Pentecost 8
Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor
© 2020, Dr. Tamilio
Many cultures have folktales about finding a lantern, rubbing it, and having a genie pop out. The genie grants the lucky finder three wishes. What would be your three wishes? Health, wealth, fame, power? Let’s say instead, that God appeared before you and said he would grant you one wish? What would it be? As far-fetched as that may seem, it happened to Solomon.
Solomon succeeded his father, King David, as the leader of Israel. He was the last king before the kingdom divided, with Israel occupying the northern territory and Judah the southern. Solomon was one of Israel’s greatest Kings. He was best known for his wisdom. But that didn’t just happen naturally. He wasn’t some prodigy. God told Solomon that he would grant him his heart’s desire. We read about that in today’s Hebrew Bible lesson from 1 Kings. The story is reiterated at the beginning of 2 Chronicles.
Solomon asks for wisdom in order to be an intelligent, judicious king. He wants “an understanding mind to govern [the] people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your [God’s] great people.” This impresses God immensely, because Solomon’s wish is not self-serving. He doesn’t ask for money. He doesn’t ask for power. He doesn’t ask for fame. God replies, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed, I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.” The request is granted. Furthermore, God grants him the things he didn’t ask for — the things most people would want. In the next verse (which we didn’t read today), God declares, “Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for — both wealth and honor — so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.”
So back to my original question. What would you wish for? If we were honest, most of us would ask for money; a long, healthy life; and maybe a bit of fame. Solomon could be considered a philosopher, since the word “philosophy” in Greek means the love of wisdom. But he wasn’t a philosopher. He was a leader. He built the Temple and established peace in the land. We may not be political leaders, but it still wouldn’t hurt us to seek wisdom, too.
Wisdom isn’t the same as knowledge. Knowledge is about facts. The people who win on Jeopardy have knowledge. Wisdom is different. Wisdom comes through experience, which is why we often associate wisdom with age. Wisdom is the ability to discern right and wrong through deliberate reasoning and by being in-tune with your conscience. Wisdom is about knowing when intuition is real and not just some flight of fancy. Wisdom is the ability to see beyond physical vision. Wisdom is balance, and harmony, and life guided by the Holy Spirit.
In ancient Greek philosophy and throughout the Jewish and even Christian traditions, wisdom is often personified as female. She is often related to the poetical books of the Hebrew Bible, namely Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. Deidre Havrelock argues that wisdom is the Holy Spirit, which is interesting since the words for the Holy Spirit in Hebrew and Greek (the languages of the Bible) are feminine.
At the heart of our faith and theology is Jesus: the Word made flesh. We’ve been discussing the Gospel of John at length in our current Bible Study. When you read John’s Gospel, the first thing that hits you is an allusion to the opening of the entire Bible. In other words, Genesis begins, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The Gospel of John begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John is emphasizing that Jesus always existed (from the very beginning) and that he is God. But notice something: John refers to Jesus as the Word. In his opening chapter he also says that, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
Word is capitalized here, so we are to see it not just as a proper name, but as the ultimate word. The concept of God’s word — a term we also use for The Bible itself — signifies ultimate wisdom. It’s no surprise that people have often depicted God as an old man with a long, white beard. That is the equivalent of the wise, old man, isn’t it? But God is wiser than any being. God is beyond our comprehension. As followers of God, we don’t settle for that, though. We seek to know God more. This is why the wisdom Solomon seeks is so relevant to us.
Saint Anselm referred to the life of the Christian as faith seeking understanding (fides quaerens intellectum). This stands as a challenge to those who feel that faith stands alone, that the Christian only needs blind faith, that reading the Bible literally will give you all you need. Faith seeking understanding asks believers to dig deeper, to probe what they believe. We’ve talked about this before. True faith is not blind adherence. It requires believers to gain a deeper understanding of what they hold in their hearts. Reading the Bible, and books about the Bible, and the work of great theologians, and being willing to ask God the tough questions in prayer — this is faith seeking understanding.
Notice something, though: faith comes first. It isn’t understanding seeking faith. Faith is not reserved for the smartest among us. It is a gift from God to all who are open to receiving it. From there we seek wisdom — we seek to understand God and his work more and more. We do this to have a deeper relationship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
But even believing in God seems ludicrous to many modern minds. When the philosopher Friedreich Nietzsche (an atheist) said that “God is dead,” he didn’t literally mean that God was once alive and now he is deceased. Rather, he was claiming that belief in God in the modern age (with all its advancements) cannot be justified. Maybe this is why Paul said that the wisdom of God appears to be foolish to the rest of the world.
Ever feel that way? Do you ever feel as if people look down on you because of what you believe? Some of us hide our faith under a bushel basket for fear of being ridiculed. The wisdom of God is beyond human understanding, which is why it seems foolish to the world.
But we know that the Word revealed in and through Jesus Christ, and recorded in Scripture, is the source of ultimate wisdom. Let the world wish for what it wants. Let it rub all the magical lamps that wash upon its shore. Let it seek fame and fortune. Let us follow the example of Solomon to true riches — a fuller relationship with the God of heaven and earth. Amen.