July 26, 2026 | 9th Sunday after Pentecost
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church – Buffalo, NY
References
Scripture: 1 Kings 3:5–12; Romans 8:26-39; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52; Colossians 3:11
Hymn: Gather Us In
Video of worship/sermon
What Does It Mean To Be “Wise“?
King Solomon asked God for wisdom. Instead of asking for power, riches, or anything else, he asked for … wisdom.
But what exactly is wisdom?
How do you recognize that a person has wisdom?
As we focus on a word like wisdom that we all know, it suddenly becomes difficult to describe or define. Is wisdom the same thing as being smart?
You can be intelligent. You can recall all kinds of facts. You can possess incredible knowledge. But wisdom is something more. It is more than intellect.
Wisdom seems to include our values. It shapes how we live, not simply what we know.
Corrie ten Boom and the Wisdom of Courage
The story of Corrie ten Boom helps me understand that.
Corrie, along with her father, Casper, and her sister, Betsie, lived together in Holland during World War II. They owned a watchmaking shop and lived above the shop.
They were people of conviction and people of faith.
Casper thoroughly read the Old Testament and had a high regard for people of the Jewish faith. He said, “In this household, God’s people are always welcome.” And this value permeated their home.
Their Christian faith and their strong conviction of welcome led them to become a safe place for Jewish refugees.
Was it wisdom to offer support for Jewish refugees during World War II?
One day, a woman entered the ten Boom’s watch shop carrying her suitcase. She said that she was Jewish and that her husband had been arrested months before. She had heard that the ten Booms helped other Jews and asked if they could help her, too. And they did.
An architect designed and built a hidden room inside the ten Boom’s home with enough space and ventilation for six people. A warning buzzer was installed to alert refugees in the home that there was a neighborhood sweep looking for refugees and that they should quickly get into the secret room.
Eventually, the Gestapo discovered what the family was doing and went to arrest the ten Booms. The ten Booms were able to sound the buzzer allowing the refugees to hide.
Casper, Corrie, and Betsie were interrogated, sent to prison, and eventually to a concentration camp. A note made its way to them that read, “All the watches are safe.” This didn’t refer to the actual watches in their shop, but the refugees that they sheltered.
Casper died just ten days after his arrest.
Betsie eventually starved to death. Yet even in the darkness of the concentration camp, Betsie continued to speak about the love of God as she told her sister that, “the love of God is stronger than the deepest darkness.”
Is that wisdom?
The Wisdom of Forgiveness
After the war, Corrie became an author and speaker.
Years later, while speaking to a crowd, she noticed a man sitting in the back.
She recognized him, but couldn’t place where. Throughout her talk, her eyes returned to this man.
After the presentation, people came forward to thank her. Finally, the last person approached. It was him. And, as he stood right in front of her, she recognized who he was.
He was one of her captors … one of the most vicious guards from the concentration camp.
He told Corrie that he had become a Christian and came to ask for her forgiveness and he extended his hand.
Can you imagine the flood of thoughts and feelings she must have had as she sorted through how to respond?!
She did what many of us would consider virtually impossible. She reached out and took his hand and said, “I forgive you, brother! With all my heart!”
Is that wisdom?
What is wisdom?
There is something happening here that goes far beyond intellect.
Wisdom is much more than simply being smart.
Wisdom is molded over time and with experience. It would be interesting for us to consider the effects of risk-taking and honest self-reflection on wisdom.
Wisdom is rooted in our faith and our values.
Wisdom is rooted in God’s values represented through the kingdom of heaven.
Living the Kingdom Here and Now
Stories like Corrie ten Boom’s don’t simply inspire us. They force us to ask the same question Jesus asked his disciples: “Do you understand all this?” Not merely, “Do you understand the lesson?” but “Do you understand what God’s kingdom really looks like?”
If I’m honest, my answer is a resounding: “No!”
I don’t fully understand wisdom. I don’t fully understand the kingdom of heaven.
How are we to understand them much less live them?
Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Every word of this sentence is important, but I call your attention specifically to “on earth as it is in heaven.”
The kingdom is not simply something that happens after we die … “some heaven light years away” as the hymn Gather Us In says.
The kingdom is meant to be here. Now. With and among us.
Jesus tells us not simply to love the people who love us. That’s easy. But also to love those who persecute us, love those who hate us … love even our enemies.
That kind of love is difficult to understand. But on a soul level, I think we recognize it.
The kingdom of heaven cannot be reduced to insignificance. The kingdom of heaven is a calling into a different way of living.
A way of living rooted in values, logic, and an identity that may not seem sensible or wise when we only consider our own perspective and what is best for ourselves.
The kingdom of heaven is a call to wisdom … a way of living grounded in our identity as children of God characterized by unconditional, unfathomable love lived out in relationship with others here and now.
Gather Us In
Where humanity seems determined to find reasons for division … for separation … St. Paul reminds us that there is no separation. “There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
St. Paul also reminds us that nothing in all of God’s creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord … NOTHING (my paraphrase of Romans 8:38-39).
This is the kingdom of heaven … declaring that every person is a beloved child of God. Every person is worthy of love. Every person deserves dignity and respect. Even our enemies. Even our political opponents.
The kingdom of heaven frees us to lift up the lowly, care for the poor, care for the sick, welcome the stranger, care for the widow and the orphan.
God calls us to see the world through the lens of the kingdom … to live our identity … to live our kingdom values.
Because every time we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” we are also praying: May it come through me. May your will be done through me. Through us.
That is the kingdom of heaven.
King Solomon’s wisdom, the ten Boom’s wisdom, and many other faithful people throughout history wasn’t simply knowing what was right for them alone, but having the courage to live God’s kingdom here and now for the good of all people.
Reflection Questions
- When you hear the word wisdom, what comes to mind? How is biblical wisdom different from simply being intelligent?
- Where is God inviting you to live more deeply from your identity as a beloved child of God rather than from fear or self-interest?
- Who might God be calling you to welcome, forgive, or love in a way that reflects the kingdom of heaven?
Epicurious Lutheran 
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