Today, we begin a short two-week sermon series to help us get ready for this new school year.
Just like schools send out “back to school” supply lists and stores encourage us to buy “back to school” clothing, our appointed scripture readings for the next two Sundays offer us important ways that can help us to be ready for this new season of spiritual growth.
Today, our Old Testament reading from I Kings reminds us of a “back to school” item that we don’t always find on a typical school supply list. So, for example, here is a list of supplies from one of our local schools.
2 packages of sharpened pencils, a package of pink erasers, a large box of tissues, 2 boxes of crayons crayons, 2 boxes of crayons markers, 2 packages of large Elmers glue sticks, 1 large bottle of Elmers glue, 1 package of twistable colored pencils, and plastic zipper bags.
These lists vary from building to building and based on grade levels, but I think this is a pretty typical list of supplies for the new school year.
But there’s something very important that is missing in this list that we find in our Old Testament reading today, and that very important item is “wisdom.” We can have all of the boxes of crayons, the glue sticks, and pencils we can buy, but if we don’t include wisdom, our list is far from complete.
Wisdom is a really big deal in the Bible, so much so that we get this story about it here in I Kings, chapter 3, which is the story of when Solomon became the new King of Israel. Solomon’s father has just died and as a son of David, he inherits the throne.
The Lord, knowing that Solomon was new to being a king appeared to him in a dream and said, “Ask what I should give you.” What an offer! The creator of the universe wants to give Solomon whatever he needs in order to be a successful king.
Solomon responds to the Lord by saying that since he is still young and doesn’t have any experience in being a king, what he really needs is, and I quote, “an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”
That is a sentence that describes what wisdom is. Wisdom is having an understanding mind and the ability to discern.
I have a Wesley Study Bible that provides commentary for selected scripture passages and next to this passage, it offers this important piece of information about this scripture reading:
“God calls us to use our minds. God wants us to use the intellectual abilities with which we have been blessed. John Wesley, who taught logic at Oxford University, emphasized the importance of reason. God asks that we further develop our intellectual abilities. Part of what it means to love God is that we develop our minds in ways that deepen and enhance our expression of love.”
This note in my study bible goes on to say, “Solomon developed his reasoning powers in ways that we now think of as setting the standard for wisdom. His example demonstrates that wisdom involves more than memorizing data. Although there is some value in memorizing information, Solomon’s wisdom involves much more than storing up info tidbits. To be wise is to know how to fully integrate the information we have stored with the situation at hand. This integration takes into account the relationship we have with God and others. Wise Solomon sets an example that we ought to emulate.”
The part of that brief commentary that stands out for me is where it says, “To be wise is to know how to fully integrate the information we have stored with the situation at hand.” It’s one thing to be able to memorize information for a test and be able to win as a contestant on Jeopardy, but it’s another thing to know how to use and apply the knowledge and information that we have received.
As we begin a new school year, we will be encountering a lot of different situations and experiences in which we can respond in a variety of ways. As my educator spouse likes to tell the students in her school, “It’s important to make good choices.”
We make good choices by carefully reflecting on the information we have and then we discern what is the best response in that particular situation. This is what Solomon was asking the Lord to give him, a discerning mind.
And this is why our faith is so important. Our faith is what can help us to wisely and lovingly discern how to use the knowledge we have been given and the situations we face so that we can make the best possible choices.
In our Methodist tradition, John Wesley emphasized the importance of the quadrilateral in understanding the scriptures. The four parts of the quadrilateral include scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. The quadrilateral is an important way for us to not just be knowledgeable about the Bible, but to also be wise and discerning in how we interpret it.
So we begin with scripture but have you ever noticed that the Bible is not a simple answer book where you can just turn to the answers? Sometimes things seem straight forward like the Ten Commandments where it says “Do not kill.”
Now, for sure on the surface, that says we shouldn’t go out and kill people, but what if your life is being threatened? Or what about the commandment, “Do not covet.” That sounds straight forward but when does admiring end and coveting begin?” And then we have the commandment about not working on the sabbath. What kind of work isn’t allowed on the sabbath?
So this is why we have the quadrilateral. To help us discern how to apply our knowledge of the scriptures that were originally written during a particular situation and time in history to how we should apply that same scripture today.
Which brings us back to the quadrilateral in helping us to discern. We begin with the scriptures, but then we have the second part of the quadrilateral which is tradition. Tradition is how people of the Jewish and Christian faith have interpreted scripture in their particular contexts. We can learn from them and see how their interpretation might inform us in our particular setting.
After tradition, we have the third part of the quadrilateral which is reason. And that was what my bible study commentary which I read for you earlier was emphasizing where it said, “Part of what it means to love God is that we are to develop our minds in ways that deepen or enhance our expressions of love.”
Reason is what helps us to not take a scripture passage out of context. We use our minds to reflect on who wrote it, to whom they were writing or speaking, and for what purpose. That’s part of what it means to use discernment and to be wise.
And the fourth part of the quadrilateral is “experience.” We reflect on our experiences with our understanding of a scripture passage and we also consider other people’s experiences with that same scripture.
This is why group bible study and small groups are so important. They give us the opportunity to see our faith from other people’s experiences and perspectives. What a gift it is to share our faith experiences with each other.
And then, just this final thought in what it means to include wisdom and discernment in our school supplies list for this year. In additional to the quadrilateral approach to scripture, John Wesley also emphasized these three simple rules in living out our faith.
And here they are: 1) Do no harm 2) Do good, and 3) Practice the spiritual disciplines of our faith. Every back to school supply list should include those three essential items as well. 1) Do no harm 2) Do good, and 3) Practice the spiritual disciplines of our faith.
Having a wise and discerning mind should really be at the top of our school supply list, even above having crayons, markers, and pencils. We are told in our Old Testament reading that God was pleased when Solomon asked God to give him wisdom.
But notice that God then reminded Solomon that wisdom isn’t just something we receive once, but it is something that also requires our effort, careful attention, and participation. We never really fully arrive at being a wise and discerning person. And so, we need to keep working at it, knowing that with God’s grace, we can grow in becoming who God is calling us to be.
I was talking to a college student last year. He was volunteering around our church building and helping where needed.
We got to talking one day and I asked him, “So, Alan, what led you to come to our church and volunteer your time when you could be studying or hanging out with your friends?”
And he said, “During a meeting with my school advisor, she told me that my grades were great and that everything looked really good with my course work. But then she said to me, ‘You are missing something really important though. Your file just tells me that you know how to get good grades. I would recommend that you start volunteering in the community here to show that you have more to offer than just what you know.’
And he said to me. ‘So that’s why I decided to spend my time here at the church. To give back and make a positive difference.’”
Here’s a high GPA student on schedule to complete his degree, who is willing to listen to good advice and act on it, who is wanting to make a positive difference in the community, and who is a Steelers fan. He is wise beyond his years.
As we begin this new school year, let’s make sure we add wisdom to our back to school supplies. May it be at the top of our list.
Back to School Supplies
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