Gaining Wisdom

Today, we're going to look at one of the promises of the Bible. We're going to do that for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I think that this promise is actually misunderstood. So, I'd like to fix that. Also, preaching on this verse will make it possible for me to develop a little further some recent themes in my teaching.

The promise is found in James.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

The way that the promise is commonly understood goes something like this. There is some decision that needs to be made, and the person on the spot isn't sure what to do. So, with reference to this verse, that person asks God to give him wisdom so that he can make the right decision. The expectation is that, in some mysterious way, God will give the ability to make the right decision. That's how the promise is often applied, but it's not what the promise is about.

Let me explain. First, consider this word 'wisdom'. Wisdom isn't about the ability to make a hard decision. As it is used in the Bible, wisdom is understanding how life works. It's about understanding who God is and what He does. It also includes understanding people, other people as well as yourself. And there is the overlap of these two categories: how God interacts with people and they with Him. Being wise is having a measure of understanding into all these various dynamics. It's understanding how life works. And being wise is important because the insight that it provides makes living well a possibility. So, being wise is not about how to make difficult decisions. Being wise is about how to live. It's about how to navigate relationships. It's about understanding why you do what you do, both the things that lead to your happiness as well as the things that get you into trouble. It's about knowing what to expect, knowing what God is going to do next. Being wise is about living and living well.

Now, we're ready for the next step. How does someone become wise? 'You should ask God for wisdom. Isn't that what James says?' Well, it's certainly true that we need to ask God for this wisdom, but it would be a misreading to think that that's all that we need to do. That would be another example of zap theology. 'I ask God for wisdom and - zap! - He gives it to me. And then, I'm able to make that difficult decision, right?' Well, no. 'But, isn't that what James says? Ask! And that's all he says we need to do.' And that's true. But, if you're going to understand this bit of Scripture, you need to take a step back and look at the big picture. The Bible is not a manual, even though we'd like it to be. Manuals are supposed to give you all the information that you need on some topic pretty much on one page or at least in one section. That's how your iPad manual is set up. Everything about apps is in one section while another section tells you all about notifications. Everything you need to know on any topic is in one place. But the Bible isn't like that. It isn't a manual.

Think about it. So much of the Bible is stories, letters and poems. That's not how you write a manual. What we call 'the book of James' actually is a letter from James to a particular church with particular problems that he wanted to address in particular ways. He wasn't intending to write general truths to every Christian everywhere and in every time. And that's the same for every other book of the Bible. What the Bible has to say about any topic, whether it's wisdom or marriage or worship, is not all in one section. It's spread throughout its pages. So, if someone desires to be wise he most definitely needs to do what James says. He needs to ask God. That's the part that the church who received James' letter needed to be reminded about. But, unlike those folk, what we need to be reminded about isn't the asking part. We need to work on the other parts of gaining wisdom from God, things that we learn about from other parts of the Bible.

So, here is some of what the rest of the Bible has to say about gaining wisdom. Some of verses use the synonym 'understanding' for our word 'wisdom'.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Psalm 19.7

I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. Psalm 119.99

Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Psalm 119.104

Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. Psalm 119.98

According to these verses, wisdom - understanding how life works - comes through the Scriptures.

It's here that I think that I'm supposed to say something about how you need to read your Bible. Well, that is a good thing to do. But just reading your Bible will not give you wisdom. It might make you smart since you will know about Benaiah the son of Jehoiada or who was the last king of the ten northern tribes. And while that might come in handy for a Bible Bee, knowing those things won't make you wise. To gain wisdom you need to do more than just read and accumulate facts. You need to meditate on what you read.

So, the psalmist writes,

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119.97

And he describes the righteous man by saying,

… his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1.2

Sadly, meditate has become a 'church word' that too many no longer understand. So, let's translate it. You need to think about what you find in your Bible. In these passages, and lots of others, the Spirit is urging us to think about what we read.

This is where someone might reply by saying something like, 'I just don't have any time where that will fit. And even if I did, I don't know how to do that.' Well, if someone actually said that to me I'd try to graciously offer this reply. 'Maybe you don't realize it, but what you just said is that you don't have time to grow in your understanding of how life works. Do you realize that that means that you will be stuck making the same old bad choices because you don't understand what's really going on in your life? Is that what you want? Same old, same old? Or worse? If you really don't know how to think about the Bible, well, I'd be happy to teach you.' This person's response to that will tell me whether he is interested in finding a solution or just wanting to make some excuse for a lazy attitude when it comes to being a disciple of Jesus.

Learning how to think about the Bible, how to meditate, is not hard. All you need to do is learn how to ask good questions of the text. Remember what you're trying to do is understand God as He deals with people, as well as understand people as they are, in different ways, dealing with God. So, here are some examples of questions that fit what I'm talking about. You've just read about Peter's denial of Jesus. So, you ask, 'Why did Peter, who denied Jesus, get off while Judas didn't?' Or you're reading in Acts about the Apostle Paul. So, you ask, 'What did Saul, the persecutor of the Church, think about Jesus before he was confronted by Him during his trip to Damascus?' Or there's this if you're reading some Old Testament. 'What happened to King Solomon that, having started well, he ended so badly?' 'How are Abraham and Daniel alike, and how are they different?' Those are the kinds of questions that I'm talking about. And as someone works to answer them, he will be able to grasp some of the subtle realities revealed in Scripture, realities about God and people, and how they interact. Wisdom. It starts with asking the right questions and then finding the answers to those questions. And, of course, the last question with any of these is always, 'What does this have to say about how God and I interact?'

It's here that some will panic. Having heard what I've just said they have this picture in their head of themselves seated at some desk with a Bible on the one side and a pile of books on the other. It's a research project, and they're poised over their laptops ready to write another term paper. (Ah, the pernicious influence of the academy.) Rest assured that I am suggesting nothing of the sort. Let's take that question about Peter and Judas. Why did Peter get off while Judas didn't? After reading the Gospel account, that question pops into your head, but the time you have for Bible reading is just about up. Fine. The next day you go back to that same passage, ask the same question and look for any clues that might lead to an answer to the question. One or two pop up. But time's up again. Fine. Then the next day you either read the same passage or maybe look at another Gospel that also reports what happened with these two men. And maybe that evening when the family gathers for dinner you mention what you've been looking at and ask if anyone has any ideas to contribute to your finding an answer to that question. You might spend a week or maybe more on just this one question. Fine. What’s the rush?

And if you adopt this method, remember to pray. Ask that the Spirit would give you some good questions and that He would guide you to some good answers. That's some of what James had in mind. In all of this, the goal is not to be able to write a detailed research paper. What you want is to be able to grow in your understanding of how God deals with people and how people deal with God. Wisdom.

That was one way of pursuing this. There are lots of others. I was talking with Dave R about this sort of thing, and he had an intriguing thought. Singing works for him. He mentioned one of the hymns that we sang last week, 'Praise to the Lord, the Almighty'. This lyric stood out to him, '…shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth'. What does it mean to be sheltered under God's wings? What's the picture here? Good question. There are places in the Scripture that use this image. Here's one where Jesus is speaking.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

Good hymns have these little nuggets of Scriptural allusions. So, maybe you could pick one of the hymns that we sing and work through the lyrics over a week's time. Think about the biblical images in the hymn and what they say about God and people interacting. It's even better if it's a hymn that we are going to be singing that next Sunday.

There are other options. You could always get a copy of the sermon and think about the points that I make. Or just show up at the Bible study having read the part we're going to look at, ready to think out loud with the rest of the group. Be creative. There are lots of methods to choose from. The point is simply to think about the truths of the Bible.

Back to James' command to pray. His command and what I've said about thinking about the Scriptures come together in other parts of the Bible. So, consider this. Jesus is speaking.

'These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. Luke 24.44,45

What did Jesus do? He gave them the ability to understand the Scriptures. No one will understand the Scriptures, gain the wisdom of the Scriptures, unless that ability is given as a gift. So, we need to ask for the ability to understand the Bible as we think about it.

These two parts come together in something Paul wrote to Timothy.

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 2 Timothy 2.7

Both sides of the coin are necessary. We need to think about Bible truths. And we need to ask God to bless us so that we can understand them. Not one or the other, but both. And the result is wisdom, understanding life.

Last question: why is this so important? We are surrounded by foolishness. Consider the people who make it into the news, those who lead us in public office and in business or those who want to entertain us, whether it's by movies or sports. Do you find them to be examples of wise men and women? Do they show that they understand how life works? Consider so many of your neighbors and co-workers. Do you see an abundance of wisdom there? Do their lives show that they know what they are doing? The need of the day is for those who understand how God deals with people and how people deal with Him. The need of the day is for people who understand how life works. And that understanding is a big part of being salt and light in our corrupt and dark world. You can be wise people. There is no reason why not. You can be the kind of people that Jesus will use to change the world. For many of you that will require some changes. You will need to invest more when it comes to thinking and praying. And, yes, making those changes will be hard. But consider the alternative. You are going to experience either a growing understanding of how life works or a growing foolishness about it all. Which will you choose?