Eternal Wisdom

Many people, both men and women, boys and girls, play games online today. I know that some of you do, for you play against my wife online. Most of what we read are articles about how bad this is, how much trouble we are borrowing because we and our children aren’t outdoors playing baseball or basketball. Underlying it all seems to be a feeling that there is something not quite real about these games, something which is not quite real even about the people whom we meet online. But these games have become very popular, largely replacing the pickup baseball or basketball or football games that the local neighborhood gang would play together decades ago. And there are multiple reasons, not all of which are bad.

Part of what drives this is that the online space is so doggone BIG! In the old days, there was a single basketball court or baseball diamond. If you’ll remember, in your neighborhood, even if it was a large neighborhood, there were rarely more than 20 kids that could come together – and for many of the kids, coming together was not necessarily an enjoyable time, because there were always bullies who could and often did cause harm to some of the children. The bullies chased the smaller kids away from the basketball court and the baseball diamond. But online, because it is so big, there is always another place to go, a way to change your name to hide from the bullies, a way to find a group of people who are friendly to you because there are hundreds of millions of possible players. And if there is trouble, your parents or spouse or roommate is just a few steps away. That ability to hide, to get a second chance – it’s no longer available in the flesh-and-blood world, is it? Social security numbers, driver’s licenses all ensure that you can’t hide. If a powerful bully decides to persecute you, you can’t get away anymore. Except online.

When my son Andy was in high school, he found a Christian online gaming group. This group was named the Seraphin, after the angelic creatures who guard God’s throne room. This group consisted of other Christian high schoolers, college students, as well as their parents, many of whom were pastors. They were real people. He made friends across America, and even around the world. Not all of these kids and grown-ups were perfect, but most were very good friends who were supportive, watched their language, and shared their wisdom with the younger players. Even today, about once a year, a group of them gets together to meet in-person, either at a college or one of their homes, or, as they did a couple years ago, at Yellowstone National Park for a week of shared vacation. For they understand that Wisdom demands the use of our five senses to ensure people are who they say they are.

Today, as Andy has matured and become a pastor, he has branched out in the online world to the point where he now actively speaks to his online gaming friends about the love of Christ. He shares the wisdom he has learned with both Christian and non-Christian friends around the world. While we always hear of the trouble that being online causes people, there is good which is also possible.

But how do we know who and what is good, and who and what is trouble? That is the aspect of life that philosophers call wisdom. Perhaps it would be best if I contrasted wisdom with some similar ideas.

Wisdom is not intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to understand things more quickly or less quickly. If someone can understand a new concept quickly, such as a new type of math problem, a new musical instrument, or solve a new type of mechanical problem quickly, we say they have high intelligence. Those of you who have watched The Big Bang Theory know that Sheldon is a character with great intelligence, but poor wisdom. He can solve problems, but he doesn’t necessarily have any idea how to live life. Intelligence is a gift of God, but it doesn’t answer all the questions – it simply gives a way to find the answers.

But neither wisdom nor intelligence are education. Education is having a great deal of training in one or more areas. For example, Phil Barbarow is highly educated in the repair of vehicles. He’s taken many courses on different vehicles, on different engines, he’s been taught what the most likely causes are and what repairs are needed are for dozens, if not hundreds of different vehicle problems. I can work out many problems with my car, but I will take days or weeks longer to repair those problems compared to Phil, because Phil is educated in the area of vehicle repair. He has that knowledge in his brain, while I have to go to Youtube or the library to find that knowledge before I begin working. Phil is educated.

Other people may be educated in the areas of dentistry, of law, of quilt-making, of fire-fighting, of mathematics, of teaching, of nursing, of Shakespeare, of computer programming, of cooking. This big hunk of knowledge for a field that an educated person has gives an advantage, but it takes time and often money, for it often involves taking courses, reading books, or watching videos to gain the knowledge. Thankfully, with the Internet and Youtube, anyone can become educated in many different areas by just putting in the time. But it takes time to become educated.

But education nor intelligence are wisdom. Education tells you how other people have solved the problem in the past. Intelligence helps you to solve the new problem today that is in front of you. But wisdom? Wisdom helps you decide if the problem should be solved. Wisdom helps you decide who should solve the problem. Wisdom, you see, combines moral and ethical judgement with predictions about the future and effect that this particular issue will have on men and women, boys and girls in the future. 

For example, the education of a zoo keeper may tell her how most lion cages are constructed, and therefore provides a basic understanding of how to open them. Intelligence lets her look at this particular lion cage and figure out how to open it, even if it is a new model. But wisdom tells the zoo keeper whether or not she should open the cage.

In our first reading from I Kings 3, Solomon appears to have been the youngest of King David’s sons. He takes over as king of Israel and Judah around 970 BC when King David died. According to the authors of the Book of Kings, the young King followed instructions given to him by his father David, with the exception that he offered sacrifices and burnt incense on the high places, the tops of mountain peaks. This was not totally good because God’s worship was to be held at the tabernacle, the tent in Jerusalem which was soon replaced by the Temple of God that Solomon would soon build.

Solomon, though, offered his sacrifices to God on mount Gibeon, the most important of the high places – a thousand burn offerings. That night, God appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked Solomon what he wanted God to give him.

In Solomon’s response, the young king asked for a discerning heart to govern the people and to distinguish between right and wrong.

God responded: “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”

The Book of Kings is full of references to the great wisdom, wealth, and power of Solomon. But this passage makes it clear that the wisdom came first, and it was a gift from God. Wisdom gave Solomon wealth and power.

As we read through the history of Israel and Judah, the Bible speaks much of the wisdom or the foolishness of many kings. For a person who is to be a leader – whether of a country, a state, a town, a church, or a family – wisdom is most important, more important than wealth, than power, than intelligence or education.

In fact, while we mostly understand from the beginning of John’s Gospel that Christ is the eternal Word of God, the messenger who is the message, there is also a secondary strain found in the Bible which says that Christ is Wisdom personified. Christ is Wisdom walking upon the earth. The entire Book of Proverbs begins in this way:

“The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight; for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young.”

The entire Book was written to help us gain Wisdom.

In the Book of Proverbs, there are three important verses about the beginning of Wisdom.

1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

4:7 says The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom though it cost all you have, get understanding.

9:10 says: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

And in Psalm 111:10: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

Reading this Book of Proverbs is an excellent way to develop wisdom. Just a couple verses a day will go far. Or, you can read a chapter a day and finish in a month. The verse-a-day with discussion is a great plan for children. However, be sure to read the verses before you work with your children or grandchildren, because some of the images developed may not be appropriate for your children. Yet. Chapter Ten is a safe place to start. .

And we see the need for wisdom in this world. Have you ever met the two men or women who knocked on your front door and are trying to convince you to come to their church? They have a canned presentation, they give you a one-size-fits-all talk – but they forgot to ask up front if you attended a church, liked your church, or even knew who Jesus is? They lack wisdom, for wisdom speaks to us through the Holy Spirit to guide us into conversations that are uplifting rather than conversations that drag us down. And it is through conversation that we pass on the Gospel – it doesn’t work as well in a meme or a canned presentation.

When I was a pastor in Clarksburg, two men came to visit me. They were canvassing the neighborhood, attempting to find people to invite to their church. They knocked on my door – I told them I was the pastor of the church a block away. They then proceeded to spend the next twenty minutes trying to talk me into coming to their church, for the reason that their church only used the old King James Bible. Huh? There was little wisdom there, for I was already leading a church, a church where I determined which Bible I would preach from – which I varied according to the needs of the sermon. Yet they believed that by telling me they used the old King James Version, they would convince me to give up my pulpit, my calling, my home, and sit in the pews of their church. Eventually, I was able to plead that I had a meeting to attend, and escape. Wisdom told me that it was more important for me to write my sermon than to listen to their self-centered sales pitch.

In the Bible, The Book of Proverbs is filled with wise sayings. Chapter 12:15 says
“The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” The next verse says: “Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.” Throughout the book, there are proverbs that say in many different ways that fools talk a lot, but the wise listen, for that is how wisdom is gained.

Yet there are three ways to gain wisdom. There is the student’s way – read the Bible and other books and reflect, or think over what happens to the people because of their actions. This is the least painful way to gain wisdom, for you read that you should not put your hand on a hot stove eye.

The second way is to watch and listen to people who have lived more than you have – parents, grandparents, Sunday school leaders, pastors. Learn from their mistakes and allow them to teach you. This is almost as painless, but you’ll see pain in your teachers’ eyes. They’ll tell you about the time they put their hand on the hot stove eye and the pain they had.

 The third way is to go ahead and do things. When you put your own hand on the hot stove eye, you will quickly develop wisdom – but there is much pain developing this wisdom yourself.

God promised Solomon wealth and honor and long life if Solomon continued to seek wisdom and obey God. And Solomon did well until later when he began to drift from the holy path.

Paul took up this idea of wisdom when he wrote to the Ephesians. In Chapter Five,  Paul wrote: 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 

You see, wisdom isn’t as important when we are protected. But in evil times, wisdom is critical, for opportunities are few and far between. Knowing what is good and what is evil can save our lives. Paul continues:

 

17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Part of wisdom is understanding deep down in our hearts that God the Father has given us everything we have because of the love of Jesus Christ. And so, we are to be filled with the Spirit, reminding each other of that love by speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Do you remind others of the love of Christ when they are down? Do you remind fellow Christians that they will live forever and that a ten thousand year perspective will go a long way toward putting events and slights and harsh words in their proper place? Do you forgive others for slights toward you because of the great crimes that God has forgiven you for?

Wisdom brings back these ideas, knowing that apologies are almost always free, that carrying grudges weighs us down more than the other person, that life does not end for the Christian when we close our eyes. For education is the gift of the past knowledge, intelligences solves today’s problems, but wisdom guides us into the future.

Our Gospel reading was very difficult for the people who heard Christ’s words, for they could not see the future. They did not know that Jesus would be executed, and come back to life. They did not foresee the Last Supper where Jesus said the bread was His body and the wine was His blood. These words have been very difficult for people over the centuries who have not walked long with Christ. For that matter, it is difficult for almost everyone. I will try to explain these words for us today. Jesus said:

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

They were taking Jesus very literally. Nothing in their education had prepared them for a man who invited, even encouraged people to cannibalize him. So they questioned deeply – as we do when we think about it.

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 

Consider this: Jesus the Christ was present at the creation, as the Apostle John tells us in Chapter 1 of his gospel. In fact, John tells us that “everything that was made was made through [Christ]”. Doesn’t this include life itself?

And doesn’t Jesus tell Nicodemus that he must be born again of water and the Spirit? Doesn’t baptism give us new life? Most Christians will tell you that a switch clicked during their baptism, that, just like Dorothy’s arrival in Oz, life turned from black-and-white into a vibrant color when they turned to Christ.

Jesus gives us a reason for receiving Holy Communion:

54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 

We have this idea that what we see and touch and taste is more real than ideas. We think that ideas are somehow not quite real. Two examples: First, take the idea of a perfect triangle, which we learned back in high school geometry has three angles that total exactly 180 degrees. It is an idea, for no one can draw or construct that perfect triangle, although we can get very close. We can draw a triangle with 179 degrees or 181 degrees or get even closer with wonderfully made tools, but strive as hard as we can, we can only get to 179.99999999 or 180.00000000001 degrees, for this world has been imperfect since the fall. Only the idea of a 180 degree perfect triangle is perfect. Yet we think that a triangle I draw or make with toothpicks is more real than this idea.

I have visitors from time to time who travel westbound on Rt 50 to reach our home. I give them simple directions to my real home – Take Rt 50 west to I-77, go south 1 exit, then east on Rt 47 about a mile and a half to WVU Parkersburg, then take the Y to the left, our house is on the right just before the church. But most people don’t want to do that anymore. They want my address, 120 Old Turnpike Road. They follow the GPS, which takes them over Dutch Ridge Road, a twisty, little, curvy little road, and then they finally find us here if they stay on the road. For them, the GPS is real – and my simple directions to my real house aren’t as real.

But what if we have our concepts of reality reversed. What if the GPS is not real – it isn’t the road or the house, after all. Which is real, the GPS or the road? What if the 180 degree perfect triangle is more real than what we can draw or make from toothpicks? Solomon got his gifts and prophecy from God in a dream – does that mean it wasn’t real? Are dreams real or not? Are people you meet while online real or not? How do we tell what is real – and what is less real? We can see and touch and speak to the person beside us on the pew – and on a hot day, we can SMELL them! And we say that’s why we know they are real. But we can’t do these same things with God – or can we?

What if God is more real than we are, and we only exist because God holds us in God’s Universe – or mind? What if, as the Letter to the Hebrews says, what if the throne room in Heaven is the real throne room and the Temple on earth was just an imperfect copy? What if our souls and our future incorruptible body are more real than this pitiful decaying body we have today? What if it is true that we aren’t bodies with souls, but souls with temporary bodies, to be replaced with perfect bodies one day? What if the bread and the juice used in Holy Communion is real food and real drink which allows Jesus to live in us for eternal life because Spiritual things are much more real than this temporary stuff around us. “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” Jesus continued:

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” Pointing to Himself, Jesus said, “58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

I have a degree in physics and took courses in astrophysics. I am educated in and have studied space and time. I have studied Einstein’s equations and quantum mechanics. As much as anyone, I am educated in how reality is structured. Yet I do not know how to live forever because of that education. That deep education about the Universe doesn’t explain two basic questions – where did the “me” in my mind come from? What happens after this body of flesh dies? And I – like you, know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the “me” in our minds is real, real, real and alive! But our science cannot explain it.

But when I read the Bible, answers are found. Are they true? I only know that whenever I follow the Wisdom found in the Bible about how to live, my life improves. So Wisdom tells me that the Bible is a trustworthy guide. And here, in this passage, Jesus tells me that “the one who feeds on [Jesus] will live because of [Jesus].” His comments have been an excellent, wise guide in my life so far. He claims to be the Son of God – and, according to the Apostle Paul, over five hundred people saw Jesus alive again after his execution, which means Jesus’ claim is very, very likely to be true.

And so I must open my mind to the idea that the spiritual realm and the realm of ideas is more real than what I see around me every day. Ideas about triangles are more real than drawn triangles. Online friends are just as real as friends I can touch. Solomon’s dream came true – he was respected for his great wisdom – so the dream was real. And therefore, in some way, the bread and the juice in Holy Communion is necessary for eternal life. And so I choose to eat and drink what Jesus says is His flesh and blood in faith that this leads to eternal life. And when I do this, He becomes more real to me than ever before.

And so the Wisdom of God, which is Jesus the Christ, tells me to take Holy Communion to take in the body and blood of Jesus Christ. And He will be with me  - and you – always, teaching us more Wisdom from God. Full circle.

Why is it important that Jesus becomes more real to us? Because as Jesus becomes more and more real, we realize that this world around us is temporary, while Jesus offers eternal life. And our perspective gradually, gradually changes to understand that today’s troubles will be in ten thousand years as if they were nothing, unreal, imagined almost. And knowing that gives peace, gives rest, healing from the insults of this temporary life – and gratitude and joy for the gifts of God.

Now, as we sing this song, each of you come forward to the altar rail to pray for your peace, your rest, your healing, to express your gratitude for what Jesus has done for you – and pray for the peace, the rest, the healing of another person, a friend, a relative, a neighbor. Come forward to support another person and help them with their burdens. Set an example for others in your family. Come to the altar rail as we sing.

Amen!

4 Response Hymn – BlessedAssurance 369

Benediction: May God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit become more real to you than your own family! May God be with you throughout this week. Go forth and spread joy to the world!

5 Closing Song – Throughit All 507

Go and Praise God all week long!