How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels! Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor. As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm. She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth. She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do. She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do. She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard. She is a hard worker, strong and industrious. She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night.She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth. She is generous to the poor and needy. She doesn't worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing. She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen. Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens. She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants. She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future. She speaks with a gentle wisdom. She is always busy and looks after her family's needs. Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her. He says, “Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all.” Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honors the Lord should be praised. Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.
James 3
Are there any of you who are wise and understanding? Prove it by your good life, by your good deeds performed with humility and wisdom. If in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and selfish, don't sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual and demonic. Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil. The wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. Goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.
Mark 9
Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was, because he was teaching his disciples: “The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life.” They didn’t understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him. They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?” They would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” Then he placed a child in front of them. He put his arms around the child and said “Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”
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A friend of mine is the living embodiment of superwoman. She cleans every room in the house a couple of times a week, has a huge vegetable garden, works in a nursing home, cooks fantastic meals every day, does handcrafts, and all the PowerPoints for her congregation’s worship. If asked, she will say it is her Christian duty as a wife to do all those things - the outside jobs are so she can enjoy her passion of cruising. She would probably quote Proverbs, too.
I remember trying to keep up with four kids, clean the house from top to bottom, freeze and preserve veggies for the winter, make jam, do handcrafts - and hold down a couple of outside jobs at the same time. A lot of women of my generation bought into this notion that they have to do all those things to be a good wife.
But in fact, this reading isn’t about wives at all. It is actually a poem in Hebrew; an acrostic arranged in alphabetical order; the first letter of each line is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Given its place in the book of Proverbs, and the previous passages about wisdom, it becomes clear that this is not about a good wife, it is about Woman Wisdom; the husband of the passage is a kind of stand-in for the followers. The poem portrays the benefits to anyone who chooses to become wise. The passage opens with the question “A strong woman, who can find?” As well as commenting on the warrior-like qualities of Wisdom, it notes that life with Wisdom begins with a search. Wisdom has to be sought out, is not easily acquired, but when attained is “more precious than jewels”. Life with Wisdom is a life of devotion and trust, and brings benefits to the household of Wisdom.
Rather than being about a perfect woman and wife, it is about the personification of wisdom. It is about the universal values that sustain humanity. Integrity in personal relationships; opening our hands to the poor; doing what is there to be done, caring for those around us. Living with wisdom and insight.
So we move on to the letter of James, which says “Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.” Wisdom is still the centrepiece, by which all other things are measured.
A couple of weeks ago, a horrendous video went around the internet, attacking the Muslim faith, and sparking violence in many places. The video was an incredible piece of junk, designed specifically to get a violent reaction. How many people have died? Did the person who made the video act with gentleness born of wisdom??? or act out of racism, hatred and anger?
In our very own back yards, do we act like the personification of wisdom? In our congregations, do we bend over backwards to learn to be wise? Or do we love the background noise, the gossip, innuendo, rumour. Do we contribute to the hurt of others with our words and actions? Do the stories get blown up as they get passed around? Or do we think carefully first?
Let’s go over to Mark for a moment - Jesus knows full well that the disciples were arguing over which one of them would be the greatest in the new realm....who would be “over” the others. Jesus knows there will be a dispute within the group of followers as to who is right and wrong. This time, after mentally banging his head against a wall at human nature, he acts with wisdom, and picks up a child as a demonstration of who the “greatest” will be - those who aren’t trying to be. Whoever welcomes a child welcomes Jesus, and whoever welcomes him instead welcomes God.
Here’s what Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor says: “If the preacher of today’s passage has had it up to here with church conflicts and disputes, James feels your pain. He is sick and tired of the kind of understandings that people use to pound one another. The only wisdom James is interested in is the wisdom from above. Wisdom from above focuses on the well-being of others and the needs of others.”
The reading from Proverbs is about the universal values that sustain humanity. Integrity in personal relationships; opening our hands to the poor; doing what is there to be done, doing what is good for those around us, and with a gentleness born of wisdom. Wisdom and peace are the things we, as Christians, are supposed to be about. As the letter of James says “The wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. Goodness is the harvest that is produced from the seeds the peacemakers plant in peace.”
...and we are called to behave towards each other with wisdom, insight, and care. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Rev. David Shearman, Owen Sound, ON.
2. Rev. James Hopkins, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, Oakland CA.
3. Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor in “Feasting on the Word”.
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