proper-19-st-christophers.md

Homily: September 16, 2018.

Proper 19
St. Christopher’s, Spartanburg, SC

Opening

Thank you for the invitation to celebrate the Eucharist with you this morning.

The weather’s a little bit dicey – but on the whole …

Spartanburg has been for us generally a place we pass through on our way to somewhere else, Asheville, Atlanta, even Ohio.

But now I’ve been here twice to supply. It’s good to get to know the people who call Spartanburg home.

I learned just this past week that one of the clergy I meet regularly with spent some formative time here back in the 1980’s, Sally Franklin.

Scripture

I’m preparing a talk to be given in October where I’m supposed to say something about what is distinctive about the Anglican communion – particularly with regard to Scripture, Tradition, and Sacraments.

In my ministry it has been common place to hear from teachers of various kinds that the Episcopal Church takes Scripture very seriously. Our liturgy comes with a very heavy dose of Scripture readings. Ann B. Davis of the Bob Cummings show and The Brady Bunch used to say that when she read the Bible for the first time, she was shocked at how often it quoted the Book of Common Prayer. That’s how bad it is for us. Scripture is everywhere for us.

At the same time, my general impression in a long ministry, has been that Episcopalians tend to not know very much about the Bible. We don’t memorize verses on purpose. Our Bible Study groups – that are everywhere – are usually attended by just a few folks. I suspect that you in the congregation today are heavily represented in the Bible study groups here at St. Christophers.

One subject in the Bible that most Christians are not particularly knowledge about – to say nothing about most Episcopalians – is in the Wisdom literature.¹

The Wisdom books in the Bible are: Proverbs, Psalms, Job, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Book of Wisdom, Wisdom of Sirach, and to some extent Baruch (the last three are Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament)." Wikipedia

It was a type of literature that could be found in many different cultures of the Middle East and Mediterranean.

"… It consists of statements by sages and wise men that offer teachings about divinity and virtue. It is in some ways an alternate perspective from that of the classical prophets in the Old Testament. Later we will have competition between Scribes and Pharisees. It’s a little like that. There are voices that urge the traditional ways and there are voices that argue that the way we have always done things is precisely what has got us into trouble.

During the month of September we hear from Wisdom literature in the first readings, Song of Songs and Proverbs. We end next week with a portion of the final chapter of Proverbs.

A couple of years ago I had my students at Winthrop record some of their family wisdom sayings, things received by them and things they wanted to pass on to their children.

Never go to sleep angry	Look before you leap.
Don’t go looking for a hornet’s nest because you might get stung	A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Kill them with kindness	A joyful heart is good medicine.
Time heals all wounds	Don’t judge someone until you’ve walked in their shoes
Let sleeping dogs lie	Follow the path that makes you happiest with yourself.

In addition to the first readings this month I think it makes the most sense to count the letter of James, our 2^nd reading, as an example of “New Testament Wisdom” literature. I am persuaded by those scholars like James Holloway … ²

The letter of James is a document intended for ethical and moral teaching, how to act in the world, … not at all unlike the aim and substance of the older wisdom material.

Some of the subjects he engages are:

• use of wealth especially with regard to the poor,
• listening well,
• mixing faith with works,
• using words carefully,
• the temptations that the world presents us with on a regular basis,
• patience,
• sickness and sin.

Today’s passage is prominently about the dangers and potency of words – “the tongue”. He warns against being presumptuous as a teacher – as if teachers were know it alls. Teachers will be judged by a higher standard he says. I must say I long ago lost track of the times that what I thought I was saying was not what I was heard to say by those listening. What a precious thing human language is! What a dangerous thing it is! he says.

Biblical wisdom is not about knowing something intellectually, not simply that. It is about using intellectual and practical knowledge to forge a way of living in harmony with God and others.

The responsibility we have, all of us, is to seek to live in harmony with God and neighbor. That’s what the Jesus Great Commandment is all about.

Wisdom

Scripture today speaks to us of wisdom, of the need for it if we are to lead sound lives, the essential nature of wisdom if we are to live faithful lives as Christians, and also the ambiguous nature of what true wisdom looks like.

Wisdom literature is concerned with raising a new generation to continue the teaching of the old ways.

We can see a passion for these things alive in our country at this time. There is a great and passionate lament at the passing away of the traditional ways. There is a great fear and sense of loss at the perceived failures of our educational system.

We are in a time of deep longing for wisdom.

We ought not be too surprised at the centrality of wisdom for those who desire to live in faithful relationship with the living God. The original center of Christianity – Constantinople – had the first major building as the focal point of the Christian “empire.” The Cathedral – then known as Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) – is still a breathtaking structure, 1500 years after its construction – though in Istanbul, Turkey, it is no longer a Christian building. ³

Jesus’s form of wisdom

Jesus expresses the wisdom of God’s New Covenant with people in the form of paradox: Those who want to save their life will have to lose it. We desire life. Wisdom is aimed at improving life. And Jesus turns it on its head.

Classical wisdom puts the paradox a little differently, but you can still hear the tension between what we want from life and what God wants from our life. Wisdom is the fear of the Lord. “Fear” in this usage is not fear that I experience when I see little children playing on the overlook of the Grand Canyon. Scares me to death. “Fear” here is awe. Deep respect and reverence. Trembling before the presence of a mighty God.

James cautions any and all of us to be careful with the words we use: they are mighty powerful he says, they are capable of far greater destruction than we may want to acknowledge. Our words can bring great blessing and they can bring great desecration.

In the philosophical/theological language of the time of Jesus, there was common ground between the language of Holy Logos (Word) and Holy Wisdom. Both of them became associated with the Christian experience of God’s very essence.

The call to Wisdom

If the words of scripture call us to Wisdom today, we should probably pay attention to it. In the oft-repeated phrase – “If it’s true, it’s important.”

If we do pay attention, we will be caught up short. We will think we know what it’s all about. We will think we know what is wise and what is foolish. We will think that common sense and the way we’ve always done it will suffice to recover what we have lost.

But if we listen with honesty and with open ears, we may recognize that what at first sight seems like wisdom – practical common sense for many Americans – becomes in the hands of the biblical writers something very different.

It’s not about gaining for ourselves. It’s all about giving up for others. It’s not about being the biggest and the best. It’s about service to others. It’s not about what we think is best. It’s about what the other – the living God – wants. It’s not about exploitation. It’s about cultivating and caring.

One recent song writer puts it this way:

When I stop at the cross
I can see the love of God.
But I can’t see competition.
I can’t see hierarchy.
I can’t see pride or prejudice.
or the abuse of authority.
I can’t see lust for power.
I can’t see manipulation.
I can’t see rage or anger
or selfish ambition.
I can’t see unforgiveness.
I can’t see hate or envy.
I can’t see stupid fighting
or bitterness, or jealousy.
I can’t see empire building.
I can’t see self-importance.
I can’t see back-stabbing
or vanity or arrogance.

I see surrender, sacrifice, salvation,
humility, righteousness, faithfulness, grace, forgiveness,
Love! Love … love …
When I stop! … at the cross
I can see the love of God. ⁴

We will need to be prepared for surprise. God comes at us in ways that we don’t anticipate and often least expect.

We will only recognize wisdom if we are in awe of a great and powerful God.

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Appendix

Lectionary

Wisdom cries out in the streets … I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you, … Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord, … but those who listen to me will be secure
and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.

Not many of you should become teachers, … How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! … the tongue … With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God.

“Who do people say that I am?” … the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, … For those who want to save their life will lose it …

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1. "The Greek noun sophia (σοφῐ́ᾱ, sophíā) is the translation of “wisdom” in the Greek Septuagint for Hebrew Ḥokmot (חכמות‎, khakhamút). ↩︎

2. Holloway, Gary (2000) "James as New Testament Wisdom Literature,"Leaven: Vol. 8: Iss. 2, Article 9.Available at:http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol8/iss2/9 ↩︎

3. (from Wikipedia) "Built in 537 AD at the beginning of the Middle Ages, it was famous in particular for its massive dome. It was the world’s largest building and an engineering marvel of its time. It is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and is said to have “changed the history of architecture” ↩︎

4. Godfrey Birtill ↩︎

proper17-camden-v3.md

Homily: Proper 17. Grace, Camden

[Lectionary]ia(http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp17_RCL.html)

Introduction

For the next 4 Sundays we will be hearing from a part of the Heb Bible most of us are unfamiliar with: Wisdom literature. We hear from the book of Psalms every week. We kind of have a sense of what they are. We’re a little less familiar but accustomed to hearing words of the prophets. And we have listened to historical narrative material – as with the readings from the book of Samuel this past summer long.

But Wisdom literature comprises some very different kinds of material: the book of Job, Song of Songs (Solomon), Ecclesiastes, Wisdom of Solomon, Ben Sirach. These are less familiar. We have a chance to listen to some of it during the next weeks. This week we hear from the Song of Songs, then for 3 weeks we hear from the book of Proverbs.

Listen to the readings from Proverbs. Some people make a regular discipline of reading a chapter from Proverbs every day in a month (31 chaps). The last of the 4 readings comes from the last chapter which has to do with what a good wife is like. You might want to stick around for that one. Though I can’t imagine very many clergy would choose to preach on that passage.

Song of Songs

This is the only passage in our Sunday lectionary from this book.

The first reading represents an extraordinary book in the Bible.

… In fact, two biblical books never mention God. The first is the book of Esther, a story of Jewish survival in the face of an attempted genocide. The second is the Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, which is essentially a collection of erotic love poetry involving a young woman and a young man. Both books were controversial additions to the biblical canon, and one thing that helped them make the cut was reading religion back into them. Thus many interpreters have seen God working behind the scenes and between the lines in the story of Esther, whose name in Hebrew can mean “I am hiding.” And many have interpreted the Song of Songs as an allegory about the loving relationship between God and Israel, or Christ and the church. That said, you can still read them literally if you want. note

One way to read the passage is as a special form of Wisdom literature. The Proverbs readings are much more reflective of that particular kind of writing. Song of Songs has also been understood to be allegory. The allegory code is that the lover in the poetry is God and the beloved is the Church, or Israel, or the People.

The text itself is very similar to a kind of marriage poetry that was found in a number of different cultures in the ancient world. It can be read as a drama, with the voices of 2 lovers going back and forth. There is no one right way to interpret Song of Songs.

And yet there is a real impulse to ask, “What to make of it?” The rabbis who gathered in northern Israel in the immediate aftermath of the Roman destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem spent time deliberating just such a question. They were the ones who ultimately decided what would be in the Jewish Bible and what not. Canonical status:

For myself, the importance of the book’s presence in the Bible is similar to the view of one of the most famous of those rabbis, Rabbi Akiba. He said about it: ““For all the world is not as worthy as the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the writings are holy, but Song of Songs is the holy of holies” (Mish. Ya daim, III, 5)”

God and Love Story

In the last few weeks the reading in the Northumbrian Prayer Book that I use had the following excerpt:

Our world is full of planners and programmers. They make things work, sometimes with deadly efficiency. But we also need people who put a bit of magic back into our world. The clown, the trickster, the seer, the songster, the artist, the poet. And we don’t need these simply to provide a bit of comic relief. We need the seer and the poet to help us see what we should have seen, but dared not. In the process of unveil- ing and opening up of new possibilities, the artist and the poet take on the mantle of the prophet. They lilt us with the lullaby of long forgotten dreams and dare us to live again with boldness and hope.

If we can no longer soar and dream and hope, we are dead while we live. But if the magic is still there, we will live, no matter how great the difficulties and pain. Charles Ringma

One of the things that this reading does for us is it calls us away from the leaden formulae that theologians have passed on to the people of the Church. Often for very good and sound reasons. But also often they have provided justification for arguments and abuse within and without the church.

• The voice of my beloved!
  Look, he comes,

leaping upon the mountains,
bounding over the hills.

…

Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away."

However you place yourself in that text. Perhaps you are the beloved. Perhaps God is the beloved. However you hear it, if you do hear it, it’s difficult to not feel the invitation to come away from this ordinary life into the extraordinary life of love. God is love, said John in the New Testament.

It is all Gift:

If our lives are in fact love songs, we can’t help but experiences life as a gift. As a surprise, extraordinary, new thing to wake up to every morning. That’s how James words are to be heard.

“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

The letter of James, from which we will hear for the next 3 weeks, has often been the object of theological debate. Luther thought it should be thrown out of the Bible because it seemed to him that it denied the reality and power of salvation through Grace alone – as he understood it.

I think we should pay attention to it. It helps us to embody the gifts that God has given us through Jesus Christ. James helps us to get out of our intellectual self-confidence and to put our lives on the line.

“… let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness … be doers of the word not just hearers …”

This book begins with a reference to every perfect gift from above. That’s the kind of gift the love story gives us. It’s not meant to be tabulated and formulated, it is to be celebrated. In song and dance. In poetry.

I have met many a child who has big eyes and wonder in the face as he or she anticipates the gifts to be received at Christmas time. Children know how to anticipate the receiving of gifts. At some point children may hear that “Santa Claus isn’t real. Or someone might claim that Dad is the one who puts the tooth fairy money under my pillow.” And they have lost that look of wonder. Perhaps they will discover it again when they begin giving the gifts.

I have also met more than a few children, raised in the church, who still display the wonder and joy of receiving God’s perfect gifts. Often I have seen it in their faces as they receive bread and wine at the altar rail. I have seen it also in the solemnity of night and candles at a Christmas Eve mass.

When did you lose the extraordinary sense that God’s gifts surround us on all sides? Can you identify the time? My spiritual director of some years ago helped me to identify one of the times when I lost it. It was during the period when my parents divorced.

It was complicated. It was messy. I felt guilty and responsible.

I can also place one of the times that I began to get the sense back. It was when my first child was born. It was the most overwhelming experience I had known up to that time. I was overcome with emotion. I began to cry and cry. Tears. Every perfect gift is best accompanied by tears.

Old and tired eyes

Today’s scripture readings help me to remember that God has a special fondness for children, for innocent or uncomplicated people. It helps me to understand Jesus’s clear preference is for sinners and outcasts.

The Pharisees and scribes didn’t miss the boat because they were Jewish, or even because they were religious. Not because they were the Liberals and Conservatives, the Democrats and Republicans, of their day. They missed the boat because they had lost the ability to see with new eyes, to feel with new hearts, to perceive with new songs, to celebrate with new dance – the perfect and extraordinary gifts that God had bestowed upon them.

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; …”

Today – my friends – Arise to the invitation to come away to where wonder is an everyday happening and religion is pure and undefiled before God – like little children, come into the presence of the Living God.