A few years ago I was asked to preach at a large event in Atlanta. I inquired as to the theme of the occasion, and the pastor who invited me said, "I want you to preach as if it were your last sermon. If you had only one more opportunity to proclaim the Word, what message would it be? Preach that!" What a quandary! What should I preach? I first thought to preach about the omnipotence and love of God the Father. Then I reconsidered, "But I must preach about Jesus, his death and resurrection and the salvation he offers to the world." But, I realized as I continued to think about it, I simply could not leave out the Holy Spirit, for he is the indwelling God who quickens, instructs, and empowers the Christian. But all of this was far too much for any one sermon. Who is able to adequately handle such enormous truth in one brief half-hour? That is also the huge dilemma of preaching on Holy Trinity Sunday. We need them all: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Our survival as Christians is impossible without all of the Godhead -- this Three-in-one God of ours is absolutely essential to us. The Trinity is the doctrine that identifies us as Christian. No other religion holds to or teaches this. The Trinity gives balance to our understanding of God.

In this text in Proverbs, Wisdom, which is a Divine attribute, is expressed as a person (a woman, strangely enough). Wisdom is often used in scripture to express God's self-disclosure. Wisdom, then, is one of the many ways in which God reveals himself to us. What a desperate need there is in our time for wisdom. We have access to a plethora of knowledge. Books and information abound. No one need lack for knowledge if s/he cares to search for it. There is little excuse for ignorance. But this is not the same as wisdom.

We speak of persons who are knowledgeable, astute, brilliant, ingenious, and clever (even crafty). But knowledge does not necessarily make one wise. Did you hear about the man who learned that 80 percent of all accidents happen within two miles of home -- so he moved? He had knowledge, the facts, but no wisdom for application of those facts. Some scholars are brilliant, and in their field have no peer, but still lack the wisdom of practicality. Many persons are clever, but they may not also have the wisdom to be good. They may only be "clever devils." In fact, it is doubtful if any person can have true wisdom apart from God. A good person may have wisdom and also have great knowledge, or a wise person may be short on knowledge. There is a goodness, prudence, and circumspection which alone comes from knowing God. The Psalmist said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 111:10). Paul stated it another way, "In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). He also charged young Timothy to study the scriptures "which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15).

In J. S. Bach's masterpiece, Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring, he called Jesus the "holy wisdom from on high." What does this Wisdom mean as related to the Trinity? What does it do for us today?

I. God The Father

God the Father is the Omniscient One: all-wise, all-knowing. Nothing escapes his eye. He was wise enough to 18 create the universe. The Bible announces that Creation was the work of God. The story is told that Franklin D. Roosevelt and one of his close friends, Bernard Baruch, talked late into the night one evening at the White House. At last, President Roosevelt suggested that they go out into the Rose Garden and look at the stars before going to bed. They went out and looked into the sky for several minutes, peering at a nebula with thousands of stars. Then the President said, "All right, I think we feel small enough now to go in and go to sleep." The wonder of the power and wisdom of God puts things in perspective for us humans. It was not an accident, but the result of a Divine Plan; planets, stars, plants, birds, fish, and animals were all created by God.

And the climax of God's creation was humanity. How complex and mind-boggling is our physical construction. Chemically, the body is unequalled for complexity. Each one of its 30 trillion cells is a mini chemical factory that performs about 10,000 chemical functions. With its 206 bones, 639 muscles, 4 million pain sensors in the skin, 750 million air sacs in the lungs, 16 million nerve cells and 30 trillion cells in total, the human body is remarkably designed for life. And the brain! The human brain and nervous system is the most complex arrangement of matter anywhere in the universe. One scientist estimated that our brain, on the average, processes over 10,000 thoughts and concepts each day. One could spend years just dealing with the marvelous intricacies and majesty of God's creation. We are, as the Psalmist states "fearfully and wonderfully made."

For us, personally, it says that if God has the wisdom to create all we know of this world, then he also has the power and wisdom to care for us. Is there anything too hard for God? Is there any problem we have too complex? Is there any difficulty that his wisdom cannot solve? The answer is a resounding "no!" Our all-wise Creator God is also our all-sufficient heavenly Father! God, in his "holy Wisdom from on high" can make something even out of our nothingness. Don't despair! There is hope for you yet! 19

An unusual woman was being interviewed by a reporter. She had been a widow for years, and had reared six children of her own and 12 adopted children. In spite of her busy and useful life, she was noted for her poise and charm. The reporter asked how she had managed, amidst poverty, work, and responsibility to do it all with such a great and confident spirit. "You see," she answered, "I'm in a partnership. One day, a long time ago, I said, 'Lord, I'll do the work, and you do the worrying,' and I haven't had a worry since!" God, in his love and wisdom has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, so that we can at least have enough wisdom to trust that his wisdom is working on our behalf.

II. God The Son

Wisdom and truth were personified in God the Son, Jesus our Lord. Christ's death on the cross exemplified the wisdom of God in bringing about redemption for all of humanity. What other love and wisdom could ever have actualized a way for all estranged sinners to be made right with God?

Christ's life on earth manifested the wisdom of God. When his enemies tried to catch him with trick questions, his wisdom stopped them dead in their tracks. His answer was always, "a holy Wisdom from on high." They said of him, "Never a man spake like this man." Of course his words were wise, for he always spoke only truth. He said of himself, "I am the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life."

How can we who follow him do less than endeavor to always speak the truth? Wisdom would surely dictate that we exercise great care in speaking only that which is honest and true. Cordell Hull, the American Secretary of State from 1933 to 1944, was reputed to be an extremely honest and cautious man, ungiven to advancing anything that was not strictly true. If there was not sufficient evidence, he was slow in forming an absolute opinion.

Once, on a train trip, Hull and a companion watched while the train dragged its load of cars slowly past a large flock 20of sheep. Making conversation, Hull's friend said, "Those sheep have been recently sheared." Hull thoughtfully stared at the animals, then said, "It appears so. At least on the side facing us."

Such cautious wisdom must have been a good trait for a secretary of state. Such wisdom would be advantageous for us as we walk in the footsteps of our Lord who is Truth exemplified. It is perhaps his "holy Wisdom from on high" which resulted in the incarnation. Humans need human contact, and we could never understand nor know God until God was enfleshed and came among us. He walked as a man among us that we might know the loving compassion of the heart of God which felt for each of us in our need.

The true story is told of a woman named Mamie who made frequent trips to the branch post office. One day she confronted a long line of people who were waiting for service from the postal clerk. Mamie only needed stamps, so a helpful observer asked her, "Why don't you just use the stamp machine? You can get all the stamps you need and you won't have to wait in line." Mamie said, "I know, but the machine can't ask me about my arthritis."

That's part of the wisdom of Christ's coming to our earth to live among us. He could relate to us in all of our daily needs. As we try to walk in Jesus' steps, we might do well to pray the ancient Irish poem set to an Irish ballad tune, which says,

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

III. God The Holy Spirit

And what would we ever do without the "holy Wisdom from on high," who, as the ever-present Holy Spirit, guides us into all truth? We are so shortsighted and dull without the Spirit who gives us eyes to see.

An English teacher of a 21sophomore high school class put a small chalk dot on the blackboard. He then asked the class what it was. A few seconds passed and then someone said, "That is a chalk dot on the blackboard." The rest of the class seemed relieved that the obvious had been stated, and no one else had anything to say. "I'm surprised at you," the teacher told the class. "I did the same exercise yesterday with a group of kindergartners and they thought of 50 different things the chalk mark could be: an owl's eye, a cigar butt, the top of a telephone pole, a star, a pebble, a squashed bug, a rotten egg, a bird's eye, and so on." The older students had learned how to find a right answer, but had lost the ability to look for more than one right answer.

The Holy Spirit helps us, in his wonderful Wisdom, to see more than we might have seen by ourselves. The Spirit's vision allows us wonderful options for expansion and new possibilities. It is the Spirit's Wisdom that reveals the Word to us. It is the Wisdom of the Spirit that shows us our sin, which guides us, which instructs us, which leads us in the way everlasting. Wisdom is, in fact, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Such Wisdom is beyond all human logic or knowledge or acumen or understanding. This gift of Wisdom is often accompanied by the fruits of the same Spirit which include patience and long-suffering.

A pastor friend tells of a father taking his little toddler to the mall with him. The little guy was still in his "terrible twos" and was acting the part. But all the while he was yelling and crying and grabbing and screaming, you could hear his father saying to himself, "It's okay, George, you are going to be fine. Be patient, George. Cool it, George." A lady overheard his remarks and said, "You sure are patient with little George." The harried father responded, "Lady, that's Matthew, I'm George!"

We might also conclude that along with the Spirit's Wisdom is given to us the fruit of self-control! You see, there is a perception and discernment which is not inherent within us by nature. But the Spirit's perception gives a keenness and astuteness that we can never claim as our own. It is rather that wonderful, divine Wisdom from him which quickens the believer.

John and I were invited to preach for a week on the campus at the Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. While there, we were asked to make some taped messages to be aired at a later date. We were taken to the studio by a member of the faculty, and then later he took us to see a Bible camp in the mountains. Bruce Martin, the professor, had come from New York City, and while there, had been an artist on the piano. He had magic fingers, and his touch and skill were breathtaking. After his conversion to Christ, he had come to teach at Union College. While looking over the camp we came to a room where there was an old piano. The room was dusty, messy, junky, and cold, but it was the old piano in the corner that caught Bruce's attention. Half the keys had ivories missing, the front panel was gone, exposing the inner workings of the instrument, and it looked literally like it needed to be on a trash heap somewhere. He sat down at the piano and began to play the battered thing and immediately the whole place came alive. The surroundings were literally transformed! Such beautiful music came out of that piano that we felt as if we were standing in the middle of a miracle. God's presence radiated within that dark room, and tears filled our eyes as we listened to the music from the hands of an artist. It was his touch that made all the difference!

So, too, is the touch of the Spirit upon our lives. From somewhere beyond ourselves he pours music from our broken lives and lets a fallen world see what God can do with nothing when it is given to him and to his control. Such then, is the Wisdom of Proverbs -- a "holy Wisdom from on high." May God impart its wondrous beauty to each of our lives that our own personal needs may be met and that we may be empowered to serve the world that Christ died to save."