"What's the difference between an Atomic bomb and the Transfiguration?"

Once upon a time, so the story goes, there was a man and his wife who were very poor. They did not have enough food to eat, or clothes to keep them warm, and the roof of the hut they lived in leaked like a waterfall. One day there was a knock at the door, and there stood the Archangel Raphael, who gave them three wishes. The old man was very hungry so he cried out, "I wish I had a big sausage, hot and spicy, on the plate in front of me!" And immediately the hut was filled with the delicious smell of the sausage. But the old woman was furious. "You could have asked for money, or a big house, or something really useful. When we've eaten that sausage we will still be hungry. You've wasted a wish! Asking for a sausage indeed! I wish it was stuck on the end of your nose!"

Immediately the old man began to jump about and shout. "My nose, my nose, the sausage it burning my nose!" They tried to pull the sausage off his nose, but it was stuck fast, and the man refused to let his wife cut it off. In the end the man shouted, "I wish the sausage was gone!" And so it was. The two of them were left with no sausage and no wishes, and they quarrelled about it for the rest of their lives.

Now King Solomon, when God came to him in the dream, wasn't thinking of himself. He remembered that God had made him king; and the people were the people whom God had chosen. So, instead of asking for long life or riches, or the death of his enemies, Solomon asked for an understanding mind to govern the people of God, a mind able to discern between good and evil, a mind that would enable Solomon to rule the people with wisdom and justice. So God gave Solomon a wise and discerning mind, and also gave him all the other things he had not asked for, riches and honour greater than any other king.

I am reminded of Jesus' words, "Do not worry about what you shall eat or drink, or what you shall put on, God knows you need all these things. Instead, look first for the kingdom of God, and God's righteousness, and God will give you that and all the other things as well."

Wisdom is one of the greatest of God's gifts to humankind. In the psalm we read, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Another way of saying this is, "When you realise that God is Lord of all creation, and make your decisions according to God's will, then you will start to become wise."

In the story of Adam and Eve, they took the fruit and ate it because they thought the knowledge would make them wise. (Gen 3:6) But Adam and Eve quickly found that the knowledge was dangerous if they hid themselves from God. This is true for us as well. Doctors, for example, know about all sorts of dangerous drugs, and if they are wise, they will use them very carefully to heal and cure. If the doctor is Christian, they may say that his wisdom and care arise out of the love they have for God and for God's people. But there are other people who know about these dangerous drugs, and sell them for a great deal of money, and mix other substances in with them to cheat their clients. Such people show no fear of God, they worship the money and power the drugs bring them and don't care about the lives they ruin.

This is what St Paul is talking about in his letter to the Ephesians. "Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness," he says, "but instead expose them." He is asking the Ephesians to look at their actions and their way of life in the way God might look at it. "Wake up," he says, "the light of Christ is shining and you can see clearly now."

Living in the light of Christ is to live as a wise person, doing nothing which is harmful, but turning to things which are helpful, uplifting, things which bring joy and peace. If you are going to get drunk, he suggests, don't fill yourself with wine, you'll destroy your brain cells, end up with a hangover, and if you are foolish enough to drive while drunk, you may well kill someone as well as yourself. On the other hand, if you fill yourself with God's Holy Spirit, the fruits are "love, joy peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." (Gal 5:22)

When we turn to the gospel, Jesus is teaching the very same lesson, although in different words. We know that Jesus is truly God and truly human. This is shown to us in the gospels and we repeat it in the creed. This is most clearly stated in John's gospel, and in chapter 6, which we hear from today, Jesus says that only by sharing his life can we be most truly human ourselves and united with God. "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will have no life in you." says Jesus. We may have all the knowledge in the world, or all the faith in the world, enough to move mountains, as St Paul says (1 Cor 13), but unless we share fully in the life of Christ, then we will have no life of our own.

In the Garden of Eden, God warned Adam and Eve that to eat the fruit of knowledge against God's will would bring death. Jesus tells us that as we eat the body and blood of Christ according to God's will and desire, then we will receive everlasting life. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever. The serpent tricked Adam and Eve into thinking that knowledge and wisdom were the same thing. Moses and King Solomon and all the prophets knew that humans can acquire knowledge, but that wisdom can only be found in God.

We come together as church to share our lives with each other and to take part in the life of Christ. We have a long way to go, and sometimes we argue like the old man and his wife quarrelling over the sausage. However, God has enough love and wisdom for everyone to have eternal life. So here we are, looking for the wisdom of God so that we may have new life in Christ and that our human foolishness may be transformed into God's wisdom and love.