Looking Ahead to September 12, 2021 -- 16th Sunday After Pentecost, Proper 19B

 The Scripture Readings this week are:

• Proverbs 1:20-33
• Psalm 1
• Psalm 19

The Sermon title is The Way of Wisdom

Early Thoughts: Here we are in the middle of an election campaign and 20 years into the "War on Terror". What would be the way of wisdom in today's world? Where have we followed it? Where have we walked away from it?

The psalm readings for this week suggest that a big part of wisdom is following God's path, God's Law. Listen to the One who has a vision for the world. Listen to the One who desires life in abundance for God's people.

The Proverbs reading draws a picture of someone standing on  street corner calling people back to the way of wisdom. If Lady Wisdom/Sophia were to be calling out on our street corners (or maybe the modern equivalent would be posting on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/TikTok) what might she say to us today?

I suspect she would continue to ask questions like: "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?". I often think that we stray so far from the path of wisdom that we have trouble finding our way back.

Wisdom, as I understand it, looks at what is best for us all as a collective. Wisdom looks at the long-term. Wisdom is the path that leads us to live a citizens of the Kingdom of God. Wisdom looks to peace and justice not punishment and retribution.

Wisdom, as the world seems to understand it, sometimes looks different. It pushes people to ask "what is in it for me?", the individual over the collective. It seems to operate in short term, immediate results (or at best the next election cycle) rather than thinking in terms of decades or generations. It is open to punishment, revenge, and payback as ways to achieve goals.

I want us to open ourselves to Scripture's wisdom. I want us to pay attention to that voice calling in the streets. I want us to look to see where God is pushing us. The wisdom of the world has lead us to this place of climate emergency, a 20 year unwinnable war, a time when basic public health measures are debated/protested/ignored in the name of 'my rights', a time when some have multi-billions and others have empty stomachs. The world's wisdom has failed us. Maybe it is time to look somewhere else.

What would it take for us to be describe thusly "They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither."?
--Gord