July 26, 2020
“A Wise and Discerning Mind”
1 Kings 3:5-12
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
I love the Old Testament passage for today from 1 Kings.
When given the chance to ask God for absolutely anything, King Solomon asks God for wisdom.
So, here’s the thing about Solomon asking God for wisdom. It takes a certain degree of wisdom in the first place in order to understand the need for gaining more wisdom.
Does that make sense?
Just as in a similar way, it takes the acknowledgment that we don’t already know everything in order to be able to leave ourselves open to learning new things.
I clearly remember at the time of my college graduation many years ago thinking to myself, “They are going to actually give me a degree?”
At that point I felt like the main thing I had learned in my four years of college was how much I didn’t know. And I don’t mean that as a negative at all. I think at its best, education teaches us what we don’t know and instills in us a desire and a love for continued learning.
And so it is with wisdom. Growing in wisdom is a life-long journey.
I recently read a definition of wisdom by theologian Thomas Blair. He described wisdom as “bringing the soul into alignment with God’s ways.” When our souls are aligned with God, our quests in life become other-serving, not self-serving. I like that definition.
I am not, of course, suggesting that bringing our souls into alignment with God is simple or clear cut or easy – as much as we may wish that it was.
We need not look any farther than the overall story of King Solomon’s reign in the Bible to see that it was certainly not smooth sailing for him. On the contrary, his reign was fraught with let’s just say, “challenges.”
And so too, for us, the ongoing seeking of wisdom and alignment with God becomes even more difficult and more challenging when faced with unprecedented times as we are currently facing. How are we to make some sense of these times?
OK, stay with me because I’m going to switch now to the Gospel lesson for a moment, but I think the Gospel, too, deals with the challenges of seeking wisdom.
If you have been a part of our online services in recent weeks you know that the Gospel passages have been exploring various parables as taught by Jesus.
Last week Rev. Tussing preached about the parable of the weeds in the field. And I’m going to repeat something Rev. Tussing said last week because I think it is vitally important for us to understand if the parables are going to remain relevant for us in this day and time.
Jesus spoke in parables because he wanted his followers to use their minds. He didn’t just spoon feed them ideas – he wanted them to think, to be challenged, to wrestle with the big questions of life and faith and discipleship.
And ultimately – and here is the part I’m borrowing from Rev. Tussing – when we take the time to wrestle with the parables of Jesus, we begin to understand them with our hearts.
At the end of the scripture readings each week, we say the words, “These words are in the Bible and these words can be trusted.” What we mean by that is, these words can be trusted to challenge us, to inspire us, to move us, to educate us, to guide us.
In these very stressful and confusing times – when we are divided as a nation, facing crises of health and economics and race relations – we may feel like we are living in the midst of a parable, struggling with how and where to look for meaning and guidance. If what we seek is wisdom, an alignment of our souls with God, where do we find that alignment?
Perhaps we start with King Solomon’s prayer. Solomon asks God for an “understanding mind” and the ability to discern between good and evil.
May we all seek the wisdom that can only come from God.
AMEN