Where true wisdom is to be found John 6: 51 59; 1 Kings 3:3 12 I am almost embarrassed to tell you where I spend my time two weeks ago. I was at camp singing crazy camp songs with the kids Their favorite was Pharoah, Pharoah, O baby let your people go It s foolish I know. I always imagined that one day I would be above singing Silly kids songs at camp that I would be this wise old pastor Who could share my wisdom with others. That s what I imagine wisdom to be wise saying from an old man And then I read scripture and it says: For God s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. (I Cor. 1: 25) Maybe, just maybe those silly kids songs with their funny actions That describe a God who can use an ordinary Hebrew man Like Moses to force Pharoah to release his people Are revealing God s wisdom to us in foolishness. Perhaps, just perhaps the wisdom that the child Solomon asked for And that God granted to him was the wisdom to know Good and bad, right and wrong, regardless of what the world might say.
Do you suppose that all Jesus talk about drinking his blood And eating his flesh is not just the raving of a wild lunatic But actually the foolishness of God which is wise indeed. Do you suppose that underneath this graphic language, Jesus is actually challenging his disciples then and us today, Not just to let God s message go in one ear and out the other But to ingest it into our very bodies and lives so that It might feed our souls and drive our earthly actions And offer eternal salvation: Remember Jesus said: One who eats this bread will live forever. I don t think Jesus was using this language just for shock value, Although it would have shocked & offended the first disciples. Drinking blood and eating flesh was absolutely prohibited then and now. But Jesus was using this language because it is the only language That fully communicates what the real, living breathing Incarnation of God is all about. Jesus is talking about the stuff of truth true food, true drink. Jesus is not talking about Wonderbread and Kool Aid but that which will nourish our very lives, our faith, our soul.
And the punch line is: He said all these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. (Jn. 6: 59) I ve been to the synagogue in Capernaum. I took the picture on our bulletin cover standing next to Tom Holt and Cliff Cain on our trip last year. This is the place where people gathered each Sabbath to sit At the feet of the teacher and learn about God, be immersed in God. Jesus sat on the Moses seat, the teachers seat in this place and taught And the people heard the same words that you heard this morning, And they were uncomfortable with the graphic imagery But in Jesus teaching, in his life, death and resurrection They learned that the living God had come down, And lived with them and died for them. And offered his death as a sacrifice for them And a communion meal for their salvation. And the good news is that you don t have to travel all the way to Capernaum To hear the words of Jesus, to sit at his feet and learn of God s love And share in the salvation God offers in Jesus Christ. That offering is available for you right here and right now. And like young Solomon that wisdom of God is available for children too, right here.
Today we become an extension of the Capernaum synagogue and the teaching of Jesus Christ as strange and counter cultural as they were back then they are still strange, haunting words and yet they tell the truth of Jesus incarnational presence and atoning sacrifice for each one of us. We are a place where the bread of Christ is broken And the blood of Christ is poured out for our sins. We are the place where people, young and old alike gather To worship God and to study God s word. We are the place where the foolishness of God takes precedence Over the wisdom of the world because the wisdom of the world Seems to lead us into war and hatred and starvation, Whereas the foolishness of God leads to sharing a couple Loaves of bread and some fish with 5000 people; The foolishness of God leads us to love our enemies And to forgive them; to welcome the stranger as friend; The foolishness of God leads us to spend time teaching silly Christian songs to little kids at camp for a whole week and it s worth it! I know that because when I got back to church the first morning I received a call asking if I would do a funeral for a 17 year old girl who died in a car wreck.
She was the great granddaughter of one of our members Jerry Couchman. These are the occasions where even pastor s struggle to know what to say. Nothing made sense, none of the world s normal wisdom seemed To ring true It s be ok ; tomorrow will be better ; don t worry, Nothing made any sense in the face of this tragedy So instead I relied on the foolishness of God. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever and the bread I give For the life of the world is my flesh. (John 6: 51) I m not even sure what this fully means but I knew that this girl Elizabeth was a person of faith. I knew that she was very involved with her youth group in Holt Summit. I knew that Jesus Christ had touched her life and that the promises of God Were for her, just as they are for you and me. I knew that she had travelled to Baltimore and Dallas to share The gospel in skits with Teen Talent. I knew she loved dancing and singing with her friends in youth group And I was glad for this foolishness of God because in that foolishness was the assurance of God s wisdom and God s promise that: Whoever believes in God though they die yet shall they live, And whosoever liveth and believeth in God shall never die.
This if foolishness from the world s point of view but these are the words That we clung to at the funeral and they are the truth of our faith. This is why we have Sunday School and Youth Group and Bible Study and Presbyterian Children s Fellowship and Confirmation class So that our children who live in a sometimes scary world Where accidents do happen and people do die Might know the eternal promise of Jesus Christ: Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them And the one who eats this bread will live forever. We are proud to offer Sunday School for over 98 children and this fall. We are thankful for the amazing teachers who volunteer to teach them And for the crazy, hard to believe message of eternal life That God offers in Jesus Christ it may seem like foolishness But it is the wisdom of God. So we close with a foolish camp song that conveys a powerful truth. Lord I lift your name on high, Lord I love to sing your praises. I m so glad you re in my life, I m so glad you came to save us. You came from heaven to earth, to show the way; from the earth to the cross, our debt to pay; from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky, Lord I lift your name on high. Amen