Readings: 1 Corinthians 3:18-23; Psalm 24; Luke 5:1-11
In our First Reading today, St. Paul tells us that what the world calls wisdom is mostly foolishness before God. He exhorts us to be foolish in the eyes of the world so that we may be wise before God.
The Gospel of today gives us an example of how Godly wisdom contradicts worldly wisdom. Peter toiled through the night, which was the best time for fishing and yet he caught nothing. Then Jesus came, telling him to cast his net again at the wrong time of the day. Peter obeyed what sounded foolish but in that obedience came his miracle.
I will mention three expressions of godly wisdom in today’s readings, paying attention to how they contradict worldly wisdom.
A. Godly wisdom is obeying God even when it doesn’t make sense to us. Worldly wisdom demands that we obey what makes sense but when dealing with God, He determines what makes sense. The Bible is replete with stories of God commanding the people to do unusual things, which appeared foolish but yielded miraculous results.
God may ask us to give to the needy what we have mapped out for ourselves. He may ask us to forgive when we have a wonderful opportunity to revenge. Wisdom is in obeying God even when it is counterintuitive.
B. Godly wisdom is seen in giving to God what is precious to us. Worldly wisdom prompts us to preserve what we have. Godly wisdom teaches us to let go and to let God have it. Peter gave Jesus his boat and later, he gave all the fish they caught. He looked foolish for doing this but to let go of fortune for the sake of Christ is to become fortunate. No one ever loses by giving anything to God, including their lives (this is Godly wisdom).
C. Worldly wisdom is seen in boasting of who we are and what we have done, whereas Godly wisdom is what we see demonstrated in Peter – he acknowledged and confessed his unworthiness. Jesus, nonetheless, called him despite this announcement because awareness of unworthiness is a criterion to be chosen for divine service.
Let us pray today that the Lord will fill our hearts and souls with wisdom from above, and that though we may appear foolish to the world, we may be wise in the sight of God.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on September 1, 2022.