Proper 15

The theme that ties the lectionary readings together this morning is wisdom.

We have

1 Kings in which King Solomon asks God for wisdom above all other things

We have a passage in Proverbs that we’ll read in just a second

We have Ephesians 5 in which we’re encouraged to live not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of our time because the days are evil

And we have John 6 in which Jesus is STILL talking about being the bread of life, and we’ll talk about how that relates to wisdom shortly

It’s never NOT a good time to discuss the pursuit of wisdom because it seems to be an elusive thing

Cornelius Plantinga said, “Wisdom in scripture is, broadly speaking, the knowledge of God's world and the knack of fitting oneself into it.”

Wisdom is knowledge applied for the good.

… it’s knowing what it best to do in a given situation with all the different variables.

Wisdom is contextual.

Or as Eugene Peterson said, “Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves."

The fact that Proverbs was written to impart wisdom reminds us that it has always been somewhat elusive

That is to say, everyone in every generation has had to wrestle with, “how are we supposed to live?”

But I’d suggest it’s PARTICULARLY challenging to discern wisdom in our day when we have unending voices shouting from every direction, all claiming wisdom and all claiming authority

But that’s why I think this morning’s passage is particularly beautiful

Proverbs 9:1-6 - personifies wisdom as woman inviting us to receive, but we’re also given a picture of the woman Folly in 9:13-18 and we’d do well to meditate on the difference that’s illustrated

9:1-6 - Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. “Let all who are simple come in here!” she says to those who lack judgment. “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.

9:13-18 - The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way. “Let all who are simple come in here!” she says to those who lack judgment. “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

What observations can we make of these two pictures?

What are they BOTH doing?

They’re both calling out to those who are “simple”, those who lack understanding.

That’s all of us to some degree.

A surefire way to not gain wisdom is to believe you already have all you need.

But again, on the surface wisdom and folly are both making an invitation.

We have to choose which house we’ll enter.

What’s different between these two examples?

For one, Folly is lazy in contrast with the preparations made by Wisdom.

Wisdom has been deliberate.

Run with that metaphor in your discussions.

What does the laziness of Folly and the diligence of Wisdom look like in real life?

The main point is that Folly is inviting people to death.

The Folly story is a horror movie.

But Wisdom has set a table, prepared a feast, and offers life.

In contrast to the horror movie of Folly, Wisdom gives us a picture of hospitality.

The posture is entirely different.

I want to press in to this picture:

WISDOM IS PICTURED AS RELATIONAL, INVITING US TO FEAST

I want this metaphor to open our imaginations and sink in

Wisdom is NOT pictured here as an oracle that you find on a pilgrimage.

You don’t go on a journey and arrive at a mysterious destination where the meaning of life is imparted to you.

Nor is wisdom pictured here as just a set of rules you discover. Wisdom isn’t a magic book.

Wisdom is pictured as a person inviting us to come and sit at her table and be nourished.

In Hebrew thought the passing of wisdom is often connected to this idea of hospitality and sharing food.

I’m giving you what I have so that you can be nourished and live.

Listen to Isaiah 55:1-3

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. ' Isaiah 55:1-3

God sounds an awful lot like wisdom. Or should we say wisdom sounds an awful lot like God?

Come and sit at my table and be nourished.

Eat and drink deeply to get what you need for life.

Now connect that to what we’ve been discussing for weeks, that Jesus himself is the bread and wine offered to us to find wisdom and life.

Understand that the wisdom of God wasn’t delivered to us in a book.

The Bible isn’t a cold set of rules for life.

Yes it has parts that contain rules.

Yes is has parts that contain truisms.

But these serve the greater purpose of extending an invitation to come to the table in relationship and drink from the cup and eat the bread of life.

Colossians 3:2 says all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus

He is the revelation of God to us and even he didn’t leave us with a rule book

He left us with His spirit and with a community that will gather around the table together

And it’s in relationship to him that we find wisdom

It’s in accepting his invitation and coming to his table that we find life

So, we live in a world of a million Folly’s shouting at us to come and drink of their so called wisdom.

And we see our friends and family take the bait and go there to die.

And on another hill is someone shouting the opposite of Folly, but we realize they’re just as lazy and that a pile of the dead is accumulating around them as well.

In fact it feels like the whole landscape is just people shouting for us to come and buy what they’re selling.

But Lady Wisdom says, come here and slow down. And sit and drink deep and eat the bread of life, Jesus himself.

Make the table centered on Jesus himself the well we draw wisdom from.

And if you’ll note, that table isn’t somber.

Wine is flowing and the food is rich.