Wisdom with Humility
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For August 15, 2021:
Wisdom With Humility
by Tom Willadsen
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14, Ephesians 5:15-20, Psalm 111
“Be careful how you live, not as unwise people, but as wise…because the days are evil.”
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
“Give your servant…an understanding mind to govern your people….”
It sounds like the Bible has the key to getting out of the messes we find ourselves in: global warming, a resurgent pandemic, epic forest fires, staggering income inequality, and a widespread belief that “the most secure election in American history” was fraudulent. Wisdom. Wisdom will deliver us!
If our leaders simply had the wisdom of Solomon, to ask for discernment, we’d find ourselves back in the garden! Well, it’s not that simple; it never is.
In the Scriptures
The thread that runs through all but the gospel passage this morning is wisdom. Wisdom is regarded, of course, as a good thing, a gift from God, but what, exactly, is wisdom?
Psalm 111 shows that there is a social, communal aspect to wisdom. One praises God for, among other things, God’s righteousness, power, instruction, redemption; all these gifts from God are to the people. (Preacher, you will be wise to unpack “the fear” for your listeners. Many of them will get stuck on the notion that it doesn’t make sense to fear God who loves them so deeply to provide for their well-being and send Christ to deliver them from the consequences of their sin. Fear in this context would be better rendered as “hold in profound respect” or “be filled with awe before.” Maybe reclaim the word “awesome,” from those who insist on using it to precede “dude!”)
King David recognized his son Solomon’s wisdom before Solomon took the throne. In David’s dying instruction to Solomon in 1 Kings 2 he twice mentions Solomon’s wisdom. After David’s death, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked what Solomon wanted. David’s response is a lengthy, humble speech praising God for God’s faithfulness to David. When Solomon finally gets to what’s on his Christmas list in response to the living God’s request, Solomon asks for “an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern good and evil….”
Solomon totally hits the jackpot with this answer. Because Solomon did not ask for anything for himself, but for talent that will help him rule the nation, Solomon receives “a wise and discerning mind.” But wait, there’s more! Behind Door #2 God has “riches and honor” for Solomon. Looks like Solomon totally made humility pay, big time!
Solomon’s wisdom is attested to repeatedly in the Bible. Various scholarly traditions hold that he wrote Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Psalms 72 and 127; and Song of Songs. Solomon dazzled the Queen of Sheba with both his wisdom and wealth. Unfortunately, 1 Kings 10 does not record the difficult questions the queen posed to Solomon, only that “nothing was too hard” for Solomon to explain to her. (NIV 1 Kings 10:3) You’d think a guy with brains like this would know better than to offer worship to other gods, but Solomon worshiped gods that some of his 700 wives worshipped, probably with an eye toward keeping peace with neighboring countries.
Legend attributes the phrase “This too shall pass,” to Solomon, or Solomon’s advisors. One origin tale has that Solomon asked his counselors for a phrase that could be said in all circumstances. Wikipedia holds that the phrase originated with Sufi Muslims. It does not appear in the Bible. Neither does “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” Sorry to burst those particular bubbles.
Israel was never more expansive than when Solomon was king.
At first glance today’s reading from Ephesians appears to endorse personal responsibility — and it does, but in the context of the Christian community. One’s behavior shapes the corporate life of the Christian community, centered on worship. Last week’s reading from Ephesians begins by reminding the reader that we are members of each other. What we do as individuals, how we manifest (or don’t manifest) wisdom, has a profound effect on our life together and the witness of the Christian community in the world.
In the News
Covid-19 is surging across the country as schools are getting ready to resume. Wildfires are raging in the western United States and Canada, causing dangerous air quality as far away as New York City. The former President continues to spout “The Big Lie” and is raising money at remarkable rates. Money that may be used to fund another presidential campaign, or back his chosen candidates for lesser offices in 2022, or cover the legal costs he and many of his associates have amassed in challenging the 2020 election. Hey, it’s August; isn’t he supposed to be reinstated soon?
Scripture is all in on wisdom in this week’s lessons. We need to examine how individuals manifest — and sometimes pay a steep cost for living wisely — for the good of the community.
Simone Biles entered the Olympics carrying the elevated expectations of being the GOAT (greatest of all time). At 24 years of age, elderly for a gymnast, she was competing in her last Olympics having already become the most decorated gymnast in history. Everything about this Olympics is different. It was delayed a year due to Covid; spectators are not present for competition; supportive friends, assistants and family members were not permitted to travel to the games. The games have a suboptimal quality to them, as though the world is going through the motions, maintaining a long-cherished event out of obligation and habit, rather than joy. The clearest example of this year’s out-of-kilter games is that an Italian guy won the 100-meter dash!
Simone Biles, the one expected to lead American gymnasts to the gold medal, shocked the world by withdrawing from competition. In an act of courage that was widely considered cowardice, Biles withdrew from the vault because she had “the twisties,” a dangerous condition that would have endangered her life if she would have competed.
Like another prominent, female athlete, Naomi Osaka, Biles admitted that she was unable to pay the mental price of competing at the level she’s expected to. Both women were called cowards and gutless, yet they were strong enough to name the horrific mental price of elite competition and choose not to pay it to meet other people’s expectations. Both women were strong and self-aware enough to be honest, first with themselves, then with the world. They were criticized, and in Biles’s case her patriotism was questioned — her selfishness denied the USA a gold medal, maybe five gold medals! — yet were wise and strong enough to tell the truth.
The courage / wisdom that Simone Biles demonstrated is a sharp contrast with that shown by Kerri Strug in the 1996 Olympics. After injuring herself on her first vault in the team competition, her personal coach Béla Károlyi told her, "Kerri, we need you to go one more time. We need you one more time for the gold. You can do it, you better do it." She (in)famously landed her second and final vault, immediately hopping onto her uninjured leg before collapsing. Twenty-five years ago this was a manifestation of courage and selfless patriotism, following the coercion of successful coach whom many have called abusive. Strug’s silencing her reservations about making a second vault is, perhaps at last, seen as a sign of male inability to hear a female voice. Times have changed, thankfully, and the courage and wisdom of athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka are making it possible for all people to be honest about struggling with other people’s expectations and mental illness. Their honesty makes their communities better able to care for them, and all members, making a stronger church, the Body of Christ.
Another example of an individual manifesting wisdom and integrity for the common good is the story of a little-known state senator from Michigan — Ed McBroom. Senator McBroom chairs the Senate’s Oversight Committee, which spent eight months examining the integrity of the 2020 election in Michigan.
Against a backdrop of confusion and suspicion and frightening civic friction — with Trump claiming he’d been cheated out of victory, and anecdotes about fraud coursing through every corner of the state — McBroom had led an exhaustive probe of Michigan’s electoral integrity. His committee interviewed scores of witnesses, subpoenaed and reviewed thousands of pages of documents, dissected the procedural mechanics of Michigan’s highly decentralized elections system, and scrutinized the most trafficked claims about corruption at the state’s ballot box in November. McBroom’s conclusion hit Lansing like a meteor: It was all a bunch of nonsense.
McBroom has paid a steep price for telling the truth to his state, “It’s been very discouraging, and very sad, to have people I know who have supported me, and always said they respected me and found me to be honest, who suddenly don’t trust me because of what some guy told them on the internet,” (Ibid.) McBroom knows the stakes are high, “These are good people, and they’re being lied to, and they’re believing the lies,” he said. “And it’s really dangerous.” (Ibid.)
In the Sermon
Preacher, you have to be in favor of wisdom, to do otherwise would be folly, which is, I believe, the opposite of wisdom. The challenge is to help the congregation understand that wisdom is never isolated. It can only be manifest in the presence of other people and for the building up of the whole community. This is the sixth Sunday in a row that Ephesians and its words on the health of the body of Christ have been in the lectionary. Point out that wisdom is always corporate. Show that even Solomon’s dazzling wisdom would not have been noticed had it not been for people like the Queen of Sheba who recognized and named it.
Psalm 111 ends with the famous words, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” which points to the need for wisdom to be exercised with humility. Ephesians points out that all people have been given gifts of the Spirit — to use for the common good. Wisdom is another of these gifts and it must be shared with an eye toward building the community, strengthening the body of Christ.
The challenging part about wisdom and its communal nature means that other people in the community have to be able to recognize and receive it. Pity Ed McBroom who is suffering for speaking the truth to his community (as advocated in last week’s reading from Ephesians) who is hostile to hearing it. He is paying a huge personal cost for maintaining his integrity in the face of people who are neither wise nor humble enough to see the truth, or are too fearful to handle the truth. (Cue Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men,” ‘You can’t handle the truth!’)
Wisdom, like love, cannot be forced or coerced. Wisdom is gift for the good of the whole community and must be served with a healthy dose of patience, modesty and integrity.
SECOND THOUGHTS
Wondrous Wonder Bread
by Chris Keating
John 6:51-58
Our summer sojourn in John chapter six continues this week as Jesus takes aim at critics who remain confused by his repeated references to bread. Bread abounds throughout chapter six, even as critics begin to murmur the words my parents used to say to me when eating at fancy restaurants. “Watch how much bread you eat,” they’d point out. “You won’t have room for dinner.”
The repetitions within John 6 may make us feel as though the chapter was written by someone from the Department of Redundancy Department. It’s as if Oprah “I love bread” Winfrey has been directing this chapter from offstage. Jesus has guided the discourse from bakery to table, moving from ever-multiplying barley loaves to bread that satisfies the deepest hungers to what sounds like rather cannibalistic invitation to eat the bread of his flesh.
It’s all about the bread.
But not any bread. Jesus is talking about an entirely different sort of bread. This is true wonder bread, the bread that comes down from heaven given for the life of the world. These are wondrous loaves of life. This bread isn’t the appetizer. It’s the main course.
His critics, however, cannot get past his impertinent illustration. They are decidedly grossed-out by the idea that gaining eternal life means nibbling away at the flesh of his body. Like Nicodemus before them, they wonder, “How can this be?” His words seem vile and repugnant to them and perhaps to us as well. Many preachers will choose to bypass the Gospel this week in favor of easier to digest passages from Ephesians or 1 Kings for this reason alone.
But perhaps his impertinence offers us an invitation to see the love of God at work in feeding the world. Jesus’ words provoke us out of our gluten-addictions into the broader work of loving the world.
It’s that sort of work that US Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) enacted in her love for the world by sleeping outside the US Capitol for three nights. Bush was protesting the failure of Congress or the White House to extend a federal Covid-19 related eviction mandate. While other legislators exited Washington for vacation as the moratorium was ending, Bush felt a call to action.
Low-income Americans, including many in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by Covid-19 were set to face eviction beginning August 1. Bush, a first-term congresswoman from the St. Louis area, recalled the multiple evictions she had faced in her life. Grabbing a sleeping bag and a camping chair, she headed outside the Capitol in protest.
“My brain could not understand how we were supposed to just leave,” Bush said in an interview that recounted the months she spent 20 years ago living out of a 1996 Ford Explorer. “I felt like I did sitting in that car — like, ‘Who speaks for me? Is this because I deserve it?’”
Faced with an eviction crisis that would consume poor, disenfranchised, and at-risk Americans, Bush reminded the country what it means to feast on the abundance God provides. Three days into her protest, the White House reversed its position and enacted a 60-day extension to the moratorium to areas most impacted by the surging coronavirus.
Evictions in the United States impact about 900,000 households a year. Studies show that evictions are traumatic events for families that have multiple health consequences ranging from low-birth rate babies, high blood pressure, and even the spread of Covid-19. The rising cost of housing is contributing to the problem, with poor families spending more than half of their monthly income on housing costs.
Congresswoman Bush, a single mother, nurse and ordained pastor, understands how the threat of eviction impacts a family’s well-being. She knows what it means to offer to people the bread that comes down from heaven.
“I hope people see right now that I mean what I say,” Ms. Bush said. “Hopefully, this has shown not only leadership, the caucus, but our progressive family that when we say we are not going to back down, we don’t back down. And when we say our communities need this particular thing, we can stand together to work together to get it.”
Jesus invites his listeners to gnaw on the flesh he provides. It’s a provocative image. It reminds us that eating bread for personal gain will only add weight to our bellies and obscure us from seeing God’s intention to slake the hungers of the world. Jesus makes it clear that it is by the gift he brings that God will meet both physical and spiritual hunger. It is as if he is saying, “Chew on this.”
Commentators note that there are two forms of the verb “to eat” used in John 6. A common one, phagein, is used in verses 52, 53, and 58. A decidedly more earthy term, trogein, occurs in verses 54, 56, 57, and 58. Trogein connotes the noise animals make when chomping away at their feed. The choice of words may imply Jesus’ intent that disciples are to chew constantly on the gifts of God, ingesting them as a sign of the actual physical presence of God in the world.
His words are provocative, perhaps not unlike the actions of Rep. Bush. They call us away from a fixation on foods that do not nourish or sustain the world and invite us to ponder the sacramental responsibilities of life in Christ.
Lamar Williamson pointed out the entire discourse of John 6 is essentially an extended eucharistic invitation. (Williamson, Preaching the Gospel of John, 2004). Jesus is the flesh of God at work in the world, loving the world, inviting the world to eat the food that brings abundant life. This is the gift we celebrate at the Eucharistic table, breaking bread and lifting the cup so that the world might see that Jesus himself is the gift of God for the life of the world.
In this way, the bread we eat compels us to pay attention to the needs of our siblings and neighbors. It calls us away from practices that eat up the poor and spit them out, to a way of life centered on those wondrous loaves of life.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:
Giving Away The Stone (Wisdom)
A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me something more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”
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Wisdom Or Money? (Wisdom)
In their book, Absolute Zero Gravity, Betsy Devine and Joel E. Cohen tell the story of a university dean who called a faculty meeting and, no sooner had the meeting begun than an angel appeared in the center of the room and told the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord was going to reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom, or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.
"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning.
Immediately, all heads turned toward the dean, who now sat surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."
The dean looks at them and says, "I should have taken the money."
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Was Solomon Really Wise? (Wisdom)
In his historical novel, Prophet, Priest and King, John Howard Reid uses biblical and historical accounts to answer that question honestly. Just how wise was Solomon?
He begins with the story about the two women who were disputing the parentage of a baby. Solomon threatens to cut the child in half and give each alleged mother half of the child. Of course, the real mother relents and gives the child to the fake mom rather than see it killed.
However, Reid points out, “This proverbial tale was well established long before the Biblical historian got hold of it. And it is of course more than possible that Solomon knew this tale and applied it to a real circumstance.” The only thing the story proves, if anything, holds Reid, is that Solomon was an astute opportunist who had a good memory.
Other biblical and extra-biblical accounts seem to show Solomon as a Godly person to admire, yet at the same time a vicious monster completely lacking in honor and accountability.
In one account, Solomon tells his mother, "Ask anything of me, mother, and I’ll not refuse you!" She asks that Solomon’s brother be permitted to marry a certain handmaiden. But Solomon has eyes on the girl himself. So, he orders that his brother be immediately put to death! [3 Kings 2:20-25 LXX].
Soon afterward, the Bible rhapsodizes that "the wisdom of Solomon abounded exceedingly. Solomon’s wisdom went way beyond the wisdom of all the ancient prophets and philosophers, and even beyond the collected wisdom of all the wise men who ever lived in Egypt!" [3 Kings 3:1].
Reid also reminds us that the extravagant building projects, which included the palace and the temple, were most likely built by Hebrew slaves and indentured servants.
Finally, near the end of the biblical account of Solomon’s life, the king becomes not God’s favorite but God’s enemy for "Solomon did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord."
In an article about Solomon, Reid concludes: “So rather being portrayed as unreservedly wise and good, the Bible also depicts Solomon as a stupid, callous, evil, self-indulgent, hedonistic tyrant.
So, what is the truth? Reid says that it probably lies somewhere between the two extremes that are presented in the Bible. Solomon was, to say the least, a complex character.
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How To Get Wise (Wisdom)
Hitesh Bhasin, writing for the web site, Marketing91.com, offers ten ways to get wisdom in the modern age:
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From team member Quantisha Mason-Doll:
1 Kings 3:3-14
Knowing the right questions to ask is the first step to gaining Wisdom.
Growing up I was always told “ask and you shall receive.” I always took this as biblical canon and words to live by. We see this formulation time and again throughout the life and ministry of Jesus yet as I grew I came to realize that this statement alone does a disservice not only to myself but also my community.
While it is true asking questions is the best way to gain new knowledge, if we do not ask the right questions the answers we receive might not be as helpful as we were led to believe. King Solomon, who was hailed as the wisest of the kings of Israel, models what kind of preparation should go into formulating a question. In our story today King Solomon asked a question by God, instead of quickly answering, Solomon reviewed all of the relevant information he knew and then asked himself what would be most beneficial not just for himself but those he has been charged with leading. Much like King Solomon we must ask ourselves where the gaps are in our knowledge and understanding and what is more beneficial for the whole?
* * *
Psalm 111
Sometimes a one person praise band is better
Rarely do we preach on the Psalms. In truth they are self-contained addresses to, for, and about the Lord our God. Most psalms give off the feel of finality as they do not require any further interpretation for the divine message to be transmitted. That being said, more consideration should be afforded to what inspired these words of praise. As we read Psalm 111 we should ask ourselves when was the last time we praised anything with our whole heart? As a whole we have been conditioned to believe that productivity is the only way to prove that we are worthy of praise. We think to ourselves that we need to prove ourselves as worthy of God’s love. We do acts of mercy not from a place of kindness but from a need to prove our worth. This psalm screams that the smallest act done with the intention of honoring the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There is also the reassurance that you cannot fail God simply because what is done through righteousness will endure for the length of your earthly life.
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Ephesians 5:15-20
In the name of Jesus the Christ
How often do we close our prayers by stating “in your son’s name we pray”? Invoking the name of Jesus as the Christ is second nature for the mass majority of Christians. This short formulation of words hold a presence in our prayer rituals. In looking at our reading today from the letter to the Ephesians our biblical author offers our spiritual ancestors advice that is still valid even in today’s society: Be careful and give thanks at all times. To clarify, our author is suggesting that modernity can deceive people into believing they are acting with wisdom when in fact there is an overarching foolishness to theirs actions. Invoking the name of Jesus Christ and giving thanks in all thing you do helps to reorient oneself to the divine will. By keeping the name of Christ at the forefront of one mind, body, and spirit opens a gateway for the power of the Spirit to impart the divine will onto believers. This creates a cycle that can be viewed as a self-fulfilling mission. We praise God and give thanks for all the Christ has given, which in turn bares greater fruits of the Spirit.
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From team member Katy Stenta:
John 6:51-58
Hunger/Filling
When my youngest is hungry, he doesn’t know he is hungry. He just walks around saying “something is wrong, today is just bad, I don’t know why today is bad, it just is.” This is because when you are hungry for something, you do not always know what it is you need. Luckily, Jesus always knows what you need. Jesus knows what you are craving before you even know that you are craving it. And God wants you to feel fulfilled. God will never withhold nourishment from us. God will always provide us what we need, because God is full of grace that way.
* * *
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Wisdom
I once read an article about an Alzheimer’s ward where there were a lot of older items placed about the ward. Old newspaper clippings, music, Bibles, etc. The idea was that when a patient was looking for something, and they didn’t know what it was, you could grab something very familiar — like an article about a very famous event from history or an Elvis song or the like, and then say, “this is it” and then the patient and another person could reminisce about the item and what it meant to them. Did they like it? Why might they have been looking for it? What meaning did it have to culture of the time? In that moment the Alzheimer patient becomes very wise, sharing the things they have learned with the years of experience they have accrued. I think wisdom is often found in this way. Solomon was not certain what exactly it was he needed to rule, but he figured he would know it when he saw it. This acknowledgment of the searching nature of the human condition, the understanding that we cannot hold onto wisdom, because that is not what wisdom is. Perhaps, though, we can find it upon the way.
* * *
Psalm 111
Fear and Wisdom
In Narnia the human children first learn about Aslan and ask a lot of questions about this mysterious lion. The beavers quickly clarify that everyone is scared of Aslan, because he is a lion, the King of Beasts, and anyone who is able to look him in the eye is either braver than most, or else just plain silly. But they also acknowledge that although Aslan is anything but tame, he is good. Too often we want to tame God. A God who is not so fiercely righteous might be a little easier to handle. It is often acknowledged that those who are bigoted, racist and sexist are often very polite. They have good manners, they blend well, they can get along at parties. They “pass” because they are normative. They exist in the highest echelons of society because they want to uphold those norms in which they flourish. Jesus didn’t. His followers didn’t. They were not tame, or necessarily polite, or able-bodied, or clean. There is nothing tame about Jesus, and that’s a little bit scary, but it’s also good.
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Proverbs 9:1-6
Insight
In the midst of a pandemic it is a bit hard to consider what it means to have insight. Especially as in Proverbs. Wisdom is inviting people into her house for a feast — an ironic image when we are all trying to be careful of infection with one another. Yet here is wisdom encouraging insight. Merriam-Webster defines insight as “the power or act of seeing into a situation.” Seeing into, as in considering all of the angles, as in taking everyone into account, as in not just considering oneself. Maturity indeed.
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From team member Mary Austin:
Ephesians 5:15-20
Wisdom on the Beach
“Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise,” the letter to the Ephesians counsels us. Al Nixon thought he was just sitting by the water, and it turned out that his presence was a source of wisdom for others. “It was about seven years ago that Al Nixon decided to start watching the sunrise every morning from a bench with a spectacular view of the downtown waterfront in St. Petersburg, Florida. Looking at the water and the golden-pink sky helped him feel grounded for the day as he relaxed in Vinoy Park. “I call it ‘life rising’ because watching a sunrise makes me feel centered before starting my day,” said Nixon, 58, who works for the St. Petersburg water department. “After the first few times, I decided to keep going to the bench to sit every morning at 6:30.” About a year later, a woman stopped to say hello, and she said something that changed his perspective on his daily ritual. “She said, ‘You know, every morning when I see you sitting here, I know that everything is going to be okay,’” Nixon recalled.”
Nixon realized that he could be more engaged with the people passing by. Passersby now say that Al brings them non-judgmental listening, and that he is a calm presence, day in and day out. “You have to have an open heart and an open head, because you never know who’s going to walk up and what they might need,” Nixon says. “Every person who stops by the bench deserves my undivided attention.” Nixon says that this is his purpose in life right now. In gratitude, his beach community installed a plaque on the bench where he always sits. In tribute to his wisdom it says, “Al. A loving and loyal friend and a confidant to many.”
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Ephesians 5:15-20
The Wisdom of Not Knowing
We all hope to live as wise people, not as unwise, as the letter to the Ephesians directs us, and most often wisdom seems like knowing more things. Gail Brenner would like us to know less, and she says there is deeper wisdom in not knowing. She says, “There is no greater gift you can give yourself than the invitation to enter the world of not knowing. Why? If you are always going to know what you know now, things will always stay the same. How could they change? And by thinking you know what will happen, you are closing yourself off to the unimaginable — endless peace, unspeakable joy, awe and wonder.”
“If you cling to what is familiar and comfortable, that is where you will live. Until you decide to take the plunge and let yourself not know.”
She proposes we that seek a day of not knowing. “Here is what not knowing looks like: You wake up on a weekend morning without any plans, and you let your day unfold. You stop saying the same unproductive statement to your partner and let yourself not know what will happen next. You sit and take a breath rather than propelling yourself forward into the next activity. You press pause on a habit without knowing what you will do or say next. You let your routine fall away so you can be guided by the natural flow of things. You let go of, “I have to…” and let yourself rest for a moment. You tell yourself the truth about the motivation behind the things you do, and surrender to not knowing. You forget who you think you are. Instead of same old, same old, you show up fresh, new, and unencumbered.”
We can set aside what we know in search of another level of wisdom.
* * *
Ephesians 5:15-20
Think Like a Wise Person
We would all like to be wiser, as the letter to the Ephesians instructs us. Author and professor Adam Grant poses this question: “If I asked you to judge how smart someone is, you’d know where to start. But if you were going to assess how wise that person is, what qualities would you consider?” He adds, “Wisdom is the ability to make sound judgments and choices based on experience. It’s a virtue according to every great philosophical and religious tradition, from Aristotle to Confucius and Christianity to Judaism, Islam to Buddhism, and Taoism to Hinduism. According to the book From Smart to Wise, wisdom distinguishes great leaders from the rest of the pack. So what does it take to cultivate wisdom?”
A new study looks at the components of wisdom, and finds some common threads. Wisdom is about reflection more than years. “The people with the highest wisdom scores are just as likely to be 30 as 60. It turns out that the number of life experiences has little to do with the quality of those experiences. According to the data, between ages 25 to 75, the correlation between age and wisdom is zero. Wisdom emerges not from experience itself, but rather from reflecting thoughtfully on the lessons gained from experience. Further research shows that intelligence only accounts for about 2% of the variance in wisdom. It’s possible to be quick on your feet and skilled in processing complex information without reaching sensible solutions to problems. Cultivating wisdom is a deliberate choice that people can make.”
Wise people emphasize understanding. “By default, many of us operate like jurors, passing judgment on the actions of others so that we can sort them into categories of good and bad. Wise people resist this impulse, operating more like detectives whose goal is to explain other people’s behaviors.”
Fitting with the message of the epistle, wise people “focus on purpose over pleasure. In one surprising study, Baltes’ team discovered that wise people weren’t any happier than their peers. They didn’t experience more positive emotions, perhaps because wisdom requires critical self-reflection and a long-term view. They recognized that just as today’s cloud can have a silver lining tomorrow, tomorrow’s silver lining can become next month’s suffering. However, there was a clear psychological benefit of wisdom: a stronger sense of purpose in life. From time to time, wisdom may involve putting what makes us happy on the back burner in our quest for meaning and significance.”
Let us cultivate wisdom, following the guidance of the epistle.
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John 6:51-58
Bread of Life, Kindergarten Style
Eat the bread of life, Jesus teaches, pointing us to himself, and to spiritual food that sustains us longer than physical food. Teacher Betty Peck understands about sustaining the spirit as well as the body.
A kindergarten teacher for many years, Mrs. Peck taught her students a lot about food, knowing that knowledge would last well past the school year. “The mainstay of Betty’s classroom cooking was the Kindergarten Bread. Baked weekly, the making of the bread takes children through all the stages of wheat, from kernel to loaf. The children plant the wheat each year, harvest it, grind a small amount to add to the bread, and learn about kneading, rising, and baking, singing songs about the different stages along the way. Each student even practices the letter of the week by forming it with dough (the tactile, three-dimensionality of which has been found to help students with reading and writing skills.) Every little thing in Betty’s classroom had its purpose — to show how everything in life is connected. The bread was a delicious, regular example of this.”
She helped her students see that the power of bread — or cake — goes past a single meal. “One year, one of Betty’s sweetest kindergarteners became very ill and was hospitalized. Each day the other kindergarten children would gather together and draw a card to send her. One day, the little girl passed away. When Betty told the other children of the news she asked them “My dears, what should we do to celebrate the life of this little angel who has been in our midst.” They became very quiet and then responded, “Why, we should have an Angel Food Cake and remember all the wonderful things about her.” So that is what they did — they ate an Angel Food cake.” For these students, this, truly, was food that will last forever.
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WORSHIP
by George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Praise God! Give thanks to God with your whole heart.
All: Great are the works of God, studied by all who delight in them.
One: The works of God are faithful and just.
All: They are established forever and ever.
One: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
All: All those who practice it have a good understanding.
OR
One: The God of all Wisdom calls us together.
All: We come to seek wisdom from our God.
One: God gives us wisdom in scripture and teachings.
All: We will open our hearts to all God has for us.
One: God also shares wisdom through others.
All: We will listen to one another to hear God’s voice.
Hymns and Songs
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELW: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
UMH: 127
H82: 690
PH: 281
AAHH: 138/139/140
NNBH: 232
NCH: 622
CH: 343
LBW: 618
ELW: 501
W&P: 52/53/65
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELW: 836
W&P: 59
AMEC: 75
STLT: 29
Tú Has Venido a la Orilla (Lord, you Have Come to the Lakeshore)
UMH: 344
PH: 377
CH: 342
W&P: 347
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
UMH: 381
H82: 708
PH: 387
AAHH: 424
NNBH: 54
NCH: 252
CH: 558
LBW: 481
ELW: 789
W&P: 440
AMEC: 379
Take Time to Be Holy
UMH: 395
NNBH: 306
CH: 572
W&P: 483
AMEC: 286
Breathe on Me, Breath of God
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
Be Thou My Vision
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 595
ELW: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
My Faith Looks Up to Thee
UMH: 452
H82: 691
PH: 383
AAHH: 456
NNBH: 273
CH: 576
LBW: 479
ELW: 759
W&P: 419
AMEC: 415
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
We Are One in Christ Jesus
CCB: 43
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is wisdom and knows all things:
Grant us the grace to trust in your wisdom
and to seek it for our own lives;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are wisdom and you know all things. Help us to seek your wisdom as we trust in you. Help us to share your wisdom throughout our community. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to seek God’s wisdom.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. In wisdom you created us and in wisdom you made us in your own image. You breathed into us your own life and Spirit and, yet, we think we can figure out life apart from you. We ignore the instructions and warnings you have given us. Even when our choices fail and bring harm and pain to us and others, we insist on doing things our way. Forgive our foolishness and renew your Spirit within us that we may seek you and your wisdom as Jesus did. Amen.
One: God is always ready to share grace and wisdom with all who seek it. Receive God’s gracious gifts and share them with others so that together we may live in God’s wisdom.
Prayers of the People
Glory and honor are yours, O God of wisdom. Your foolishness is greater than all others’ wisdom.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. In wisdom you created us and in wisdom you made us in your own image. You breathed into us your own life and Spirit and, yet, we think we can figure out life apart from you. We ignore the instructions and warnings you have given us. Even when our choices fail and bring harm and pain to us and others, we insist on doing things our way. Forgive our foolishness and renew your Spirit within us that we may seek you and your wisdom as Jesus did.
We give you thanks for all the ways you show us the way. You have given us teachers and elders; you have given us prophets and seers. You have called us into community so that we may discern your wisdom together.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for our leaders that they may seek wisdom. We pray for ourselves that we may learn wisdom, as well. We pray for those who suffer because others have forsaken wisdom.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about putting something together. We may be able to figure it out by ourselves but if we have instructions, maybe pictures of how it all fits together, that is much better. We may be able to figure out what is good but it helps if we have instructions. God gave us instructions in the Bible and through the Church.
* * * * * *
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Joyous Feast Everyday
by Bethany Peerbolte
John 6:51-58
This children’s message will inspire kids to think about how everyday bread and juice becomes our joyful feast of communion. They will make connections between the meals they eat at home and how those can become joyful feasts as well.
If you have the ability to show a video, this 4 minute video on YouTube gives a fun and informational look at how bread is made. If you do not have a way to show a video watch the video and summarize the steps for your kids. You could even assign someone to be the planter, harvester, mill worker, baker, and buyer/eater of the bread. Have them act out each action and explain what happens to the grain at each step.
In the message say something like:
I bet you have all noticed that some Sundays we have a special “snack break” in our service. We call it communion and it is an especially important sacrament to Christians. Sacraments are actions we take that help us feel connected to God and remind us of God’s promises and faithfulness. When we have communion, we take a bite of bread and a sip of juice, and this reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that forgave our sins.
Bread is important to Jesus, and he talks about it a lot when he teaches. The scripture we are reading today is one of those times Jesus talked about bread. He says the bread he gives will allow people to live forever with God. That sounds like amazing bread, right! So what makes Jesus’ bread so different than the bread we use for our sandwiches?
Let’s think about how we know bread is made (show video or give verbal/act out the way bread is made for the kids). That is how our communion bread is made, too! It is just ordinary bread when we set it here at our table. When it is time for communion a pastor will say a special prayer/blessing to signal that this is a sacrament but other than that there isn’t much of a difference.
That means that if you are having a sandwich, you can use that mealtime to remember the bread Jesus gives us, too. Meals are a great time to remember Jesus. We might say a thank you prayer before we eat, or we can take a deep breath and remember Jesus gave us bread that allows us to be with God forever in heaven.
So, the next time you have bread I want you to remember that the bread we have for communion and think about how they are the same and how bread reminds us that Jesus loves us. Let’s end our time together with a prayer.
Loving God, thank you for bread. Thank you for all the people who make our bread. Thank you for Jesus’ bread that brings us closer to you. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, August 15, 2021 issue.
Copyright 2021 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
- Wisdom With Humility by Tom Willadsen — The thread that runs through all but the gospel passage this morning is wisdom. Wisdom is regarded, of course, as a good thing, a gift from God, but what, exactly, is wisdom?
- Wondrous Wonder Bread by Chris Keating — John 6 calls us away from a fixation on foods that do not nourish or sustain the world and invite us to ponder the sacramental responsibilities of life in Christ.
- Sermon illustrations by Dean Feldmeyer, Quantisha Mason-Doll, Katy Stenta, Mary Austin.
- Worship resources by George Reed.
- Children's sermon: Joyous Feast Everyday by Bethany Peerbolte.
Wisdom With Humilityby Tom Willadsen
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14, Ephesians 5:15-20, Psalm 111
“Be careful how you live, not as unwise people, but as wise…because the days are evil.”
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
“Give your servant…an understanding mind to govern your people….”
It sounds like the Bible has the key to getting out of the messes we find ourselves in: global warming, a resurgent pandemic, epic forest fires, staggering income inequality, and a widespread belief that “the most secure election in American history” was fraudulent. Wisdom. Wisdom will deliver us!
If our leaders simply had the wisdom of Solomon, to ask for discernment, we’d find ourselves back in the garden! Well, it’s not that simple; it never is.
In the Scriptures
The thread that runs through all but the gospel passage this morning is wisdom. Wisdom is regarded, of course, as a good thing, a gift from God, but what, exactly, is wisdom?
Psalm 111 shows that there is a social, communal aspect to wisdom. One praises God for, among other things, God’s righteousness, power, instruction, redemption; all these gifts from God are to the people. (Preacher, you will be wise to unpack “the fear” for your listeners. Many of them will get stuck on the notion that it doesn’t make sense to fear God who loves them so deeply to provide for their well-being and send Christ to deliver them from the consequences of their sin. Fear in this context would be better rendered as “hold in profound respect” or “be filled with awe before.” Maybe reclaim the word “awesome,” from those who insist on using it to precede “dude!”)
King David recognized his son Solomon’s wisdom before Solomon took the throne. In David’s dying instruction to Solomon in 1 Kings 2 he twice mentions Solomon’s wisdom. After David’s death, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked what Solomon wanted. David’s response is a lengthy, humble speech praising God for God’s faithfulness to David. When Solomon finally gets to what’s on his Christmas list in response to the living God’s request, Solomon asks for “an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern good and evil….”
Solomon totally hits the jackpot with this answer. Because Solomon did not ask for anything for himself, but for talent that will help him rule the nation, Solomon receives “a wise and discerning mind.” But wait, there’s more! Behind Door #2 God has “riches and honor” for Solomon. Looks like Solomon totally made humility pay, big time!
Solomon’s wisdom is attested to repeatedly in the Bible. Various scholarly traditions hold that he wrote Proverbs; Ecclesiastes; Psalms 72 and 127; and Song of Songs. Solomon dazzled the Queen of Sheba with both his wisdom and wealth. Unfortunately, 1 Kings 10 does not record the difficult questions the queen posed to Solomon, only that “nothing was too hard” for Solomon to explain to her. (NIV 1 Kings 10:3) You’d think a guy with brains like this would know better than to offer worship to other gods, but Solomon worshiped gods that some of his 700 wives worshipped, probably with an eye toward keeping peace with neighboring countries.
Legend attributes the phrase “This too shall pass,” to Solomon, or Solomon’s advisors. One origin tale has that Solomon asked his counselors for a phrase that could be said in all circumstances. Wikipedia holds that the phrase originated with Sufi Muslims. It does not appear in the Bible. Neither does “The Lord helps those who help themselves.” Sorry to burst those particular bubbles.
Israel was never more expansive than when Solomon was king.
At first glance today’s reading from Ephesians appears to endorse personal responsibility — and it does, but in the context of the Christian community. One’s behavior shapes the corporate life of the Christian community, centered on worship. Last week’s reading from Ephesians begins by reminding the reader that we are members of each other. What we do as individuals, how we manifest (or don’t manifest) wisdom, has a profound effect on our life together and the witness of the Christian community in the world.
In the News
Covid-19 is surging across the country as schools are getting ready to resume. Wildfires are raging in the western United States and Canada, causing dangerous air quality as far away as New York City. The former President continues to spout “The Big Lie” and is raising money at remarkable rates. Money that may be used to fund another presidential campaign, or back his chosen candidates for lesser offices in 2022, or cover the legal costs he and many of his associates have amassed in challenging the 2020 election. Hey, it’s August; isn’t he supposed to be reinstated soon?
Scripture is all in on wisdom in this week’s lessons. We need to examine how individuals manifest — and sometimes pay a steep cost for living wisely — for the good of the community.
Simone Biles entered the Olympics carrying the elevated expectations of being the GOAT (greatest of all time). At 24 years of age, elderly for a gymnast, she was competing in her last Olympics having already become the most decorated gymnast in history. Everything about this Olympics is different. It was delayed a year due to Covid; spectators are not present for competition; supportive friends, assistants and family members were not permitted to travel to the games. The games have a suboptimal quality to them, as though the world is going through the motions, maintaining a long-cherished event out of obligation and habit, rather than joy. The clearest example of this year’s out-of-kilter games is that an Italian guy won the 100-meter dash!
Simone Biles, the one expected to lead American gymnasts to the gold medal, shocked the world by withdrawing from competition. In an act of courage that was widely considered cowardice, Biles withdrew from the vault because she had “the twisties,” a dangerous condition that would have endangered her life if she would have competed.
Like another prominent, female athlete, Naomi Osaka, Biles admitted that she was unable to pay the mental price of competing at the level she’s expected to. Both women were called cowards and gutless, yet they were strong enough to name the horrific mental price of elite competition and choose not to pay it to meet other people’s expectations. Both women were strong and self-aware enough to be honest, first with themselves, then with the world. They were criticized, and in Biles’s case her patriotism was questioned — her selfishness denied the USA a gold medal, maybe five gold medals! — yet were wise and strong enough to tell the truth.
The courage / wisdom that Simone Biles demonstrated is a sharp contrast with that shown by Kerri Strug in the 1996 Olympics. After injuring herself on her first vault in the team competition, her personal coach Béla Károlyi told her, "Kerri, we need you to go one more time. We need you one more time for the gold. You can do it, you better do it." She (in)famously landed her second and final vault, immediately hopping onto her uninjured leg before collapsing. Twenty-five years ago this was a manifestation of courage and selfless patriotism, following the coercion of successful coach whom many have called abusive. Strug’s silencing her reservations about making a second vault is, perhaps at last, seen as a sign of male inability to hear a female voice. Times have changed, thankfully, and the courage and wisdom of athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka are making it possible for all people to be honest about struggling with other people’s expectations and mental illness. Their honesty makes their communities better able to care for them, and all members, making a stronger church, the Body of Christ.
Another example of an individual manifesting wisdom and integrity for the common good is the story of a little-known state senator from Michigan — Ed McBroom. Senator McBroom chairs the Senate’s Oversight Committee, which spent eight months examining the integrity of the 2020 election in Michigan.
Against a backdrop of confusion and suspicion and frightening civic friction — with Trump claiming he’d been cheated out of victory, and anecdotes about fraud coursing through every corner of the state — McBroom had led an exhaustive probe of Michigan’s electoral integrity. His committee interviewed scores of witnesses, subpoenaed and reviewed thousands of pages of documents, dissected the procedural mechanics of Michigan’s highly decentralized elections system, and scrutinized the most trafficked claims about corruption at the state’s ballot box in November. McBroom’s conclusion hit Lansing like a meteor: It was all a bunch of nonsense.
McBroom has paid a steep price for telling the truth to his state, “It’s been very discouraging, and very sad, to have people I know who have supported me, and always said they respected me and found me to be honest, who suddenly don’t trust me because of what some guy told them on the internet,” (Ibid.) McBroom knows the stakes are high, “These are good people, and they’re being lied to, and they’re believing the lies,” he said. “And it’s really dangerous.” (Ibid.)
In the Sermon
Preacher, you have to be in favor of wisdom, to do otherwise would be folly, which is, I believe, the opposite of wisdom. The challenge is to help the congregation understand that wisdom is never isolated. It can only be manifest in the presence of other people and for the building up of the whole community. This is the sixth Sunday in a row that Ephesians and its words on the health of the body of Christ have been in the lectionary. Point out that wisdom is always corporate. Show that even Solomon’s dazzling wisdom would not have been noticed had it not been for people like the Queen of Sheba who recognized and named it.
Psalm 111 ends with the famous words, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” which points to the need for wisdom to be exercised with humility. Ephesians points out that all people have been given gifts of the Spirit — to use for the common good. Wisdom is another of these gifts and it must be shared with an eye toward building the community, strengthening the body of Christ.
The challenging part about wisdom and its communal nature means that other people in the community have to be able to recognize and receive it. Pity Ed McBroom who is suffering for speaking the truth to his community (as advocated in last week’s reading from Ephesians) who is hostile to hearing it. He is paying a huge personal cost for maintaining his integrity in the face of people who are neither wise nor humble enough to see the truth, or are too fearful to handle the truth. (Cue Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men,” ‘You can’t handle the truth!’)
Wisdom, like love, cannot be forced or coerced. Wisdom is gift for the good of the whole community and must be served with a healthy dose of patience, modesty and integrity.
SECOND THOUGHTSWondrous Wonder Bread
by Chris Keating
John 6:51-58
Our summer sojourn in John chapter six continues this week as Jesus takes aim at critics who remain confused by his repeated references to bread. Bread abounds throughout chapter six, even as critics begin to murmur the words my parents used to say to me when eating at fancy restaurants. “Watch how much bread you eat,” they’d point out. “You won’t have room for dinner.”
The repetitions within John 6 may make us feel as though the chapter was written by someone from the Department of Redundancy Department. It’s as if Oprah “I love bread” Winfrey has been directing this chapter from offstage. Jesus has guided the discourse from bakery to table, moving from ever-multiplying barley loaves to bread that satisfies the deepest hungers to what sounds like rather cannibalistic invitation to eat the bread of his flesh.
It’s all about the bread.
But not any bread. Jesus is talking about an entirely different sort of bread. This is true wonder bread, the bread that comes down from heaven given for the life of the world. These are wondrous loaves of life. This bread isn’t the appetizer. It’s the main course.
His critics, however, cannot get past his impertinent illustration. They are decidedly grossed-out by the idea that gaining eternal life means nibbling away at the flesh of his body. Like Nicodemus before them, they wonder, “How can this be?” His words seem vile and repugnant to them and perhaps to us as well. Many preachers will choose to bypass the Gospel this week in favor of easier to digest passages from Ephesians or 1 Kings for this reason alone.
But perhaps his impertinence offers us an invitation to see the love of God at work in feeding the world. Jesus’ words provoke us out of our gluten-addictions into the broader work of loving the world.
It’s that sort of work that US Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) enacted in her love for the world by sleeping outside the US Capitol for three nights. Bush was protesting the failure of Congress or the White House to extend a federal Covid-19 related eviction mandate. While other legislators exited Washington for vacation as the moratorium was ending, Bush felt a call to action.
Low-income Americans, including many in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by Covid-19 were set to face eviction beginning August 1. Bush, a first-term congresswoman from the St. Louis area, recalled the multiple evictions she had faced in her life. Grabbing a sleeping bag and a camping chair, she headed outside the Capitol in protest.
“My brain could not understand how we were supposed to just leave,” Bush said in an interview that recounted the months she spent 20 years ago living out of a 1996 Ford Explorer. “I felt like I did sitting in that car — like, ‘Who speaks for me? Is this because I deserve it?’”
Faced with an eviction crisis that would consume poor, disenfranchised, and at-risk Americans, Bush reminded the country what it means to feast on the abundance God provides. Three days into her protest, the White House reversed its position and enacted a 60-day extension to the moratorium to areas most impacted by the surging coronavirus.
Evictions in the United States impact about 900,000 households a year. Studies show that evictions are traumatic events for families that have multiple health consequences ranging from low-birth rate babies, high blood pressure, and even the spread of Covid-19. The rising cost of housing is contributing to the problem, with poor families spending more than half of their monthly income on housing costs.
Congresswoman Bush, a single mother, nurse and ordained pastor, understands how the threat of eviction impacts a family’s well-being. She knows what it means to offer to people the bread that comes down from heaven.
“I hope people see right now that I mean what I say,” Ms. Bush said. “Hopefully, this has shown not only leadership, the caucus, but our progressive family that when we say we are not going to back down, we don’t back down. And when we say our communities need this particular thing, we can stand together to work together to get it.”
Jesus invites his listeners to gnaw on the flesh he provides. It’s a provocative image. It reminds us that eating bread for personal gain will only add weight to our bellies and obscure us from seeing God’s intention to slake the hungers of the world. Jesus makes it clear that it is by the gift he brings that God will meet both physical and spiritual hunger. It is as if he is saying, “Chew on this.”
Commentators note that there are two forms of the verb “to eat” used in John 6. A common one, phagein, is used in verses 52, 53, and 58. A decidedly more earthy term, trogein, occurs in verses 54, 56, 57, and 58. Trogein connotes the noise animals make when chomping away at their feed. The choice of words may imply Jesus’ intent that disciples are to chew constantly on the gifts of God, ingesting them as a sign of the actual physical presence of God in the world.
His words are provocative, perhaps not unlike the actions of Rep. Bush. They call us away from a fixation on foods that do not nourish or sustain the world and invite us to ponder the sacramental responsibilities of life in Christ.
Lamar Williamson pointed out the entire discourse of John 6 is essentially an extended eucharistic invitation. (Williamson, Preaching the Gospel of John, 2004). Jesus is the flesh of God at work in the world, loving the world, inviting the world to eat the food that brings abundant life. This is the gift we celebrate at the Eucharistic table, breaking bread and lifting the cup so that the world might see that Jesus himself is the gift of God for the life of the world.
In this way, the bread we eat compels us to pay attention to the needs of our siblings and neighbors. It calls us away from practices that eat up the poor and spit them out, to a way of life centered on those wondrous loaves of life.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From team member Dean Feldmeyer:Giving Away The Stone (Wisdom)
A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me something more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”
* * *
Wisdom Or Money? (Wisdom)
In their book, Absolute Zero Gravity, Betsy Devine and Joel E. Cohen tell the story of a university dean who called a faculty meeting and, no sooner had the meeting begun than an angel appeared in the center of the room and told the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord was going to reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom, or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.
"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning.
Immediately, all heads turned toward the dean, who now sat surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."
The dean looks at them and says, "I should have taken the money."
* * *
Was Solomon Really Wise? (Wisdom)
In his historical novel, Prophet, Priest and King, John Howard Reid uses biblical and historical accounts to answer that question honestly. Just how wise was Solomon?
He begins with the story about the two women who were disputing the parentage of a baby. Solomon threatens to cut the child in half and give each alleged mother half of the child. Of course, the real mother relents and gives the child to the fake mom rather than see it killed.
However, Reid points out, “This proverbial tale was well established long before the Biblical historian got hold of it. And it is of course more than possible that Solomon knew this tale and applied it to a real circumstance.” The only thing the story proves, if anything, holds Reid, is that Solomon was an astute opportunist who had a good memory.
Other biblical and extra-biblical accounts seem to show Solomon as a Godly person to admire, yet at the same time a vicious monster completely lacking in honor and accountability.
In one account, Solomon tells his mother, "Ask anything of me, mother, and I’ll not refuse you!" She asks that Solomon’s brother be permitted to marry a certain handmaiden. But Solomon has eyes on the girl himself. So, he orders that his brother be immediately put to death! [3 Kings 2:20-25 LXX].
Soon afterward, the Bible rhapsodizes that "the wisdom of Solomon abounded exceedingly. Solomon’s wisdom went way beyond the wisdom of all the ancient prophets and philosophers, and even beyond the collected wisdom of all the wise men who ever lived in Egypt!" [3 Kings 3:1].
Reid also reminds us that the extravagant building projects, which included the palace and the temple, were most likely built by Hebrew slaves and indentured servants.
Finally, near the end of the biblical account of Solomon’s life, the king becomes not God’s favorite but God’s enemy for "Solomon did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord."
In an article about Solomon, Reid concludes: “So rather being portrayed as unreservedly wise and good, the Bible also depicts Solomon as a stupid, callous, evil, self-indulgent, hedonistic tyrant.
So, what is the truth? Reid says that it probably lies somewhere between the two extremes that are presented in the Bible. Solomon was, to say the least, a complex character.
* * *
How To Get Wise (Wisdom)
Hitesh Bhasin, writing for the web site, Marketing91.com, offers ten ways to get wisdom in the modern age:
- Don’t procrastinate. Seize the moment.
- Think before you speak. Words can’t be unsaid.
- Learn to see shades of grey and not just black and white. Life is, after all, complicated.
- Look for the common good. Life is not just about winners and losers. Sometimes we can all be winners.
- Don’t be afraid to question the status quo. Nothing new would ever happen if someone didn’t.
- Focus more on purpose than on pleasure. We do well when we ask, “What’s the goal?”
- Ask lots of questions. And listen to the answers.
- Strive for understanding, rather than judgement.
- Reflect. That is, think about what you’ve done and how it turned out and why.
- Surround yourself with a strong support system — family, friends, colleagues. Wisdom is more often grounded in a group than in an individual.
* * * * * *
From team member Quantisha Mason-Doll:1 Kings 3:3-14
Knowing the right questions to ask is the first step to gaining Wisdom.
Growing up I was always told “ask and you shall receive.” I always took this as biblical canon and words to live by. We see this formulation time and again throughout the life and ministry of Jesus yet as I grew I came to realize that this statement alone does a disservice not only to myself but also my community.
While it is true asking questions is the best way to gain new knowledge, if we do not ask the right questions the answers we receive might not be as helpful as we were led to believe. King Solomon, who was hailed as the wisest of the kings of Israel, models what kind of preparation should go into formulating a question. In our story today King Solomon asked a question by God, instead of quickly answering, Solomon reviewed all of the relevant information he knew and then asked himself what would be most beneficial not just for himself but those he has been charged with leading. Much like King Solomon we must ask ourselves where the gaps are in our knowledge and understanding and what is more beneficial for the whole?
* * *
Psalm 111
Sometimes a one person praise band is better
Rarely do we preach on the Psalms. In truth they are self-contained addresses to, for, and about the Lord our God. Most psalms give off the feel of finality as they do not require any further interpretation for the divine message to be transmitted. That being said, more consideration should be afforded to what inspired these words of praise. As we read Psalm 111 we should ask ourselves when was the last time we praised anything with our whole heart? As a whole we have been conditioned to believe that productivity is the only way to prove that we are worthy of praise. We think to ourselves that we need to prove ourselves as worthy of God’s love. We do acts of mercy not from a place of kindness but from a need to prove our worth. This psalm screams that the smallest act done with the intention of honoring the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There is also the reassurance that you cannot fail God simply because what is done through righteousness will endure for the length of your earthly life.
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Ephesians 5:15-20
In the name of Jesus the Christ
How often do we close our prayers by stating “in your son’s name we pray”? Invoking the name of Jesus as the Christ is second nature for the mass majority of Christians. This short formulation of words hold a presence in our prayer rituals. In looking at our reading today from the letter to the Ephesians our biblical author offers our spiritual ancestors advice that is still valid even in today’s society: Be careful and give thanks at all times. To clarify, our author is suggesting that modernity can deceive people into believing they are acting with wisdom when in fact there is an overarching foolishness to theirs actions. Invoking the name of Jesus Christ and giving thanks in all thing you do helps to reorient oneself to the divine will. By keeping the name of Christ at the forefront of one mind, body, and spirit opens a gateway for the power of the Spirit to impart the divine will onto believers. This creates a cycle that can be viewed as a self-fulfilling mission. We praise God and give thanks for all the Christ has given, which in turn bares greater fruits of the Spirit.
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From team member Katy Stenta:John 6:51-58
Hunger/Filling
When my youngest is hungry, he doesn’t know he is hungry. He just walks around saying “something is wrong, today is just bad, I don’t know why today is bad, it just is.” This is because when you are hungry for something, you do not always know what it is you need. Luckily, Jesus always knows what you need. Jesus knows what you are craving before you even know that you are craving it. And God wants you to feel fulfilled. God will never withhold nourishment from us. God will always provide us what we need, because God is full of grace that way.
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1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Wisdom
I once read an article about an Alzheimer’s ward where there were a lot of older items placed about the ward. Old newspaper clippings, music, Bibles, etc. The idea was that when a patient was looking for something, and they didn’t know what it was, you could grab something very familiar — like an article about a very famous event from history or an Elvis song or the like, and then say, “this is it” and then the patient and another person could reminisce about the item and what it meant to them. Did they like it? Why might they have been looking for it? What meaning did it have to culture of the time? In that moment the Alzheimer patient becomes very wise, sharing the things they have learned with the years of experience they have accrued. I think wisdom is often found in this way. Solomon was not certain what exactly it was he needed to rule, but he figured he would know it when he saw it. This acknowledgment of the searching nature of the human condition, the understanding that we cannot hold onto wisdom, because that is not what wisdom is. Perhaps, though, we can find it upon the way.
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Psalm 111
Fear and Wisdom
In Narnia the human children first learn about Aslan and ask a lot of questions about this mysterious lion. The beavers quickly clarify that everyone is scared of Aslan, because he is a lion, the King of Beasts, and anyone who is able to look him in the eye is either braver than most, or else just plain silly. But they also acknowledge that although Aslan is anything but tame, he is good. Too often we want to tame God. A God who is not so fiercely righteous might be a little easier to handle. It is often acknowledged that those who are bigoted, racist and sexist are often very polite. They have good manners, they blend well, they can get along at parties. They “pass” because they are normative. They exist in the highest echelons of society because they want to uphold those norms in which they flourish. Jesus didn’t. His followers didn’t. They were not tame, or necessarily polite, or able-bodied, or clean. There is nothing tame about Jesus, and that’s a little bit scary, but it’s also good.
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Proverbs 9:1-6
Insight
In the midst of a pandemic it is a bit hard to consider what it means to have insight. Especially as in Proverbs. Wisdom is inviting people into her house for a feast — an ironic image when we are all trying to be careful of infection with one another. Yet here is wisdom encouraging insight. Merriam-Webster defines insight as “the power or act of seeing into a situation.” Seeing into, as in considering all of the angles, as in taking everyone into account, as in not just considering oneself. Maturity indeed.
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From team member Mary Austin:Ephesians 5:15-20
Wisdom on the Beach
“Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise,” the letter to the Ephesians counsels us. Al Nixon thought he was just sitting by the water, and it turned out that his presence was a source of wisdom for others. “It was about seven years ago that Al Nixon decided to start watching the sunrise every morning from a bench with a spectacular view of the downtown waterfront in St. Petersburg, Florida. Looking at the water and the golden-pink sky helped him feel grounded for the day as he relaxed in Vinoy Park. “I call it ‘life rising’ because watching a sunrise makes me feel centered before starting my day,” said Nixon, 58, who works for the St. Petersburg water department. “After the first few times, I decided to keep going to the bench to sit every morning at 6:30.” About a year later, a woman stopped to say hello, and she said something that changed his perspective on his daily ritual. “She said, ‘You know, every morning when I see you sitting here, I know that everything is going to be okay,’” Nixon recalled.”
Nixon realized that he could be more engaged with the people passing by. Passersby now say that Al brings them non-judgmental listening, and that he is a calm presence, day in and day out. “You have to have an open heart and an open head, because you never know who’s going to walk up and what they might need,” Nixon says. “Every person who stops by the bench deserves my undivided attention.” Nixon says that this is his purpose in life right now. In gratitude, his beach community installed a plaque on the bench where he always sits. In tribute to his wisdom it says, “Al. A loving and loyal friend and a confidant to many.”
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Ephesians 5:15-20
The Wisdom of Not Knowing
We all hope to live as wise people, not as unwise, as the letter to the Ephesians directs us, and most often wisdom seems like knowing more things. Gail Brenner would like us to know less, and she says there is deeper wisdom in not knowing. She says, “There is no greater gift you can give yourself than the invitation to enter the world of not knowing. Why? If you are always going to know what you know now, things will always stay the same. How could they change? And by thinking you know what will happen, you are closing yourself off to the unimaginable — endless peace, unspeakable joy, awe and wonder.”
“If you cling to what is familiar and comfortable, that is where you will live. Until you decide to take the plunge and let yourself not know.”
She proposes we that seek a day of not knowing. “Here is what not knowing looks like: You wake up on a weekend morning without any plans, and you let your day unfold. You stop saying the same unproductive statement to your partner and let yourself not know what will happen next. You sit and take a breath rather than propelling yourself forward into the next activity. You press pause on a habit without knowing what you will do or say next. You let your routine fall away so you can be guided by the natural flow of things. You let go of, “I have to…” and let yourself rest for a moment. You tell yourself the truth about the motivation behind the things you do, and surrender to not knowing. You forget who you think you are. Instead of same old, same old, you show up fresh, new, and unencumbered.”
We can set aside what we know in search of another level of wisdom.
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Ephesians 5:15-20
Think Like a Wise Person
We would all like to be wiser, as the letter to the Ephesians instructs us. Author and professor Adam Grant poses this question: “If I asked you to judge how smart someone is, you’d know where to start. But if you were going to assess how wise that person is, what qualities would you consider?” He adds, “Wisdom is the ability to make sound judgments and choices based on experience. It’s a virtue according to every great philosophical and religious tradition, from Aristotle to Confucius and Christianity to Judaism, Islam to Buddhism, and Taoism to Hinduism. According to the book From Smart to Wise, wisdom distinguishes great leaders from the rest of the pack. So what does it take to cultivate wisdom?”
A new study looks at the components of wisdom, and finds some common threads. Wisdom is about reflection more than years. “The people with the highest wisdom scores are just as likely to be 30 as 60. It turns out that the number of life experiences has little to do with the quality of those experiences. According to the data, between ages 25 to 75, the correlation between age and wisdom is zero. Wisdom emerges not from experience itself, but rather from reflecting thoughtfully on the lessons gained from experience. Further research shows that intelligence only accounts for about 2% of the variance in wisdom. It’s possible to be quick on your feet and skilled in processing complex information without reaching sensible solutions to problems. Cultivating wisdom is a deliberate choice that people can make.”
Wise people emphasize understanding. “By default, many of us operate like jurors, passing judgment on the actions of others so that we can sort them into categories of good and bad. Wise people resist this impulse, operating more like detectives whose goal is to explain other people’s behaviors.”
Fitting with the message of the epistle, wise people “focus on purpose over pleasure. In one surprising study, Baltes’ team discovered that wise people weren’t any happier than their peers. They didn’t experience more positive emotions, perhaps because wisdom requires critical self-reflection and a long-term view. They recognized that just as today’s cloud can have a silver lining tomorrow, tomorrow’s silver lining can become next month’s suffering. However, there was a clear psychological benefit of wisdom: a stronger sense of purpose in life. From time to time, wisdom may involve putting what makes us happy on the back burner in our quest for meaning and significance.”
Let us cultivate wisdom, following the guidance of the epistle.
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John 6:51-58
Bread of Life, Kindergarten Style
Eat the bread of life, Jesus teaches, pointing us to himself, and to spiritual food that sustains us longer than physical food. Teacher Betty Peck understands about sustaining the spirit as well as the body.
A kindergarten teacher for many years, Mrs. Peck taught her students a lot about food, knowing that knowledge would last well past the school year. “The mainstay of Betty’s classroom cooking was the Kindergarten Bread. Baked weekly, the making of the bread takes children through all the stages of wheat, from kernel to loaf. The children plant the wheat each year, harvest it, grind a small amount to add to the bread, and learn about kneading, rising, and baking, singing songs about the different stages along the way. Each student even practices the letter of the week by forming it with dough (the tactile, three-dimensionality of which has been found to help students with reading and writing skills.) Every little thing in Betty’s classroom had its purpose — to show how everything in life is connected. The bread was a delicious, regular example of this.”
She helped her students see that the power of bread — or cake — goes past a single meal. “One year, one of Betty’s sweetest kindergarteners became very ill and was hospitalized. Each day the other kindergarten children would gather together and draw a card to send her. One day, the little girl passed away. When Betty told the other children of the news she asked them “My dears, what should we do to celebrate the life of this little angel who has been in our midst.” They became very quiet and then responded, “Why, we should have an Angel Food Cake and remember all the wonderful things about her.” So that is what they did — they ate an Angel Food cake.” For these students, this, truly, was food that will last forever.
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WORSHIPby George Reed
Call to Worship
One: Praise God! Give thanks to God with your whole heart.
All: Great are the works of God, studied by all who delight in them.
One: The works of God are faithful and just.
All: They are established forever and ever.
One: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
All: All those who practice it have a good understanding.
OR
One: The God of all Wisdom calls us together.
All: We come to seek wisdom from our God.
One: God gives us wisdom in scripture and teachings.
All: We will open our hearts to all God has for us.
One: God also shares wisdom through others.
All: We will listen to one another to hear God’s voice.
Hymns and Songs
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
UMH: 103
H82: 423
PH: 263
NCH: 1
CH: 66
LBW: 526
ELW: 834
W&P: 48
AMEC: 71
STLT: 273
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
UMH: 127
H82: 690
PH: 281
AAHH: 138/139/140
NNBH: 232
NCH: 622
CH: 343
LBW: 618
ELW: 501
W&P: 52/53/65
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
UMH: 89
H82: 376
PH: 464
AAHH: 120
NNBH: 40
NCH: 4
CH: 2
LBW: 551
ELW: 836
W&P: 59
AMEC: 75
STLT: 29
Tú Has Venido a la Orilla (Lord, you Have Come to the Lakeshore)
UMH: 344
PH: 377
CH: 342
W&P: 347
Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
UMH: 381
H82: 708
PH: 387
AAHH: 424
NNBH: 54
NCH: 252
CH: 558
LBW: 481
ELW: 789
W&P: 440
AMEC: 379
Take Time to Be Holy
UMH: 395
NNBH: 306
CH: 572
W&P: 483
AMEC: 286
Breathe on Me, Breath of God
UMH: 420
H82: 508
PH: 316
AAHH: 317
NNBH: 126
NCH: 292
CH: 254
LBW: 488
W&P: 461
AMEC: 192
O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
UMH: 430
H82: 659/660
PH: 357
NNBH: 445
NCH: 503
CH: 602
LBW: 492
ELW: 818
W&P: 589
AMEC: 299
Be Thou My Vision
UMH: 451
H82: 488
PH: 339
NCH: 451
CH: 595
ELW: 793
W&P: 502
AMEC: 281
STLT: 20
My Faith Looks Up to Thee
UMH: 452
H82: 691
PH: 383
AAHH: 456
NNBH: 273
CH: 576
LBW: 479
ELW: 759
W&P: 419
AMEC: 415
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
CCB: 28
Renew: 23
We Are One in Christ Jesus
CCB: 43
Music Resources Key:
UMH: United Methodist Hymnal
H82: The Hymnal 1982
PH: Presbyterian Hymnal
AAHH: African American Heritage Hymnal
NNBH: The New National Baptist Hymnal
NCH: The New Century Hymnal
CH: Chalice Hymnal
LBW: Lutheran Book of Worship
ELW: Evangelical Lutheran Worship
W&P: Worship & Praise
AMEC: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal
STLT: Singing the Living Tradition
CCB: Cokesbury Chorus Book
Renew: Renew! Songs & Hymns for Blended Worship
Prayer for the Day/Collect
O God who is wisdom and knows all things:
Grant us the grace to trust in your wisdom
and to seek it for our own lives;
through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
OR
We praise you, O God, because you are wisdom and you know all things. Help us to seek your wisdom as we trust in you. Help us to share your wisdom throughout our community. Amen.
Prayer of Confession
One: Let us confess to God and before one another our sins and especially our failure to seek God’s wisdom.
All: We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. In wisdom you created us and in wisdom you made us in your own image. You breathed into us your own life and Spirit and, yet, we think we can figure out life apart from you. We ignore the instructions and warnings you have given us. Even when our choices fail and bring harm and pain to us and others, we insist on doing things our way. Forgive our foolishness and renew your Spirit within us that we may seek you and your wisdom as Jesus did. Amen.
One: God is always ready to share grace and wisdom with all who seek it. Receive God’s gracious gifts and share them with others so that together we may live in God’s wisdom.
Prayers of the People
Glory and honor are yours, O God of wisdom. Your foolishness is greater than all others’ wisdom.
(The following paragraph may be used if a separate prayer of confession has not been used.)
We confess to you, O God, and before one another that we have sinned. In wisdom you created us and in wisdom you made us in your own image. You breathed into us your own life and Spirit and, yet, we think we can figure out life apart from you. We ignore the instructions and warnings you have given us. Even when our choices fail and bring harm and pain to us and others, we insist on doing things our way. Forgive our foolishness and renew your Spirit within us that we may seek you and your wisdom as Jesus did.
We give you thanks for all the ways you show us the way. You have given us teachers and elders; you have given us prophets and seers. You have called us into community so that we may discern your wisdom together.
(Other thanksgivings may be offered.)
We pray for one another in our need. We pray for our leaders that they may seek wisdom. We pray for ourselves that we may learn wisdom, as well. We pray for those who suffer because others have forsaken wisdom.
(Other intercessions may be offered.)
All these things we ask in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ who taught us to pray together saying:
Our Father....Amen.
(Or if the Our Father is not used at this point in the service.)
All this we ask in the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Amen.
Children’s Sermon Starter
Talk to the children about putting something together. We may be able to figure it out by ourselves but if we have instructions, maybe pictures of how it all fits together, that is much better. We may be able to figure out what is good but it helps if we have instructions. God gave us instructions in the Bible and through the Church.
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CHILDREN'S SERMONJoyous Feast Everyday
by Bethany Peerbolte
John 6:51-58
This children’s message will inspire kids to think about how everyday bread and juice becomes our joyful feast of communion. They will make connections between the meals they eat at home and how those can become joyful feasts as well.
If you have the ability to show a video, this 4 minute video on YouTube gives a fun and informational look at how bread is made. If you do not have a way to show a video watch the video and summarize the steps for your kids. You could even assign someone to be the planter, harvester, mill worker, baker, and buyer/eater of the bread. Have them act out each action and explain what happens to the grain at each step.
In the message say something like:
I bet you have all noticed that some Sundays we have a special “snack break” in our service. We call it communion and it is an especially important sacrament to Christians. Sacraments are actions we take that help us feel connected to God and remind us of God’s promises and faithfulness. When we have communion, we take a bite of bread and a sip of juice, and this reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that forgave our sins.
Bread is important to Jesus, and he talks about it a lot when he teaches. The scripture we are reading today is one of those times Jesus talked about bread. He says the bread he gives will allow people to live forever with God. That sounds like amazing bread, right! So what makes Jesus’ bread so different than the bread we use for our sandwiches?
Let’s think about how we know bread is made (show video or give verbal/act out the way bread is made for the kids). That is how our communion bread is made, too! It is just ordinary bread when we set it here at our table. When it is time for communion a pastor will say a special prayer/blessing to signal that this is a sacrament but other than that there isn’t much of a difference.
That means that if you are having a sandwich, you can use that mealtime to remember the bread Jesus gives us, too. Meals are a great time to remember Jesus. We might say a thank you prayer before we eat, or we can take a deep breath and remember Jesus gave us bread that allows us to be with God forever in heaven.
So, the next time you have bread I want you to remember that the bread we have for communion and think about how they are the same and how bread reminds us that Jesus loves us. Let’s end our time together with a prayer.
Loving God, thank you for bread. Thank you for all the people who make our bread. Thank you for Jesus’ bread that brings us closer to you. Amen.
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The Immediate Word, August 15, 2021 issue.
Copyright 2021 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
