WISDOM – 25th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year B
James contrasts two different kinds of wisdom, God’s Wisdom and the world’s wisdom. He calls God’s Wisdom the “above” and the world’s wisdom the “below”. World is not being used in the sense of the physical world, but the spiritual world of sin and evil, good and bad, right and wrong, wise and unwise. Since we are called to one and capable of the other, we do well to learn about them, so we can recognize them in ourselves, and in others.
Each kind of wisdom has distinguishing signs, according to James. “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exists, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure…” There are many different shades and degrees of both kinds of wisdom. Many of them go undetected even by those who have them.
We can be deceived about what kind of wisdom is working, since motivations within ourselves and others are not always clear. They are clearly recognized in their extremes, the extremely jealous and envious person, and the extremely spiritual and wise person. Often the seeds of both kinds of wisdom grow for years before they surface in “visible” ways in someone’s life in good or bad fruits. James hints at this when he asks a question to help us get at the different kinds of wisdom. “Where do the wars and …conflicts among you come from?” He directs his answer in another question. “Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?”
If the heart is violent, murder becomes possible. If the heart is envious, quarreling and fighting results. If the heart is selfish, the gifts of God are withheld. “You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
Seeking the wisdom from above is to be a conscious goal for us. James gives us some indicators to watch for, such as being innocent. The innocent persons are not out to exploit others. They are open and receptive to others, and not unduly distrustful of others. They presume there is more wisdom from above than from below in people.
A sign of wisdom from above is seen in the peaceable. There is a discernible difference in the warring, angry, critical and sarcastic person from the peaceable person. The peaceable person works for peace for others and not just for themselves and their motivations.
James says the wise person is docile, which means teachable. The worldly wise person cannot be taught very much about God’s wisdom. James says the wise person is “rich in sympathy”, which means they can identify with the sufferings and difficulties of others. They have room in their heart and life for others. This contrasts with the selfish person, who only identifies with him or herself, and their needs.
The fruits of the spiritually wise are seen in their dealings which are “without inconstancy or insincerity”. Over a period of time, we can generally tell if someone, including ourselves, is growing in and living by the wisdom from above or below. The wise person, unlike the unwise spoken of in the Book of Wisdom, learns from others, and especially those who are spiritually wise and just. The worldly wise seek to “beset” the just because they call them to the opposite of the wisdom they are following. “The wicked say: Let us beset the just one, because he…reproaches us for transgressions of the law and…violations of our training.”
Jesus taught the disciples who had been concentrating on who was most important, instead of the greatness of Jesus, the events surrounding his life, and his approaching suffering and death, how to be wise. He said those who want to be great in the spiritual sense, have to become servants like Jesus Himself, who gives the “wisdom from above”.
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