Strive to Be Wise

The following video transcript has been lightly edited

Wisdom is a virtue that is sought after by every major religion in the world and all of the different ancient philosophies. And if someone were to ask you, do you want to be a wise person? My guess is you'd say, yes, I'd like to be wise. When we think of King Solomon, he's given the opportunity to gain anything he wants. And he asks for wisdom.

Wisdom is something that when we have it, it shapes us. It allows us to be the kind of people that we hope to be. And so today what I want to do is I want to define wisdom for you. I want to tell you how to seek it, how to cultivate it, and the ways it will shape you. I am going to do that through a story that Jesus tells his disciples.

And it's about some bridesmaids and a bridegroom. So there's been a wedding, and it's a big party, and the bridesmaids are supposed to go and wait. See, in the ancient world, for a wedding like this, it was almost like a big, progressive dinner, and people went from space to space, and so they were waiting for the bridegroom to show up.

Now, you and I, we go and we do everything on time, but if you've ever been to a different culture, what they call a warm culture, time is not as much of a strict parameter as it is for us. And so waiting is a part of it. So these bridesmaids go out and they're waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. And in the meantime, they fall asleep.

And then they hear that the bridegroom has arrived. And so the party is supposed to continue. The procession with lit torches is supposed to happen, but there's a problem. Five of the bridesmaids have forgotten to bring some extra oil. And so they can't relight their torches. So they say, hey, to the other five, hey, can I borrow some of yours?

And the other five say, no, no, no, you can't do that because then all of our torches will go out. And this is a wedding. This is a wedding celebration. This is super important. This is not the kind of day that you skip on the details. And so they tell the five who have forgotten, hey, you should go to a shop and buy more oil.

So the five go to a shop and buy more oil. And then they come back and they find themselves locked out of the party. They're locked out of the party because they didn't pay attention to the details. They're locked out of the party and they've now perhaps created some embarrassment for the family who are trying to celebrate this big day. They lacked wisdom.

So what is wisdom? Well, in this sense, wisdom is something that you have to seek. Wisdom is something that takes a little bit of prudence, a little bit of thoughtfulness. But in the greater context of the Scriptures, what we see is that wisdom is the pursuit of justice, mercy, and faith.

And in fact, this is what Jesus says to the Pharisees, except what he says to them is that you haven't been pursuing justice, mercy, and faith, and instead you've been arguing over how much of your spices you should tithe. And so you've missed it. You've missed the point.

But wisdom is something that doesn't just show up. We have to seek it. We have to go find it. And the way we find it is to pursue matters of faith, justice, and mercy. So that's wisdom. To humbly pursue mercy, justice, and faith.

And what we'll find, when we have that in our life, as we pursue it, as we give ourselves over to it, it grows in us. And so then we become more and more wise because that's what we're offering ourselves to.

So how do we cultivate it? Well, we have to be people who are thoughtful. We have to discern. We have to do a little pre planning. And this is what we see from the five wise bridesmaids. They have thought through like, oh, this is a really important day. I should try to make sure that I have everything together so I can celebrate and serve the family well.

Where the other five haven't really considered it. They haven't been thoughtful about the people involved. They haven't been thoughtful and discerning about what preparations need to be made. And so a wise person is thoughtful and discerning and that takes some time, some energy and some effort.

I was really thankful of them when the first time I went to Ghana, I went with a friend who was wise and discerning. We went on a unique trip and it was just the two of us. And so we ate in homes a lot. And on one particular night, we had grass cutter stew, which is basically like a woodchuck in a stew. And it was a community bowl, and we were all dipping together, and so the next day I woke up and I was really sick. We drive four hours up into the, north country, and it's beautiful.

But it's hot, and I feel so bad. When we got back, I just was so sick. But thankfully, my friend, he was wise, and discerning and thoughtful. And so he had made sure to bring some extra antibiotics, some heavy duty antibiotics, so I could take those. And by the next day, I was well. And so the reminder to us is that it's for us to be wise, we need to be thoughtful and discerning as well.

This is where I think the practice of prayer is so important. We see Jesus model this. Jesus goes out times on his own and just takes some time for reflection and prayer. I think if we want to be wise people, we have to do similar kinds of habits. We have to have some time for reflection and prayer, reflect on ourselves, reflect on the world around us.

Hey, what is God up to? What is God calling me to? How might I live in a way that reflects justice, mercy, and faith more fully? At work, at home, with my kids, with my family, and ask ourselves those questions. Wisdom is the humble pursuit of justice, mercy, and faith.

How do we cultivate it? Well, we cultivate it by being thoughtful and discerning. Thoughtful and reflective. We, we want to pray. We want to be people who pray and connect with God and connect with one another and consider and be intentional.

And so the last part is like, how does it shape us? Well, it'll shape us in this way. If we're pursuing wisdom, that means we're giving our attention to it. We're giving our attention to justice, mercy, and faith. And so it'll shape the way we act. It'll shape the way we think. You know, a lot of times in life, we aren't really paying attention. And this is sort of the closing idea to this story that Jesus is telling his disciples.

Like, hey, pay attention. In this case, he's saying, pay attention. God is up to something new. Israel has not lived up to its identity to be the people who reflect God's grace and mercy in the world. And so I, Jesus, as the Son of Man, have come. And I will die. And I will resurrect, and I will reflect and show this new path, this new way. And so pay attention. Part of being wise is paying attention, so you and I, we need to pay attention.

So my question for you is, are you just going along with your life? Whatever sort of comes next, you just do that? Or are you trying to be wise? Are you being thoughtful and discerning? Are you trying to pay attention and say, okay, where might I lean into justice and mercy and faith?

And how might that shape me? Because what we give our attention to, that's where our life goes. And so to be a wise person, we want to give our attention to pursuing wisdom so that we too can experience wisdom and experience the pleasantness as talked about in the Proverbs, that wisdom brings with it pleasant paths. And that's my hope for you and my hope for all of us.

Hey, I hope you have a great week. We will be back in Matthew 25 next week talking a little bit more about how we can pay attention and be thoughtful and purposeful. But this time it'll be looking at our gifts. How do we share the gifts we have with the world?

Thanks. Have a great week.