Sermon Sunday August 18, 2024 Proper 15
Lessons: Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34:9-14
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
From healthyspirituality.org “Everyday after school, the son
of a well-known rabbi would enter his house, place his
backpack on the dining room table, leave the house through
the back door and head into the woods behind the house. At
first, the Rabbi gave little thought to his son’s ritual. Until it
continued for days, and then for weeks. Every day, out in the
woods for almost a half hour. The Rabbi grew concerned.
‘My son,’ he asked one day. ‘I notice that every day you
leave our home to spend time in the woods. What is it that
you are doing there?’ ‘Oh papa,’ the son replied. ‘There is
no need to worry. I go into the woods to pray. It is in the
woods that I can talk to God.’ ‘Oh’, the Rabbi said, clearly
relieved. ‘But you should know, as the son of a Rabbi, that
God is the same everywhere.’ ‘Yes, papa. I know that God is
the same everywhere. But I am not!’
It seems to me that the Rabbi’s son had a bit of Wisdom, no?
Take a moment and think of the wisest person that you
know. Why do you consider them to be wise? What are
some of the characteristics that make them wise? Are they
insightful? Are they humble? Are they able to make good
decisions and judgments: Are they knowledgeable? Are they
able to understand and be empathetic? Are they able to
discern about themselves and others, like the Rabbi’s son?
Just keep that person in mind during the rest of this sermon.
PsychologyToday.com says that Wisdom involves an
integration of knowledge, experience, and deep
understanding, as well as a tolerance for the uncertainties of
life. Merriam-Webster. Com says Wisdom is the “ability to
discern inner qualities and relationships.” Presumable
without sophistication or special knowledge.
Today’s Scripture Lessons seem to be focusing on Wisdom.
The O.T. Lesson is from the Book of Proverbs, traditionally
considered to be one of the few books in the Bible that any
preacher would never preach on because it feels so
disjointed. Well…But today’s lesson speaks of Wisdom. In
the ancient world, Wisdom was treated as a person, and it is
this personification that we see in today’s O.T. reading.
One of the really interesting things about this passage is its
rich imagery. These words paint us a picture of a feast being
prepared, of an invitation and a call going out for all to come
and join the feast. This is a symbol for at leas a part of what
we consider an abundant life. Wow! All this sounds great!
But wait a minute. Let’s consider the times when this book
of the Bible would have been written. These images of an
abundant feast would have been something only a wealthy
person would have been able to do. The hostess with the
moistest had to have a lot of money. Perhaps Wisdom is
asking us to reconsider this passage a bit.
When we throw a big shindig, or even a little one, where’re
does all that fancy stuff come from? That is where does the
food, the drink, the decoration, tablecloths, and everything
else come from? And who does the food serving and the
clean up? It might be us!
But our book study group is reading a book called the
Heaven and Earth Grocery store set in the 1930’s in a small
town in Pennsylvania. One of the main characters in the
book is a Jewish immigrant who owns two concert halls.
Whenever an event is held, it is the black people of the town
who do set up and take down, who do the clean-up. Who are
the people who do this kind of work today?
This is not to make us feel guilty about throwing parties and
enjoying ourselves. Wisdom asks us to go a bit deeper than
even the conventional definitions of what Wisdom is, or
what makes a wise person.
In today’s Letter to the Ephesians, Paul exhorts us to “live,
not as unwise people, but as wise.” What’s the link that
allows us to be wise, that conventional definitions leave out?
Proverbs would tell us that the key to Wisdom is the “fear of
the Lord.” This doesn’t mean we are quaking in our boots
every time we think about God, or pray to God. It is an
attitude of awe towards God, of knowing that everything
around us comes from God—the mountains, the stars, the
sky, everything I nature. Psalm 34 todays tells us that we
should fear the Lord. The fear of the Lord is being aware
that everything that we have comes from God and is a gift
that we are to share with others. Fear of the Lord asks us to
help ensure that others too can have a share in that great big
shindig both materially and spiritually. The fear of the Lord
asks us to be grateful for what we have, but also asks us to
be grateful to share. This is the beginning of Wisdom.
In today’s Gospel we see Jesus continuing with the theme of
bread. He says, “I am the living bread.” Jesus too turns the
definition of Wisdom upside down. Jesus too goes against
the conventional Wisdom. “How can this man give us his
flesh to eat.” Jesus turns it all upside down because he
invites all to this banquet. We see in 1 Corinthians 1:24 that
Jesus who is the Host at the big shindig, is the very Wisdom
of God. Jesus is our Wisdom. Jesus invites everyone to the
feast. Jesus crosses borders in order to do so. He invites the
lame, the downtrodden, the broken-hearted, the ill, the poor,
and the sinners to enjoy the big shindig, the Kingdom of
God. In other words, He invites all of us, regardless of our
social and economic status.!
Jesus’ Wisdom continues to be given to us through the Holy
Spirit. Our Wisdom is folly according to Paul. Our Wisdom
is weakness. Our Wisdom is often mocked by the powers
that be. Our Wisdom is the sharing of Jesus in the
extravagant, miraculous, rich Eucharistic meals we have
each Sunday. This is definitely not conventional Wisdom.
There was a Lutheran pastor named Jon who was arrested
for putting into practice his belief in Jesus’ peace. I am not
sure what it was that he did exactly, but he was arrested and
thrown in jail. While Jon was there, several of his friends
came to visit him. One of the pastors in the group brought a
loaf of bread and a small plastic container of wine. This was
because if the wine was in a glass bottle, it would be
confiscated for obvious reasons. Still, the prison officials
confiscated the bread and wine as contraband! Think of it!
Communion as contraband, as a mystical meal that sustains
us to spread the Good News of Jesus and to spread the
Kingdom of God, to spread Jesus’ Wisdom!
Through this Jesus sustains us in contraband—to tell the
blind to see and the deaf to hear, to feed the hungry, to visit
the prisoner and set the sinner free—that is all of us! This is
not conventional Wisdom, but it is our Wisdom!
As we go about our busy lives this week, let us stop and take
a moment to contemplate Wisdom, our Wisdom. Let us ask
ourselves what it is that we can do, in the smallest of ways,
to spread Jesus’ Wisdom, to spread our Wisdom around.
Amen.