August 16, 2015

            We all try to make the most of our lives. We try to live well. We try to make every moment count. Still, life remains so much a mystery. Think of all the ways we try to make the most of want we have. We stretch our dollars. We try to pack meaningful activities into our hurried lives. We think about where we live and what we study and what we do for a living. We’re always trying to actualize out greatest potential. Mostly we’re exhausted – which makes me think we’re not succeeding.

            The scriptures speak of wisdom. There is something beyond knowledge. There is something beyond facts or the accumulation of wealth and honors. There is a kind of sense where a person knows the right way to go. Common sense is a kind of wisdom. There is wisdom in all the old adages we collect. Mostly, wisdom is about living with a kind of quiet confidence – not in knowing the answers but in knowing how to navigate the questions.

            There is not a person in this room who knew all along how life was going to turn out. We all wake up from time to time wondering, “What happened?” Sometimes this is in desperation and for some of us we marvel at our dumb luck. The most concise definition of wisdom is repeated in our psalm, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Not fear as in terror but “fear” as in a healthy respect for God.

            Wisdom is not a gift that dominates or controls. Wisdom is an insight into the way things really are. We begin with God. As long as we seek a better and deeper relationship with God, we are bound to grow in wisdom.

            This is why God commends Solomon. He was rich and powerful and he could have asked for more of the same. Instead he asks for wisdom, to lead God’s people in the way that God desires.

            In the same way, the letter to the Ephesians urges us to live in wisdom. Who are we, anyway? Since we are God’s people, we should live as if we are. We don’t have to escape the pain and disappointment of life by drinking. We are called to work out our problems with faith. Instead of empty entertainment, we are invited to sing and dance to the truth of God’s powerful love for us. There is so much beauty and so many gifts for which to be thankful. Gratitude is such a powerful antidote to hopelessness.

            We are no people who have no hope. We are God’s people, blessed with life and love. We are foolish when we forget this.

            The truth of our faith can sound foolish. We eat Jesus. We believe we have eternal life. We believe we are saved. Wisdom is shown not in our statements but in how we live out our beliefs. Wisdom reminds us that what we see around us is temporary. Wisdom tells us that our worries are passing things.

            In truth we have been given a way that makes no sense to our eyes and ears. We cannot touch or measure God’s love. The proof is in the living. As we re-configure our lives to match what God promises, we slowly worry about different things. We care about what we say to one another. We work to uphold our promises to each other. We live as if God’s love is our purpose instead of the accumulation of temporary gold. We rejoice in the things that matter. We treat others as God’s children and our sisters and brothers.

            We may seem to live as fools but we have the last laugh. We love and live the way that Jesus has shown us. We are only hungry for more to share forever.