Smart Bricks
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
June 6, 2004
St. John United Methodist Church
David Beckett, D.Min.

Dumb as a brick. We’ve heard this expression applied to television personalities, rock stars, certain types of dogs, and any number of people who tumbled out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down. Here are some other clever ways to describe the dumb things people do:

A few fries short of a Happy Meal
The cheese slid off his cracker.
His chimney’s clogged.
Her sewing machine’s out of thread.
His belt doesn’t go through all the loops.
No grain in his silo.
In the pinball game of life, his flippers were a little farther apart than most.

Guess what? Bricks may not be dumb anymore. Professor Chang Liu at the University of Illinois is messing with a technology that is 6,400 years old. Chang’s new brick is filled with electronic sensors that can continuously monitor the structural health of a building. A smart brick can be laid into a wall like any other, but inside the brick are devices to track temperature changes and measure vibration and movement. Data is transmitted to a computer and the readings can be accessed by engineers or emergency personnel by phone line or computer network. A set of these smart bricks, deployed throughout a building, could easily provide a holistic, real-time picture of the strength of a building. Imagine how many lives could have been saved if these smart bricks had been installed in the World Trade Towers.
Smart bricks are a good image for us to keep in mind as we ponder our role as people of God in the world today. Two Sundays ago we talked about our decisions as bricks we lay on the foundation of our lives. Are the bricks of our lives strong or cracked? Are they stupid or smart? It really depends on what voices we listen to when we make our decisions. The choice is ours.

Today’s passage from Proverbs describes wisdom as a woman…(I’m not going to make any jokes at this point)…a female figure who takes her stand in the middle of human society and cries out, "To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live" (Proverbs 8:4). We need to know that wisdom is not a separate god or goddess, but rather a literary depiction of one of God’s prominent qualities. We read in that Wisdom offers her insights to everyone who is willing to listen, and she promises wonderful gifts to anyone who will embrace her — gifts of intelligence, truth, knowledge, justice, righteousness and wealth (vv. 5-21).
Notice that Wisdom doesn’t give her gifts only to techno-geeks at Microsoft or think tankers in Washington, D.C. Wisdom is generous to all who are willing to open their hearts and minds to what she offers, and she pours her gifts into:

• The auto mechanic who analyzes car problems with uncommon intelligence
• The grandmother who knows the truth about what makes people tick
• The teacher who can both instruct and inspire her students
• The attorney who has a passion for justice, above a concern for billable hours
• The high-school student who resists peer pressure and practices righteousness

Wisdom in scripture is defined as "the quality of mind enabling a person to live well." I like that…a quality of mind enabling a person to live well. You want to live well, don’t you? Of course, you do! The good news for us today is that all of us can live well. All of us can gain more wisdom. All of us can be wise.

Such people are smart bricks — solid citizens who are tuned into God’s will for the world, and are sensitive to changes and vibrations and movements in the created order. Smart bricks understand how the world is put together, because they are in touch with Wisdom, who stood beside God "like a master worker" in the original ordering of creation (v. 30).

Smart bricks are committed to building up, not breaking down. They are constructive, not destructive. They stand together and work together, instead of splitting apart and shattering the efforts of others. They join the wisdom of God in rejoicing in God’s "inhabited world and delighting in the human race" (v. 31).

"The good news about God’s wisdom is this," writes Charles Stanley in his book Walking Wisely: "Every person can become wise." Not everyone can become famous or wealthy or powerful, but everyone can learn how to walk wisely with God and with other people. We all can have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that is deep and powerful. The wisdom that grows out of this relationship is more than abstract knowledge. It is down-to-earth and connected to the real world that we live in. But wisdom is a quality of life that must be received. All who desire it must hear her voice and open their hearts to the power of living well.

There is a great scene in the movie, Lord of the Rings, when Frodo Baggins is told by his good and wise friend Gandalf of the power of the ring that Frodo owns. Frodo learns of the dangers of owning the ring. He learns that he will have to travel to the dangerous lands of Mordor to get rid of the ring. As Frodo looks down at the ring in his hand he says that he wishes that the ring had never come into his possession. Gandalf says, "So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

Wisdom. It comes from your Creator God and you already have some. Would you like to have more? Becoming wise is about our commitment to grow closer to God and neighbor, and to approach the problems of the world with courage and confidence. If we truly believe that God gives us the gift of wisdom, and that this wisdom delights in the human race, then there is no reason at all to feel overwhelmed by the many challenges that lie before us.

Wisdom is about living well. And living well is more than money and possessions. It is always about living the kind of life God desires for us. Here are some practical ways to do what God wants for us in this life. These words cometo us from a surprising source: TV personality, Andy Rooney.

>I’ve learned.... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.

> I’ve learned.... That when you’re in love, it shows.

> I’ve learned.... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is

> one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.

> I’ve learned.... That being kind is more important than being right.

> I’ve learned.... That you should never say no to a gift from a child.

> I’ve learned.... That I can always pray for someone when I don’t have the strength to help him in some other way.

> I’ve learned.... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.

> I’ve learned.... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.

> I’ve learned.... That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

> I’ve learned.... That we should be glad God doesn’t give us everything we ask for.

> I’ve learned... That under everyone’s hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.

> I’ve learned.... That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.

> I’ve learned.... That love, not time, heals all wounds.

> I’ve learned.... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.

> I’ve learned.... That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.

> I’ve learned.... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

> I’ve learned.... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.

>I’ve learned.... That I can’t choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.

With God’s wisdom informing our minds and hearts, we can make good choices with the time we have left on this earth. With God’s wisdom, each and every one of us can live well this coming week. With God’s wisdom, we can build a better world. One brick at a time.

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