Matthew 13.47–53
I want us to think this morning about the importance of
wisdom. This morning’s gospel brings to
a close a series of readings we’ve been considering about the Kingdom. Jesus ends his parables with a rather
enigmatic phrase. He says, ‘every scribe
who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a
household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old’. Jesus is telling his disciples that the wise
teacher of faith will use the best of the old knowledge, and combine it with
the new, in the task of bringing the Kingdom to pass. Wisdom requires the
acquisition and then the wise use of knowledge, both past and present, old and
new.
A key
theme of Matthew’s Gospel is that Jesus is the living, breathing
personification of Divine Wisdom. The
Hebrew Bible often sings hymns of praise to Divine Wisdom, and, often, wisdom
is given a personality. Take for
example, these lines from the first chapter of the book of Proverbs:
Wisdom cries out in
the street;
in the squares she
raises her voice - {…}
‘How long, O simple
ones, will you love being simple?
How long will
scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate
knowledge?
I find
these lines encouraging. They remind me
that teachers and writers throughout the ages have always despaired of reluctant
human beings are to embrace wisdom. Just
like I do. I despair of the flat
earthers, for example, who in the face of overwhelming evidence continue to
insist the earth is flat – because the Bible says it has ‘corners’. I despair of biblical literalists, who insist
that the Bible should be read literally.
They fail to understand the genre or different biblical writings, and
they discount the work of scholars and commentators, with much greater
knowledge. To give a specific example of
what I mean, consider the Creation Story.
We know now, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the world was not created
in six days, as one of the creation stories
of Genesis suggests. What are we to do
with this knowledge? Do we throw out the
whole Bible, because one of its stories has moved from being read as history
towards being understood as myth? No, of
course we don’t. The wise scribe (as
Jesus says) is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure
what is old and what is new. The old –
that is the Genesis story of creation – is enriched by the new – that is the
findings of science. It morphs from being
inaccurate history, into beautiful and poetic metaphor, teaching us that God is
the hand and the power behind the Universe.
Outside of the world of Scripture, by the way, I also despair
at those who still refuse to believe that human-made climate change is real!
Human beings have always been subject to spin, fake news,
and they have always acted on instinct, rather than fact. Fools have always hated knowledge. Perhaps this is because they worry that
accepting such knowledge would mean a big change in their life and
lifestyle. Fools detest change,
instinctively. And they have always
scoffed at those who do put in the hard work to find out what is true and good
and right. ‘What do these scientists
know?’. ‘Theologians? Pah!’
Four and
a half centuries before Jesus, there was a famous man in Greece, called
Plato. He was a philosopher – a word
made up of two Greek words, ‘philia’, meaning love; and ‘sofia’ meaning
wisdom. A philosopher, then, is simply
someone who loves wisdom. Plato had a
tremendous impact on his time, and in the centuries afterwards. His thinking was widely known, and often
quoted. I would be extremely surprised
if Jesus had never heard of him.
Plato
offered the World a simple metaphor for the accumulation of wisdom…the metaphor
of a cave. Imagine, he said, that you
were born in a cave, facing the wall.
And that this is the only life you had ever known. On the wall of the cave in front of you were
shadows of things which you believed were real.
Trees, houses, people. This was your whole life. A tree was just a shadow of a tree. A house was just a shadow of a house.
Imagine,
then, said Plato, that one day something made you turn around. To your surprise, you found that there are
people standing behind you, who are holding up wooden silhouettes of the trees,
the houses, and the people. Suddenly,
your eyes have been opened. You realise
that there is a cause of the shadows.
Your whole world-view has shifted.
Then,
said Plato, imagine that you notice the daylight, shining behind the people
with the silhouettes. Your enquiring
mind has been awakened…and so you make your way to the entrance of the
cave. And then, stepping into the
sunlight, you find our exactly what a real tree looks like, and a real house,
and real people.
The
Cave, suggested Plato, is a metaphor for the quest for Wisdom on which we are
all invited. It is a way of life, which
anyone can follow, and it is a component part of Way of Jesus. And it is a prize worth selling everything
you own to possess – just like the pearl of great price, or the treasure hidden
in the field of Jesus’ parables.
But
isn’t Jesus talking about the Kingdom of Heaven, not wisdom per se? Well, yes.
But, the Kingdom of Heaven is first and foremost a place in which Divine
Wisdom reigns supreme.
It is
Divine Wisdom, for example, which teaches us that in giving things away, we
accumulate great wealth.
It is
Divine Wisdom which teaches us that forgiveness is the only way to deal with
hatred.
It is
Divine Wisdom which teaches us that God’s voice is often best heard in silence.
It is
Divine Wisdom which teaches us that it is servants who make the best leaders.
It is
Divine Wisdom which gives us a King who has a Cross as his throne.
The Kingdom of Heaven is an upside down place. There is almost nothing in the Kingdom which
feels normal to a society which values hatred, greed, the accumulation of
stuff, fake news, celebrity, and worldly power.
That’s why it is such a hard message to communicate to the world.
Wisdom cries out in
the street;
in the squares she
raises her voice - {…}
‘How long, O simple
ones, will you love being simple?
How long will
scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate
knowledge?
Amen.
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