Proverbs 8
Back
in October, we encouraged everyone to take a “Spiritual Gifts Inventory”, and
if you didn’t do it then, or if you want a retake, there are copies out in the
narthex. I don’t want to let go of the topic,
though, because if there is a gift among us – and there are many – it is there
for a reason. I may not know what that
is, but perhaps you might. If I can
bring some light to that by reflection on scripture that refers to them,
though, I want to do that. So,
throughout these weeks of Lent, we’ll at least touch on some of the gifts that
I think may have shown up on paper, and which I hope will show up in people’s
lives.
The
Bible tells how the gift of wisdom was given to at least one of God’s
people. Solomon inherited David’s
kingdom upon his father’s death, after having acted as regent with King David’s
authority in David’s old age. He came to
the throne following years during which there had been civil war and rebellion
that began within the king’s own family and among his children. Among the first things that he did was put
one of his brothers to death [I Kings 2].
It was a brutal age. Difficult
decisions had to be made. One night,
during a time when he had gone on a pilgrimage to pray, he had a dream where
God offered him anything. Solomon
answered,
“‘O Lord,
my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David,
although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of
the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be
numbered or counted. Give your
servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern
between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?’” [I Kings 3:7-9]
In the dream, God answers him with congratulations
that he didn’t ask for riches or power over his enemies or long life and
promises that he will make him wise, and that all sorts of good things will
flow from that. When he wakes up the
next morning, he returns to Jerusalem and goes to the Temple to give thanks to
God. Pretty soon the difficult decisions
of the kingdom are being put before him and he somehow seems to find the right
solutions. So to this day we speak of
the wisdom of Solomon.
The
gift of wisdom is the gift of being able to see the right thing to do in
difficult circumstances. It begins with
a desire to do what is right, as Solomon said, “to discern between good
and evil”. As the book of Proverbs [9:10] puts it, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom.” A sign that someone has
been given wisdom is that they never leave the Lord out of their
considerations. I remember many years
ago, sitting with a family in a hospital waiting room when some very difficult
choices were put before them. They each
had something to say, and there were differences among them, but the man who
would have to make the final decision was deeply shaken and was just sort of
quietly crying. Then after listening to
all his children, he looked over and asked me, “What does the Bible say about
this?” I knew he wasn’t asking for a
direct rule – the writers of the Bible did not have access to our technology
with both the opportunities and the possible unintended consequences that it
brings. He was asking about how to honor
God’s will for another human being. He
didn’t have the answer to the doctor’s question: “Should we do ‘A’ or should we
do ‘B’?” He did have the wisdom to ask,
“Where do we find the answer?” and to know where to begin. The family prayed together and then reached a
consensus, and then gave directions.
That is wisdom.
Another sign of wisdom is that
someone pays attention to the way that God has ordered the world, both in the
ways of nature and in the ways of people.
A wise person pays attention to how things are, for a kind of wisdom is
built into nature by God himself. Again,
the book of Proverbs pictures wisdom as a sort of angelic being that watched
the world unfold and was an intimate part of creation:
“The Lord created me at the beginning
of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth—
when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world’s first bits of soil.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth—
when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world’s first bits of soil.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
then
I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.”
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.”
[Proverbs 8:22-31]
Notice
the word “rejoicing” occurs here. Wisdom
does not mean being serious all the time.
Wisdom, in fact, brings perspective and perspective brings humor. Think of the funniest people, and they will
often be the wisest, because they are able to point out what is foolish and
help us laugh about it. Think about Mark
Twain and some of what he said:
“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does
anything about it.”
“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool
than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”
“Most people are bothered by those passages of
Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I
do understand.”
Wisdom is able to put us in our place,
and I mean that in a good way. It helps
us to see ourselves and our human nature in a realistic light, one that is not
puffed up and egotistical, but humble and open to ongoing learning.
The
gift of wisdom is a gift that points us toward personal growth, and the health
of the community. The Letter of James
asks,
“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, 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 righteousness is sown
in peace for those who make peace.”
So, here is the challenge for someone who may have the gift of
wisdom: how can you, with faith, humility, and gentleness, guide people to
consider how to live peaceably together?
Here’s a story about how that can happen.
“Early in the morning [Jesus] came again to the
temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought
a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of
them, they said to him, ‘Teacher,
this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to
stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They
said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against
him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he
straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be
the first to throw a stone at her.’ And
once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away,
one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman
standing before him. Jesus straightened
up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus
said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin
again.’” [John 8:2-11]
Wisdom
shows itself when everyone comes out of a difficult situation a better,
generally wiser, more mature, even holier person. Appeal to the best in everyone. Expect good of them. Call on them to listen honestly to God’s
voice and to their own lives.
“And a harvest of righteousness is sown in
peace for those who make peace.” [James 3:18]
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