June 16,2019                 Wisdom                                                  

As I mentioned in our announcements this morning, this week I will be going to the General Synod of the United Church of Christ in Milwaukee. This is the first time that I have attended a General Synod, so I am looking forward to the worship services, the concerts, the presentations and of course the debates over the resolutions of the national church.

Now the resolutions of the United Church of Christ often cause a great stir among it’s membership, and this year I suppose some of them may do the same. Some of the resolutions that are to be debated this year include:  a resolution to abolish private prisons, a resolution to denounce religious bigotry, a resolution to denounce racism and white supremacy, a resolution to condemn separating children from their parents, a resolution to lift up the concerns of the mentally disabled, a resolution to denounce violence, a resolution to support the survivors of rape and sexual assault, and a resolution to recognize opiod addiction as a health epidemic, and a resolution to support climate justice and a green new deal.

As you might have noticed, many of these resolutions came from events in the past couple of years, and these resolutions are meant to present a Christian perspective on these events, and to speak with one voice to our government, our national corporations, and to any other powers that be, on the subjects of these resolutions. Now in our churches, we might not all agree on these resolutions, and indeed, at a General Synod, not all the delegates agree either, but we make and vote on these resolutions, because as followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to speak a Word about who we believe Jesus calls us to be, and we are called to speak a Word that stands out from the worldly voices that create and encourage sin, suffering and death in the world, for the sake of wealth and power.

Which brings us to our gospel lesson this morning. In our gospel lesson Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, and tells his disciples that this Spirit of Truth will guide them, and declare to them the things that are to come. In other words, the Holy Spirit helps Jesus followers to face and how to react to the trials and troubles that they will face. And the most important part of the Holy Spirit, and the way in which we know it is the Holy Spirit, is that it will remind us of how Jesus lived and acted in his life and ministry on earth.

And so that is the attempt that is made, every few years when we gather at General Synod, to view the events of the world and our nation, to listen for the Holy Spirit to speak to us and guide us, and to speak that Word to the World. I can’t say it always works, or that it makes everyone happy, but I can say, that as you read the resolutions, they are faithfully grounded in scripture, and seek to glorify the ministry of Jesus Christ.

One final note: A couple of years ago, I led a bible study of proverbs. If any of you have tried to read the book of proverbs, it seems like one long, long, long, book of short sayings, that at times seem unrelated to one another. But in the end, as we neared the end of the study, we began to realize that wisdom comes to us, not through knowledge, but through behavior.

Now there are all kinds of knowledge that we can gain in the world, some we call good and not good. We can learn knowledge from doing what is right, and we can learn knowledge from doing what is wrong. For example: we can learn knowledge from living a healthy life, or knowledge that comes from living an unhealthy life, knowledge that can be gained from being faithful to others, or unfaithful to others, knowledge that comes from faith, hope and love, or knowledge that comes from fear, despair, and hate. And etc. Wisdom, according to the book of Proverbs is knowledge that comes from living a life that is devoted to God’s will and ways.

The reason for this final note, is that the Holy Spirit acts in much the same way. It reveals God’s wisdom, guidance, and truth to those who are followers of, and live in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And so the good news is, that we have been given access to the wisdom and truth of God, through our faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.