to foolishness.

Fools Stink Everything Up

Verse 10:1-Dead flies make a perfumer's oil stink, so a little foolishness is weightier than wisdom and honor.

Simply, fools stink everything up!

All it takes is one fool to make everyone around them pay. Think of the consequences of one fool that cheats on his spouse. How many people are affected? Kids, friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, everyone that this fool is in relationship with is affected by their sin.

There is a communal nature to sin because you and I were not saved in isolation. When we sin, we sin within the context of a family and we are all affected. We don’t sin in isolation. That’s the great lie we have come to believe, that we can sin without anyone being affected but ourselves. That’s stupid. No one really believes that, but we say that to excuse our selfish and foolish behavior.

We have had individuals come to Kaleo and be blown away by how warm our community is to strangers. We have also had instances where one persons poor attitude affected the view of the entire church. This person left our fellowship thinking that we were all insensitive and uncaring. They represented us, and that representation stunk.

This is why we really need to have a better understanding of the Kingdom of God. We need to see that we live in a Kingdom in which Christ is King. We have dual citizenship and we are sent here as ambassadors for the glory of our King and the advancement and demonstration of the Kingdom.

No matter how beautiful the aroma of that Kingdom is, if we are the dead fly that stinks everything up, we are the fools that misrepresent our King and His Kingdom. Every one of us need to watch our wisdom and see if our life is in conformity with our beliefs. Do we really live what we believe? Are we a people of grace? Are we a people of mercy? Are we a people of wisdom? Are we a people of resources that come together to exalt God’s name among all people and herald our King? Are we a people of Joy?

If your life stinks, it may be because of folly.

Wise people constantly check to see if they’re the fly or the perfume. Wise people are concerned with the aroma of their life.

Fools Are Always Lost

Verses 2-3- A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left. 3 Even when the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking and he demonstrates to everyone that he is a fool.

Fools are constantly lost in life!

They are like a ship with huge sails and no rudder. They are tossed about by the winds of life, they have no compass of wisdom to guide them, and even when they stumble upon a right path, they prove they are fools by their lack of sense.

It’s good that we are able to say that something is stupid. It assumes we know what is wise. Calling folly by what it really is shouldn’t be frowned upon, it should be treasured. When Jesus said we shouldn’t “give what is holy to dogs, or cast our pearls before swine,” there is an assumption that we are able to discern who is a dog and who is a swine. There is an assumption that we should know who fools are so we can stay away from them. Even if our culture tells us not to call something foolish because it sounds judgmental, we should as if they are judging us for calling something foolish. Hypocrisy is as foolish as the other points of folly listed in this passage. When we are told we shouldn’t tell someone our views, we should remind them that they just told us theirs.

There are people in this life that never learn, never listen, are loud and obnoxious, are destructive, stink everything up, and are lost. Guess where they will wander at times? Into our lives! It is inevitable.

Now, many of you are thinking that you don’t want to ever bump into or see a person like this. Then don’t look in the mirror, because we are all like this at times.

How many of you in your life have shunned advice? How many of you refused to listen to a friends counsel? How many of you have been a loud mouth? How many of you have ever been destructive? How many of you have ever felt as if you were lost in life? A wise person is a humble person because they know the truth about themselves. A wise person is patient because they were once a fool.

This is why grace is so radical and scandalous. Because grace comes to us in our sin and folly and it washes us with favor and imparts to us love and forgiveness and wisdom that we did not have.

Being lost is a horrible thing if no one around you knows the way home. A wise person looks for opportunities in which they can be a sign-post to the Kingdom. They see the lost person and because of the love with which they have been loved, they make an effort to speak peace into their life and bring them to the only way to the Kingdom and the only way to the Father- Jesus the Christ. Only a fool stays lost and refuses directions.

Also, don’t be alarmed when you run into fools. The world is made up of them. We shouldn’t be shocked by what we see. Fools will be fools for as long as man is without Christ. So, instead of freaking out whenever someone acts foolishly towards us, we should stay calm and be wise.

Fools Are Hotheads

Verse 4- If the ruler's temper rises against you, do not abandon your position, because composure allays great offenses.

Fools are notorious hotheads!

Fools are plate chucking, vein popping nutjobs, whose temper flairs up in an instant. And if this fool happens to be your boss, or your landlord, or your parents, you don’t leave, you stay calm, compose yourself and act wisely.

Is it possible to act wisely in the face of your enemy? Romans 12:20 "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."

Matthew 5:38-47 "You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' 39 "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41 "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

The point is that even though fools are hotheads, doesn’t mean you have to be one. We can love our enemy because God has loved us when we were His enemy. When we were hotheads, God came and snatched us out of our pit of despair.

If we are concerned with living in the Kingdom as its citizens, then following our King who set the ultimate example of this by dying for us while we were still sinners should give us patience and grace to fools.

Fools Turn Everything Upside Down

Verses 5-7- There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error which goes forth from the ruler—6 folly is set in many exalted places while rich men sit in humble places. 7 I have seen slaves riding on horses and princes walking like slaves on the land.

Fools turn everything upside down!

Fools are in charge because this world is made up of fools who rule who are supported and followed by fools, and so this makes our life complicated.

Even though our culture might say black is white, and white is black. Even though our culture might encourage finding meaning and value in life through promiscuous relationships. Even though our culture might hate the poor wise man and exalt the fool. Even though our culture might cause the wise to be slaves and allow the lunatics to run the ward. Even though we live in a time of tremendous frustration as we see murder, rapes, abortions, thefts, assaults, drugs, prostitution and a host of other self-destructive and dangerous sins, you and I can’t freak out and run to the hills.

We need to recognize that fools are in charge and the world is turned upside down. The sooner we come to grips with that, the sooner we can be about our Fathers business. What did we think when Christ called us to His great commission? Did we think that we were going out to save the righteous or the foolish sinners?

We can act so self-righteous and have such an inflated view of our spirituality that we forget that when we look the enemy in the eye we see our own reflection. If we disconnect from our culture. If we hide behind our four walls. If we leave the city and run to the country to hide from sin, we are going to be greatly disappointed because foolishness doesn’t just exist out there, it exists right here. We need to be the ones sticking around to find the lost. We need to be the ones who stick around when the fool is finally willing to learn. We need to be the ones sticking around when the fool finally listens. We need to be the ones sticking around when the fool realizes his folly is stinking up his life and the lives of everyone around him, we need to be around when the hothead blows his top for the last time and cries out for help. Who else is going to bring them wisdom? Who else has God ordained that would act as instruments of His grace? Who else knows the keys to the Kingdom and can point to the King?

John 12:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

It’s time we die to ourselves, our agenda, our pride, our selfish and foolish pursuit of things instead Christ, and come as children to be taught by the Father. It’s time we see Jesus “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Colossians 2:3

Here’s the good news- you don’t have to be a fool!

But the only way out of folly is through wisdom, and the way to wisdom is in and through Jesus Christ.

Wisdom is not to be found under the sun, it is to be found above the heavens through God’s glorious grace. We come as a people who’s only true happiness and satisfaction can be found in the God of all joy and wisdom.