From the Pastor |
Wisdom 7:25-8:1 & Proverbs 1: 20-33
There are many people who believe that you don’t have to come to church to be a Christian… They say that God can be found and experienced other places and in other ways. Now… that is true. Psalm 19 reminds us that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” However… there is a trick to it… You have to actually be looking for God. You see… We are all called to seek God… not just in church… but all throughout God’s glorious creation. But we also have to listen to God… Hear God’s word and then live by it. I mean… we are saved by grace alone… there is no doubt about it… but that grace comes by our faith… and through faithfulness… the faithfulness of God toward us AND our faithfulness towards God. Our faithfulness comes through wisdom. And today’s scriptures tell us just how important wisdom is… especially the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs is an interesting book of scripture. A Proverb is defined as “a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience.” The biblical book of Proverbs is an anthology – a collection of poems, sayings and other pieces of what we call “wisdom literature.” The Wisdom texts are meant to be educational… to offer guidance in the way one can experience abundant life as well as how one is meant to act. Proverbs contain insight into everyday human life and provides wisdom on how to live a happy and peaceful life, by honoring and respecting God. Its teachings are grounded in creation and are meant to help people to discern the order of creation and learn to live within that order with wisdom and righteousness. So, what is Wisdom? The dictionary defines Wisdom as the ability to understand what is right, true or enduring. Good judgment; knowledge. Well… that seems simple enough… So why is our scripture from Proverbs today so harsh? Probably because biblical wisdom is so much more than knowledge and good judgement… Wisdom is so important that it is actually personified as a woman... teaching, admonishing, guiding… The task of Lady Wisdom is to instruct the people so they will learn to avoid her counterpart, Folly or Foolishness. Folly leads to destruction while Wisdom leads to life. Wisdom is less about knowledge and more about righteousness…wisdom is “a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness… she can do all things… she renews all things…” {Wisdom 7: 26-27] She is beautiful and eternal… she enters in and makes the “holy souls” friends and prophets of God. In human beings, wisdom is a practical attribute that includes technical skill, shrewdness, and even military prowess. Wisdom can be shown in getting desired results by effective means. However, in God, wisdom is the infinite perfect comprehension of all that is or might be. God is the source of wisdom. Power and wisdom are given to human beings through ‘fear of the Lord.’ That is, for us, wisdom is bound up a reverent awe of the Lord and with doing God’s will. Today… we hear Wisdom’s call and warnings… and it really does sound like she might be speaking directly to us… doesn’t it? When I read through the verses from Proverbs… it seemed to explain a great deal: “…since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you… when distress and trouble overwhelm you.” [Proverbs 1:25-27] When disaster strikes… when calamity overtakes us… when distress and trouble overwhelms us…that certainly sounds like recent years, right? Especially the last year and a half. But why? Why is wisdom calling out so harshly… laughing at our misery? Because Wisdom is shown as a prophet… standing on the street corners… calling out… proclaiming the message to heed her words… to change their ways… to repent… but like most of those street corner preachers… we… if we are to be honest… we tend to walk on by… giving her a wide berth and ignoring her message. But… we are God-fearing Christians! Are we? Really? Throughout the scriptures, we read stories that reveal what God is like and how God operates in our lives. These stories all point to the need for us to have a radical trust in God. But how many of us can honestly say we do that… that we have a radical trust in God? Instead, we doubt… we put our trust in others… even in ourselves and we leave God on the back burner of our lives… only taking Him out when we need Him. We read and hear the word of God… we can even recite a few Bible verses… but do we truly heed the word… the wisdom of God? How long before Wisdom’s call will be answered? We need to heed the words of Wisdom. The failure to heed the call of wisdom has important consequences. The Wisdom of God calls to the “simple”… those who do not know any better… She calls to the “mockers” who excel in cynicism and laugh at the people of faith… She calls to the “fools”… those who despise knowledge… she calls to all who reject wisdom. If only they would change their ways, she would make God’s ways known to them… But, the truth is that they have not and they will pay the price… But what of us… those of us who believe… those who have heard and accept the Word of God? Those of us who have faith but still tend to ignore the words of wisdom? Wisdom rebukes us as well… calling us to repent and heed the wisdom of the Lord. The divine Wisdom found in God’s word tells us over and over again that we to be wise, we must walk in the way of Christ if we are to receive the abundant life God longs to provide. It is by hearing the voice of Wisdom… by putting our trust in the Lord and actually doing what God tells us to do… that we live with Wisdom. “…for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.” [Wisdom 7:28] That is the Good news my friends… If we take the time to stop and hear the words of Wisdom… if we heed Wisdom’s call “Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” [Proverbs 2:9-10] and you will be able to live in peace “without fear of harm”. [Proverbs 1:33] That does not mean our lives will suddenly become smooth sailing with no issues or problems… what it means is that when we live in reverent awe of God and turn away from the foolishness of the world… if we but put our trust in the God of light and love… then God will see us through whatever this world can throw at us. We will never be alone. Today, we hear the voice of Wisdom calling… and we have a choice to make. Do we simply go about our daily routine and ignore the words of Wisdom? Do we allow the call of others… of our society… of this world to pull us away from all Wisdom would impart? Or do we choose life? Do we commit ourselves to living the life God wants to give to us? Let us listen to the counsel of Wisdom and apply her words to all areas of our lives. Through the voice of Lady Wisdom and then through the life and teachings of Jesus… God calls us to hear AND listen to all that God would speak to us... to follow in God’s way… to live by God’s wisdom. Our Lord has promised that when we do this then we will find all that we seek and we will enjoy the fullness of what a relationship with the creator of the world is meant to be. If we are to be faithful and wise we MUST follow Jesus… we must heed the words of Wisdom and refocus our hearts and minds… putting our trust in the Lord. Take some time this week and consider this… think about what needs to change in your life in order to answer the call of wisdom; the call to repent and follow the Word of God that is Christ Our Lord?
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Yeon Shin
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