1 minute read
From Your Pastor
Brian Lays
Dear Riversiders:
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It’s hard to believe that summer is upon us again—or is it? Why do we so often marvel at how quickly time goes by? It’s as though we never quite get used to how quickly the seasons turn, so often finding ourselves alarmed that the pace at which our lives unfold.
The psalmist asks God, “Teach us to count our days, that we may gain a wise heart” (Ps 90:12). There is something wise, it seems, in having a good sense of time. Perhaps it has something to do with living in the present moment. Or perhaps it has something to do with gratitude for each day. At any rate, wisdom and a clear sense of time must be related.
This summer, we will offer a sermon series on the wisdom literature found in the Old Testament. This genre is found mostly in Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, though some psalms fit the category as well. These books are designated “wisdom books” not just because of the frequent occurrence of the word “wisdom” within them, but because of their subject matter: they are resolutely focused on the present moment.
Wisdom literature deals with daily human experience and everyday matters of conduct. Wisdom seeks connections, patterns, and principles, which are possible only because God’s creation is “good,” that is, reliable. The sun comes up each morning. Time is allotted to each day. And that time can be used well, or it can be wasted.
But wisdom literature is not naïve about the more complicated side of daily life. The world may behave in a patterned, predictable way, but few things are 100% certain. Sometimes, we get what we don’t deserve. Sometimes we work hard, but “reap the whirlwind.” Sometimes bad things happen to good people (or good things to bad people). What, then, do we make our lives? What do we make of God?
Wisdom grows out of the collective faith experience of God’s people, and offers us principles by which to live as best we can. These books rarely get the airtime they deserve, but we are excited to give them a good read this summer!
Wherever you go and whatever you do this summer, may you remember this most basic tenant of biblical wisdom: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge the LORD, and the LORD will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5).
Grace and peace,
Pastor Brian
