Wisdom’s Gift of Insight

A sermon preached with the people of Church of Our Saviour Episcopal in Akron, Ohio.

In this morning’s reading from Proverbs, Wisdom invites us to a banquet. Personified as a woman and as a host, Wisdom makes all the arrangements, preparing food and wine, making the place comfortable and ready.

But why does she go to all this trouble to make everything so perfect and attractive? It’s a free meal, after all.

I think it might have to do with the way Wisdom’s gift of insight can land like a sucker punch.

Because Wisdom isn’t the same thing as intelligence or academic achievement. Wisdom is, as the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney puts it, “heart-and-hand knowledge.”

When we receive the gift of God’s Wisdom, we feel it in our hearts. We feel it in our bodies.

And sometimes, that feeling isn’t so good. So, a nice banquet with some good food and drink may help, just a bit.

On Monday, “the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific body convened by the United Nations, released a major new report concluding that the world cannot avoid some devastating impacts of climate change, but that there is still a narrow window to keep the devastation from getting even worse.”[i]

Nothing in this report comes as a surprise, really. The effects of climate change have been a long time coming and are, increasingly, a reality of everyday life. I think it’s safe to say most of us, intellectually, have been aware of the worsening situation for a long time.

But for me, something about this report felt less like classroom learning and more like an invitation from Wisdom. I felt a squeeze in my heart when I read the summary of what my intellect really already knew.

God’s Wisdom is like that, I think.

She speaks to our bodies. We feel her truth in our bones. And, that feeling can hurt. At least at first.

It can cause us to freeze in place, or even collapse. To curl up under the covers.

I did some of that this week, for sure. I thought about the current effects of climate change we’re feeling right here and right now – through wild weather, and wildfires. I thought about the inequity of climate change – how the impact of those of us responsible for the most emissions is felt by those responsible for the least, notably in the global south. I thought about our young people and future generations, and how their lives will be affected by the care (or lack of care) we showed. I thought it all felt too big. An insurmountable problem.

But experts – scientists in the field – urged people not to succumb to that painful feeling. Not to focus entirely on the grim picture or our own guilt. Not to stay under the covers. But to remember the point is: there is time to make a difference.

Because hopelessness is what will lead to the worst-case scenario.

NASA climate scientist Kate Marvel said, “I’ve been incredibly annoyed by the glib ‘welp-we’re-doomed’ coverage this report has been getting. This is a problem with a solution! With many solutions!”

Global change scientist Simon Lewis said, "Don't despair. Get angry and get active. Every extra additional bit of warming matters, so what we do matters."

God knows we tend to freeze and hide under the covers in response to Wisdom’s teachings.

And I think that may be why God finds ways to tell us over and over, generation to generation: Be not afraid. Fear not. You are not helpless. I am with you.

We can flex our power as consumers and choose sustainable companies and energy-efficient and second-hand products.

We can insulate our spaces.

We can reduce our driving .

And, most importantly, we can support political candidates who understand the urgency of the climate crisis and policies that lead to reduced carbon emissions worldwide.

And I want to pause here for a moment in case this is starting to sound, well, preachy. There’s a big blue SUV in the parking lot that belongs to me. I probably have more work to do than most. 

Columnist Rebecca Solnit drew on theological language in reflecting on the climate report. She wrote, “One of the seldom-stressed aspects of what climate demands of us is that it is essentially a mandate to build a better world, a cleaner, more equitable, more cooperative world – cooperative with nature as well as with each other. The status quo cannot continue: the paths forward are, more or less, heaven or hell.”

This should be familiar language to us.

We Christians know about this vision of a new heaven and a new earth. We know about the everlasting life –God’s Kingdom – that Jesus invites us to in this morning’s Gospel reading. We know we are called to break bread at Wisdom’s banquet and, having gained that “heart-and-hand knowledge,” not to hide under the covers,  but to “live, and walk in the way of insight” that embodies God’s vision of justice, peace and safety for all people and, indeed, all of creation.

[i] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/climate/un-climate-report-takeaways.html