Sunday, 20 August 2006
Today’s readings deal with wisdom. And what is wisdom may I ask? Is it intelligence? Is it knowledge? Is it common sense? Does old age make me wise? Does young age make me wise? Let us look at what some have said about wisdom thru the centuries.
[Quotes on Wisdom from Wikiquote]
There you had a sample of what has been said about wisdom by some dead wise guys. It really doesn’t matter that they’re dead. To their credit, a bit of their wisdom
is still alive for us to take to heart. There is wisdom in sharing wisdom.
There’s a fable by Aesop titled The Sick Lion. It goes like this,
A LION, unable from old age and infirmities to provide
himself with food by force, resolved to do so by artifice.
He returned to his den, and lying down there, pretended
to be sick, taking care that his sickness should be
publicly known. The beasts expressed their sorrow,
and came one by one to his den, where the Lion devoured
them. After many of the beasts had thus disappeared,
the Fox discovered the trick and presenting himself
to the Lion, stood on the outside of the cave,
at a respectful distance, and asked him how he was.
"I am very middling," replied the Lion, "but why do
you stand without? Pray enter within to talk with me.
"No, thank you," said the Fox. "I notice that
there are many prints of feet entering your cave, but I
see no trace of any returning."
You know the deal with fables. There is always a moral
to the story. Can anybody take a guess as to what is the
moral of this story? According to Aesop, “he is wise
who is warned by the misfortunes of others.” Well, there’s
a wise guy right there or I should say a wise fox.
But what is wisdom? Since we live in the Information and
Communication Age, we should know what wisdom is,
shouldn’t we? We have everything there is to know
at the tip of our keyboards and the left-button click
of a mouse. In fact, to show you how true this is
I went online and looked up about wisdom on Wikipedia.
This is the definition it gave me,
Wisdom is the ability, developed through
experience, insight and reflection, to discern truth and
exercise good judgment. It is sometimes conceptualized as
an especially well developed form of common sense. Most
psychologists regard wisdom as distinct from the
cognitive abilities measured by standardized
intelligence tests. Wisdom is often considered
to be a trait that can be developed by experience,
but not taught. When applied to practical matters,
the term wisdom is synonymous with prudence. Some see
wisdom as a quality that even a child, otherwise
immature, may possess independent of experience or
complete knowledge.(Wikipedia)
Now that we know what wisdom is, are we any wiser? Does
a definition about wisdom found online teach us in the
way of wisdom? No, it doesn’t. We now only know the
definition of one little word and compared to words like
information and knowledge and computers and technology,
that little word, wisdom, is becoming a stranger concept
by the hour. Nonetheless, it is true that wisdom is a
little word, but a little word whose application has
an impact on our lives for the better.
The trend of the human race since the beginning of the
Industrial Revolution back in the 18th century has been
an amazingly fast race towards more production, more
information, more knowledge, more technogadgetry that
results in a longer bottom line and at the same time in a
lack of wisdom and common sense that results in stifled
lives. In consequence, we have learned how to live with
and, moreover, depend on more information and more
knowledge and more computers and more technology,
and more media without wisdom. To a degree, we have
come to exchange one for the other, but there is no
real substitute for wisdom. Life according to God
requires wisdom.
Today, the deal is more about production, production,
production; numbers, numbers, numbers; faster, faster,
faster! We end up with a whole lot more stress, stress,
stress and exhaustion, exhaustion, exhaustion, and much
less, much less, much less wisdom. On this equation
something doesn’t add up.
So we are confronted with wisdom in our Bible readings for
today. And mind you, the Bible is full of wisdom. Oh yes,
full of it. The best wisdom literature available is not
found in ancient Greece
in books like Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. It is the
best wisdom literature because it points us to the
beginning and the end of wisdom. It shows us how to live
the way of wisdom, how to stay in it and how to achieve
its ultimate goal.
The Bible says in the first seven verses of the book of Proverbs,
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of
2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth--
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands
obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (ESV)
I wanted to know how this same passage read in a different version of the Bible. So I went to The Message version of the Bible and this is what I found on the first seven verses of the book of Proverbs,
1-6 These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king—Written down so we'll know how to live well and right,to understand what life
means and where it's going;
A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality.
There's something here also for seasoned men and women,
still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—
Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.
7 Start with God—the first step in learning is bowing down to God;
only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.
Wisdom has a beginning and that beginning lies in God. It doesn’t matter how old we are. The sooner we start with God in our lives the wiser we will be, for true wisdom belongs with God and comes from him.
In Proverbs 9:1, the wisdom of God is a source of strength for our lives. Applying our hearts to the instruction of the Lord will protect us from swaying to tides of relativism, from moving our lives away from the anchor that is the cross of Christ. Listen to the strong imagery with which Solomon describes wisdom in today’s reading from Proverbs chapter 9,
Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars.
There is the possibility of building a house upon a single or a couple of columns, but when encounter the number seven (7) in the Bible we have a marker for God. Seven pillars means the completeness and perfection of the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God if acquired and applied will give us a sure foundation. God lacks nothing and those who put their trust in him lack nothing either. His wisdom is sufficient and effective to lead us not into temptation as we will pray later on.
Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars.
When Christ spoke to his disciples on the Sermon on the Mount, he concluded the sermon in Matthew chapter 7, verses 24-25, with the story of the two builders. What is being said of those who take hold of the wisdom of God in our reading from Proverbs today is what Christ said of this one builder,
If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. (The Message)
It sure beats the alternative, doesn’t it? Yet, Proverbs 9 continues its imagery of wisdom,
She[wisdom] has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
How many of us have been to the Hometown Buffet restaurant? How many of you have gotten a full belly just by taking a good look at the food trays, the salad bar and the dessert bar? How many of you have said,
That sure is one nice salad bar right there? Oh, look at that roast beef, isn’t it pretty? Look at that ice cream! It’s top of the line, it doesn’t melt!
I am absolutely positive that none of us go to the Hometown Buffet to appreciate how nicely laid out the food is, important as that is. Or how beautiful the restaurant is, important as that is. Or how delicious things smell, important as that is. No, my brothers and sisters. The one and only reason we go to the Hometown Buffet is to eat, plain and simple. Charles Spurgeon said once in a sermon that nobody has ever been satisfied by only speaking about food. Speaking about food will make you want to eat it. Hungry yet?
There’s an important reason why wisdom has slaughtered her beasts; why she has mixed her wine; and also set her table. And the reason is so that we might eat from hera. Food is for the body not for contemplation. In the same manner, the wisdom of God is for us to learn how to live a godly life. The wisdom of God is worth our time and effort, our prayers and practice. We are foolish if we come to the table God has set before us and don’t eat from it. If we approach the life God wants us to live and say, “No thanks,” Solomon calls us fools.
So who is wise? What is living according to the wisdom of God?
In his letter to the Ephesians, Saint Paul the Apostle gives us a very practical rundown not on what wisdom is, but on how wisdom is translated into everyday living. He who follows the simple admonition of the apostle is considered wise.
We might think that to live wisely is something difficult to do; that to appropriate ourselves with the wisdom of God we have to live a very regimented life. But there is something about the wisdom of God that can easily be categorized as simple. The wisdom of God excels over any wisdom of man precisely because of its simplicity. It doesn’t lead us to the path of philosophy, a program of rule-keeping or the carpe diem—seize the day—kind of excrement that goes by wisdom nowadays.
My brothers and sisters, what God gives us to eat he helps us to digest.
The version we read today says “making the most of time”. In other words, redeeming time or acting upon every opportunity afforded us in the most effective, less time consuming way possible, but not at the expense of a hurried life. Doing things in a timely fashion; not putting things off till later, but doing them as quick as you can is what it means to make the most of every opportunity and will even give us the luxury of some spare time later on. John Wesley said once in a sermon, “If you desire to rise early, sleep early.” There is no way around it.
“Because the days are evil,” says
There is evil creeping into our lives from without, but there is also evil springing from within us. It’s not difficult for us to lead lives that become busy, convoluted and stressful. And it is not strange that what was once a source of joy in our lives has become a source of unhappiness. The days are evil and it is important for us to recognize that leading a busy, convoluted and stressful life whether at home or at work can kill us, physically but more importantly, spiritually. We need to keep ourselves in check, in other words, we need to live wisely because the days of our very new 21st century are out to chew us up if they are able.
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.
Here, it’s easy to get the “do not be foolish” part of the advise, but what is it to “understand what the will of the Lord is”? How do we know the will of God for us? Well, it’s not as difficult as we might think it is. The combination of reading the Bible and praying is the surest and safest road to get to know what the will of God is for our lives. If we find ourselves doing these two things, we can be sure that we will know what God requires of us and with that comes the wisdom to apply accordingly.
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
Has there ever been any wisdom in drunkenness? We recently heard the really sad news of Mel Gibson’s run in with the law because of a DUI. Will they remember him more due to The Passion of the Christ or because of his drunken tirade against an ethnic group? Will people remember him more for his wisdom or his foolishness?
None of us is foolishness-exempt. We are all prone to the way of foolishness, my brothers and sisters, and that makes today’s exhortation to wisdom all the more important. Are we to choose wisdom or foolishness? Let us, for our sake, be filled with the Spirit of God for where there is the Spirit of God there is liberty. And where there is the Spirit of Lord there is wisdom also.
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Recently, I read a quote from Meister Eckhart, a wise theologian from the middle ages. He said this,
If the only prayer you say in your entire life is 'Thank you,' that would suffice.
There is wisdom in gratitude and humility; in singing to and praising God; and in encouraging one another with spiritual songs. These are not hard things to do, my brothers and sisters. Doing these things is heeding the call of wisdom and he who heeds wisdom, heeds life.
Do you remember the Magi who came to see Jesus? Have you ever stop to think why they where called wise men? Yes, they were learned men indeed; very knowledgeable about the stars, infinity and beyond. But I contend that their previous knowledge or trade isn’t what categorizes them as wise men.
What really makes them wise men is that they set out to find Christ, they stuck to the search and they ultimately found him. All they had was a star to guide them and that star was Christ himself for when they stopped their search they found themselves in the presence of him whom they had set out to worship. It was Christ himself leading these wise guys, no pun intended, to him. Wisdom is light and Christ is the light of the world.
In Proverbs 9, Wisdom keeps telling us,
Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" To him who lacks sense she says,
"Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight."
We return to the image of wisdom as a feast. You see, God is bent on feeding his people, making us healthy for the great race that still lies ahead of us. It is his provision, so it is what we need. He is the producer and we are the consumers as Spurgeon also said.
There is one more way to illustrate what wisdom is and what it can do for us. We know that what food is for the body, Christ is for the soul. Let’s take a look at the forceful and graphic language of our gospel reading. In the words of Christ himself, eating from the tree of wisdom, that is, eating from him, is a matter of life and death for those who follow him.
Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always. (The Message)
We can imagine all about the wonderful table of the Lord. We can talk about it all we want. We can theologize about the mystery of the real presence in the Holy Communion of Christ, but none of it will be of good to us if we leave it at the theory level. Of what use is our Lord to us if when coming to him we leave him untouched?
Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the
Son of Man, do you have life within you.
If there has ever been a real food and a real drink for the Christian, it is the body and the blood of Christ. Christ is the wisdom and power of God. Partaking of him makes the difference between wisdom and foolishness, between strength and weakness. Eating his body and drinking his blood determines eternity in his company or eternity without him.
It is great to go to the baker’s house and smell the baking bread, but that’s beside the point because the point is that we all come to the Baker’s house to eat the bread. We all have come. What shall we do now with our Lord’s Bread? Wisdom lies ahead. Amen.
