Wisdom and Understanding
PROPER 20 – Year B - 2015 – Trinity 16.
Who is wise and understanding among you? James 3:13
Kevin speaks of the privilege of meeting a variety of people in his ministry, particularly recalling Lilly Leggett, a caring woman with deep wisdom. He distinguishes between knowledge and wisdom, suggesting that wisdom involves a new way of living and thinking, aligned with God’s values rather than worldly wisdom.
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1 Cor 1:20-21
Kevin discusses the hierarchical nature of society and how Jesus taught his disciples to adopt a different perspective, valuing service and humility over status.
33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. Mark 9:33-34
To follow Jesus is to embrace a different worldview, one that reaches out to the marginalized and teaches selflessness. Kevin concludes by reflecting on the wisdom of Lilly Leggett, whose life was a testament to the kind of wisdom that comes from a warm humanity and a simple, uncomplicated faith.