We are currently in the middle of a three-week series on the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. Last week we looked at Song of Songs – how being an attentive lover – noticing things about the other – can enhance our relationship with God, with the natural world and even with another person! And next week, based on her work in Biblical Performance Criticism, Dr Jeanette Mathews-Hunter, with some help from friends, is presenting her unique take on the book of Ecclesiastes, so don’t miss that!
And today we are looking at the Book of Proverbs – a collection of over 800 proverbs gathered from ancient Israel and other parts of the ancient world over many centuries. The basic structure of these proverbs is comparing like with like. For example, Proverbs 25:25, “Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” (The word translated proverb in the title of the book is the Hebrew word mashal meaning ‘to be like’.) And I say ‘collection of proverbs’, but more accurately this is a collection of collections because there several distinct groupings. In some there is an identifiable theme or structure, but in large parts of the book there isn’t.
All of this makes preaching on this book – or even the six proverbs from our lectionary reading – somewhat challenging, so I am going to make some general comments on Proverbs and then speak about the six proverbs one by one. But first – because I have always wanted to do this – I have a quiz which will favour the literature lovers among you (sorry to the rest) – is this from Shakespeare or is this the Book of Proverbs?
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” (Proverbs 6:6) or “I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” (Richard 11, Act 5, Scene 5)
“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow, than a man swear he loves me.” (Much Ado About Nothing, Act 1, Scene 1) “A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.” (Proverbs 27:15)
“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” (The Merchant of Venice, Act 1 Scene 1) or “The hoary [greyish white] head is a crown of glory.” (Proverbs 20:29)
Who’s three for three? Well done! These might be a little harder…
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly.” (Proverbs 18:24) “Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find.” (The Passionate Pilgrim)
“Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.” (The Comedy of Errors, Act 3 Scene 1) or “He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.” (Proverbs 15:15)
“A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.” (As You Like It, Acts 5, Scene 1) or “Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.” (Proverbs 10:14)
Who got six for six! Very well done!
It is no great surprise that Shakespeare resembles, or borrowed directly, from Proverbs for the Bible has significantly shaped Western culture. Over 300 English proverbs are said to come from the Bible! But it is useful, in the context of Proverbs, to think about having to make a choice because that is what, very simply and starkly, the Book of Proverbs presents. There are two ways to live, the way that is good and the way that is evil.
Proverbs chapter 4:
Hear, my child, and accept my words,
that the years of your life may be many.
11 I have taught you the way of wisdom;
I have led you in the paths of uprightness.
12 When you walk, your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble….
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked,
and do not walk in the way of evildoers.
15 Avoid it; do not go on it;
turn away from it and pass on.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;
they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what they stumble over.
What Proverbs does is set out in all spheres of life the kind of behaviours and attitudes that belong to the good path, the good life, and warn against the behaviours that belong to the path of evil.
The simplicity of this structure has led to several assumptions about this book.
Firstly, that Proverbs presents a purely secular understanding of wisdom, one that consists of common-sense advice, for young people, and an urban elite (a public service handbook if you like), addressing issues of everyday life; economics, friends, family, work, sex, politics, etc. It is distinct, they say, from the sacred understanding within Israel, that God is working out Israel’s salvation in the context of the covenant relationship. But, countering this, is the understanding repeated throughout the book that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.
‘The fear of the Lord’ is a strange and uncomfortable expression for modern readers. Its use in the Old Testament ranges from terror to the kind of reverence – or attentiveness to the holy – that we were speaking of last week. At its most basic level, one commentator says, “The fear of the LORD is the knowledge that God is God, and we are not.” This attitude of humility, of reverence, of understanding our relationship to God and the world and others, is the pre-requisite in Proverbs for the gaining of wisdom and the living of a godly/a good life as an integrated whole. Old Testament scholar, Edgar Jones, puts it, “There are not two worlds, one belonging to [human beings] and one to God, but God’s providential activity is apparent in every sphere.” The fear of the Lord, and the foundation for wisdom it provides, enables us to live for God – demonstrably – is every area of our lives. As our reading from James says, “[For] 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.”
A second difficulty many scholars have raised with simple two path thinking of Proverbs is that it presents a purely mechanical understanding of retribution – if you do wrong, you will suffer; if you do right, you will succeed – and one in which God is not necessarily involved. The books of Job and Ecclesiastes are seen as attempts to rectify this overly simplistic worldview.
The books of Job and Ecclesiastes clearly focus more on the complexities of human experience, but, as Old Testament scholar Roland Murphy says it is unreasonable to suggest that the writers of Proverbs had a ‘mechanical’ view when they, as well as anyone, could see this is not how life works! Israel’s faith was always dependant on two aspects of retribution: effect-producing action and divine intervention. God is at work in our world, but we are also called to work for justice.
So, let’s take a look at the verses from our lectionary reading for today.
Firstly, verse 1: “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favour is better than silver or gold.” If we want to live the godly, the good life we need to think about our priorities and how they impact the decisions we make. What do we want our legacy to be? How do we want to be remembered?
Secondly, verse 2: “The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.” Here we are given an insight into the perspective that God has on all of us, God created each one of us. God loves each one of us. When we are tempted to value the lives of others less, respect the lives of others less, we need to return to this godly bird’s eye view of all humanity.
I am reminded of a story my mother told me from a trip she took to Europe (that I have mentioned before). It is the story of the burial of Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary in 1989. As part of the funeral proceedings, when the procession reached the door of the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church, the Herald knocked, and, inside, the monk responsible for the crypt asked, “Who requests entry?” and the Herald responded with “Zita, Her Majesty the Empress and Queen…” and proceeded to read all her royal titles. I won’t – there are around 14 of them – but finished with “Infanta of Spain, Princess of Portugal and of Parma”. The monk inside then said, “We don’t know her.”
A second time the Herald knocked and this time, when asked, “Who requests entry?” simply said, “Zita, Her Majesty the Empress and Queen.” Again the answer was, “We don’t know her.”
The third time the herald knocked. “Who requests entry?” asked the monk. “Zita,” was the reply, “a mortal sinner, saved by grace.”
“Come in,” was the response.
This is God’s perspective on all of us and this is the basis of any legacy we would leave – the love and the grace of God.
Verse 8: “Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.” Shakespeare is not the only person to borrow from Proverbs. The apostle Paul uses this verse in Galatians in the form we are probably more familiar with, “You reap whatever you sow.” But, again, we are reminded that it is both an observable phenomenon and intrinsic to how God is active in our world that those who sow injustice with reap calamity.
Verse 9: “Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.” There is a beautiful Hebrew idiom at work here. The Hebrew word tobayin (good eye) refers to those who are generous and ra-ayin (bad eye) to those who are stingy (as in Proverbs 28:22 – here from the King James Version – “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.”) Do we have good eyes of bad eyes? Do we see the world with God’s eyes?
And note that there is more than charity at work here – there is also the restoration of community. We are sharing our bread – the bread we are also eating – because we are sharing our meals, our homes, our lives, with the poor. I am reminded of all the community projects that we have seen that involve community meals – not soup kitchens or food hand out programs – but ways in which we give to the poor and give up our position of wealth in the process – how we meet in the middle to build community.
Verse 22: “Do not rob the poor because they are poor or crush the afflicted at the gate.” This verse would seem to be expressing the bleedingly obvious – do not rob the poor because they are poor – and yet it points out exactly what happens in our world – how poverty is maintained by systems and structures that keep the poor poor.
Verse 23: “For the Lord pleads their cause.” God will be their defender. God will plead their case before God making this a case that is open and shut, and God will punish those who have oppressed them; [God] “despoils of life those who despoil them.”
Many years ago, when I was living in the inner city in Sydney, I decided to attend the 11pm Christmas Eve Service at Pitt Street Uniting, and when I parked my car just down and around the corner, on Bathurst Street, a few cars away, someone was jimmying open the window of another car. It was not a promising sign, but I hoped my aged Holden Gemini would not be of interest. As I turned the corner, there were sounds of people fighting and sirens in the distance, and just as I reached the church, two cars screamed up and were forced to stop by the cars stopped in front of them. One of the people in the car behind, jumped out and ran with a metal bar and smashed the window of the car in front and started beating the passenger – and then the light went green, and the cars screamed away again.
And then I opened the door of the church – I was late – and there was a warm glow and Christmas carols were being sung.
You know that time travel movies where the person steps through the portal and then steps back and can’t get their head around the radically different nature of the two realities? That what it was like. One minute I was in a world that seemed to have gone mad, where, as Proverbs 4:17 says, “They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence,” (and that was only what I could see on the street let alone what was happening in the corporate towers and high risers around me)and the next I was in a world where the ‘fear of the Lord’ promised peace and hope and life and light. Way of death. Way of life. Evil’s way. God’s way.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” The fear of the Lord helps us see – with the eyes of God – how the world was meant to be – that good and godly reality, helps us to share what we have, come together in community and together fight injustice; helps us to walk the road the righteous travel, helps us to work alongside our God who is always at work in our world.