In “Star Wars: the Empire Strikes Back,” there is a scene in which Luke Skywalker’s X-Wing spacecraft has sunk into a swamp. The young hero wannabe surveyed his predicament, and entered into a despair in the presence of the sage, Yoda. Luke said, “Oh, no. We’ll never get it out now.” Yoda responded, “So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?” After a failed attempt, Yoda, using the “Force”, guided the spacecraft to a safer space. Luke responded, “I don’t…I don’t believe it.” Yoda says to him, “This is why you fail.”
This scene in the Star Wars fantasy is something of an archetypal narrative of our longing for a deeper wisdom, perhaps embodied in a wise one, that will help us find a way through the messes in which we find ourselves. In the Biblical writings, scholars have noted a “wisdom tradition”. It is contained in a collection of writings like the Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. It also present more narrative ones, such as the stories of Solomon. In the teaching of Jesus, you can see it in saying such as “No servant can serve two masters,” or “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” In the Letter of James, we see this tradition deeply embodied. His brief epistle has no real story and little doctrine, but it does offer, in proverb and in reflection, what Godly wisdom looks like.
So for the person of faith, what is wisdom and how does one find it? I have read many definitions, but one of the best comes from Eric Greitens who said that wisdom is “the ability to figure out what to do while at the same time knowing what is worth doing.” So, there is a practical component (How can we do this?) but also a deeply valued based component as well (Is this the right thing to do?). In our world that is facing crisis upon crisis, God knows we need this deeper wisdom.
We’ll talk about this on Sunday, as the sermon is titled, “The Way of Wisdom: Loving What is Deeply True”. The sermon arises from James 3: 13-18. The Sanctuary Singers, accompanied by Matthew Wachtman, will present the anthem, “Be Thou My Vision”. We’ll have congregational singing, prayers and a moment for children. We hope you join us.
If you have been part of the St. Mark’s community for decades, or will be joining us for the first time, we look forward to connecting with those of you here in-person or on the live stream at 10:30am this Sunday!