Eat and be wise!

 Proverbs 9: 1-6;    John 6: 51-58

This week at the Pembrokeshire County Show provided a great chance to think about how, as churches, we reach out to people.

For the first time, this year, the Church in Wales contributed to the cost of the tent and we were blessed with a great mixture of different ministers of all denominations dropping in. 

Together, we were able to welcome people from churches and chapels across the county and beyond, coming into the tent to enjoy refreshments, conversation, a chance for prayer, communion together – and on Thursday shelter from torrential rain!

 

I managed a few quick walks around the show and as ever alongside the stock, crafts and horse competitions, the Show stalls showed a great variety of shapes and sizes (and wind – resistance).

There were large and small marquees, trailers, gazebos, horse boxes, and at least one bus and one boat! 

But in every case the approach was the same - to offer a sense of ‘welcome’. We all wanted people to come in and talk to us, share with us, and in some cases, buy from us.

I had to smile to myself as I looked around, because I knew our reading for today was the part of Proverbs where Wisdom is setting out her stall.

 

What is Wisdom offering her passers-by? How can we become wise? The book of Proverbs is quite straightforward in its message – people should choose wisdom not foolishness. In this section wisdom is personified as someone “setting out the stall” to get people to come in, join wisdom and grow in wise learning.  

 

Wisdom wants us to know that she is better than Foolishness – if Lady Wisdom had a banner over her stall it would read “choose wisdom: and get some here”.

 

The book of Proverbs tells us that Wisdom has built her house, prepared meat & wine and set the table and then invites everyone to come in and eat and drink with her, Wisdom, and learn to be wise themselves.

 

Later on in the chapter we hear how Foolishness will offer people stolen bread and water – but Wisdom is offering a rich feast of wine and meat.

The invitation to all people – however simple or humble they might be -  is to eat & drink with wisdom and so learn more about how to be wise.

 

We know that Jesus often sat to eat and drink with people. Jesus is criticised by some because he came ‘eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners’. 

But this is rather like Lady Wisdom’s offer – Jesus is inviting all kinds of people in to eat with him and showing anyone who will listen how to live lovingly and wisely.

 

In the section of John’s gospel which we’ve been looking at over the last few weeks in the lectionary, Jesus tells people that they are welcome to eat and drink with him.

Jesus begins by feeding the 5,000 with bread & fish. 

Then he explains that he is the bread of life – sent down from heaven by God the Father. His body will be given to people as a gift – his followers should expect not just to eat and drink with Jesus, but to eat and drink him.

 

The disciples of Jesus will move from learning to appreciate Jesus’ presence next to them, to then learning to go one more step and receive Jesus into them. Whenever they eat bread & wine and remember Jesus they will be allowing Jesus to guide them, in wisdom, from the inside. 

Whenever we receive communion we do this – we take the life of Jesus into our bodies and then travel out into our lives with his love within us wherever we go.

 

We can accept the invitation to ‘eat and be wise’.

As we share in the life of Jesus we can all grow in a wisdom which is about far more than learning a list of facts about something. 

We learn and grow in wisdom together as a Christian community: just this week in the tent at the show someone commented that we never stop learning throughout our lives as Christians, and that we have so much to share with each other and learn from each other.

 

We all have wisdom to offer to those around us. I know some of you here have learned a lot in your life about how to care for other people  - with simple phone calls, checking up; others are gifted in smiles and encouragement – I know because I’ve been on the receiving end of lot of those; we have the practical problem-solvers – whether it’s about whipping up a chapel tea or getting repairs sorted out; we have the ones who are good at the regular praying that helps so many people; and the people with an eye for turning a bunch of flowers into a display of God’s goodness… and other gifts besides.

At this point of the summer it seems we’re surrounded by examples of high achievement: which might leave us feeling inspired, but a little daunted.

We had the Football Euros, then the Olympic Games, and we still have the Paralympics to come. Last week was A level & AS level results – and next week it will be GCSE results.

Always there will be people who feel they have failed – and it may be they have to change their plans for the future. But through the offer of Wisdom – and in the invitation of Jesus Christ we are all given a chance to know we are loved and, in that love, to grow wiser and become more fully the people we were created to be.

 

It’s interesting to me that while Lady Wisdom offers people meat & wine – the richest, finest food; whereas Foolishness offers only bread & water – the basics,  Jesus offers bread and wine. Perhaps Jesus is pointing us to the truth that we find his love in the basic meal of our everyday bread and in the greatest celebrations that call for wine.

This week I have met the wisdom of God and the presence of Christ - in a tent blessed by the bread and wine of communion, where we were kissed by the sun and showered by the rain, knowing God’s love whether we are a Bishop or a babe in arms – or somewhere in between.

 

As we meet around this table today we meet the wisdom of God and the presence of Christ here, as we are fed by the bread of life so we may continue to grow in wisdom.

I pray we will go from here to continue to grow in wisdom through meeting Christ's wisdom in everyone we meet this coming week.

In the name of God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Amen.