A Sermon for Proper 19, Year B

 

Wisdom is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God,

and an image of God’s goodness. Although she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things. [i]

 

 

Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University is one of those academic buildings build in a neo-Gothic style.  Its windows are brightly colored stained glass and stone carvings abound – including one of a mop and pail over a janitor’s closet.  

 

The floor-plan is modeled on the cross-shape of many medieval cathedrals.  After coming in through massive wooden doors and passing through a small narthex, you find yourself in long nave with massive arches on the side, in which the card catalog files were kept until they were replaced by computer terminals.  Near the front of this nave, aisles branch out at right angles like the arms of the cross.  At the center of the crossing, where the altar would be in a church, is the ornately carved wooden circulation desk.

 

On the wall above and behind the circulation desk, under a polychrome stone arch there is a painting of a woman in a long white and blue robe, standing under a tree, holding a globe in one hand and a book in another,  with eight smaller figures below paying her homage.  The student members of the Episcopal Church at Yale with whom I hung out 35 years ago fondly referred to this divine figure as “Our Lady of the Circulation Desk” –  and if you look at the image in our Narthex I printed from the Internet,   I think you’ll understand why.  We knew, of course, that she wasn’t intended as a depiction of the Virgin Mary, despite some strong similarities to Marian imagery and the fact that the painting’s official name, Alma Mater, (Nourishing Mother) is one of Mary's ancient titles. 

 

But to the painter, Alma Mater, was, of course, the University herself: the figure of the woman, standing under the tree of knowledge and surrounded by  figures representing Light, Truth, Science, Labor, Music, Theology, Literature, and the Arts was intended by the painter as an image of  Mother Yale.  For years, however, I’ve thought of her as neither quite Mary nor the University, but as a figure who combines the holiness of the one with the deep knowledge of the other:  She is the figure of Divine Wisdom of whom we heard in today’s readings from the Hebrew Scriptures.

 

 In Jewish tradition, Wisdom is the feminine personification of the Divine, a figure who shows forth the beauty and power of God.  As we prayed in the Canticle of Wisdom, she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of God’s goodness.

Although she is but one, she can do all things, and while remaining in herself, she renews all things.  Other Old Testament texts speak of Wisdom as God’s partner from the beginning of creation, present with God when all things were made.[ii]  And today we  read that:  She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well.

 

 

 

Such exalted visions of Divine Wisdom are not all we hear in the Hebrew Scriptures, however. 

Wisdom enters the world as well, coming to those who seek her, and guiding them in living good and holy lives.  In every generation she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets.  [iii]  She also enters the world in a more earthy way, as in our reading from Proverbs.  Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.  At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks. She calls to the simple, urging them to learn from her how to live wisely and well, and warning them of the risks if they refuse her invitation.  Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you.  Alas, few listen.  Her counsel is ignored, and they do not choose the fear of the Lord ­--  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way.  Only those who listen to [Wisdom] will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster." [iv] Listening to and acting on Wisdom’s words is the way to a wise. whole, and holy life.  

 

So in the Hebrew tradition, Wisdom is God’s image, God’s partner, sometimes God’s alter ego.  She inspires God’s people and speaks God’s Word.  She is present with God when the world was made and orders it to this very day.  She also walks the streets of this world, calling people to obey God, telling them how live faithfully.

 

To Christian ears, that sounds a lot like Jesus, the One through whom all things were made, through whom the Creation is sustained, who became flesh to dwell among us, who spoke God’s Word in the streets of Galilee and the squares of Jerusalem.  So it in not surprising that the Christian tradition sometimes speak of Jesus not only as the incarnation of the Word of God (a masculine figure in Greek) but also the Incarnation of the Wisdom of God (a feminine figure in both Hebrew and Greek). [v]  

 

One of my seminary mentors years ago suggested that the Incarnation of Divine Word and Divine Wisdom in Jesus says something about why this man can be the savior of all humanity, male and female alike.  It tells all of us, too, male and female alike, that if we want to live wise, whole and holy lives, we need to attend to the words of the Wisdom of God we hear when Jesus speaks.

 

The words of Divine Wisdom, however, are not always what we expect.  Listen to these words from Jesus, the Incarnate Wisdom of God in today's Gospel:

 

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me;  For those who want to save their life will lose it, & those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel will save it. 

 

In other words, holding on to what you have for dear life is exactly what not to do if you want to live.  If you want to live, really live, don't play it safe – instead,   give yourself away for God and for others  By giving your life away like I have, says Jesus, you'll find real life.  Self-offering is what makes for a wise, whole and holy life. 

 

This Divine Wisdom is, of course, utterly at odds with the wisdom of the world.  Protecting your own interests and holding on to what you have are what counts as wisdom to the world.  We're seeing the world’s wisdom in full force in spades in the health care debate in our nation today.  Whether it is politicians wanting to hold on to campaign contributions from the health care industry;  insurance & drug companies, hospitals and doctors protecting their profits;  or people, perhaps like you and me, who have decent health coverage – at least for the present – and are so intent on holding on to what they have that they resist any change that would allow the over 45 million Americans who have no insurance to share their good fortune.  

 

Such holding on for dear life is the wisdom of the world.  It is not the Divine Wisdom of the One who was made flesh in Jesus of Nazareth.  Divine Wisdom calls us to wise, whole and holy lives of a of a different sort:  to discover again, in those words attributed to St. Francis, that it is in giving that we receive;  that it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;  that it is in dying that we born to eternal life. 

 

Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.  At the busiest corner she cries out;  at the entrance of the city gates she speaks, and this is what She says:

 

Those who want to save their life will lose it, & those who lose their life for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel will save it. 

 

Will we heed Divine Wisdom's call?

 

The Rev. Jack Zamboni

September 13, 2009