wisdom and life

Proverbs 9:1-6, Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6: 51-58

We all want to live a long and happy life right?  We celebrate when people live well into their 90’s and we mourn when people die young or in the prime of their life.  But then we also parrot the saying “Its not the years of your life that matter but the life in your years.”  Ultimately we all want to have eternal life.  We want to be immortal. 

I see it all the time as I walk around museums, college campuses and even while I am driving.  Exhibits, buildings, streets all named after people in an attempt to honor people and have their legacy live on forever.  But yet, buildings fall, roads are renamed and museums are updated and rebranded.  So even those who wanted to live at least forever in our memories are sometimes forgotten. 

But what about the life we have been given now?  We all know people who lived a long time and were miserable, grouchy, always complaining and never seemed to be happy.  Then we also know others who always seem up beat and optimistic, finding the positive in any situation and giving their lives in devotion to things that matter. 

That is the life we want to live right?  We want to live a full and satisfied life.  Even Paul directs us in our second scripture lesson today that we are to “Be careful how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time.”

We hear people say things like this all the time- live life to the fullest, make every day count, live every day as if it is your last.  All nice sentiments and good rules of thumb to live by but what does it mean and how do we do it with wisdom?  How do we know if we are living the life we are supposed to live and what are the rules, directions, lessons I need to learn and follow to have this wonderful life?

A quick search of Amazon.com reveals that there are at least 53,295 different self-help books, all telling you that they have the answer you are looking for.  With titles like: “7 steps for radical change”, “healing your emotional self”, self-esteem: discover the fool proof, fully actionable solutions”, “Start creating your dream life today”, “100 ways to be a better man”, “10 life transformation rules”, “100 paramount techniques to master any skill in one day”, and “change your life today with positive thinking and happiness”- you would think we could all find our path to happiness and fulfillment.  It is just that easy right? 

All we need to do is spend $20 and read the words of someone who says they have it all together and have the wisdom we need.  Now, I am not saying that these books don’t have some nugget of truth in them and I fully agree with one of the commentaries I read this week that “the mark of maturity is to acknowledge that there is always room for progress and improvement.” (Aitken)  Sure we could all live a better life- be more patient, more forgiving, more kindhearted, more generous etc.

The challenging part to finding and experiencing this wisdom is not simply reading these books; it is discerning what it really means to have a fulfilled life and who or what has the key to that guidance for each of us.  Sometimes we can read books like this and nod our head in agreement- finishing a book and thinking well, they didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know.  Or you read 5 books each telling you how to be successful and happy and they each have different and often conflicting answers.  It takes wisdom and discernment to figure out who to listen to.

Wisdom and discernment are tricky things.  We may think someone is wise because their smiling face is on the cover of hundreds of books and they make more money than we can ever dream of having. 

We may pick a guide or suggestion because it seems that it will be the quickest or easiest way to get what we want.  Of course we want to Lose 50 lbs in 2 days!  But then, we realize that what we really gained is something that takes up room on a bookshelf and actually added on weight instead of taking it off.  Instead of success we once again feel rejection and failure.  If it is so easy than why doesn’t it work for me?

Other times, we experience what seems to be horrible situation in our life: family or financial tragedy, emotional breakdowns and the like and no matter how much we try to avoid it, like taking bad tasting medicine- in the end we realize that we are better off because we lived through a challenging or simply distasteful situation.   We are wiser, stronger, braver, more faithful because of what we’ve been through.

Often what the world teaches us is good, right and wise, is indeed bad for the soul. At the same time, it is often the pain, challenges and conflict that make us better and stronger. 

The gospel of John, is a little hard to swallow- both literally and figuratively.  So much so that it not only turned off his opponents but it made some of the people who had been following Jesus leave too.  It was contrary to popular belief.  It went against their understanding of literal dietary laws but also their understanding of who God is.  And, it raises the question of what it means to have eternal life and what it means to have life in general. 

We are also told by John that Jesus came so that we could have life and have it abundantly.  Jesus wants us to have that same fulfilled life that we seek but what Jesus knows is that achieving that life comes with no effort on our part.  The work has already been done in our creation and through the life and death of Jesus himself.  The desire to live a joy filled life is real and true and good but we often go about getting it the wrong way.

We often seek self-help books because we want a quick fix.  There is something we don’t like about ourselves and we want to change it but in the process of pointing out all the things that we don’t like about ourselves we are also trying to fit into the mold of what the world thinks will make us perfect, successful or fulfilled.  This is not what God and scripture tells us will make us whole and perfect.

We forget that we are already made in God’s image and that we are not perfected by what we do but what Jesus did for us.  Jesus wants us to strive after living our lives better and seeking fulfillment but he wants us to find it at the true source, him, not our own efforts.

It is hard to see the fulfillment and perfection of Christ in ourselves and in our world when we look around the time and place where we live.  We hear stories of a teacher murdered by her own son, terrorists using chemical warfare on innocent people, planes that fall out of the sky, riots in the streets where people wonder if black, brown, young, old, gay, straight or transgendered lives matter and we struggle to see where this perfect creation is. 

So, instead of looking to the source we, ask: what self-help guru, police chief or politician can lead us to fix this damaged and broken world?  And then maybe we ask the question- what does it matter if my life is perfect and fulfilled- if the world around me is falling apart?  How can I be happy when so many are suffering?

There is always a struggle to find this balance between learning and doing.  Being fulfilled and fulfilling our call to be in communion with others.  The African term Umbutu contains the concept that we can never be fully human by ourselves.  We are by nature interdependent and communal and it is only when we reach out and care for others that we can be fully who God created us to be.  (Feasting on the Word)

This life, this wisdom, this fulfillment, this love of Jesus is free and available to all who desire it.  But it is more than just learning about who Jesus is.  It is more than just accepting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.  It is more than just reading scripture and believing.  And, it is more than just doing what is “right” by the world’s standards.  It is about reading scripture together, learning from both old and young, discussing and discerning God’s plan for us in this world at this time then deciding- Are we willing to apply what we are learning? 

This is where real wisdom and discernment arises.  We all like to think we are right but it is in being willing to listen to the opinions of others, discovering a new perspective and sharing what we know with others that we gain a deeper and wiser understanding of life.  It is in living, learning and serving together that we discover what it is like to be loved by God and to love as Jesus loves.

We can have every building in a town named after us but eventually they will be torn down to build new ones.  We can have millions in the bank or give millions to charity feeding every person in any given country and still feel lost.  It isn’t just about having purpose or even immortality in this world.  It is about discerning, praying and living the life that God has called us to live. 

Paul, tries to teach us this way of living.  Spend time in prayer, worshiping and sharing your joys with others.  Fill your life, not with things that mask pain or illicit a false sense of joy and security but fill your life with the Holy Spirit.  Be mindful of all the ways that your life has been blessed; for life, faith, family, and community. 

True wisdom, true fulfillment, true living only happens when we are willing to be changed by what we have learned.  When we are willing to look beyond the flashiness of quick fixes and how to guides to the true source of life and wisdom herself; Jesus Christ.