Grace and Wisdom (Lectionary Proper 15B)

References: 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-15; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58

For three of these passages it is quite easy to find a common theme – wisdom.  If you go a step further, all of those passages talk about wisdom in action.  For the remaining passage, the gospel, one may be tempted to preach a sermon on communion, which is not a bad idea.  But don’t give up on truly connecting that sermon with the other three passages.

In John 6:51-58, Jesus gets down in the mud and the blood and the dirt and works with us.  The idea of eating his flesh and drinking his blood is a shocking one designed to emphsize to us taking in Jesus.  This grittiness is the ultimate expression of grace in action.  In communion we not only experience grace (in Wesleyan theology, as a means of grace), but we see it in action, and are reminded of it.

We have a great deal of trouble comprehending grace.  There are two opposing reasons for most of our difficulty with the concept of grace.  On the one hand, we have a hard time receiving something for nothing, something which we know we have not earned.  Note here also that this receiving is not one for the lazy; grace is demanding at the same time as it is free.  In opposition to this is our pride that makes us want to find something, somewhere, that gives us a bargaining position.

But if we go back to the very fundamental doctrine of creation, it is God who is at the foundation of everything.  We really don’t want to admit it, but God didn’t have to create us.  He didn’t have to grant us any dignity at all even when he did.  He could have created us as anything he wanted.  He could have made us as lowly or as great as he desired.  But no matter what he did, we would owe it all to him, no exceptions, no mitigating hook on which to hang our pride.  In this sense grace is blazingly obvious and yet very difficult to accept.  We don’t want to be contingent; we want to be self-made.  But if we believe the concept of creation we should believe the concept of grace. Even where i believe in choice, that choice is simply God’s gift to me.

So how does this grace and this communion expressed in John relate to the other passages?  Well, as the Psalm tells us explicitly, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  I’ve written a couple of times recently about the fear of the Lord.  There is reverence, there is awe, yes.  But there is also a godly variety of honest fear.  But it is this fear that brings us to grace.  Realizing who God is will frighten the human soul and make us fear losing our sense of independence, our sense of self-worth apart from that given us by God.  So when Psalm 111 reminds us that wisdom is all about God, he’s reminding us of God’s grace.  God gives wisdom because he is willing to get dirty with us in Jesus Christ.  In 1 Kings 3, when Solomon prays for wisdom, he recognizes that there is only one place to get it.

In Ephesians, the story becomes more explicit.  Do you ever read the rest of the chapter or a couple of chapters that contain the lectionary passages?  In Ephesians 5:1-2 Paul connects what he has said before to the practical results he will discuss in chapters 5 & 6.  What is it about?  Be imitators of God.  What do we imitate?  God’s giving, God’s grace!  So when Paul tells us to live wisely he’s talking about the way in which grace works itself out in our lives.

Now many seem to think that Paul is all about cheap grace and no works.  We balance things off by playing James against Paul.  But Paul has no problem with works, as long as they are placed where they belong.  You cannot begin to live a Christian life until you recognize God’s grace at the foundation of it all.  The fear of the Lord results in understanding his grace (perfect love casts out fear-1 John 4:18), and God’s grace works in your life.  The result looks a great deal like wisdom, because it is.  It’s God’s wisdom working in your life.

Our problem in reading Paul is that we don’t read all his letters, and we don’t read all of each one.  Paul is all about grace, but he doesn’t regard grace merely as a get out of hell free card.  Grace is powerful.  Grace works in your life.  Grace changes you.  God’s grace of course, as the Holy Spirit lives in you.

Communion, you see, can be the beginning of wisdom, provided that we clearly hear the challenging language Jesus uses in John 6:51-58.