“Are you wise?” I wonder what your answer to that question would be. There is a series of books I love by an author called Elizabeth Moon, in which the Dragon – in her world there is only one dragon – has very little to do with people unless there is a crisis in which he needs to intervene, and when he meets a new person, he tends to ask them “Are you wise?”
Dragon, in the books, is not
God – I believe that in a forthcoming novel he will make a bad
error of judgement, although I don’t yet know what – but he
values wisdom in human beings above all other qualities. And wisdom
is very highly valued in the Bible, too.
The wise person,
in the Bible, is one who worships God. “The fear of the Lord,”
we are told, “is the beginning of wisdom”. “The fool has said
in his heart ‘There is no God’”.
So, in the Old
Testament, at any rate, wisdom is seeking out God, following God,
fearing God – not in the sense of being afraid, but in the sense of
being aware who God is, how much greater God is than us, and so on.
And wisdom is very definitely a quality that is valued.
But
Wisdom, with a capital W, is also a person, especially in the book
of Proverbs – we heard something of that in our first reading, did
we not?
“Wisdom cries out in the street;
in
the squares she raises her voice.
At the busiest corner she
cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates
she speaks:
‘How long, O simple ones, will you love being
simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and
fools hate knowledge?”
There are many other passages
about Wisdom in Proverbs, and there is even a whole book, in that
section of the Bible we call the Apocrypha, known as the Wisdom of
Solomon. The Apocrypha is the collection of books that didn’t make
the cut into the Protestant Old Testament, although Catholics see
them as canonical, which we are told to study “for example of life
and instruction of manners;
but yet not apply them to establish
any doctrine.”
I want to quote a bit from the Wisdom of
Solomon here, as it was an alternative to the Psalm set for
today:
The Spirit of Wisdom is like a polished
mirror,
reflecting bright light onto everything God is and
does.
In her we see a crystal clear image of God’s
goodness.
Although there is only one of her,
there is
no limit to what she can do.
Without needing to change, she is
always fresh,
and she renews and refreshes everything she
touches.
Agelessly passing from one generation to the
next,
she embraces those who dedicate themselves to God.
Making
a home in their hearts,
she nurtures their friendship with
God.
She enables them to pass on God’s word to others,
for
God’s greatest delight is in those
who are at home with
wisdom.
The beauty of Wisdom outshines the sun,
and
the stars in the sky look pale by comparison.
She is more
illuminating than light itself,
because light is regularly
subdued by the dark of night,
but there is no evil that can ever
get the better of Wisdom.
She stretches out her arms and
embraces the whole earth.
She uses her strength to set
everything right for the benefit of all.
Lovely, isn’t it? And, as in the book of Proverbs, Wisdom is personified. The Greek word for wisdom is Sophia, a woman’s name. You might want to try addressing God as “Lady Sophia” or “Lady Wisdom”; it might do nothing for you, or you might find it really helpful! The titles we use for God, the way we think about God, are apt to change over time and will be different for each one of us. Some weeks we find it helpful to think of God as the Shepherd; then perhaps as Lady Wisdom; then as Love; then as the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land! I’ve been focussed on that one, the shadow of a great Rock, for some months now!
Anyway, to return to wisdom. Are you wise?
What is wisdom, anyway?
It’s not about book-learning. It’s not about education. The most educated person can be incredibly foolish at times; we’ve all seen that in politicians and other leaders. Equally, they can, of course, be very wise. But you don’t need an education to be wise! Remember the psalmist: “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings….”
I think wisdom is definitely a gift from God.
Humanly speaking, we can all be wise sometimes, and incredibly foolish next minute. Look at Peter, in our Gospel reading.
When Jesus asks “Who do you reckon I am?”, Peter replies that “You are the Messiah!” God’s anointed one. The one they had been expecting for so long. Peter was wise, there, with the wisdom of God.
But then it all went pear-shaped. Jesus started to tell them that he was probably going to have to die, and Peter says “No, I won't let that happen!”
But Jesus mustn't listen.
This was the voice of the tempter, always so near, so insidious, so tempting.... “Get thee behind me Satan!” he says.
“Peter, you're not helping!”
Peter was not being wise there! He was only trying to be kind. He had a sword, he could use it, he would protect Jesus with his life. That must have been heartwarming for Jesus, but no.
It’s so easy to do that, isn’t it? To say the wrong thing when you’re only trying to help. It's so not easy to get it right – often, we want to comfort a friend, for instance, but what do you say?
So often, whatever we actually make things worse!
I know sometimes being told that God will never fail me or forsake me really hasn't helped when it's felt that this is exactly what has just happened!
I know, obviously, that God hadn't failed me or forsaken me,
but at the time, it felt like it!
But sometimes people simply won't acknowledge the reality of our feelings:
“Oh no, you don't feel like that”,
or “Oh no, you don't believe that!”
It doesn’t help.
I remember once being told, by someone who really ought to have known better, that if I didn't find God's promises true –
I forget which one I was complaining about –
there was something wrong with me!
Well, quite probably there was –
but it really didn't help for the person to say so.
God doesn't always work in ways that are as straightforward as we would like to believe, does He?
The Holy Spirit is a rushing mighty wind, not an electric fan.
Or, if you like, he is not a tame lion!
God does exactly what God wants, and because God sees round corners in a way that you and I simply can't,
we don't always know what's going on.
And being told that if we believe thus and so,
or pray in these words rather than that,
then our pain will wrap itself up into a nice little ball and go away
really isn't helping! It is not wise of the person who told us that. We are not wise if we try to tell other people that.
But it’s all too easy to let our tongues run away with us unwisely! We didn’t read the passage from James’ letter which is one of the readings for today, but in it, he reminds us that you can’t tame the human tongue. Teachers have a huge responsibility – not just teachers in school, but preachers like me and others, and those responsible for lifelong learning – a huge responsibility to get it right. Those who listen are going to pick up what we said and, if they believe it, may well tell other people, and before you know it, misinformation and fake news has swept round the community, and, in these days of social media, has swept around the planet.
This, of course, means that we all, whether we teach, or learn, or do both, have a responsibility to discern what is true and right from what we read or see on social media, or what our friends tell us, or what our teachers and preachers tell us. And that isn’t easy, although discernment is, or can be, one of God’s many gifts to us. Discernment – wisdom. Are you wise?
Peter wasn’t wise just then. He was thinking in human terms – but then, did he know any others at that stage? For him, Jesus’ death would be the worst possible thing that could happen. But Jesus knew, or was beginning to know, that it had to happen, and being tempted to allow Peter to prevent it, or to try to, would be quite the wrong thing. It would not be wise.
Jesus goes on to say, pretty much, that it is the wise who will stick with him, rather than seeking after human glory and values. Even if this means suffering and death. The wise will continue to acknowledge Jesus, even in this day and age.
In our reading from Proverbs, Wisdom tells us that if we only call on her when disaster strikes, it’s too late! We need to learn to be God’s people all the time, not just on Sundays and when disaster strikes. We need to learn how to trust God all the time. And perhaps more importantly, we need to learn how to listen to those in trouble rather than to try to put things right. We need God’s discernment to know what, if anything, to say.
I’m thankful, as always, that wisdom is a gift of the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to generate it ourselves! Are you wise? Or perhaps the question should be “Are you wise enough to let God give you the gift of wisdom, of discernment?” Amen.
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