Looking Forward to October 26, 2014

The Scripture Reading this week is 1 Kings 3:4-28

The Sermon title is The Gift of Wisdom

Early Thoughts:  What is wisdom?  What makes one wise?

Early in his reign Solomon is commanded by God to make a request.  "Ask what I should give you" God says.  Is it an offer or a test?  Apparently a test--one that Solomon passes.  Solomon asks for "an understanding mind" instead of wealth or power, and this so pleases God that in addition to wisdom Solomon is promised "riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you".

But what is wisdom?

The second half of our passage is one of the stories that purports to show Solomon's wisdom in action.  And it is a story many of us have heard many times over the years.  A version of it shows up in a Cosby Show episode (doesn't work there) and another version of it shows up in an episode of Murdoch Mysteries (with more profitable results).

Wisdom is threatening to cut a baby in half?

Dictionary.com defines wisdom as:
the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.

So wisdom is not necessarily about knowing all the facts.  That is knowledge.  But many of us know people with lots of knowledge but little wisdom.

Wisdom is something deeper.  Wisdom is aided by facts and knowledge but wisdom allows/helps/enables us to make best use of those facts.  Wisdom comes from an ability to see deeper, to put the pieces together, possibly in a wholly different order, and see the picture as a whole.  In some ways wisdom comes from age and experience.

Where do we find wisdom in the world around us?   Do we always recognize it at the time?  OR do we sometimes look back and see/understand the wisdom that was shared with us decades before--that we thought was really weird at the time?
--Gord