Proverbs
8: Wisdom
At The Crossroads
Today’s scripture reading is about
wisdom, something I thought was rather fitting for dads and grads Sunday. For all of our grads out there, whether you
have finished 8th grade or just received your masters, I sure do
hope, you have gained some wisdom through your education, your studies, your
classes, your social experiences, and your extra curricular activities. Wisdom is all around us, and in the Biblical
sense, it is more than just gaining knowledge, wisdom, or hokma, is something
we equate with the Holy Spirit. Last
week was Pentecost, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of
Jesus and empowering them to go into the world to share God’s message of love,
compassion, and reconciliation with all.
But the Holy Spirit existed before this moment, it has existed with God
since the beginning. In this passage
from Proverbs we hear that wisdom was with God when God laid the foundations of
the world.
Wisdom, aka the Holy Spirit is with
us when we learn, when we think, when we make choices. Cartoonists like to use the illustration of
an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other shoulder. When at a cross roads, when making decisions,
what do you listen to? Do you listen to
your values, your faith, hokma: the Holy
Spirit, or do you listen to what we call peer pressure, or your own self
interests even if they seem in conflict with your values? Whether you are a dad or a grad or anyone
else, throughout our lives we come to these places that Proverbes calls the
cross roads. For our graduates, it is
more pronounced. You have finished one
major life accomplishment and you are ready to move into something new, perhaps
even different, it could be further education, it could be seeking a job, it
might involve moving to a new place, it might mean taking an incredible
risk. And dads, you are right there with
your children, perhaps empowering them to make their own decisions, or supporting
them in the process, maybe even offer your own life experience as guidance. And at the cross roads, wisdom desires to be
a part of your life, of your decision making, or how you process your
choices. In the church we call this
spiritual discernment.
Now, for those that are ready to go
out into the world ready to find a job and make a living, the following might
just be a challenge: Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than jewels. Wisdom is better than jewels. Our culture tells us that wisdom, knowledge,
education, is what we need in order to be self sufficient, it is what we need
to make money. Go to college so you can
get a good job. That is what culture
tells us. Hopefully, alongside our education,
we
hold tight to our morals, our values, the things that we believe in and are
passionate about. If environmental studies
are near and dear to my heart and my faith tells me to care for God’s good
creation, but I am offered a very lucrative salary for a toxic chemical
company, am I embracing wisdom? And
sometimes life seems to push us into places that we might not want to be. What if you are seeking employment and the
only thing that seems to be available just does not sit right with you? Do you take it because it is a job? Because you need it? Or do you live into your passions, your true
spiritual calling, to the place that you feel your gifts and interests and
values fall into place? Wisdom, the Holy
Spirit, is better than jewels.
I have a doctor that shared with me
that one of the reasons she wanted to become a doctor was so she could use that
expertise in mission, in ministry, in outreach to those that did not have
access to medical care. As she graduated
and realized the reality of her debt and other family obligations, she would
have to go into a local practice. Now,
all of these years later, her children are grown, her debts are paid, she
finally has the financial freedom to do what she originally set out to do. She has been able to partner with another doctor
and go oversees to provide free medical care for short term mission. She never gave up her dream, her passion, it
just took a much longer time to come to fruition than her original vision. And she has shared with me how meaningful these
mission trips are to her. How
spiritually fulfilling they are. How much
they have enriched her life. She has
embraced hokma, wisdom, the Holy Spirit, and has found the spiritual wealth it
offers which may not pay the bills but truly does give life a richer
meaning.
Dads and grads, life gets in our way. We get so caught up in the daily grind that
we can easily forget the bigger picture.
Wisdom is a part of God, and a part of us, make sure you have some sort
of passion, some sort of issue or value that you hold near and dear to your heart
and even if you cannot make it a part of your career, find a way to carve space
for it somewhere in your life. If you
care deeply for the homeless, find out what the local needs are and perhaps
make a monthly donation of laundry detergent to the shelter. Or donate a can of food each week to the
local food pantry. But make whatever is
near and dear to your heart a spiritual practice that is not left and forgotten
until a distant time down the road.
When ever we are at the cross roads,
God is with us, wisdom is with us, the Holy Spirit offers us the ability to
reflect on our values, our beliefs, our morals, our passions, the things of
life that we hold the most near and dear.
Cross roads can be scary places of uncertainty but they can also be
places filled with possibilities. We don’t
always have to take the road less traveled, but whichever road we take, we should
prayerfully ask ourselves the hard questions of what it means to us, and what it
means to God, and what it means to our spiritual connection to our Creator and
the gifts and passions instilled within us.
Amen.
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