Hidden in Plain Sight

Wisdom often seems elusive – something not quite of this world – and the wisdom of God most mysterious of all.  We say things like:  God’s ways are mysterious, the unfathomable love of God. However, our readings this week (Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 12 [17]. 1 Kings 3:5-12; Psalm 119:129-136; Romans 8:26-39; and Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52.) suggest that wisdom is indeed difficult to attain but is hidden in plain – under our very noses and feet! 

Sentence:

“Your decrees are wonderful; therefore my soul keeps them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” Psalm 119:129-130

Collect:

God of grace, Wisdom of the Ages,

Increase our desire for your wisdom as a guiding light

in all we do, say, and hope for.

May the wisdom of grace and mercy be present

in our worship, our living, and our dreaming

until we are at One-ment with you.

Amen.

Reflections on the Text:

Solomon’s prayer for wisdom is a beautiful opening speech to his public life – filled with humility, readiness to lead well and justly, and the deep desire to be who God wanted him to be. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our politicians and leaders would pray the same?

You may be interested in a reflection on the parables from a different perspective.

The Subversive Kingdom

Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible is more to be desired than much fine gold. This theme runs through the psalms, the proverbs, the story of Job and others. Indeed, the Hebrew Bible is regarded as being in three parts: the Law; the Prophets; and the Wisdom writings. Not only are prayers, such as Solomon’s, self-evidently beautiful of mind and spirit but they are part of the all-important context of Jesus as a teacher. Increasingly we (that is biblical scholars and those who study them) understand that Jesus was a teacher out of the Wisdom tradition. He taught in parables and aphorisms – using folk tales, the well-known rabbinical stories, and simple agricultural and everyday images – to convey deep and eternal truths about life: the search for wisdom and the fulfilling of one’s life purpose, and the right relationship with God and neighbour.

So, from our readings this week let me suggest three aspects of wisdom that is hidden in our plain sight. Firstly, God is the source of wisdom and therefore wisdom is to be found in a right relationship with God and a right approach to life. We see this most beautifully in Solomon’s response to God’s invitation to ask for whatever he might like. (Note: right is not always the same as successful!)

Secondly wisdom is to be found in life as life comes to us: in treasure all around us, and in the struggle and pain of life. Wisdom is not separate to life and death but inherent in it. In our parables this week we are given a sense of God’s treasure being buried in the ordinary around us. Buried in the field, lying waiting among other pearls of lesser value, swimming with the good and the non-edible fish of the sea. Wisdom is both in clear sight in the ordinary, and in another sense it is hidden underneath the ordinary and needs some digging to get to, some scanning and discerning looking to see, and some sorting to weed out what is of true value and what is of lesser value. Wisdom is both a gift and the result of work.

And thirdly having glimpsed the wisdom of the kingdom of God in the life around us we are to seek it with all that we have, or as the parable says having found a pearl of great price the merchant goes and sells all that he has in order to buy the one great pearl. Wisdom is our guide, our goal, and the process itself. Its own reward.

So, what does such a life of wisdom look like? Well, not always wise by normal standards. Let me share an example from the parish I belonged to before starting my training for the ministry. St Peter’s (shall we call it) was an old parish undergoing a time of growth and renewal and it was bustling with activity every day of the week. Being in a built up area many people lived quite near to the church and would walk to and fro. Most blocks in the port city were small and already built on but there was a big old falling down house behind the church property and a small group began to identify a desire to live around the church in a physical community to share in the life and ministry of the church. One person in particular had the vision and while various ideas were being explored it became known that the old house with the big block was going to be auctioned. While many were interested it was the one person who sold her own home and undertook a huge bridging loan to secure the block. At the time she risked everything and indeed it was precarious for some time but eventually subdivisions were allowed and others sold and bought into the endeavour. And later still another two adjoining houses went on the market and further townhouses were built until now about 12 units surround the church in an embracing community. It is now a whole community but it was all made possible because one woman saw that this was the pearl of great price and sold all that she had in order to secure it for the kingdom of God.

Sometimes we can only be sure that it was the pearl of great price looking back. In the moment we may well risk appearing foolish not only to others but to ourselves. The wisdom of God often comes to us in places, people and ideas that do not instantly stand out as wise but something prompts us to risk what we have and who we are in order to follow our hearts and imagination.

The ending is not always as happy or successful as the example I quoted above. At the end of our gospel reading we have Jesus being misunderstood and disbelieved by his home town. The wisdom of God is not always attractive to others and it can cost us. And like the home crowd we do not always at first see the wisdom of God at work because it comes to us in ways not always attractive.

The good news therefore is that wisdom, while subtle and on the move, is there to be found in the everyday of our lives. Wisdom is to be found in tending our gardens, in keeping in contact with our loved ones, in listening to our neighbour’s struggles and successes, in serving strangers in the soup kitchen and opportunity shop, in loving tenderly and strongly those given us in this life, in singing of God’s goodness in the choir, in reading books, in listening to interviews, in listening to our own hearts in the night, in building new objects of beauty, in knowing when something is finished with and recycling it, in sharing our own story, in embroidering our grandmother’s advice above the mantlepiece, in researching our family history and seeing the gift and the folly that is our inheritance, and in working on the inheritance we shall leave our great grandchildren. Wisdom is within fingertip touch to those who look with hearts informed by the love of God.

Even so, come Lord Jesus Christ, come stir us your desire and gift within us.

Intercessions:

Creator God,

You love everything that you have made,

help us to grow in wisdom that we too may love your world

and honour and protect what you have made.

Grant us the wisdom and the grace to share your bounty

with all our neighbours – human and creaturely.

We particularly pray for those who homes and homeland have been devastated by greed, war and climate change …

We pray that we may live in ways that brings flourishing to all.

And we give thanks for those who seek to bring healing and growth to others.

Creator of all,

Hear our prayers.

Jesus, man for others, companion of us all,

Help us learn to see and listen as you did

and to recognise everywhere opportunities

for encounter and sharing of story, drink and food.

We particularly pray for those who have been excluded from the church or injured in any way – forgive us, heal them, and help us reconcile.

We pray for all leaders and servants of your body

that we might grow in wisdom and desire to love – even the less lovely.

Jesus, companion of us all,

Hear our prayer.

Spirit of the Living Loving God,

Come dance, move and beguile us

with the desire for Wisdom and Grace.

Where ever we are feint hearted or lagging in hope

come stir us up until we can believe again in love and hope and joy and peace.

We particularly pray for all and any that struggle at this time, for those who despair and hurt, for those angry and aggrieved, for those near to death and alone …

May your spirit visit with comfort and reassurance

and dance us home to ourselves and to God.

Spirit of the Living Loving God be ever near us,

And Hear our prayer.

Living God,

Wisdom of the Ages, the Companion of us all, and the Spirit of Renewal,

Love us, call us, grow us into the fullness of Wisdom and Grace.

Amen.

This is my work informed by all that I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others.