Sophia

Don’t let the title of this article lead you to think that I’m going to be writing about some long-lost love named Sophia when in fact, I am writing about a phenomenon that was bestowed by God on King Solomon – wisdom, which is Sophia in Greek. 

The Old Testament book of Proverbs is filled with references to wisdom and its being something that is of great value and should be cherished. These pithy proclamations teach us that there is an undeniable connection between wisdom and power, power to achieve what is right, which is the work of the kingdom of God.

In the eighth chapter of Proverbs one reads, “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.” This chapter also teaches us that God’s Wisdom was a witness to the creation and has the power to dispense what God has created.

For us Christians, Jesus was and is the embodiment of God’s wisdom, and thus, he has control over all the creation as well as power over life and death. The wise man seeks God’s wisdom through Christ, and it is in seeking this wisdom that we achieve the knowledge that reveals the need to worship and serve him and our fellow humans. The wise of the world strive to model their lives on the example of Christ, God’s Wisdom, and as a result they have discerned and practice God’s capacity to love unselfishly and from the depths of the heart. The wisdom of Christ, for those who practice it, has the ability to change their own lives as well as those who are touched by it.

However, many who claim faith in Christ have not become proficient in making his wisdom an integral part of their lives. They feel beleaguered by other people, and they may feel overwhelmed by the state of affairs of their lives. This results in a feeling of powerlessness to do anything other than putting one foot in front of the other and march on. Some may receive some degree of consolation in their weekly worship or fellowship, but they have not recognized the power of God’s Wisdom to make things new.

Wisdom is not just a mental thing; Wisdom comes to fruition in all the minutiae of life, and it proclaims Christ’s wisdom, Christ’s love, in each edifying word, considerate gesture, or act of unselfishness. That which we should seek is best captured and summarized in the chorus and last verse of hymn 602 in our 1982 Hymnal, “Jesus, Jesu, fill us with your love, show us how to serve the neighbors we have in you. Loving puts us on our knees, serving as though we were slaves; this is the way we should live with you.” Amen!

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