“Wisdom’s Call”
By Rev. Dan Smith
May 30, 2010
The First Sunday After Pentecost
Lessons: Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31
I take as my text for this Sunday the passage from Proverbs 8, beginning at Verse 1:
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?
Let’s start with a little background. This albeit rhetorical question sets the stage for a public appearance, a public appearance of the very wisdom of God that is here and elsewhere personified in female terms. This kind of personification of virtue happens in other Biblical texts. In Isaiah, Justice leads Israel out of Babylon. In Psalm 85, kindness and truth meet, and justice and peace kiss! But the personification of Wisdom is unique. Not only is she a precursor to that same Holy Spirit of God that comes to us at Pentecost, not only is she said to walk in the way of righteousness and along the paths of justice, but “Lady Wisdom” or “Woman Wisdom” as she is sometimes known is the only virtue said to be present before the beginning of the earth, right at the side of God, a veritable co-convener of the seas and the skies, a so called master worker. Some have even called this Wisdom of God the very architect of creation. Clearly, she has credentials! I mean can any of us imagine drawing up the blueprints for these amazing spring days we’ve been having?
Art historians for one have pondered these personified images of God’s wisdom at Creation and have wondered whether Sophia (the word for Wisdom in Greek) makes an appearance on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Michelangelo’s famous fresco. Picture that masterpiece if you can, and in particular “The Creation of Adam” section. We know that God’s one arm extends out to touch the hand of Adam; Adam in turn mirrors the action reaching back to God! Meanwhile, in a lesser-known area of the painting, God’s left arm is draped around a lovely female figure. Some have assumed the figure is Eve waiting to be born into creation. But others have made a credible case that the female by God’s side is the divine wisdom personified. Scholars who suggest as much point to this very text in Proverbs 8 that suggests that she was there, right beside God, at the very beginning of the earth!
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?
Whatever she may or may not be doing in that hallowed hall in Vatican City, what remains clear from our text today is that God’s wisdom likes to show up in public spaces. The scripture tells us …“On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand, beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals.” What’s also clear is that God’s revelation through her will not be limited to one race or one religion, not to a chosen people, but her cry is “to all that live” and she delights in all humankind! I wonder if you’ve heard her recently, if you’ve sensed her spirit in a morning birdsong or a crashing wave or perhaps even through the voice of one who speaks a truth that can be understood by all.
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?
Just last weekend, I’m pretty sure I heard her voice speaking through a gathering of 1100 Muslim leaders of many races and ethnicities. Nancy and I went over to the still new Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. Under the height of a 140 foot minaret, beside the way of
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?
Sometimes yes. Yes indeed! But sadly, not always. As it turns out, five days later, the Treasurer of the Commonwealth and Independent Candidate for Governor Tim Cahill, a person who have I have come to know and respect as a courageous ally in our anti-usury campaign issued a press release responding to the event with a tragic mischaracterization of what actually took place. He spoke without knowledge and by all means without wisdom. In the press release, he suggested that Patrick’s engagement with the Muslim community was “playing politics with terrorism,” “pandering to special interest groups” suggesting that the “Governor must urge the leaders of the Muslim-American community to finally police these rogue elements”. This kind of rhetoric only adds fuel to underground fires of fear and hatred and to politics of division and discrimination, the very issues that had inspired Muslims to meet with the Governor.
Can we even begin to imagine how deeply offensive and painful it would be for us if someone were to come along, size all of us up as “Christian Americans” and based on that fact alone associate us with and hold us publically accountable for the actions of Timothy McVeigh, the Haturi militia, or Fred Phelps who goes around the country picketing funerals of gay people with hate filled homophobic rhetoric? Can we imagine children picking up on those associations and shouting epithets at our kids on the playground?
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?
Well…on Friday, I dare say, divine wisdom returned to the Roxbury Mosque, this time in even greater force using men and women of many faiths to share her cry “to all that live,” at least to all that lived within range of the news cameras and reporters that would carry her message. Under the height of that same minaret, this time just outside those amazing pointed ach portals, a far broader than usual array of priests, ministers, rabbis and imams gathered with hundreds of Muslims to let the divine wisdom shared by all our traditions once again take her rightful stand in the public square. Setting aside some real and painful differences across our faith communities, we gathered in solidarity with our Muslim brothers, sisters, and dear friends to cry out in one voice and to say “no more” to the kind of dangerous bigotry, hate-filled stereotyping and politically motivated fear-mongering that is debasing our public discourse, devaluing all of our religions and tearing our country apart. As Bilal Kaleem, the young Executive Director of the Boston’s Muslim American Society and a true friend of mine, took the podium he seemed moved close to tears not to have to counter the Treasurer's mischaracterizations alone.
Among others, another friend of many of ours, Rev. Hurmon Hamilton, Pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church carried Wisdom's voice with due respect praying that God would speak through him. He set the stage by observing the following: “There are two environmental disasters in our country right now. One is the oil spill that is threatening the coastline of my home state of Louisiana. The other is the toxic hatred and viciousness that has seeped into the mainstream of our political and cultural life.” He urged us all to do whatever we can to “plug the holes” of these toxic and life and community threatening spills!” Can I get an “amen”? God’s wisdom or not, his rhetoric was pitch perfect and it had that ring of truth that resonated within all several hundred souls of many faiths that were gathered behind him on the steps of the Mosque.
Still another leader there on Friday was Father Bryan Hehir. Father Hehir is a world renowned Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He teaches classes called the “Moral and Political Use of Force” and “the Ethics of Statecraft”. He instructs officers of the armed forces in military colleges around the country. Talk about credentials. Before he joined us in condemning Cahill’s remarks that effectively conflated Muslims and terrorists, he told us that we all need to ask of ourselves, himself included, what are we doing to preach about the abundantly real threat of terrorism that he strongly believes is not going away anytime soon. His suggestion was that we need to start modeling more constructive forms of dialogue that engage the issue and that offer meaningful alternatives to the current rhetoric of fear mongering and scapegoating. I pray we can all seek out and find some divine wisdom to know how better to shape a public sphere that dissipates rather than foments extremism and terrorism. I pray that we can find wise response in solidarity with people of all faiths if and when the next terrorist attack happens.
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?
Not always! Not when politicians, religious leaders of any stripe, or contemporary news media are giving voice to fear and ignorance that alienates us from each other and from creation itself. But when people of many faiths can discern together what seems a God given truth for all to hear, you better believe that divine wisdom is alive and well and that she is still speaking words of compassion, understanding and justice in efforts to repair our broken world and restore creation to its God given beauty, dignity and wholeness! Only a year ago, the Islamic community was just beginning to join forces with Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and other partners. This past week, a profound new shift in the relationship between Muslims, Jews and Christians was mid-wifed into being here in Boston. Indeed to address both the environmental disasters unfolding in our land, we need this sort of solidarity and understanding. We need to appeal to a wisdom that transcends our individual and corporate self interests and that lets the divine wisdom speak the truth through us.
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? Pray so!
One more “word of wisdom” that addresses what I know is on so many of our minds and hearts this morning. It came this week from the environmentalist Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, the multi-cultural, multi-national, multi-faith climate change movement. He wrote about the oil disaster in the gulf in bracing terms saying to all that live, “Stop looking at the oil-soaked birds, the spread of the sheen…Yes, it’s dangerous and damaging. But it’s merely the visible face of dirty energy, in many ways less damaging… [than] if the oil had made its way up through the drilling pipe…. into some refinery and thence into [the] gas tanks of [our cars]…. If you’re sickened by the images on your TV screen, then join the fight against dirty energy. And do it now!
Brothers and sisters, in times like these, when oil continues to spill into our Gulf Coast, when hatred and bigotry spew out of uncorked fear of unknown others, we need now more than ever to heed that precious voice of ever deeper understanding and awareness of ourselves, others and all of God’s creation. We need relationships with people who are different from us so that we can together appeal and encourage others to appeal to a wisdom and truth that is higher than any particular truth to which we may be clinging! We, all of us, need to hear the call of divine wisdom, of this very architect of creation, who knows far better than we do when we’ve breached limits that were established before the beginning of time, when the fountains of deep were laid under the bedrocks of the sea. We need to humbly heed the wisdom that comes through modern day prophets calling us back from our reliance on dirty energy and our habitual complacency with dirty politics.
Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? Pray so!
Hear her call even now! Let it move you to action to repair our wounded creation! Let your minds be filled with understanding of your role in the healing of the nations, that wisdom’s truth may be shared with all that live, that God and Wisdom may yet again rejoice and find delight in the whole human race. Amen.