What is wisdom?

Text:  Mark 9: 38-40

Brothers and sisters, seekers of truth, fellow travellers on this winding path of existence, today’s readings invite us to wrestle with the nature of wisdom, that elusive quarry that has captivated hearts and minds since the dawn of human consciousness. We are told, in the ancient wisdom of Ecclesiasticus, that wisdom exalts her children and cares for those who seek her. She walks with them, she holds them fast, she nourishes them with the bread of understanding and gives them the water of salvation. But what, precisely, is this wisdom? Is it a dusty tome locked away in a forgotten library? Is it a secret handshake reserved for the initiated? Or is it something far more radical, far more accessible, far more… human?

We find ourselves, as always, drawn to the story of Jesus, a man who, if nothing else, understood the profound absurdity of human arrogance. Consider the scene before us, as recounted by Mark. John, one of Jesus’ own disciples, puffed up with a sense of self-righteousness, reports that he has seen someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name, but because the man was not one of their inner circle, he was told to stop. This, my friends, is the very definition of spiritual gatekeeping, the kind of narrow-mindedness that has plagued religious institutions for centuries.

Jesus, with his characteristic blend of exasperation and compassion, cuts through the fog of pious delusion. “Do not stop him,” he declares. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.” Let that sink in. Whoever is not against us is for us. This is not a call for theological uniformity. This is not a demand for doctrinal purity. This is a radical invitation to embrace the inherent goodness that exists beyond the boundaries of our own limited understanding.

John, like so many of us, fell prey to the seductive illusion that truth is a possession, a commodity to be hoarded and controlled. He confused loyalty to a group with loyalty to the very essence of love and compassion that Jesus embodied. He forgot that the Spirit, the very breath of life, cannot be contained within the walls of any single institution, any single creed, any single ideology.

The pursuit of wisdom, as understood in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and indeed, in many other spiritual paths, is not about accumulating knowledge for its own sake. It is about cultivating a deep and abiding awareness of our interconnectedness, our shared humanity. It is about recognizing the divine spark that flickers within every living being, regardless of their background, their beliefs, or their social status.

Think of the Buddha, sitting beneath the Bodhi tree, seeking enlightenment. Think of the Sufi mystics, whirling in ecstatic communion with the divine. Think of the Indigenous elders, listening to the wisdom of the earth. In each of these traditions, and in countless others, we find a common thread: the recognition that true wisdom is born of humility, of openness, of a willingness to transcend the limitations of our own ego.

Jesus, in his encounter with John, exemplifies this very principle. He refuses to be confined by the expectations of his followers. He challenges their assumptions, he expands their horizons, he reminds them that the work of healing and liberation is not the exclusive domain of any one group.

 We, too, are called to this same radical openness. We are called to recognize the wisdom that exists beyond the boundaries of our own comfort zones. We are called to embrace the inherent goodness that shines through even the most unexpected sources.

So, let us be done with the petty squabbles and the theological hairsplitting that distract us from the real work of building a more just and compassionate world. Let us be done with the arrogance that tells us we have a monopoly on truth. Let us, instead, embrace the spirit of radical inclusivity that Jesus embodied.

Let us recognize that the person who volunteers at a soup kitchen, the activist who fights for social justice, the scientist who seeks to understand the mysteries of the universe, the artist who creates beauty in the face of despair – all of these are engaged in the pursuit of wisdom, all of these are contributing to the healing of our world.

Let us, in the words of Jesus, see that whoever is not against us is for us. Let us, together, build a world where wisdom reigns, where compassion triumphs, and where love is the guiding principle of all our actions. Let us, together, seek and find the wisdom that exalts, that nourishes, that saves. Amen.

In search of wisdom

Epiphany 2025 

I suppose that many of us will have been on journeys over the last couple of weeks. Some of us have braved wind and rain to visit family and friends in far-flung corners of the British Isles. But I bet none of us had journeys which were as arduous as those of the Wise Men to Bethlehem.  They would have crossed blazing deserts, and freezing mountain passes.  They would have had to wash in streams, and to eat food gathered or trapped along the way.  Their journey was remarkable.

We don't know much about the Wise Men. The Bible calls them 'Magi', from which we get our word 'magician' - but that's not the full meaning of the word. The Magi were, as far as we can tell, learned men from another culture. They studied the stars, and no doubt studied the ancient texts of many religions too. They put that knowledge together came to the startling conclusion that a new King of the Jews was being born.

Actually, they were wrong.  Jesus never was the King of Jews in any earthly sense...despite the ironic poster that Pontius Pilate had nailed over his Cross.  In fact, according to John's Gospel, when Pilate asked him point blank whether he was the King of the Jews, Jesus replied "My Kingdom is not of this world".  No, the Magi were wrong.  The stars were not predicting the birth of the King of the Jews.

Another accident of the Magi was in their timing. According to Matthew’s account, they actually arrived something like two years late. (Matthew notes that Herod enquired of the wise men when they had seen the Star appear, and based on that information he slaughters all the boys in Bethlehem who are under two years old. )

So, the Magi were perhaps not all that wise. They failed to correctly predict the timing of the birth of a new King of the Jews - and they were two years adrift even of Jesus birth.  Wise men?  Perhaps not.

So, to those who say that our future can be read in the stars, there is a warning here. The stars do not foretell our future, any more than they did for the Magi. We would be wise not to place our future in the hands of star-gazers too.

And yet...and yet...  The Magi embarked on a journey of faith. They thought they knew where that journey would lead. They assumed it would lead them to a royal palace in Jerusalem.  But God has a way of using the journeys we plan for ourselves, and turning them into something much different, much more profound. Instead of a new prince in a royal cot, the Magi's journey led them, mysteriously, to an unremarkable house in a rural back-water...and to a baby who had been born in a food trough.

And it was when they got there, that the Magi could truly be described as wise men. Recognising Jesus for who he was, much more than an earthly King of the Jews, they knelt in homage to him. When they met him, Jesus was nothing like they expected.

And that’s because, in Jesus-of-the-stable, God was declaring a new way of living, and a new way of thinking. Human beings had tended to think of the Universe as a ‘top-down’ place – with God in heaven, dispensing rules and justice from the sky.  But that was a mistake.  Through Jesus, especially the Jesus revealed at the Epiphany, God was re-forming our picture of where God is.  Not in the sky, looking down…but here among us, one of us, part of us.  No longer the ‘top-down’ God of our ancestors; this is the ‘bottom-up’ God.  The Kingdom of God is an upside-down place – where the humble are blessed, and the mighty are brought low – as Mary foresaw in the Magnificat.  It is the Kingdom in which by losing, we win; and by giving, we receive.

But we still fail to recognise this, don’t we?  Even Christians are duped by the promises of power or celebrity.  We find ourselves ‘looking upward’ in hope towards political agendas, or individual politicians.  We trust that the powerful of our nation know what they are doing – when in reality they are just as confused as the rest of us…stumbling in the darkness.  Or we look upward to celebrities, modelling our life-choices, our fashions, our financial decisions on theirs.  But we find no peace there either.  Or we look to great church leaders, great Bishops, prominent Christian writers - or even our parish priests - to save us.  But Father does not always know best – and we church leaders have feet of clay too. 

The ‘bottom-up’ Kingdom of Epiphany teaches us to look for God in the simple and earthy things of life.  The Sky-God is silent – and looking upwards to such a God, or to other powerful beings – will not help us to find ‘him’.  As Moses discovered in front of the burning bush, it is the ground which is holy, not the sky.

When we look for God in a stable, we find ‘him’ in the love of his parents, and the care of a community of Shepherds and Wise Men.  God is found in the love between neighbours and friends.  God is found in the simple sharing of a meal.  ‘He’ is found in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.  ‘He’ is found in a simple act of charity.

The Wise Men had the wisdom to recognise him, and to worship him, in the dirt and squalor of a back-water town. Their pre-conceptions of palaces and earthly royalty fell away; and the new reality of Jesus took their place.

You see, really wise men and women are open to what the Journey will bring. Wise men and women embrace the possibilities for change and growth that arise whenever we put our journey in the hands of God.

I wonder what our journey this year will be like - our journey with God both as individuals, and as a parish.  If we are able to listen to God’s voice, in the middle of peace and prosperity, as well as chaos and darkness, we will find God speaking into our situation.  There is always something to be learned, always some new spiritual growth to take place even...perhaps especially...in the darkest times.

So, my encouragement to you this Epiphany is to be open to the journey.  Make a new year’s resolution, right here, right now, that you will be more alert, more open to what God is doing in your life as a person, and in your life as a church.    Make a pact with God that you will listen to God with greater attentiveness, searching the scriptures, worshipping, giving, and receiving what God has to give you.  If God can lead a bunch of mystics across deserts and mountains to a new Epiphany at the manger, then God can do the same for us.  Amen.

In search of Wisdom at the start of the year

 Texts: Wisdom of Solomon 7:15-22

Matthew 5:13-19

 

On this second day of a new calendar year, the Church invites us (through the Lectionary) to reflect on the life of a giant of the faith, St. Basil the Great.  We are invited to draw wisdom from his struggles and triumphs. Our readings today, from the book of Wisdom and the Gospel according to Matthew, offer us a lens through which to view his extraordinary life. Wisdom 7:15-22 speaks of the gift of wisdom, a spirit that is “intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible.” It is a spirit that permeates all things, a “breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty.” And in Matthew 5:13-19, Jesus calls his followers to be salt and light to the world, upholding the law and teaching others to do likewise. These readings, when placed alongside the life of Basil, illuminate the path of faithful discipleship, particularly in the face of theological controversy.  We also live in a time of great theological controversy, as the church battles over issues of human sexuality, the nature of Christ, the authority of Bishops and Popes, and much more.

Basil lived in a time when the very nature of God was being fiercely debated. The Arian controversy, named after a man called Arius who questioned the full divinity of Christ, threatened to tear the Church apart. Arius and his followers argued that Jesus was a created being, subordinate to God the Father. This challenged the core of Christian belief: the Incarnation, the belief that God became human in Jesus Christ. Basil, along with other great theologians like Athanasius and Gregory of Nazianzus, stood firm in defense of the Nicene Creed, which affirmed that Jesus Christ is “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.”

To understand Basil’s impact, we must place him within his historical context. Born in Caesarea in Cappadocia (modern-day Turkey) around 330 AD, Basil came from a devout and influential Christian family. Basil received an excellent education, studying in Caesarea, Constantinople, and Athens, where he befriended Gregory of Nazianzus. He excelled in rhetoric, philosophy, and astronomy, becoming a highly respected scholar. After a period of asceticism and travel through Egypt, Syria, and Palestine, studying monastic communities, Basil was ordained a priest in 365 AD and later became Bishop of Caesarea in 370 AD. This was a tumultuous time for the Church, with the Arian controversy raging. Basil's intellectual prowess, combined with his deep faith and administrative skills, made him a key figure in defending orthodox Christianity.

Basil’s engagement in this debate wasn't simply an intellectual exercise. It was a matter of life and death, of eternal consequence. He recognized that the question of Christ’s divinity was not a mere technicality, but went to the heart of salvation. If Jesus was not truly God, then how could he bridge the gap between humanity and divinity? How could he offer true reconciliation and redemption? Basil, imbued with the wisdom described in our reading from Wisdom, tirelessly defended the truth of the Gospel. He wrote extensively, preached powerfully, and worked tirelessly to reconcile those who had been led astray by Arian teachings. He was a beacon of light in a time of darkness, salt preserving the true faith from corruption.

The Arian controversy serves as a powerful example of how Christians throughout history have wrestled with the profound mysteries of the Incarnation. It demonstrates that the search for truth is not always easy or straightforward. It often involves difficult conversations, passionate disagreements, and a willingness to re-examine our own assumptions. The wisdom described in Wisdom is not static; it is mobile, keen, and irresistible. It compels us to seek deeper understanding, to grapple with complex questions, and to be open to new insights.

As Progressive Christians, we inherit this legacy of grappling with the great questions of faith. We acknowledge that our understanding of God is always evolving, always deepening. We recognize that the Bible, while divinely inspired, is also a product of its time and culture. We believe that the Holy Spirit continues to guide us into all truth, even today. This means that we must be willing to engage with new information, new perspectives, and new interpretations of scripture. We must be open to modifying our beliefs in light of new evidence and better arguments. This does not mean abandoning the core tenets of our faith, but rather embracing a dynamic and living faith that is constantly being renewed.

Just as Basil and his contemporaries were willing to challenge prevailing assumptions about the nature of God, so too must we be willing to question our own assumptions. We must be willing to have difficult conversations about issues that divide us, such as gender equality, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and social justice. We must be willing to listen to the voices of those who have been marginalized and oppressed. And we must be willing to change our minds when we are presented with compelling evidence.

This willingness to change, to adapt, to grow in wisdom, is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. It is a testament to the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, leading us into all Truth. It is a reflection of the wisdom described in our reading from Wisdom, a wisdom that is “loving the good, keen, irresistible.” It is a way of being salt and light to the world, as Jesus calls us to be in our reading from Matthew.

So, dear friends, as we stand at the threshold of a new year, 2025, can we commit ourselves to this path of growing wisdom? Can we embrace the spirit of inquiry, the spirit of humility, and the spirit of love that characterized the life of Basil the Great?  Can we be open to new understandings of God, new ways of being Church, and new ways of serving the world?  I pray that this new year will be a time of deepening faith, growing understanding, and greater love for all who call themselves followers of Christ. May we all be blessed with the wisdom to discern truth, the courage to speak it, and the love to live it.  Amen.