SERMON BY JOHN TUCKER
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Milford Baptist Church
2 February 2003 Remember your teachers? I guess we can all recall some of the teachers that had the privilege - or misfortune - of teaching us at school. For me a few stand out. I remember my standard three (year five) teacher, Ms de Villiers. Blond. Attractive. Gentle. And I developed quite an embarrassing crush on Ms de Villiers. I remember at intermediate school a certain Mr Rowntree. Legend had it that he strapped pupils so hard that he sometimes broke their wrists. Needless to say, I was - along with six hundred other students - absolutely terrified of Mr Rowntree. And then there was the old retired teacher who used to serve as a reliever for our fourth form class. Chalky Simmonds, I think his name was. He had grown quite deaf. And we fourth-formers, childish as we were, took great delight in playing the age old trick of putting our hands in the air and pretending to ask a question and then just mouthing the words ... until old Chalky would turn his hearing aid right up to full volume and we'd shout as loud as we could. (Who'd be a teacher?!) But I remember some good teachers, great teachers. Teachers who really made a positive difference to my life. Can you recall any teachers like that? Did you ever have a Mr Doud? A truly great teacher? I read this week about a baby who, at 19 months, was stricken with a severe illness that left her totally blind and deaf. Until she was nearly seven years old, she lived in a world of utter darkness and silence. But then a teacher came along. Annie Sullivan. Annie herself had suffered terribly as a child from neglect and cruelty. And she had herself been half-blinded from a disease, from which she never fully recovered. But with careful guidance, patience and sacrifice, she helped her young student emerge from that nighttime of darkness and isolation. In time the young girl blossomed into a woman of extraordinary learning and spiritual insight. Her name? Helen Keller. She, in turn, devoted her life to helping others who, like herself, were deprived of sight and hearing. All because of one truly great teacher. You may have seen the film Mr Holland's Opus. Richard Dreyfuss plays Glen Holland, a talented musician who dreams of making a mark on the world by composing a symphony. But to support his family he has to instead take a job as a music teacher at the local high school. Initially resentful at having to postpone his dream, he matures over the next thirty years into an inspired and selfless teacher, who nurtures and encourages hundreds of gifted young boys and girls. He touches hundreds of lives. Eventually he comes to realise that by inspiring these students he made a far greater contribution to the world of music than he ever could have imagined. A truly great teacher. What makes a great teacher? What made those teachers great? What makes a great teacher? Vast knowledge: the ability to answer any question? Charisma or creativity: the gift of communicating effectively? Well, let's take a look at the book of Proverbs. This book could be a textbook for teachers. It's written in the warm tones of a father - or a kind teacher - giving advice to a son or pupil. According to this book the highest goal of teaching is to impart wisdom. Not information. Not knowledge. But wisdom. Take a look at this. Read Proverbs 3:13-18. What's wisdom? It's knowledge applied. It's knowing and doing what is right. It's understanding how the world works. It's the skill or art of living well, whatever your circumstances. And so the student who learns wisdom is "blessed," happy, fortunate (v 13). Why? Well, in the first half of this paragraph (vv 13-15) the writer compares wisdom with the other treasures on offer. What is your greatest goal? If you could have anything, what would it be? What would make you happy? The wealth of Bill Gates? The influence of George Bush? The popularity of Princess Diana? None of these riches even compares with wisdom. I used to work as a lawyer, and some of the partners in one of the firms where I worked seemed to have it made. They were incredibly knowledgeable, highly qualified, professionally successful, marvellously wealthy. But their lives were slowly unravelling, with stress, alcoholism, unfaithfulness. Their health, their marriages, their families were all crumbling. None of their wealth could help. Wisdom was what they needed. In the second half of this passage the writer outlines the benefits of wisdom. He pictures wisdom as a beautiful woman worth chasing and marrying. Like a young wife who keeps her husband young, wisdom offers long life - health and vitality - and with it, often, riches and honour (v 16). Like a wife who treats her husband well, wisdom gives peace - an all too rare commodity in our country, with one of the highest teen suicide rates in the world (v 17). The writer also here pictures wisdom as a tree - "the tree of life." So the fruit of wisdom is an abundant and fulfilling life (v 18). "Blessed are those who find wisdom." Blessed are those who develop self-discipline, who learn to manage anger, who use words wisely, who maintain integrity, who manage money responsibly, who raise loving and responsible children, who build strong and satisfying marriages. Blessed are those who learn wisdom, the skill of living well. If you read on from this paragraph you'll see the next verses say that God created the universe by his wisdom (3:19-20). God knows how this world works. He knows how to make our lives work. And so, as it says elsewhere in this book (9:10), "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." You want wisdom? You want to enrol in the school of wisdom? Acknowledge that God is created you, that he knows what's best for you, that he wants what's best for you because he's head over heels in love with you, and that through his Son Jesus he extends to you the hand of forgiveness and says, "Come, put your hand in mine. Follow me, and I'll help you make your life work." How do you instil wisdom? But if instilling wisdom is the greatest goal of teaching, surely that's the greatest challenge, too. How can you teach someone to desire the right things? How can you teach desire or virtue? Imparting information is not enough. An example is what's required. You know, according to research conducted at Stanford University, 89 percent of learning comes through visual stimulation. What people hear they might understand, but what people see they believe. As Will Rogers says, people's minds are changed more by observation than by argument. People do what people see. And when I think about it, the greatest teachers I've known have taught wisdom by example. I think of a Boys' Brigade leader and business executive who took time out of a busy working day to come and cheer me on at a school cross-country race. He showed me the virtue of generosity. I think of a college lecturer who humbly confessed his struggles with me. He showed me the virtue of humility. I think of a mother who every day arose at 5.30 am to do her exercises, read her Bible, and pray for her three sons. She showed me the virtue of self-discipline. Who are you investing your life in? So I guess imparting wisdom is not limited to the classroom. We can all have a profound and lasting influence on the development, the character, of young people. I know of a grandmother who is currently trying to teach her grandson the principle of delayed gratification. Her method is to forbid him from smashing down his block tower until he has first finished building it. Every time she has him over to her place she tries to teach him another lesson in wisdom. She has set a curriculum of lessons for that little fellow. She's changing his life. Teaching him how to live. So let me ask you a question. Which young people are you currently investing yourself in? How are you planning to teach them wisdom? It doesn't take much. A card. A phone call. A sentence telling them you believe in them. A visit to their home. A building block game. A term as a volunteer with Geoff in X.Stream. As we heard in the story of Guy Dowd, your love, your example, can make all the difference. So whether we're professionals in a local school, volunteers in the local church, or just people with an opportunity to influence young relatives or friends, let's make it our aim this year to be great students - and teachers - of wisdom. Let's invest ourselves in the lives of young people, and let's help them build lives that work.
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All quotations are taken
from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.
An on-line resource with various translations into a
variety of languages see: |