Whose wisdom? Mine or yours….

 

The word wisdom is one that always fascinates me. What is wisdom to one person is so often not wisdom to another. Today in the reading from the Book of Proverbs we hear about wisdom – the reading (Proverbs 8:1,22-31) begins ‘Does not wisdom call and does not understanding raise her voice.’

True wisdom is perhaps one of the greatest gifts of God and yet most of us struggle to know or agree what true wisdom is !

There’s a story I’ve often told about an angel appearing at a faculty meeting in a University one day. The angel said to the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behaviour, the Lord would reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the Dean selected infinite wisdom.

"Done!" said the angel, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turned towards the Dean, who sat surrounded by a faint halo of light. After a few moments, one of his colleagues whispered, "Say something.”

The Dean looked at them and said, "I should have taken the money.”

Wisdom today is seen as far less important than being outwardly successful and enjoying the trappings of that success in the form of wealth or fame… And yet those things I suspect, are totally separate from wisdom…

For centuries people have sought to find answers to all of life’s complex problems, people have sought answers to the meaning of life, and many have sought to understand God himself.

And I think we would like to assume perhaps that the Church has been a pillar in the search for wisdom, but too often we have been tainted by the need to preserve what we have rather than strive for what we need – that is a closer relationship with God, and to bring others into that closer relationship as well.

In a book I read some time ago (Blood Brothers – Elias Chacour) it said, ‘Western theology starts with man at the centre of all things and tries to force God into some scheme that we can understand because then he can be regulated…’ 

It goes on, ‘God is the beginning and the end of all things. He is central not an afterthought. He’s alive and he has his own ways. Here in the West they want to tame God with their philosophy…’

I think the basic theme of our readings today is to say to us that God is wisdom and in him, and only him, can true wisdom really be found.

Paul’s letter to the Colossians (1:15-20), reminds us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is the creator of everything – the earth, of all things visible and invisible, and even nations….

Wisdom is found in the person of Jesus, in whom the fulness of God was pleased to dwell as Paul wrote… He is the head of the body, the church, and yet, so often, we look elsewhere, and there are all kinds of reasons for that – maybe we believe we can solve a problem by ourselves, maybe we believe the answers are all there if we look hard enough, maybe we believe we’ve got an issue which isn’t worth bothering God about.

A worker at NASA Headquarters was assigned to prepare a presentation on lessons learned from the bad experiences with the Hubble Space Telescope. On his chart at the briefing, lesson No.1 read: "In naming your mission, never use a word that rhymes with trouble.”

Of course that was all about superstition, but for many centuries faith was almost a superstition – people believed because they were afraid not to, and many of the seemingly wisest people in society were telling them to believe, and so many people went along to Churches not searching for anything particularly but with a blind acceptance that it was the safe option.

In the last 100 years or so the superstitious beliefs have tended to diminish, certainly within our own country, and possibly as a result, attendances have fallen at Churches – people have become depressed about that and have begun to talk down the Church as a dying institution, but actually I think the opposite can be true. The Church could actually be coming more and more alive than ever before !

For a Church to truly grow, people don’t need a superstitious faith - people need to know Jesus, and today many more people are coming to Churches because they know or they want to know Jesus. Many people are actually recognising that it is in him that wisdom is found.

Some years ago there was a really bizarre debate in the Church of England Synod about how much we should share the gospel and try and convert people to be followers of Jesus. It’s bizarre because Jesus actually commanded us to do that so why was it being debated ?!?

Perhaps it is because we’re not doing it, or perhaps it is because wisdom has not always been exercised in our proclamation of the gospel – because part of that proclamation must include being sensitive to others, respecting their beliefs even when we disagree with them, being prepared to challenge them whilst still remaining loving and compassionate…

Again we turn back to Jesus – ‘In the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God…’

Those words from the beginning of the gospel of John highlight to us the majesty and the awesome nature of God… If we want to see wisdom, we must look at Jesus.

He didn’t seem wise at the time – he challenged the authorities, he mixed with the poor and the outcasts, he practically nailed himself to the cross because he gave his opponents all they needed to put him there, and yet we know he did it because he loves us…

To see wisdom we must look at Jesus….

And, in him, what is foolish to much of the world is wise… Today the world is in chaos in lots of places. There are economic challenges, there is conflict, there is poverty… The list is depressing and it can go on and on.

And as we look at the news we realise that so many of these things are actually inflicted by ourselves – so many of the problems in the world today are caused by greed, selfishness, a lust for power, a craving for material wealth, a desire to be something that we’re not…

Look to Jesus for wisdom – in him we see the very opposite of all of these things. In him we see unlimited love and compassion, a sacrificial love, a selfless love – there was no search for power, he didn’t seek great attention for himself, he didn’t go after material wealth when he very easily could have – he looked after and spoke up for those who couldn’t speak for themselves, he offered chances for everyone regardless of what they’ve been or done, he offered hope…

And in him we realise too that we’re called to be people of hope, sharing a faith that is not dying but a faith that is alive and relevant…

Today in a world where so many people are searching for all kinds of different things, in a world where success is so often judged on what we have, we must look to Jesus for wisdom… It is him that, as Christians, we are called to follow. He is the example of the perfect life.

Being confident and trusting Jesus, we can make a difference through our actions – by touching just one person we will make a difference and in the course of any day or week, we will probably see many more people than that….

The world today needs a healthy dose of love and compassion, it needs people who are willing to help others, it needs people who are willing to go the extra mile for others, it needs time spent in prayer, it needs action – all the things that Jesus did in his time on earth, and all the things that he calls on us, his disciples, to do today.

May we be filled with his wisdom and with his power that his church here and everywhere may compassionately and confidently reveal a Saviour who is for all people. AMEN