Meditation for May 28, 2008
From The Rev. Peter A. Munson
Proverbs 17:1, 5, 7, 9-10, 14, 17
1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting with strife.
5 Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;
those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
7 Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;
still less is false speech to a ruler.
9 One who forgives an affront fosters friendship,
but one who dwells in disputes will alienate a friend.
10 A rebuke strikes deeper into a discerning person
than a hundred blows into a fool.
14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water;
so stop before the quarrel breaks out.
17 A friend loves at all times,
and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.
Seeking Wisdom From Above
Does anyone read the book of Proverbs anymore? We emphasize the book of Psalms in our worship every Sunday, and also in the Daily Office. When was the last time you read the book of Proverbs? Readings from the book of Proverbs started popping up in the Daily Office a little over a week ago. I thought it was interesting timing, for it was just the other day that I thought to myself, "I should read the book of Proverbs again. It has been forever since I read that book of the Bible." Why was I thinking this way? I was ready to see what nuggets of wisdom I might rediscover there.
My Bible's introductory note on Proverbs says this: "The authors of these collections of (mostly) two-line sayings were the sages, a social class that served as counselors, bureaucrats, and teachers during the Divided Kingdom and as preservers of tradition in the later periods... The sages rooted their theology in knowledge about God gained through the study of creation and human nature... One of the key concepts of the sages, "fear of the Lord," shows that whatever the origin of the wisdom teachers' cosmopolitan outlook, it had been fully hebraized. "Fear of the Lord" refers to more than simple fear; it is the awe, obedience, and proper relationship to God that necessarily undergirds all attempts at gathering knowledge or living wisely." (The Harper Collins Study Bible, p. 938, introductory article to Proverbs by Claudia V. Camp and Carole R. Fontaine)
And so we hear - in Proverbs as in Psalm 111:10 - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." (Proverbs 9:10) The latter half of that verse reads "... and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." For the Hebrew mind, then, there is this connection between wisdom and God. If you would seek wisdom... seek God. There is also, I would say - both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament - a strong connection between wisdom and compassion. Those who act wisely act with compassion. James put it this way:
"Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteous is sown in peace for those who make peace." (James 3:13-18)
Paul wrote to the Corinthian church (where people were quite full of themselves and thought that their particular spiritual gifts made them more special than others), "Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." (1 Corinthians 3:18-19) He went on to say (with tongue firmly in cheek, it seems to me), "We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are in disrepute... When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly." (1 Cor. 4:10, 12b-13)
Sometimes in the Church we try to pass certain things off as the wisdom of God - the wisdom from above - when in reality it is just the wisdom of the world that we are spouting off. "Churches should have 3-6 months worth of operating expenses in reserves." We say this as if it is Gospel truth. I say that any church worth it's salt has no more than 1-2 months' operating funds in reserves, and probably the most exceptional churches have less than one month of operating funds in reserves. Why? Because we live by faith, that's why, and if we are passionate about joining in the work of the kingdom, we don't let our money sit around. We spend it, for kingdom purposes - namely, to help those who are in need - today.
Different churches have pronounced that women should not be ordained because Jesus had twelve male disciples. Ah, but if those who still think that way would only listen for the guidance of the Spirit today... if they would have only heard some of the sermons and lectures I heard last week, given by women priests and pastors at the Festival of Homiletics in Minneapolis... if they only knew some of the women pastors that I have been privileged to know, and how well they preach and love and serve on our Lord's behalf, they might start asking, "Does my stance reflect some sort of wisdom from the world, and not the wisdom that is from above?"
In our culture, we often act as if folks have really arrived when they own a winter home and a summer home, and perhaps even a third home somewhere else. And yet, what about all those in the world who live in shacks, or in the town dump? What of all those who live in refugee camps, and have no real home at all? What of others in our own country, who are homeless? How easy it is for us to forget about them? Or worse yet, sometimes, the wisdom of our world says, "That person must be getting what he or she deserves. He has wasted his opportunities, shown no initiative; she is suffering the consequences of her own actions." And yet, we hear today, in Proverbs 17:5, "Those who mock the poor insult their Maker..."
The wisdom of the world is "Go on the offensive before you suffer attack. And if your are attacked, get revenge - as soon as possible." But Jesus taught, "Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile." (Matthew 6:39-41) From where does our wisdom come? And is it really wisdom?
We seek wisdom, and yet, Paul says, we who follow Christ are fools for Christ. Frederick Buechner, in one of his books, put it this way, "God is foolish to send us out to speak hope to a world that slogs along heart-deep in the conviction that things can only get worse... He is foolish to have us speak of loving our enemies when we have a hard enough time loving our friends... God is foolish to have us proclaim eternal life to a world that is half in love with death... God is foolish to send us out on a journey for which there are no maps, and to aim us in the direction of a goal we can never know until we get there. Such is the foolishness of God. And yet, and yet, Paul says, "the foolishness of God is wiser than men."
I will strive to seek, and keep seeking, the wisdom from above. I think I will go back and read the whole book of Proverbs again this week.