I Kings 3:5-15

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Wisdom means asking for the right things.

A sermon preached by

Rev. William O. (Bud) = Reeves

First United Methodist Church

Hot= Springs, Arkansas

June 17, 2007

Wisdom is often in short supply, especially am= ong those who choose to live on the wrong side of the law. I read what was supp= osed to be a true story about a bank robber in San Francisco who walked into a downtown Bank of Ameri= ca and wrote on a deposit slip, “This is a stikkup. Put yur muny in the bag.” While he was waiting in line, the = bank robber got nervous that someone might have seen him writing the note and mi= ght call the police before he got his turn at the teller window. So he took his note and went acros= s the street to the Wells Fargo Bank. After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed the note to the telle= r, who could tell immediately by the misspelled words in the note that this guy wasn’t the brightest light in the harbor, so to speak.

The teller told the ba= nk robber that she couldn’t accept the stick-up note because it was writ= ten on a Bank of America deposit slip, so he would either have to fill out a We= lls Fargo deposit slip or go back to the Bank of America. The robber sighed, said, “OK,” and left. T= he Wells Fargo teller then called the police, who arrested the man as he waite= d in line back at the Bank of America.

Wisdom, or even basic intelligence, is in short supply sometimes. As the people of God, we want to b= e wise in spiritual things, to be aware of the truth of God and how to apply it in= our everyday lives. We want to ha= ve discernment and understanding of life’s situations so we can decide t= he right thing to do and say and be in any circumstance. We would rather be wise than fooli= sh; am I right?

The unfortunate thing = about our human condition is that we have to learn wisdom. We are not naturally wise. Wisdom comes through experience, s= tudy, prayer, and walking the way of faith. But we continually stray from the way by asking God for things that = will not make us wise. Even if we don’t come right out and ask God for these things, our lifestyle show= s by our priorities what is most important to us. Wealth, status, luxurious possessi= ons, power, career advancement, pleasure, recreation—these are the things = we strive for. But they are not = the things that will get us where we truly want to be—happy, fulfilled, satisfied, confident, truly successful.&nb= sp; We show our lack of wisdom by asking for the wrong things.

There was a story that= made the rounds some time ago about a fellow who was walking down the beach in <= st1:State w:st=3D"on">California when = he found an ornate bottle that had washed up on the shore. Sure enough, when he rubbed the bo= ttle, a genie appeared before him. However, this was only a one-wish genie, so he offered the man the o= ne thing he wanted most in the world.

The man thought for a = minute and said, “Could you build me a bridge to Hawaii? I’ve always wanted to go there, but I am afraid to fly. So could you build me a bridge so I could drive there?”

The genie couldn’= ;t believe it. “A bridge t= o Hawaii? You’ve got to be kidding! Do you know what an engineering fe= at that would be? Do have any id= ea how many yards of concrete that would take?&nb= sp; Even genies have their limits, you know!”

“OK, OK,” = the man said, “forget the bridge. There’s one other thing I’ve always wanted. I would like to be able to underst= and women—how they think, how they feel, how to make them happy. If I can’t have the bridge, = how about that?”

The genie replied, “You want that bridge two-lane or four-lane?”=

Wisdom is based on kno= wing what to ask for—not for wealth or power or political success, but for= the things of God, the spiritual things that will make a difference for all eternity. <= /p>

King Solomon knew how = to ask for the right thing, and God blessed him and granted his request and gave h= im even more than he asked. The = Lord appeared to him in a dream and offered, like a genie, to do whatever Solomon asked for. But even though

Solomon was only about twenty years old when this happened, he was already wise beyond his years, and he did not ask for a hu= ge army or more conquests, or great wealth or many wives. He simply asked for an understandi= ng mind that could discern between good and evil. That would be enough, if he could = just govern his people well and follow the commandments of God, everything else would fall into place. That w= as all he asked for, and Solomon’s request pleased God.

If we were to ask God = for anything today, what do you think would please him? To be wise, to receive a blessing = from God, to know the abundant gift of life—what would it take? What do we ask for? Let me suggest three things.<= /o:p>

First, we ask to be in God’s will.&= nbsp; I think this is what Solomon means by an understanding mind. We want to be able to discern betw= een good and evil, to tell the difference between right and wrong, to be able to make good judgments. If we ar= e in the will of God, these things should become clear to us. It’s not so much that we wan= t God to bless what we are doing, as we want to find out what God is blessing, and that’s what we will do.

The plea to know God&#= 8217;s will is expressed throughout Scripture.&nb= sp; The Psalmist says, “Ma= ke me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach m= e, for you alone are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.R= 21;= = [1]

I think we hesitate to put ourselves completely under God’s will because, one, it takes us out of control of our live= s, and, two, we fear the constraints that God’s will might put on our freedom. We’re afraid t= hat if we always do what God wants us to do, then we’ll never get to do what= we want to do.

That kind of freedom i= s like the skydiver who jumped out of the plane one day, and halfway down, he mana= ged to wriggle free of the parachute and backpack he was wearing. As he let go of the harness, he sh= outed “Ah! Freedom!” Of course, he also plunged to his = death.

The will of God is not= a prison for our soul, but a fence that allows us to live the way he created = us to live. In God is perfect freedom. In God is perfect pleasure. In God is real weal= th and real success and real power—all the things we run away from him to acquire. His rules, his commandments, his principles are all intended for our own good. As the Lord spoke through the prop= het Jeremiah, “Surely I know the plans I have for you, says = the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”[2] If we want to be wise, we will = ask to know the will of God, then to live in it.

Second, we ask for strength in trials.&nbs= p; It doesn’t take a very wise person to know that we will encounter challenges along the way. We want to have wisdom and grace when the road is difficult.

Native Americans often seem to have a wisdom b= orn of their closeness to nature. On= e day a cowboy was riding around a bend in a mountain road, and his horse almost stumbled across an Indian lying in the middle of the path with his ear to t= he ground. The cowboy stopped, a= nd the Indian spoke, “Big stagecoach, six passengers, two drivers, one with = gun, two horses, one gray, one white, going very fast.”

“That’s incredible,” the cowboy said. “You can tell all that just from listening to the ground?̶= 1;

“No,” the = Indian replied. “They run over= me a half hour ago!”

We know that there wil= l be times in our lives when we feel like we’ve been run over and left for dead. Wouldn’t it be wi= se to prepare ourselves spiritually so that when the tough times come, we have the strength to stand the trial? = One of the things that breaks my pastoral heart is to see people just sort of dabb= le in Christianity for years, and then when some tragedy or trouble hits their lives, their props are totally knocked out from under them. Inevitably they end up questioning= their faith and their God. “W= here is God?” they cry. I wa= nt to say, “God hasn’t moved! He’s right where you left him, in the closet of neglect, on the shelf of indifference. HeR= 17;s just kind of hard to find when you’ve put everything else on top of him.&#= 8221;

Jesus told a parable a= bout two builders, one who built his house on the rock, and one who built his ho= use on the sand.[3] When the storms came and the winds= blew, the house built on sand was washed away, and the house built on rock stood firm. We are wise to build ou= r life on the Rock of God, and to prepare ourselves to withstand the storms.<= /o:p>

Do you remember the devastating tsunami that struck the nations around the Indian Ocean right after Christmas in 2004? It was one of the worst natural disasters in history, taking almost 230,000 lives. While many cities and villages alo= ng the Indian Ocean suffered catastrophic losses, the port city of Pondicherry, India, and its 300,000 inhabitants were spared. Just outside the city limits, 600 p= eople were killed by the devastating tidal wave, but Pondicherry withstood the tsunami. Why were they protected?=

The answer began 250 y= ears ago when France colonized the city. The French built a massive stone seawall. Year after year, the French continued to strengthen the wall, piling huge boulde= rs along a mile and a quarter of the seashore.

The French stopped bui= lding the Pondicherry seawall when the colony was transferred to the Indian government. The last stone was laid in 1957. But their preparation helped them = withstand a disaster that would occur five decades into the future.[4]

Prayer builds a wall a= gainst the destruction of the world. Faith sets up battlements against the attacks of despair and hopelessness. Our relationship with God gives us= a foundation to stand on in the midst of our trials and troubles. You need to be ready because soone= r or later, the waves are going to come crashing in. The storms will come. Ask God for strength to stand.

Phillips Brooks, the g= reat preacher of the 19^th century, had these wise words of advice: “Do not pray for easy lives;= pray to be stronger people. Do not= pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall = be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at the richness of life which has come to= you by the grace of God.”[5]

If you want to be wise= like Solomon, ask to be in the will of God, ask to have strength for your trials, and third, ask for the joy of the = inner life. One of my favorite = Bible verses is Nehemiah 8:10: “The= joy of the Lord is your strength.”&n= bsp; Our happiness, our fulfillment, our meaning in life is not ultimatel= y dependent on anything at all that is external to us.= It is all internal. It= is all spiritual. It has absolut= ely nothing to do with the outward circumstances of your life. That’s why when our missiona= ries go to Mexico, they always report that the people there, living in direst, abject poverty, were some of the happiest folks they had ever seen. And the wealthiest people you know= may also be the most miserable.

Bob Reccord is a write= r who suffered a sudden and severe cervical spinal injury. His pain was so intense, the medic= al personnel couldn’t get him still enough for an MRI without sedating him. The doctor, unintentiona= lly poetic, told him, “Bob, your neck is a wreck.” He had to sleep in a recliner on b= ags of ice, and then only for an hour at a time.&= nbsp; Part of his left side was numb, and in the other part he experienced excruciating, sharp waves of pain. <= /span>

About three weeks into= his recovery, which included wearing a neck brace 24/7 and missing work, Bob struggled to go outside on his back porch, just for a change of scenery. Sitting there on a cold and bluste= ry day, Bob was surprised by a bird that flew up, landed on the porch rail, and began to sing. It was rainy a= nd dreary; no creature had a reason to sing that day. Bob fantasized about shooting the = bird off the rail. But the blasted= bird continued to sing.

The next day dawned su= nny and bright and warm—a beautiful day.= Bob inched painfully out to the porch again, only to be joined in a = few minutes by the same bird, warbling louder and brighter than ever. How he wished for his shotgun! But instead Bob had this incredible thought: “Then an amazing truth hit me head on: the bird sang in the = cold rain as well as the sunny warmth. His song was not altered by outward circumstances, but it was held constant by an internal condition. It was as though God quietly said to me, ‘You’ve got the same choice, Bob. You will ei= ther let external circumstances mold your attitude, or your attitude will rise a= bove the external circumstances. Y= ou choose!’”[6]

We can choose today wh= at to ask God to do for us, and if we choose wisely, he will bless us far over and above what we even asked for. When Solomon prayed and asked for an understanding mind, God was pleased with his request, and he promised to give Solomon not only one of the world’s wisest minds, but also the other things he did not ask for—riches and honor and length of life. Isn= ’t that just like God? He will b= less us even beyond our expectations. God is good—all the time!&nbs= p;

As you spend time with= God in prayer, remember to ask for the right things. Ask for a mind full of understanding. Ask for the gu= idance to walk in God’s will with your life. Ask for the strength to bear your = time of trial. Ask for the joy of = the spiritual life God wants to give you. Pray wisely, and God will bless you abundantly. Amen!