Thomas J Parlette
“The Way of the Wise”
Ephesians 5: 15-20
8/15/21
When you were a kid, did you ever fantasize about finding a magical being who would grant wishes for you? Kids see endless possibilities in the world, yet their power is fairly limited, so they get a lot of satisfaction from imagining magical beings, like a genie or a fairy or an angel, who can instantly give them whatever they want. But the movies and stories along these lines almost always come with a moral – Be careful what you wish for- because you just might get it!
It reminds me of an old story known as “The Dean’s Dilemma.” An angel appears at a college faculty meeting and tells the dean, “In return for your unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward you with your choice of infinite wealth, infinite wisdom, or infinite beauty. What is your choice?”
Without hesitating, the Dean answers, “Give me infinite wisdom.”
“Done,” says the Angel, before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
All heads turn to the Dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. “Well,” says one of his colleagues, “say something brilliant.”
The Dean stands, with a blank expression on his face, looks around the room, and confesses, “I should have taken the money.”(1)
An interesting choice between wealth, wisdom or beauty. Which would you choose? Wealth and beauty are certainly highly valued in our society – and yet we know, wisdom is ultimately more valuable.
In our Old Testament passage from 1st Kings, Solomon has the Dean’s Dilemma presented to him as well. He chooses wisdom, so that he might lead the people after his father David’s death. And the Lord is pleased with his choice.
Our Epistle reading for today continues in Ephesians as Paul makes it clear that the way of the foolish person leads to emptiness and even death, while the way of a wise person leads to joy, peace and eternal life.
Paul understood the Dean’s Dilemma better than most. Before he became a follower of Jesus, he had been a member of the Pharisees, an influential Jewish sect that practiced strict, legalistic observance of Jewish traditions and religious observances. As a Pharisee, Paul would have held a position of respect in his community. But when he became a Jesus-follower, he gave all that up. He gave up his influential, respected place in society. He gave up his former occupation. He gave up his community and home to travel all over the Roman Empire training early church leaders. He gave up his safety and security, and sometimes his freedom. For the remainder of his life, he faced persecution, beatings and imprisonment on account of his faith.
In fact, the words we are reading today were written during Paul’s first stint in jail. He knew what his decision to follow Christ had cost him, and he knew what life with Jesus was really worth. And he spent the rest of his life serving Christ. So it was from the wisdom that only personal experience can bring that Paul wrote, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and songs of the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God for everything, in the name of Jesus Christ.”
The first thing Paul wants us to understand is that the foolish person lives as if there is no God. And if there is no God, life has no purpose. If there is no God, then it’s perfectly logical for everyone to simply do their own thing – like it says in the book of Judges, : “In those days there was no King in Israel; everyone did that which was right in their own eyes.” As you might imagine, chaos ensued.
If there is no God there are no absolute values, no right or wrong. Like the Psalm says, “The fool says in their heart, ‘There is no God’.” And thus, the foolish person lives only for themselves and only for the moment. The foolish person doesn’t care about the consequences of their actions, or the legacy they leave behind.
Warren Buffet, the self-made billionaire, is one of the richest people in the world. One time, Buffet was speaking at the University of Georgia. A student asked him for his definition of success. Part of what Warren Buffet answered went like this: “I know people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners, and they get hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don’t care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster.”(2)
Excellent advice from a man who has more money than most. Mothing matters more than being loved and respected and leaving a legacy of loving God and loving your neighbor.
The second thing Paul wants us to know is that wise folks know that every moment of their life is an opportunity to know God and live in God’s will. James Merritt, in his book Friends, Fools and Foes, defines wisdom as “seeing life through the eyes of God, and living life in the will of God.”(3)
Paul knew that every Christian is like a magnet. You have an opportunity to draw others to God. You have an opportunity to draw others to hope, to truth and to life. But magnets also have the power to repel. If you claim to be a Christian, but are living like a foolish person, then you will repel people away from God.
Most younger people have heard of the artist, Chance the Rapper. Chance is one of the most successful artists in the music industry right now. He’s won a Grammy, his concerts sell out, he is an anti-violence activist in the city of Chicago and he has donated over $1 million dollars to Chicago’s public school system. Professionally, he is a tremendous success.
He tells an interesting story of his grandmother’s reaction to his career. In his early days, when he was first starting to experience some success, his grandmother took him aside and told him that she didn’t like the way his lifestyle was changing. She told him that she was going to pray for him.
In an interview with GQ magazine, Chance shared his grandmother’s prayer. She prayed out loud over him, “Lord, I pray that all things that are not like you, you take away from Chance. Make sure that he fails at everything not like you. Take it away. Turn it to dust.”
Wow – I don’t know that I’ve ever heard a prayer like that before. But Chance the Rapper’s grandmother cared more about her grandson’s soul than his success. She cared more about him knowing God and living in God’s will than she cared about offending him.
And it was that prayer that brought Chance the Rapper back into a relationship with God. Many of his lyrics reflect his faith. At his sold-out concerts, he speaks about God and his own spiritual journey. His success is now rooted in knowing God and living in God’s will.(4) Like most wise folks, Chance knows that every moment of his life is an opportunity to know God and live in God’s will.
And finally, when you know God and live in God’s will, then you can’t help but be thankful. You see every moment of your life as a blessing, a God-given opportunity. An essential part of living in God’s will is living with an attitude of gratitude. Paul closes our passage for today by writing “sing and make melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Keep in mind, Paul is writing these joyful words while he is in a Roman prison. There is nothing comfortable or predictable or controllable about his life. He has lost everything that once defined him. And yet the joy and thanksgiving that flow from his letters are a powerful witness to the truth of God. This kind of thankfulness and joy can’t be found in any earthly possessions or power or success or status. This kind of thankfulness is clearly a gift that comes from knowing Jesus Christ and having his spirit live in you.
Dr. Mark Jacobson graduated as valedictorian of his class at Harvard University. He earned top honors in medical school at Johns Hopkins University. He is the best of the best in his field. He could have chosen a job at any of the most prestigious and high-paying hospitals in the country.
Instead, Dr. Jacobson headed to Arusha, Tanzania, to work among the impoverished people there. He helped found a clinic, then a hospital. He sees about 35,000 patients each year. When asked if he had ever thought about moving back to the States to practice in a more comfortable environment, he says he thinks about it at least once a day. But he’s not going anywhere. Dr. Jacobson has been working in Tanzania for 22 years. And he says that he knows that this is the place God wants him to be. Dr. Jacobson explains, “Early on in my faith life, I realized that I had been wonderfully blessed and that I had some responsibility and call to give some of that back to others.(5) He is living in God’s will, even though it requires sacrifices. He is walking in the way of the wise.
So which life looks more attractive – the way of the wise, or the way of the fool? “Be very careful how you live – not as unwise, but as wise, make the most of the time because the days are evil.” Paul wasn’t being harsh. He knew what he was talking about. He was trying to save us from living as if there is no God and as if life has no purpose. To live like that is an empty, meaningless life. It’s a foolish way to live. But there is another life available to us. One that is centered on knowing God and living in God’s will, responding to those little nudges God gives us. That is a way of life marked by contagious joy and thankfulness. And the end result of this life is purposeful living now, and eternal life with God.
Through Jesus Christ – the way of the wise has been opened for us.
May God be praised. Amen.
1. Dynamic Preaching, Vol XXXVII, No. 2, pg75.
2. Ibid… pg76.
3. Ibid… pg76.
4. Ibid… pg76-77.
5. Ibid…pg 77.
