The sermon on Sunday was about wisdom--and specifically that wisdom in Scripture is almost always described in terms of how we live rather than what we think. James picks up on this by saying that whoever thinks they are wise should show it by their good life, by their deeds.
If this is the case, then why do we as a society often assume that those who are more experienced in life are also wiser in life? Is it because we think of wisdom as simply a matter of learning from our mistakes?
In James' view, though, unless learning from our mistakes teaches us more fully what God expects of us--more fully what it is to live our faith day to day--then those experiences are not gifting us with wisdom.
In my own experience, the people I consider to be the wisest are also those who have learned what it means to live close to God. To begin to know God's heart and to act out of that knowledge. Most of those people are much older than I am, though certainly not all. Age is not a prerequisite to wisdom, nor a guarantee of it, but hopefully if God works on us long enough, we begin to clue in. And this is where age is an advantage.
May we all have the grace and humility to grow wiser even as we grow older.
Peace,
Pastor Jay
Misadventure of the week: Overheard in our kitchen when faced with rock-hard dairy dessert..."Would it be a very bad idea to microwave this ice cream for just five seconds?"
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