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What would you do if you suddenly came into $10,000? That’s the premise of the movie A Raisin in the Sun. Ten thousand dollars in the 1960s would probably go a lot further than it would today; but it is still a lot of money. What would you do? There are probably hundreds of ideas floating through all of our minds. What do I spend it on?

What would you do with $10,000? Some of you are thinking that you would pay off some debt. Some of you are thinking about that boat, car or big screen TV. Some of you are thinking how you could invest it and try to make more. Some of you would save it. What would you do? There is no problem thinking through what to spend it on. The dilemma for us is the wise use of that money. It seems like our use of money strikes a deep chord with our virtue. In this series we’ve defined virtue as the deliberate preference of right to wrong. and somewhere in our minds, as we mull over what to do with that $10,000, that question rises to the surface, "What would be the right thing to do?" It’s the same dilemma in the movie as the Younger family wrestles through how to best use the money.

William Bennett defines virtue as the "training of the heart and mind toward the good." That training is what shapes the way that we live out these kinds of opportunities. Choosing what is right requires wisdom. Wisdom is not just an accumulation of knowledge. It’s not just being able to beat Ken Jennings in Jeopardy. Wisdom is a certain skill in living. Knowledge is a part of wisdom, but gaining and having knowledge is not an end in itself. You can be brilliant in academics and a failure in your relationships. You can be an expert in computers or technology, but an idiot when it comes to self-discipline. You can know how to fix a car, build a house, write a book, sing a song, run a business, but know nothing about living life to the fullest. Wisdom is the ability to live out knowledge with the skill of seeing how it produces meaning and purpose to life.

Wisdom and foolishness are one of the most frequently reoccurring contrasts in the Bible. You can be wise or foolish with how you handle money, how you use your time, how you raise your kids, who you pick for your friends, who you date or marry, how you express love, who you go into business with. The list could go on and on. In fact the Bible warns us in Ephesians 5:15–17, "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."

That verse ties wisdom to that deep part of our soul that will give us meaning and purpose in life—the place where we find out who we are and how we connect with the God who created us and designed life’s opportunities to be lived and experienced, the deep part of us that can discern right from wrong, wise from foolish, smart from stupid…

Wisdom is fleshed out in the big and little circumstances of our lives and today we want to talk about how wisdom and not foolishness can be the natural overflow of the way we live our lives.

Like a double-edged sword, wisdom can penetrate through the crises and the difficult choices that we have to make in life. There is a whole book of the Bible that is devoted to wisdom and living wisely. Proverbs 3:13–18 says, "Happy is the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding. For the profit of wisdom is better than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. She offers you life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying. Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly."

One edge of that sword is that wisdom is desirable. It has tremendous value and brings joy and satisfaction to our lives. The other edge of this sword is that wisdom is available. Wisdom shouts in the streets. She cries out in the public square. She calls out to the crowds along the main street and to those in front of city hall. Proverbs 9:1–6 tells us, 'Wisdom has built her spacious house with seven pillars. She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table. She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city. 'Come home with me,' she urges the simple. To those without good judgment, she says, 'Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your foolish ways behind, and begin to live; learn how to be wise.'''

The image that the book of Proverbs paints of wisdom is that she is standing in the middle of the street, waving her arms screaming at you to find her. She is not some kind of hidden, hard to find, secret to life. Wisdom is a skill, training in living that is available to everyone, and Proverbs personifies in a way that says she wants to be found. But Proverbs also says that foolishness is doing the same thing. Proverbs 9 goes on to say, "The woman, Folly (or foolishness) is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge…calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way. ‘Let all who are simple come in here!’ She says to those who lack judgment, ‘Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious…’"

There is a battle going on in our minds and hearts. It is a battle for wisdom, for virtue. Wisdom and foolishness are calling out for our attention, and we will choose one or the other. One will give us joy and satisfaction and life; the other may provide an immediate gratification, but in the end will bring frustration, discouragement and death. I want to show this battle first through the life of a man called Naaman in the Old Testament and through the decision of Walter Lee Younger in the Raisin in the Sun.

Naaman was a commander of the army of the king of Aram. He had been extremely successful in his military career, was well respected, had won the favor of the king and had proven his skill in battle over and over again, but there was a problem. He had leprosy. Leprosy, much like AIDS today, was one of the most feared diseases of that time. Some forms of it were extremely contagious and, in many cases, incurable. In the worst cases it led to death. Many lepers were forced to live, quarantined, outside of the city in camps. Naaman still held his position, so it is likely that he had a mild form of the disease, or it was still in the early stages.

It just so happened that there was a girl in Naaman’s house who had been taken captive from the land of Israel. And she told Naaman’s wife that there was a prophet in her country named Elisha who could heal him. So Naaman obtained the kings permission to go to Israel and visit this prophet. I’m sure there was huge anticipation on his part about what was about to happen. I think as he traveled down to Israel he had envisioned both his reception as this high-powered military elite and how the healing would go.

We pick up the story in 2 Kings 5:9–12, "So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha's house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: 'Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of leprosy.' But Naaman became angry and stalked away. 'I thought he would surely come out to meet me!' he said. 'I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me! Aren't the Abana River and Pharpar River of Damascus better than all the rivers of Israel put together? Why shouldn't I wash in them and be healed?' So Naaman turned and went away in a rage."

So what’s in a Naaman? What stops the healing and the learning and wisdom that are offered to him? It is the same kinds of things that are in us and keep us from becoming wise. One of those things is pride. Saying, my way is the best way! "I thought he would surely come out to meet me!" Naaman says. Pride and arrogance will always keep us from maybe seeing or hearing things in a different light. Stubbornness is another block to wisdom. "I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the LORD his God and heal me!" I know how this was supposed to work and it's my way or no way! Or self sufficiency is another one. I’ll do it my way! The Sinatra syndrome. I don’t need you. I don’t need your rivers. I don’t need your God!

So Naaman storms away, mad.

An evidence of wisdom in a person’s life is his willingness to learn. I was in a meeting this week with the head soccer coach at Indianapolis University. One of the things that he said was, "If a player is not coachable, is not teachable, I will not play him." He defined teachability as listening, giving eye contact, a posture of learning. Proverbs 10:8 says, "The wise man is glad to be instructed, but a self-sufficient fool falls flat on his face." Willingness to be instructed is a hallmark of wisdom.

Naaman’s officers came to him to reason with him and said in 2 Kings 5:13–15, "'Sir, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply to go and wash and be cured!' So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his flesh became as healthy as a young child's, and he was healed! Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, 'I know at last that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. Now please accept my gifts.'"

The commander became the learner and in the end was healed of his leprosy and grew in his wisdom.

When Walter Lee Younger in Raisin in the Sun is entrusted with the bulk of that $10,000 by his mama, he makes a foolish mistake that causes him to lose it all. Then he proceeds down the road of foolishness to plot to take money from a white homeowners association that wants to keep the Youngers out of the neighborhood because the Youngers are black. Walter Lee is faced with that battle of choosing right from wrong and wisdom from foolishness. A lot hangs in the balance for him and his family.

When pride gives way to humility, wisdom is accessible. It becomes reachable, available to us. When stubbornness gives way to teachability, wisdom becomes visible. You can see it, experience it. And when self-sufficiency gives way to faith, wisdom becomes tangible. It gets lived out.

The double edges of the sword of wisdom are that wisdom is desirable and available. The point, the beginning of wisdom is that real wisdom comes from God. Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." The New Testament describes Jesus as the wisdom of God. Jesus is the wisdom of God fleshed out so that we could have a relationship with God. Wisdom starts with Jesus. If you don’t know Him, you can. It begins with surrender.