Deuteronomoy 30 : 15 - 20
1 Corinthians 2 : 1 - 16
Have you heard the story of the visiting evangelist? He went to a church to preach and decided he wanted to begin the message with a really strong point that would get everyone’s attention. And so he began the sermon by saying, “Every member of this church is going to die!” It got everyone’s attention and they seemed a little spell bound, all except on man at the back whose face lit up with a smile. He made the statement again, a little more firmly. The man’s smile spread across his face. Finally he was shouting, “Every member of this church IS going to die!” and the man crossed his arms and even seemed to laugh a little. At the end of the service the evangelist stood at the door and shook hands with the congregation. Eventually the man who was smiling broadly arrived at the door. The evangelist asked him why he smiled when most people seemed to be more serious about such a statement, to which he replied, “I am not a member of this church”.
I guess it is important to make sure of our facts and be clear about the message that we portray!
Today we will be focussing on education and thinking and praying for all those involved with education and especially those writing examinations.
I recall my formal education but I need to say that education is far more than just that which is formally received. Let us examine what the role of education is in our lives.
1. WHAT IS EDUCATION?
Definition range from teach and learning (see wikipedia), acquiring of knowledge to instruction and schooling.
John Locke wrote in 1690 in his Essay concerning human understanding that a child’s mind was blank (tabula rasa). Education was needed to inform this mind. He explained that there were three distinct methods to do this; firstly the development of a healthy body, secondly the formation of a virtuous character, and thirdly, the choice of an appropriate academic curriculum.
Common to all these various understandings and definitions is the common idea of a “leading out” or “raising up”. Education’s task is to lead us into new experiences and new ways of seeing and thinking.
In this way we can see that education was at the core of the ministry of Jesus because He was always leading people into new discoveries and experiences. Can you hear the words of Jesus, “Look” and “see” and. . . but I say to you”.
Education is not just formal knowledge but the discovery of being led into new truth.
2. HOW THEN CAN WE BE EDUCATED?
Firstly by putting ourselves at a place where we can be led into new discoveries, fresh ideas, about life, about God, about ourselves.
a. By reading – God’s word, good books, helpful articles.
Many faiths teach their followers to learn their sacred books by heart through rote learning. Some can recite large passages. This is not really education, even parrots can do that! Rote learning is not that which always educates and throwing out individual texts does not mean we have been led by God. But the more we immerse ourselves in God’s word and God’s world the more we are open to being led by God’s Spirit into discovering the nature of God and that leads us to following.
It is here that we receive much information that leads us to new understandings that can lead us into a deeper appreciation and joy of God.
b. By listening – to messages that encourage and teach, to other people’s experiences and understanding.
Again we are receiving knowledge that leads us into being wise in our relationships. It is in the sharing of our stories that we discover God’s amazing grace in action. A narrative approach to education is one which will inform and enrich us all.
c. By doing – our faith is an experiential faith.
It is in acting out our beliefs that we grow and are led into greater knowledge and wisdom about how to live in a meaningful relationship with God. As we receive all this knowledge about God we able to be wise as we live it in our daily lives. All the information about God, myself, other people, my relationships and the world are meaningless unless they form my life and allow me to “be led” to greater insight and new forms of behaviour.
Secondly, by allowing ourselves to be challenged into new ways of thinking. We live in a dynamic, not a static world. Imagine of the doctor who was treating you said, “I don’t like this new fancy anaesthetic thing. Just bite on this bandage while I cut you and then sew you up”.
It is in discovering new aspects of life that we are enriched and grow. Jesus was always leading his followers into discovering new information and they were then changed in their thinking and their living.
3. HOW DO WE BECOME WISE?
1. By gaining knowledge.
Knowledge that is just the accumulation of facts means nothing. I am not impressed with knowledge that does not lead to a life more fully lived.
Just last night I was privileged to hear our Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, speak and convey an inspiring address. She has indicated that her department is working on developing an understanding among people that for every right that there is enshrined in the Bill of Rights, there is a responsibility. This leads us into new ways of living, and surely that is true education.
For all the knowledge we gain is useless unless it leads to wise decisions and lifestyle. There are many people who are very clever, but that intelligence is meaningless unless it empowers them and their communities to a greater purpose.
2. By living out that knowledge
Wisdom is the discovery of God and God’s ways through the process of education, formal and informal.
Wisdom is living by God’s truth in a way that both informs us and forms us.
I conclude with an article that I read about truth:
Truth is not obvious, but is there to be discovered. When Jesus says ‘you are the salt of the earth’ (Mt 5:13), he is suggesting that truth can act as a sharp preservative, and so far from being an optional extra, is an essential aspect of our life together. When I watch the evening television news, I always look out for the opening headlines, which will tell me what someone else thinks are the most important events of the day, translated into simple slogans. That is the ‘obvious’ approach. I may or may not agree with the selection, their order in priority, and the way they are summarized, but the process has to go on into more detail, more depth, with comparisons, contrasts, and even some analysis – if, that is, we are to be educated beyond the obvious.
William Barclay, the popular Scottish preacher, once remarked that ‘truth which is merely told is quick to be forgotten; truth which is discovered lasts a lifetime.’
Let us live lives that discover God’s truth which will educate us for a life more fully lived.
May our lives be filled with discovering and being led by God into a new and deeper understanding of life.
AMEN.
I guess it is important to make sure of our facts and be clear about the message that we portray!
Today we will be focussing on education and thinking and praying for all those involved with education and especially those writing examinations.
I recall my formal education but I need to say that education is far more than just that which is formally received. Let us examine what the role of education is in our lives.
1. WHAT IS EDUCATION?
Definition range from teach and learning (see wikipedia), acquiring of knowledge to instruction and schooling.
John Locke wrote in 1690 in his Essay concerning human understanding that a child’s mind was blank (tabula rasa). Education was needed to inform this mind. He explained that there were three distinct methods to do this; firstly the development of a healthy body, secondly the formation of a virtuous character, and thirdly, the choice of an appropriate academic curriculum.
Common to all these various understandings and definitions is the common idea of a “leading out” or “raising up”. Education’s task is to lead us into new experiences and new ways of seeing and thinking.
In this way we can see that education was at the core of the ministry of Jesus because He was always leading people into new discoveries and experiences. Can you hear the words of Jesus, “Look” and “see” and. . . but I say to you”.
Education is not just formal knowledge but the discovery of being led into new truth.
2. HOW THEN CAN WE BE EDUCATED?
Firstly by putting ourselves at a place where we can be led into new discoveries, fresh ideas, about life, about God, about ourselves.
a. By reading – God’s word, good books, helpful articles.
Many faiths teach their followers to learn their sacred books by heart through rote learning. Some can recite large passages. This is not really education, even parrots can do that! Rote learning is not that which always educates and throwing out individual texts does not mean we have been led by God. But the more we immerse ourselves in God’s word and God’s world the more we are open to being led by God’s Spirit into discovering the nature of God and that leads us to following.
It is here that we receive much information that leads us to new understandings that can lead us into a deeper appreciation and joy of God.
b. By listening – to messages that encourage and teach, to other people’s experiences and understanding.
Again we are receiving knowledge that leads us into being wise in our relationships. It is in the sharing of our stories that we discover God’s amazing grace in action. A narrative approach to education is one which will inform and enrich us all.
c. By doing – our faith is an experiential faith.
It is in acting out our beliefs that we grow and are led into greater knowledge and wisdom about how to live in a meaningful relationship with God. As we receive all this knowledge about God we able to be wise as we live it in our daily lives. All the information about God, myself, other people, my relationships and the world are meaningless unless they form my life and allow me to “be led” to greater insight and new forms of behaviour.
Secondly, by allowing ourselves to be challenged into new ways of thinking. We live in a dynamic, not a static world. Imagine of the doctor who was treating you said, “I don’t like this new fancy anaesthetic thing. Just bite on this bandage while I cut you and then sew you up”.
It is in discovering new aspects of life that we are enriched and grow. Jesus was always leading his followers into discovering new information and they were then changed in their thinking and their living.
3. HOW DO WE BECOME WISE?
1. By gaining knowledge.
Knowledge that is just the accumulation of facts means nothing. I am not impressed with knowledge that does not lead to a life more fully lived.
Just last night I was privileged to hear our Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, speak and convey an inspiring address. She has indicated that her department is working on developing an understanding among people that for every right that there is enshrined in the Bill of Rights, there is a responsibility. This leads us into new ways of living, and surely that is true education.
For all the knowledge we gain is useless unless it leads to wise decisions and lifestyle. There are many people who are very clever, but that intelligence is meaningless unless it empowers them and their communities to a greater purpose.
2. By living out that knowledge
Wisdom is the discovery of God and God’s ways through the process of education, formal and informal.
Wisdom is living by God’s truth in a way that both informs us and forms us.
I conclude with an article that I read about truth:
Truth is not obvious, but is there to be discovered. When Jesus says ‘you are the salt of the earth’ (Mt 5:13), he is suggesting that truth can act as a sharp preservative, and so far from being an optional extra, is an essential aspect of our life together. When I watch the evening television news, I always look out for the opening headlines, which will tell me what someone else thinks are the most important events of the day, translated into simple slogans. That is the ‘obvious’ approach. I may or may not agree with the selection, their order in priority, and the way they are summarized, but the process has to go on into more detail, more depth, with comparisons, contrasts, and even some analysis – if, that is, we are to be educated beyond the obvious.
William Barclay, the popular Scottish preacher, once remarked that ‘truth which is merely told is quick to be forgotten; truth which is discovered lasts a lifetime.’
Let us live lives that discover God’s truth which will educate us for a life more fully lived.
May our lives be filled with discovering and being led by God into a new and deeper understanding of life.
AMEN.
1 comment:
People should read this.
Post a Comment