“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Dear church family,
I’m sure you’ve heard this prayer before. It might be hanging on your wall, refrigerator, or keychain. You might repeat it as a breath prayer to stay focused and grounded. It’s known as the Serenity Prayer. It was written by the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the 1930s and has since been popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous and other recovery groups, for very good reason. It’s a pithy and powerful reminder of both our human limitations and our human responsibility. And the hinge on which those characteristics turn is what we call wisdom.
Wisdom. Like so many words, this is one we toss around without much consideration. What does it really mean? One of my seminary professors, Ellen Davis, defines wisdom as “living in the world in such a way that God, and God’s intentions for the world, are acknowledged in all that we do.” I like that. It reminds us that wisdom is grounded in God and God’s good purposes for all that he has made. In this light, Davis asks, “how many people do you know whom you would describe as wise?” If we’re honest, the answer might be less than we think.
Yet wisdom is not unattainable. Nor is it only reserved for the super-spiritual. Rather, it is something God calls all of us to cultivate as we follow him and grow in grace. “If any of you lacks wisdom,” the book of James says, “you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” The prime example of this is the book of Proverbs. In contrast to other books of the Bible, Proverbs is not a narrative or a letter but a list of sayings that reorient the reader (or hearer) to God and his way of wisdom. It’s a book to be read slowly and deliberately, the way a cow chews its cud.
For these reasons, I will be starting a new sermon series on Proverbs on October 10. We won’t cover it all, but we will hit the high notes. As we do, I will be praying that God would grant us wisdom – wisdom that helps us understand what we can change and what we can’t; wisdom that helps us make decisions, even when we’re all feeling decision fatigue; wisdom that helps us discern the truth amid so many mistruths and half-truths; wisdom that leads us to love the Lord and to love our neighbors, in Jesus’ name. This wisdom is needed today as much as ever, friends. I hope you’ll join us in this fall season as we seek the way of wisdom together.
See you Sunday,
Blake