Episode 400: Being Wise > Being a Fool

Introduction

Good morning. I always thought it would be fun to start a sermon from the back and stay there really long so it's uncomfortable. Yeah. My name's Andy. And for those of you who don't know, I work for an organization that's local and international. For a long time, I worked with high school kids here in Roanoke. And every now and then, they'd ask me to come preach. They don't do it so much anymore. You be the judge.

What I would do ten, twelve years ago is I would show a video of kind of what we were doing at one of our camps. And just so you know, like, I now do stuff far away from here. And this is, I think, being recorded, so you can turn to a neighbor later and ask. But I would show a video. And when I showed the video, it had absolutely nothing to do with the sermon. It was just a way to get some life back in the room. Okay.

You knew that I was in the video, but what you didn't know is that you have come to know the other person in the video, the partner in crime in these videos. And you're probably thinking, no. No. I was here ten years ago. I remember seeing you. And then because I was stocky and a little fat guy, and there was this other guy that didn't look like me, but you have come to know him. He moved to Roanoke a couple of years ago and no longer works for the same company I do. He got a different job. Let's go ahead and play the video and enjoy.

The Video and Transition

What what what what what what what what what what what what what I'm gonna go to camp, though. There's a place to spend my summer. I I I'm going. Everybody know when I'll be here at Rockbridge. Roll off for the bus. You finally landed here in paradise. Can't believe your eyes, thinking, man, this place is really nice. Head to the waterfront, toes in the water, thinking, man, this couldn't get any hotter. Now I'm feeling pretty cool. Roll up to the swimming pool, cannonball off the board because you know we keep it old school. Cow draped over me. Everybody wants to see where I'm going next. To the slides, please. Whee. All the way down on my feet. Chilling and killing it on the slides. You know I'm feeling it. Nobody's in the line right now, so why not go back down again? Orange vest swag looking good. Don't be jealous. Rocking it all week around the camp with my fellas. Welcome to the blob. Nice to be here. Thanks for having me. I know you're gonna love it if you're not a fan of gravity. Launched in the air where the view is outstanding. Coming back down for a less-than-gentle landing. To the zip line. One or two stairs. I just lied. There's about a thousand there. But it's worth it when I'm going through the air like a dove. Settle down into the harness because it fits like a glove. Making plays on the volleyball court. Take a break from the sun in my human towel fort. I'm gonna go to camp—over, a place to spend my summer. I'm going, everybody's knowing. I'll be here at Rockbridge. I'm gonna go to camp—over, a place to spend my summer. I I I'm goin'. Everybody's knowin' I'll be here at Rockbridge. Sipping on a soda pop straight from the snack shop, cruising through the camp in my brand new tank top. I'm feeling good, but you know I'm probably gonna need a break because I'm about to climb up on that thing in the lake. I am the king of the mountain, king of the hill. You could try to beat me, but come on, cousin. You know you never will.

Wiffle ball hoops, 18 for the Disney golfer. Just a few of the activities we have to offer. Death swing leaving the ground in reverse. Before you pull the court, you better be warning me first. Stomach in my throat, wind blowing my hair. Keeping a straight face so you can't tell that I'm scared. Back on the ground, gotta catch my breath. Looking around to see what's left. To the game room: billiards, foosball, table tennis, air hockey, bumper pull, because I'm about to win this. Now we're gonna head back down to the lake, but you know I can't be leaving without a chocolate shake. Hop on this mountain bike—you could.

I'm gonna go to camp—over, a place to spend my summer. I'm going. Everybody's knowing I'll be here at Rockbridge. There's so much more to do that we could not get to, and all of it's for you. Thanks so much for passing through. There's so much more to do—that we could not get to. What's up? And all. Alright.

Transition to the Main Message

The real magic is the transition from that to what I'm gonna be talking about.

The Enemies of Meaningless

Meaningless. Meaningless. Everything is meaningless. If you've been here, you know that we've been talking about Ecclesiastes. We spent nine weeks in Ecclesiastes. We've got two more weeks. This week and next week, we're gonna be wrapping it up.

And we've been talking about Hevel—The Meaningless. We've been talking about the three great enemies that we have: death, the cyclical well—well, you know it—of life, and random injustice. And last week, we talked about some failed strategies of wealth, work, and pleasure. And last week, Tim started us on the three strategies that we should still employ.

He talked about pleasure: going through life, eating, drinking, being merry—taking little sips of joy and happiness, these good gifts that the Lord has given us. All good gifts are from the Lord, and he wants us to be joyful. And he mentioned little things like sunsets and possibly buying a puppy. That's all he said.

This week, I get to do the last two recommendations. The first one I’ll talk about is diversifying. I know what you're thinking—that's very strange. But if you think I'm making it up, it's actually in Ecclesiastes 11:1-2.

Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.
Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth. — Ecclesiastes 11:1-2

I'm not a financial adviser, but I do know one thing: you probably should not put all your eggs in one basket. Hedge your bets a little. A mutual fund is statistically probably better than putting all your assets into one thing, unless that one thing is Bitcoin. But we're not here to talk about Bitcoin.

The reason this advice makes sense is because we have no idea what disaster or calamity might happen—what’s around the corner. You might know this—I live up on the mountain, I have chickens, and I grow tomatoes. That's diversifying, right? So I get eggs from chickens and I have tomatoes. Unfortunately, two of my chickens are getting out of the coop and eating my tomatoes. I think I might have to do something about that, but I don't want to harm the chickens.

Random stuff happens all the time. One of our great enemies is the injustice—random injustice. We just don't know what’s coming next in the world or into our lives. And it's not just with money or retirement savings—it's also with our time, our relationships, and our talents.

In my work with high school kids, for three decades I've seen this pattern. I often have conversations about future plans. I love these kids, but sometimes I scratch my head and think, That was interesting.

Here’s a typical conversation I might role-play, playing both myself and the student:

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Hey. Hey, Fetts. How's school going? How are your grades?
I don't need to do homework because I'm going to get a scholarship.
Oh, like a sports scholarship?
Yeah. Sports.
I’m like, okay. What happens when you blow your knee out?
Oh, that’s not gonna happen, Phets.

I kid you not—nine times out of ten, within two weeks, that kid has blown his knee out. I’m not claiming prophecy, but kids tend to ask me about future plans involving sports a lot less after that.

Here’s another one: a girl.
Hey. I see you're hanging out with so-and-so.
Yeah. We're in love.
Oh, cool. Are you still hanging out with your friends though?
Like, your original friends?
No. I’ve abandoned them. I spend every waking minute with this girl.
Oh, okay.
What happens when she dumps you?
We’re getting married.

Okay. You’re 14. Maybe hedge a little. I’m not saying don't pursue your dream. I’m just saying, the future is uncertain, so hedge your bets.

Now, I want to clarify: we should hedge our bets—not with our faith or belief. Those are different.

There’s a limit to the idea of diversification. But I want to point out something else about this idea from Ecclesiastes 11:1-2:

In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. — Ecclesiastes 11:6 (partial reference)

I think this isn't just about money or retirement. It's also about generosity. We are encouraged to be generous while we can, because we have no idea about the future. We might find ourselves in need of the generosity of others, and we should be generous now, not hoarding resources to live indefinitely or in fear.

Diversifying gives us more room to be generous when the economy tanks or calamity strikes. That's all I’ll say about that.

If you have questions about your kid’s scholarship prospects, send them to Quig. I’m sure they’ll get a scholarship if they pursue their dreams.

Pursuing Wisdom Despite Its Limitations

The third recommendation, and the last one, is something we've talked about before: wisdom. It’s a failed strategy if pursued for itself, but we should still pursue it because, all things being equal, wisdom is better than foolishness.

Wisdom is different from intellect. You can be the smartest person in the room and still be a fool. I have many relatives who are very smart, but some are fools because intelligence isn’t necessarily applied knowledge.

In a Christian context, wisdom is a spiritual gift from God. Secular wisdom can be helpful, but I think it’s often just godly wisdom disguised. Wisdom itself is a gift from the Lord, given to believers and even to nonbelievers—like love, which is ultimately from God.

But, here's the caveat: wisdom can become an idol. Money is not bad, but worshiping money is wrong. Pleasure isn’t bad, but when pleasure becomes an idol and you say to God, I don’t need You—they’ve got all they need— that’s grievous. Wisdom for wisdom’s sake is pointless and meaningless.

Nevertheless, pursue wisdom. Over and over in Scripture, it shows us wisdom’s benefits:

The knowledge of the wise is a fountain of life, turning away from the snares of death. — Proverbs 13:14

Who doesn’t want that? Wisdom is better. But our pursuit of wisdom isn’t enough on its own—there are limitations.

Let me tell you a story from Ecclesiastes 9:

I saw this example of wisdom under the sun. There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, making great siege works. But in that city was a poor, wise man, and by his wisdom he delivered the city. Yet, no one remembered that poor man.

Yet, I say that wisdom is better than might, even though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

Hundreds of years before Jesus, an apparent prophetic parable is tucked in Ecclesiastes.

What name comes to mind when you hear about a poor man who was the wisest?
What about a poor man who became a savior, who delivered?
Whose name and honor were forgotten and rejected?

The answer is Jesus. The gospel is woven through Scripture, including Ecclesiastes. Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians:

Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know Him through wisdom, it pleased God to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.
Jews demand signs; Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, which is a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

This is the ultimate demonstration: Christ, the poor wise man who became our Savior, who is forgotten and rejected by many but is the true wisdom and power of God.

Conclusion

Let's choose wisdom while we can. Life is hard—we all know that. Some of us are in the midst of it right now. But life as a fool is even harder.

Lord, thank You for today. Thank you for the good gifts You give us as we pursue wisdom. And remember, You are the poor, wise man who saves. We pray we would not forget You, Your name, Your honor, Your reputation—that You are the true wise King, our deliverer.

In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.