17th Sunday on Ordinary Time. Year A. 30th July 2023
Lectionary Readings:
Kings 3 v5-12; Psalm 119 v129-136; Romans 8 v26-39; Matthew 13 v31-33, 44-52.
Wisdom and Understanding.
Solomon asks God for wisdom to help him in his role as king. God is pleased that he has done so and gladly grants him the gift of wisdom. As king, Solomon knows that he will be called upon to honour the past and secure the future of God’s people.
‘Wisdom is the ability to use experience and knowledge to make sensible decisions or judgements.’
(Collins dictionary).
In Solomon’s case, he seeks the ability to discern how best to apply God’s word (The Law of Moses) and the traditions of the people of God, (resulting from human understanding of how the scriptures should be applied) to everyday life.
In this week’s passage from Romans, Paul reassures us that ‘the Spirit is here to help us’. (v26b)
In the apostle’s last instruction to Timothy, he writes, ‘Everything in the Scriptures is God’s word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live.’ (2 Timothy 3 v16).
Paul is convinced that God’s gift of the Spirit is able to help us understand the Scriptures, (1 Cor 3 v13) and to make sense of how we are to apply our understanding to everyday life. (1 Cor 12 v6).
Matthew quotes Jesus’ teaching his disciples about the benefits of studying scripture within the context of the kingdom of heaven. (As his disciples, they have been accepted into the kingdom and blessed with gift of the Spirit.)
They will, with the help of the Holy Spirit, be able to understand the original meaning of the ancient scriptures and be able to share new insights, applicable to their own generation. (‘Old and new treasures from the storeroom’. (Matthew 13 v52).
As present day disciples of Jesus, we have inherited the responsibility to do likewise. With the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are to study God’s word, to prayerfully seek understanding and apply God’s wisdom to our own situation.
John Bell and Graham Maule wrote this hymn in praise of the Spirit. (Singing the Faith 393).
She sits like a bird, brooding on the waters, hovering on the chaos of the world’s first day;
she sighs and she sings, mothering creation, waiting to give birth to all the Word will say.
She wings over earth, resting where she wishes, lighting close at hand or soaring through the skies;
she nests in the womb, welcoming each wonder, nourishing potential hidden to our eyes.
She dances in fire, startling her spectators, waking tongues of ecstasy where dumbness reigned;
she weans and inspires all whose hearts are open, nor can she be captured, silenced, or restrained.
For she is the Spirit, one with God in essence, gifted by the Saviour in eternal love;
and she is the key opening the scriptures, enemy of apathy and heavenly dove.
Bible quotations are taken from the Contemporary English Version.