York Minster

Wisdom

Date: 21st June 2009
Preacher: The Reverend Canon Dr Jonathan Draper

I can almost understand where Mothering Sunday – what is now almost universally called ‘Mother’s Day’ – has come from. Like most of our celebrations or holidays it has its roots in the Christian faith and our calendar of feasts and festivals – the holy days from which our holidays have developed. I can even understand where the term ‘Bank Holiday’ has come from: it appears to be those times when the banks take leave of their senses and governments forget about regulation. But I do have a little difficulty with the now ubiquitous ‘Father’s Day’, even though it has been nice to have the traditional break from all those household chores with which I am normally burdened. I wonder if we should have cousin’s husband’s brother’s wife day sometime soon so as to not leave anyone out. It’s yet another thing to feel guilty about forgetting.

This is not the kind of question over which the writers of the Psalms worried. As we have heard this evening, the Psalms explore what we would call the ‘big questions’ about why bad things happen to good people, why the wicked seem to flourish, what it means to follow and trust in God, what it means to be wise and to fear the Lord. The Psalms were written as long as 3000 years ago and are an almost unique collection of works that have been used ever since in the worship of God. In many of the spiritual traditions of Judaism and Christianity the Psalms form a part of daily prayer, as they do here in the Minster every day.

Psalm 49, which we heard sung this evening, sets up a contrast between those who put their faith and trust in their wealth and those who put their faith and trust in God. The author is suggesting, not surprisingly, that wisdom is about putting your trust in God.  To trust in your wealth, or the abundance of your houses and possessions, makes you little better, as the psalmist puts it, than ‘the beasts that perish’. To trust in God, however, and to live according to God’s will and purposes, is to be delivered, is to have your life held for ever within the life of God. Therefore we should not look on in envy at the rich in this life for, as Jesus emphasises in his story of Lazarus and Dives, the rich have their reward in this life, while the wise and Godly person has their reward for ever in the presence of God.

Wisdom, in the Biblical traditions, is as much a practical as it is an intellectual virtue. Wisdom might be a skill well practiced and well used, or it might be knowledge and understanding gained over a long time of reflection and study. Fundamentally wisdom is the ability to discern what is the proper course of action, especially in relation to God. Wisdom is what separates us from the animals, and the fool – the person who is not wise – is often compared, as in our Psalm this evening, to ‘the beasts that perish’, to those that have no understanding.

In both the Hebrew Bible and the NT it is the Spirit of God who leads those who follow God into wisdom. In the imagery of the Hebrew Bible, the Spirit of God, or wisdom personified, acts as a guide who invites us to follow her, who will show us the ways and will of God. In the NT, the Spirit guides us into knowledge and understanding, leads us further into truth, shows us how to be Christ to the world.

The wisdom of God will not always be the same as the wisdom of the world: true wisdom, in almost all cultures and traditions, has almost always been counter-cultural. When the wisdom of the world says you should fear and hate the stranger in your midst, the wisdom of God says make them welcome, treat them as one of your own. When the wisdom of the world suggests that the latest thing is the most important, the wisdom of God teaches us to look for that which will last. Wisdom, as one of the post-communion prayers puts it, sets out her table and invites us to eat the bread of God’s kingdom, a meal that will satisfy our hunger and meet our deepest needs. As it is put in Proverbs,

Happy are those who find wisdom…Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of  her; those who hold her fast are called happy.

Amen.