Wisdom

December 1, 2020

DAILY READING

Psalm 124
Genesis 9:1-17
Hebrews 11:32-40

FIELD NOTES

Hebrews 11 begins: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” In these verses we hear stories of God’s people from the beginning, stories of faith. The faithful are convinced of God’s promises, assured of things they cannot yet see. Blessed are those who have not seen what the disciples saw and yet believe.

Advent requires faith. We like to call ourselves Easter people because we have new life in Christ’s resurrection—and we rejoice that we are God’s Easter people—but we are also Advent people, waiting and hoping for God’s future when the last enemy, death, will be put under God’s footstool. When the lion and the kid, the wolf and the lamb will lie down together: death will be no more. Advent prepares us to celebrate the coming of Christ in Bethlehem but also the promise of Christ’s coming again in glory.

“Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.” We say this at the Lord’s Table because we have faith in God, who promises Life. The rainbow is an Advent symbol that we sometimes overlook in our rush to Christmas Day. “Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth” (Gen 9:15-16).

Isaiah 11 describes God’s future this way: “They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Paul’s prayer echoes these words, “asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col 1:9). Faith does not ask us to give up knowledge and wisdom but rather leads us to the wisdom we know through God’s Word in Jesus Christ. To be filled with Wisdom from God is to be filled with Christ, whose Wisdom is not of this world. 

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD

• Jesus is called both Word and Wisdom. How are the two terms related?
• How can we as Christians gain wisdom and knowledge in our life of faith?

FAMILY FIELD TALK

• Who is the person you know with the most wisdom?  What makes them wise?

PRAYER GUIDE

And so, on “Day Two,” we pray as we sing:

O come, thou Wisdom from on high and order all things far and nigh.

To us the path of knowledge show and cause us in her way to go. 

Refrain: Rejoice, rejoice . . .