Seeking Wisdom
“Seeking Wisdom” by Pastor Rosanna McFadden
Good morning! You may not remember the last sermon I preached — in fact, I would be surprised if you did. After all, it was two weeks ago, many of us were very busy planning and working at the family Jamboree last Saturday, and we got to enjoy a wonderful outdoor service last Sunday, with great music, reflections, worship leaders, and a swarm of good-looking bees. A great day.
So let me just jog your memory a bit back to September 1, when I shared from chapter 1 of the book of James, and the instruction to be not only hearers of the Word, but to do what it says, so that we will be blessed in what we do. I mentioned, as part of setting up the “letter” of James, that it was probably not an actual letter addressed to a person or church, but it is more of a collection of ethical instructions, New Testament wisdom literature, similar to the Old Testament book of Proverbs.
So this morning, with the help of the lectionary, I chose two texts which I had Larry read for us. Although the come from different eras and represent different points of view, and were written as a direct response to what the other said, I believe they still have things to say to each other and to us. One has Wisdom personified as a woman, and the other is a warning about unbridled speaking and how those who do it may face judgement. Wait a minute, I need to check my notes. I may have accidentally been sharing a description of Tuesday night’s presidential debate. Nope, I was right — those are the Old Testament texts from Proverbs and the New Testament text from James. Huh — sounds like maybe these are things which have contemporary relevance.
An interesting feature of the Proverbs text which you may have noticed is that Wisdom is personified as a character who cries out on street corners, gives counsel to anyone who will listen, and calls down calamity on those who do not listen. What may have caught your ear is that Wisdom is a woman: she raises her voice, she stretched out her hand and was ignored, and she laughs when calamity strikes like a whirlwind. I confess it is refreshing to find female representations of good things in the Bible, especially when spiritual beings such as God and the Holy Spirit are often addressed as, and sometimes even assumed to be male.
There are linguistic and cultural reasons for this, as you might expect. In Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, all nouns have a gender. ‘Wisdom’ is a feminine noun, and verb agreement reflects this. In other words, Wisdom’s preferred pronouns are she, her, hers. The cultural references are not hard to figure out, either. Wisdom is personified as a homemaker, counselor, wise woman, and lover; all familiar roles for woman in the ancient Jewish world. Women managed households, prepared food, and raised children by nurturing them, protecting them, and teaching them. Wisdom’s counterpart, Folly was a woman who tempted people away from duty and order, and led them into chaos, destruction, and death. Wisdom is the complement to God and to God’s faithfulness, discipline, and steadfast love. It is probably too flippant to summarize this as “happy wife, happy life,” but the message of Proverbs 1 is that those who lives according to the example of Wisdom’s household will have a joyful and productive life. Obviously women in American culture, and many other cultures, have roles which extend far beyond hearth and home, but I believe there is still an important role for Wisdom and her plainer sister, Common Sense, in the lives of women and men everywhere.
And today we will fast-forward 800 years or so to the book of James, and the reminder that Common Sense is not as common as we might hope. This passage from James is not specifically about salvation, justification, or the work of Christ — all of which are vital to the Christian life; but it is about something pretty basic, something which virtually everyone over the age of three deals with every day: how we speak, and what we say. Verse 2 says “All of us make many mistakes,” which might be comforting except for the words which come right before it, “Not many of you should become teachers, for you know that we who teach will face stricter judgement.” Ouch. That should give pause to any of us who talk for a living: who put ourselves in the position of imparting wisdom to others. This isn’t just public school teachers or Sunday School teachers or preachers or politicians. Professional and public speakers have to be especially careful what they say — and I would note that there are many more forms of public speech now than there were in the 1st century. There are plenty of amateurs out there who are also sharing their opinions and trying to sway others to their way of thinking.
James compares speaking, “the tongue,” to a bit in the mouth of horse — a small piece of metal which guides a large animal, and to the rudder of a ship — a small piece of equipment which a pilot can use to steer a large ship. Later in the passage, James compares the tongue to a small fire which sets an entire forest ablaze. It only takes a spark . . .
I doubt if there’s anyone here who has not been burned by something someone else has said, or written, or tweeted, or whatever. Most, if not all of us, have likely said something which was hurtful to someone else, or maybe to a whole group of people. James acknowledges that anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is mature. That kind of maturity takes wisdom, compassion, and lots and lots of practice. No one gets there without making some mistakes along the way. Seeking wisdom and speaking wisdom doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen accidentally. If we never acknowledge or try to change the ways in which our speak has been hurtful, we will not become mature. In fact, wisdom may sometimes dictate that the best course is to say nothing at all. As Abraham Lincoln said, “It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
Which makes the rest of this sermon a bit of a challenge, frankly. I believe that Wisdom is a relationship we can all cultivate, especially through listening. Listening to texts like this one from Proverbs, and other representatives of Wisdom, women or men, who speak with righteousness and compassion. I believe that we can find Wisdom in listening to people around us — not only those who agree with us, but those who challenge our opinions and presumptions. If we agree with James’ assertion that “All of us make many mistakes,” then we have to have the humility to include ourselves in that group. Not only does everybody else make mistakes, I make them, too.
James has some pretty inflammatory words about the tongue set on fire by hell. I hope I have never said anything which could be characterized that way; it makes me wonder what conversations or church meetings James had been a part of. The best way to avoid those fiery interactions is to not start that blaze at the beginning; each of us can heed the words of Smokey the Bear and help prevent forest fires. But I believe the next best thing, the wise thing, is to understand that although we are likely to make mistakes, that scorched earth is not the best or the only way forward. Once a spark has set a fire in motion, we do not have to fan those flames, or even run for cover as it all goes up in smoke. If we have confessed, repented, and accepted the grace of Christ, that is something we can model for other people. We can be brave enough to admit if we said something thoughtless, hurtful, or dumb. We can be compassionate enough not to try to exact revenge when someone has said something hurtful to us. We can choose to let go of anger and bitterness even if the person who said something hurtful never apologizes, because holding on to anger and bitterness is likely more harmful and corrosive than whatever that person said to us. Wisdom isn’t about proving I’m smarter than you are; wisdom is the way we seek the path of righteousness to nurture and serve the whole household of faith.All of these are things we can practice, and for better or worse, we get lots of opportunities to practice making mistakes, fixing mistakes, and moving past our mistakes. This is hard work, maybe even impossible work to do on our own. That is why I need and you need and we all need the power and the grace of Jesus Christ. Christ, who is personified as the Word of God, who is our wisdom, strength for today, and our hope for tomorrow. We get to proclaim this in song today as we sing hymn 150 in the Blue hymnal. We get to proclaim it in our lives every time we accept and share the wonderful grace of Jesus, which is sufficient for even me. Amen.