Wisdom is better than gold 

August 21, 2022 

We’re in the third of our message series, “Better!” I was noticing at the grocery store there’s a machine for the lottery. The store knows: we want to win money and make it rich!  

The Scripture verse we are learning about today is from Proverbs 16:16, “How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.”  

Wisdom is great! But is it greater than gold? Do we want it? I don’t think a wisdom machine is coming to grocery stores, where you put money in and get wisdom out! Most of the time, we are not looking for a wisdom. We wouldn’t pay money for wisdom. It’s not on our radar as something we highly prize. What is this wisdom the Scripture is talking about? And why is it super valuable? Why would a person want wisdom more than gold? 

In the dictionary, wisdom is defined as experience, knowledge, good judgement. According to that definition, wisdom would help you make good business decisions. And that’s good. 

Wisdom, though, means something different in the Bible. In the Bible, wisdom is to walk in God’s ways, to follow God. It is to be honest, just, humble, to speak kindly, to be self-controlled. It’s being a person who does what God wants, even when it is unusual!  

The definition of wisdom in the Scripture is different than the definition in the dictionary! God’s wisdom is different than common sense. Our faith in Jesus Christ doesn’t make sense to people without faith. The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthains 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Paul is saying that the good news of Jesus Christ: his life, death on a cross and resurrection, it is offensive and crazy to non-believers. Jews say it is blasphemy to even think the Messiah would die on a cross. Greeks, who are not Jewish, would say a hero like Jesus who is executed like a criminal: he is not God! 

In verse 19 Paul quotes a Bible verse: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Now Paul has nothing against education. We’re in back-to-school time now and school is important! Education is good and helpful! 

What Paul is saying is that when we think human knowledge and wisdom is all we need, and that we don’t need to learn from God, we get ourselves in trouble. We don’t have the life that truly is life. 

In that day, there were Jewish thinkers, the religious leaders, who knew a lot about the Bible, but some of them were arrogant, hypocritical, and selfish.  

In that day there were also philosophies. There were followers of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and others. People prided themselves on following a certain philosophy. The problem with following any human thinker is, they are just human. Paul is a great teacher, one of the greatest of Christianity. But Paul says, when he teaches it’s not about him: it’s all about Christ. The wisdom we need comes from God. People like Paul just communicate it, pointing not to themselves, but to God. 

Paul says the world considers the cross foolishness. They think, why would you give your life for someone else, like Jesus did? Why would you help people you don’t know, like Jesus did? Why would Christians admit out loud that we all have sinned and fallen short? We do that because when we come clean with God and humble ourselves, God offers us grace, forgiveness and salvation! 

The wisdom of God is upside down from how the world thinks! That makes the wisdom of God hard for some to understand, and hard to see. It’s hidden. When you find the wisdom of God, it is like finding gold! 

When I was graduating from college, I didn’t know what to do next. My aunt told me, your uncle can probably help you get a good job at the National Security Agency. I think that made good business sense! But I heard something different when I would go to church. In sermons I heard, “God wants you to serve.” I heard the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God is upside down from how the world thinks! I listened to God’s wisdom and went and served in the Mennonite Voluntary Service, working in homeless shelters in Seattle. There I grew so much emotionally and spiritually. And I got to see beautiful Seattle and the Northwest. And after that, I went to seminary to be a minister. It’s a privilege to serve God and see God working in people’s lives for 32 years (although I’m only 29 years old)! The world might say I made a bad business decision. But I feel like, whew, God helped me make the right decision, the wise decision! The wisdom of God is upside down from how the world thinks! 

When we listen for the wisdom of God, it leads to better relationships! Think about it: if you want a good marriage, do you just need to make good business decisions about your marriage? NO! You need to follow God, who will lead you to listen when you don’t want to, to work through conflict with love when you would rather yell or run away! You need God to guide you in humility, self-control, and speaking kindly. Listening to the wisdom of God is the way to solid friendships, a loving marriage, or close families. Wisdom is better than gold! 

So, if wisdom is better than gold, and we want that “foolish” wisdom of God that just makes life better, how do we get it? James 1:5 tells us how, it says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” 

So, you ask, “Help me with this decision God.” When you wonder what to say to someone you pray, “God give me direction.” When you want to know, what’s most important, you pray, “God give me wisdom.” 

Then you can also ask wise people for their wisdom. There are people who love God and follow God’s wisdom. There are also a lot of foolish people who do foolish things. If that’s your friends and family, keep them. But find some wise people to listen to as well, who you can learn the wisdom of God from. 

I used to be very hesitant to ask for help: emotionally, financially, and spiritually. But that didn’t get me anywhere. So now I am on the lookout for who can help me when I need wisdom. I find wisdom from God. I find wisdom on a retreat, or in a support group, or from a counselor. And here in church there is so much wisdom from all of you as well.  

It’s extremely helpful to realize you need wisdom! You’re getting closer to wisdom when you seek it out. But there’s one more step: you need to act on that wisdom from God and that wisdom from other people! It’s better than gold, only if you listen to wisdom and act on it! 

My homework for you this week is to ask yourself, what wisdom do I need? 

There is no wisdom machine in the grocery store. The world doesn’t think we need God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom is upside down from how the world thinks. God’s wisdom is hidden, like gold, and unbelievably valuable when you find it. God is ready and willing to give wisdom generously to us. When we seek out His wisdom, he gives it to us. When we act on that wisdom, we have better relationships, we feel better, we live out our purpose of loving and serving God and helping others. We thought what we needed most in life was money. But we truly win the lottery in life, when we get God’s wisdom, because it is better than gold! Amen.