August 16, 2009
Seeking Wisdom, Using Our Time and Singing
- Ephesians 5:15
- John Wright
Seeking Wisdom, Using Our Time and Singing
by John M. Wright, Director of Music Ministries
August 16, 2009
As many young American soldiers and nurses said a few weeks into their
Do you know someone that you perceive as wise? I don’t mean wise about a particular subject necessarily. I mean wise in the way of living. If you think about this person now—whether they are living or deceased—what qualities does this person possess? What is it about this wise person that you appreciate? That draws you in? That you trust? Or that you envy? Often, but not always, this person may be older than you. And doesn’t it seem like this type of person knows something you don’t about life and that their knowledge brings a certain peace about them? I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I think about my wise person—or come away from a conversation with that person—I think now how can I be more like that? Why can’t I have that kind of faith and assurance? And I start wondering if I am a person who suffers from ASD (arrested spiritual development). Are you someone that suffers from arrested spiritual development?
As many children and young people go back to school, we pray for the wisdom that comes with education. We hope that our kids can pay attention, use their time wisely, choose the right friends, the right clubs, the right college courses. We hope we, in our daily lives, can use the right words, words that will show our love. We hope the leaders of our world will use the right wisdom to make decisions and pass laws that benefit all people.
In today’s lesson from Kings, we hear Solomon asking the Lord for what he needs most: wisdom. Perhaps the key to wisdom is to know God’s will. In Hebrew thought, wisdom is not a synonym for intellect. Rather, wisdom combines knowing what is right with doing what is right. Wisdom moves beyond the mind into the realm of will. An understanding mind, we might say, could be a “hearing or obedient heart.” This gift of an understanding mind suggests the ability to listen and discern between just and unjust or healthy and unhealthy.
For the last four weeks, one of our lectionary passages has been Paul’s letter to the church at
In what ways do you seek wisdom in your relationship with God? How do you discern what is wise and what is foolish in the choices you face? And we all make poor choices. Are you growing in grace? What would happen if you did? What would happen to us as a church if we lived the will of God?
In addition, Paul insists that we make good use of our time and we avoid drunkenness. The contrast between wisdom and folly can be observed in how we use our time. Wine is not under attack, drunkenness, and the time and attention it takes, is. What would our lives be like if instead of pursuing so much —oh I don’t know—video games, or work or television, or drinking—we used our time to be present with our children or our mate or we visited with a sick or lonely friend or did charity work, or we mindfully refreshed ourselves?
Then Paul assumes some enjoyment arises from sharing the life of God together as people of God. He assumes that when we are together we want to outwardly celebrate. Those Ephesians must not have been Presbyterians! So he encourages us to give praise and thanksgiving to God through music and singing. To be drawn into the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs is the opposite of wasting time and the opposite of ignorance.
We sing because music brings us together as a congregation. It brings together generations. Church is now about the only place where a group of people from different generations get together and sing! Even young children who are part of the worshiping community can find a welcome in the church’s singing together. Familiar songs and refrains invite preliterate children and older people with visual impairment to participate. (Psalm refrain last Lent, “Listen to the word which God has spoken, Listen to the one who is close at hand.”)
Songs of the church bring together people from diverse cultural backgrounds. We who share these pews each Sunday may have vastly different lives, but when we stand and sing, we share the faith that binds us together.
Last fall I was on a three month sabbatical and did not attend corporate worship for 8 weeks, but once Advent arrived, I was thirsty to attend, went to 4 different churches in Scotland and Ireland and I cannot describe to you what a powerful experience it was to stand and sing with a group of people I did not know, with whom I did not have a lot in common—but the common factor was to be able to stand with a community of believers and sing—sometimes there were songs I did not know and sometimes we sang “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”—well I was moved to tears and it was a genuine conversion experience that really caught me by surprise. The songs we sang in those churches allowed me to share the same faith as the others and reminded me of my place in the community of disciples.
When we sing together, the blending of our voices bears witness to the fact that we are made one in Christ. The variety of voices—high pitches, low pitches, on key or off key, some soaring to the rafters and others barely above a whisper—reminds us of the wonderful diversity in the church.
We sing because our singing is a means by which God strengthens us and helps us to grow as people of God. In our individual lives we may say and sing “I.” But the songs of the church invite us to say “WE.”
We sing because this is a way for us to cry out in utter despair and in complete trust. We all know yet we don’t understand just how music has the ability to express that we cannot put into words. Sometimes our psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs become our thankful prayers and at other times they become our desperate prayers or prayers of deepest lament.
We sing because it connects Sunday worship with everyday life. Have you ever considered that when we use the words of worship—sermon words, prayer words, Bible words, creedal words, words of praise, words of sorrow, words of pardon—they go into us and on some level become part of us and find fresh expression in new places in our lives.
When we sing “Amazing Grace” together on Sunday morning, it changes us and makes us a little more grace-filled throughout the week in ways that our beyond our understanding.
Yes, I suppose it is a good practice for us to seek wisdom, to seek the will of God, to use our time wisely, realizing all the while that we are really all connected to Jesus as one body.
If you are like me—if you suffer from arrested spiritual development—I believe there is time, there is opportunity to develop. Regardless of how you feel; contrary to what our culture may imply, we are not alone in this life. Sometimes we have to empty ourselves, lose ourselves before we can find anything.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN