We might agree that the single most interesting of the Founders was Benjamin Franklin, inventor, philosopher, publisher, charmer of the French, folksy, genial, cosmopolitan. Gordon Wood writes that “his many portraits suggest an affable genial old man with spectacles and a twinkle in his eye ready to tell us a humorous story. He seems to be the one among the Founders we would most like to spend an evening with.” An evening over dinner with Benjamin Franklin! – That would be such a delight!

So many moments in his life, and in the life of our earliest moments of the establishment of this nation stand out. My favorite might be during the Constitutional Convention. Franklin, aged 81, was the oldest delegate by far, 15 years older than any of the rest of them, and twice as old as the average of all the others. When deliberations broke down, and the future of this young, fledgling nation-in-the-making which couldn’t quite figure itself out was in doubt, Franklin stepped in and surprised and moved everyone. Rising to his feet, he asked “How has it happened that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understandings? If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probably that an empire can rise without his aid?” Not being a very religious guy, Franklin must have stunned his fellows, and his unexpected appeal made its mark on them all.

He broke the logjam by reminding them that “We were sent to consult, not to contend.” Once they had a complete draft of the Constitution, most delegates were unhappy about this or that. With typical homespun wisdom, Franklin pointed out that “When we were young tradesmen here in Philadelphia, when we had a joint of wood that didn’t quite fit, we’d take a little from one side and shave from the other until we had a joint that would hold together for centuries.”

Indeed, Franklin, with the wisdom of old age that we don’t look to much nowadays, brought resolution when he shrewdly said, “I agree to this Constitution, with all its Faults, if they are such… I doubt whether any other Convention we can obtain, may be able to make a better Constitution: For when you assemble a Number of Men to have the Advantage of their joint Wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those Men all their Prejudices, their Passions, their Errors of Opinion, their local Interests, and their selfish Views. From such an Assembly can a perfect Production be expected? It therefore astonishes me, Sir, to find this System approaching so near to Perfection as it does; and I think it will astonish our Enemies, who are waiting with Confidence to hear that our Councils are confounded, like those of the Builders of Babel, and that our States are on the Point of Separation, only to meet hereafter for the Purpose of cutting one another’s Throats. Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that it is not the best.”

You have to love the humility and wisdom in his approach to moving forward together as a nation! Perhaps more importantly than his wise words, Franklin had built relationships. He invited delegates to his home, to share a meal and to sit under his mulberry tree. Jesus, of course, made the dinner table his office, his therapy couch, his boardroom, his lecture hall. Food offered and shared is the stuff of encounter with the holy.

And the wisdom Franklin had accrued and used to the benefit of the others – and the nation: Proverbs 16:31 tells us “Gray hair is a crown of glory,” Leviticus 19:32 invites us to “Show respect for the elderly as you revere God,” and Job 12:12 asks “Is not wisdom found among the aged?” We are spiritually poorer because we fail to seek and find and be blessed by the wisdom of our elders. Of course, the elders are responsible to become wise and to encourage the young with their wisdom, not wagging a finger or sounding like a cocky know-it all. Franklin was gentle, asking questions, using the analogy of fitting wood pieces together, and simply making his own testimony. Such was the wisdom of Jesus. Such is the wisdom we, our church, and our world need today.