Pentecost 13
Jesu Juva
“True
Wisdom!
Let Us Attend”
Text: Proverbs 9:1-6; John
6:51-58; Ephesians 5:15-20
Grace, mercy, and peace to
you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
You do not need to be a fool to live foolishly.
You do not need to be wise, to live wisely.
Foolish people sometimes do wise things, and wise
people sometimes do foolish things.
This week and next week present two significant
anniversaries to us. This past week was
the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the devastation it caused. Next week will be
the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In both cases, there were people who acted
wisely, and people who acted foolishly.
Sometimes significant events such as these bring out the best in us, sometimes they bring out the worst in us.
Today we are being called to wisdom. By the One who is
Himself wisdom. Wherever you are in
life, whatever situation you find yourself in, whatever crises or joys, you are
being called to wisdom by Wisdom. To live wisely.
The Old Testament reading from Proverbs painted a
picture of this for us. Wisdom has
prepared a rich banquet, and calls to all who are simple, or foolish, to come
and eat and drink. This is a banquet not
just for the wise, for those who have attained a certain standard. No, this banquet is for all. For even the foolish to act
wisely. And those who refuse,
even though they may be wise, are acting foolishly.
In the Epistle,
Do you
assume you have plenty of time? Is that wise or foolish?
Do you
think that evil will not come upon you? Is that wise or foolish?
Do you presume that you have the will and the power within
yourself to be the person God wants you to be?
Is that wise or foolish?
Yet who among us does not act foolishly? Because who among us is not sinful? Sin-full.
Filled with sin. Sin that says the foolishness of this world
is wisdom, and the wisdom of God is foolishness. Sin that says my will is wise, and God’s will
is foolish. Sin that calls evil good and
good evil. Sin, which
is the ultimate foolishness.
Do not be deceived.
That sin lives in you. Curving you in on yourself.
Always tempting you to rely on yourself, and not on God.
To follow your
own thoughts and desires instead of His. To do what seems best to you, instead of what your Lord has told you is best. And not only
is that foolish, it is idolatrous. And
we have all bowed the knee to
that idol named me.
But today we are being called to wisdom. The call goes out for us foolish, sinful ones
to act wisely. To come
sit, and eat well and drink deeply of the true wisdom – the wisdom of God and
His Word. And for this reason you
have entered Wisdom’s house, the Church.
For here is the Spirit of God, with His seven-fold gifts of grace. And here, Wisdom Himself, the very Son of
God, feeds you. He has set His Table
before you, a banquet of Word and Sacrament.
To root out the foolishness, the sin; and to bestow
upon you forgiveness.
But this is no fast food restaurant. There is no drive-thru here! This is a banquet of many courses, for us to
enjoy here for a lifetime, and in
Heaven for eternity. Singing
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. (Eph 5:19) Washing in the water of salvation. Drinking deeply from the
fountain of forgiveness.
Come, He says.
Eat and drink, tarry a while, linger and learn, question. Then leave and take this wisdom out into the
world, in all of your vocations and walks of life, everywhere you go. But return.
Always return. To
be refreshed. To be
forgiven. For to do so
is to live wisely. To not do so is to live foolishly.
And that’s the heart of it, right there . . . of
what it means to live wisely. It doesn’t
mean to be smarter than others. It
doesn’t mean to be perfect. It doesn’t
mean others will think you wise. It
means that whatever your IQ or SAT score, whatever
mistakes you make, whatever struggles and challenges you are facing, whatever
your past or the prospects for your future – to live wisely means to live in your Saviour, with the life that
only He can give. The
life that begins now and lasts for eternity.
For who else can do for you what Jesus has done for
you? Who else even wants to?
But He has come to give you everything. To give you Himself. Holding back nothing.
To take all that is yours – your sin, your rebellion,
your uncleanness, your death – and make it all His. And then to take all this is His – His forgiveness,
His Sonship, His resurrection, His kingdom, His life – and make it all
yours. The world calls that foolishness;
utter foolishness; the most stupidest thing they’ve ever heard of! For who would make such an exchange? No, such things must be earned, deserved,
given to only the most worthy.
But our Lord calls this wisdom; the wisdom of the
cross. The high serves the low. The one who is life dies, that we who are
death may live. That
we who are foolish in sin repent, and live foolishly no more.
And so Wisdom calls to us: “Whoever is simple [foolish], let
him turn in here! . . . Come, eat of my
bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.” (Prov 9:4-5)
It is Jesus calling to us: “I am the living bread that came
down from heaven. . . . My flesh is true food, and my blood is true
drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and
drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
. . . Whoever feeds on this bread
will live forever.” (John 6:51-58)
If there is one thing that Katrina and 9/11 have
taught us once again, it is that the things of this world do not abide. Even majestic, impressive
buildings. Even
cities. And when those things are
destroyed, so too whatever confidence and security we may have had. But there is one thing that abides
forever. And that One not only created
our world, but Himself came into it, that He might give that abiding life to
us. That no matter what may happen in this world, and no matter when, and no matter how –
that we have nothing to fear. For our
life is not in the things of this world, which perish in wind and fire and
clouds of dust; no, our life is in Him who abides forever. And His life is in us. And therefore, as He abides, we abide. As He lives, we live. Just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity
(Small Catechism, explanation to the Second
Article), so will we.
Is that foolishness?
Or wisdom?
You do not need to be a fool to live foolishly.
You do not need to be wise, to live wisely.
Come, “leave your foolish ways, and live.”
(Prov 9:6)
Come and eat.
For all is ready. Forgiveness, life, salvation. All here for you.
In the Name of the Father,
and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.