"Share everything. Play fair. Don't hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess."
"Remember to LOOK."
"Live a balanced life - learn some and think some, and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday some."
"Be aware of wonder."
These are all bits of wisdom that Robert Fulghum writes about in his book, "All I ever need to know I learned in Kindergarten."
If you've ever seen or read his book, you know that the simple wisdom of carrying through on these rules for living do lead to joy. Sometimes however these simple things seem too, well, simple, to be true wisdom. We think in our adult way that true wisdom needs to be more sophisticated, more complicated, because our society is great about making things complicated. However, as Mr. Fulghum points out, if we are paying attention, we have had an opportunity to learn a lot of wisdom in our lives. The question is, are we living into the wisdom God has given us?
We hear about living into God's wisdom in both the Old Testament and the Epistle readings for today. The Proverbs passage talks about living into wisdom and what that looks like from the outside. The passage from James talks about living into wisdom in community.
The community the author of the letter of James was writing to definitely had some conflicts going on. The author has heard about this situation and is writing to admonish them to work together. He reminds them of their common values and life together, their lives centered in Christ. He reminds them that when they put themselves first they invite in evil and malice, bitterness, anger, and sin. He mentions murder, we don't know if someone had actually been murdered, it seems like an extreme example, but people's lives are obviously being affected by the conflicts. Instead, he wants them to live into the wisdom they have been taught. They have been living into the knowledge and social hierarchy of the society around them., but they should be living into the wisdom of Christ taught to them.
The age old saying about "knowledge is power" is true in some ways. Knowledge, or factual information, may give us a job or wealth, but it won't give us joy or meaning. Wisdom can give us joy and meaning.
There are lots of wisdom teachers out there, and many are seen as strange by the larger society, because the values of wisdom have nothing to do with the greedy reaching for wealth and power that is done by our society. While Jesus was first and foremost the Son of God, an outpouring of love and grace, Jesus was also a wisdom teacher, who taught his disciples lessons and stories about the most important aspects of our lives.
Like the community the author of the letter of James was writing to, we have a lot of conflicts and disputes going on around us right now. In our country, in our community, in our church. We are conflicted about vaccines and other people's health. We are conflicted about laws and what constitutes a bodily right. We are conflicted about the best way forward for our communities. These are conflicts, which when we get bogged down in our own opinions and view points, can be destructive for relationships. However, when we apply the wisdom of Christ centered in love and value-based covenants, actions present themselves for building up the larger group. The wisdom of learning how to play well with others, take turns, and share, is all wisdom that can help us resolve the conflicts around us without anyone getting hurt.
Each of us has a role to play in the conflicts around us. What we do matters and when we don't live into the wisdom Christ has given us, we struggle with what is the right way forward. Thankfully, we can go back to the scriptures, to Jesus' wisdom-filled teachings to remind ourselves of what it looks like to follow God. Jesus, like Robert Fulghum's kindergarten teacher, sometimes has very simple wisdom. At least, simple in word, though not always simple in deed. Caring for our neighbors, loving God, not worrying about tomorrow... easier said than done Jesus. Yet, living by this simple wisdom from God does change the world for the better.
As my penultimate sermon here at St. John's, here is some of the wisdom I have learned in the last five years.
Be your colorful self. No one else can be you.
Give everyone some grace. Being a whole person isn't easy.
Pray - every day, every hour, every time something happens and every time something doesn't happen.
Be grateful every day.
Move your body - a long walk (and that is subjective to what is long for you) can cure the soul.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
Make sure to say thank you.
Follow Jesus. It isn't easy, but it is worth every step of the journey.
Amen.
