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At Vacation Bible School this week, I was amazed at how the kids surprised me. Our participants were more engaged than I had hoped or imagined. They came up with fascinating insights, some of which I had not even thought of. Their wisdom was an amazing thing to witness, as I let them know at the end of the week.
Looking back not only at least week, but at over 15 years of working with children, there is something I’ve noticed that leads to this wisdom in kids. It’s not a matter of how much they know at this moment in their lives. It is a matter of being open and listening. They are receptive to hear lessons and to learn the truth.
That, in short, sums up the ultimate lesson we receive from our readings this morning. Each of them has to do with wisdom, particularly our readings from Proverbs and Ephesians. Those two readings are about seeking out wisdom and trying to live a life filled with wisdom, not immaturity.
But wisdom isn’t simply about knowledge. Our Psalm says it best, and it speaks to what I learned from our Vacation Bible School participants this week. The Psalm says, “Come, children, and listen to me; I will teach you the fear of Lord.”
Wisdom requires our being able to be open and to listen, because when we are open, then we can begin to hear God speaking in our hearts.
That is the issue those who have been around Jesus in the Gospel according to John these past few weeks have. They want the bread of life, but they don’t want to actually listen to what Jesus actually says for how to obtain it. That is why they fail to get it.
If we are to actually gain this wisdom that will lead us out of immaturity, we have to be open to listening to what God is saying to us too. This was one of the lessons I told our Vacation Bible School participants that I wanted them to take away. For our Formation each day, we talked about the superhero team the Avengers. This was in part because it is something that I knew would interest them. I also chose this topic because I have found, over the years, that when I read or watch something, every now and then I’ll see a kernel of the message we receive in the Gospel. It’s not that I approach everything with the intention of hearing or receiving that message, but I work to remain open to hearing it so that when it comes my way, I will receive what God is saying to me in the most unlikely places.
Our Vacation Bible School participants during the week seemed to have a strong grasp on this listening ability. I hope all of you will work on honing this skill too. I’m not asking you to constantly be searching for what God has to say to you in everything you read, watch, or participate in. I am asking you to be open to hear. You never know how it is that God will speak to you, and you never know when God will do so.
This is the spirit of wisdom: an openness to hear what God is saying. If we can all start to do this, then not only will our church grow wiser, but as we hear in Ephesians and in Proverbs in particular, we can start to grow into better people and from there we can come closer to our Lord Jesus Christ and we can help to make this world a better place for all of us to live in.