Proverbs 8:1-11, 22-31: John 16:12-15

Become the Torch

St. Andrews Scotts Memorial Church

Jerusalem

Holy one what is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?”

The disciple asked. And the Holy One answered:

“When you have knowledge, you use a torch to show the way.

When you are wise, you become the torch.”

From Wisdom: A Gift or a Task by Joan Chittister

Lady Wisdom, Hochma in Hebrew, was there from the beginning. She was there when the world began. She was there beside the Creator when the foundations of the earth were marked out, when the heavens were established. She was there beside the Creator, as a master worker delighting and rejoicing in this inhabited place, in the human race itself.

Lady Insight, as Eugene Petersen refers to her, is created not as a co-eternal aspect of the divine but part of the created order itself. Therefore, we can find her in all of creation including our humble selves. She dwells within all.

As we enter into what the church calendar calls Ordinary Time, meaning that time between festivals, we seek to find God in the rhythm of our days. To assist and guide us we are reminded that Lady Wisdom will be there waiting for us, in the middle of the busy street or city square; she will be calling out our name.

Do you hear her? Do you hear the truth coming from her mouth where not even one syllable will be twisted or skewed?

Sister Joan Chittister in Wisdom: A Gift or a Task says “Wisdom is life peeled and cored; it is attention and consciousness lived to the hilt---“no crooked talk, no wily ways.”

In our opening prayer this morning we learned that Lady Wisdom, Sophia in Greek, wants a voice in our life for discernment longs to be heard. But how should we listen you might be wondering? With ears for truth and eyes toward beauty and delight is the answer given in our scripture passage this morning from the Book of Proverbs. The Book of Proverbs is part of the Wisdom Literature found in our Hebrew Scriptures meant to help us learn how God thinks about us and wants us to treat others and creation itself.

Water Brueggemann in reflecting on the role of Wisdom says, “Wisdom is the embodiment and agency of generative moral coherence in creation” which means the world has a moral order and it is ongoing, still in process. For my denomination this is what we mean when we say “God is still speaking.” This is why we say, “Do not put a period where God has put a comma.” This is why we wear commas on our stoles or lapels.

To spell out more what he means by “generative moral coherence” he list three kinds of relationships that Lady Wisdom calls us to hear and follow. Seems fitting on this Trinity Sunday that there are three.

The first is to acknowledge that Wisdom has a particular relationship to the Creator as a master builder, as one who works beside and thus, is the first to express delight and joy. We follow Wisdom when we hear her call us to appreciate the beauty and order of creation itself and sing praises of thanksgiving. 

The second relationship is to understand that all creatures, including us, are created in and through Wisdom. Wisdom dwells within each, in all not just some or those of our faith tradition. She calls to all thus, we are interconnected and mutually dependent on each other. An injustice to one is an injustice to all, “We are all tied together in a mutual garment of destiny” said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The third relationship is that we humans are all bound to truth telling, to clearing our minds so we can see it, hear it, speak it. For as Peterson says in The Message, Lady Wisdom asks us to “Prefer my life disciplines over chasing money, and God knowledge over a lucrative career. For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth…”

So if indeed, “Wisdom is the embodiment and agency of generative moral coherence in creation” how are we aligned in our relationships with this reality? Or are we still holding onto the idea of a fallen world categorized by evil and sin? What does it mean to replace original sin with original blessing, a generative moral coherence? These are heavy theological questions which demand our attention if indeed we wish to welcome Wisdom into our lives.

Another way to approach this is to look deeply at the relationships themselves that Brueggemann names.  Which of three relationships are strongest for you? Why? Which are in need of attention or support? Or even simpler yet, what is your connection to this beautiful planet? Are you a co-creator or master builder? How are you becoming a beacon of light yourself, a torch?

How are your relationships to your fellow human creatures? Do have harmonious relationships with most or find it hard to connect with people, especially those different from you? Do you see the light of love and truth in them?

How is your relationship to listening to and speaking out the truth? Can you hear it when it is being called out or coming from within? Are you willing to take the risk to speak on its behalf? What encourages you or stops you? Are you prepared for the cost for bearing the light?

The naturalist poet Diane Ackerman in her wonderful poem called School Prayer explored these issues this way:

In the name of the daybreak

And the eyelids of morning

And the wayfaring moon

And the night before it departs,

I swear I will not dishonor

My soul with hatred,

but offer myself humbly

as a guardian of nature,

as a healer of misery,

as a messenger of wonder,

as an architect of peace.

In the name of the sun and its mirrors

and the day that embraces it

and the cloud veils drawn over it

and the uttermost night

and the male and the female

and the plants bursting with seed

and the crowning seasons

of the firefly and the apple,

I will honor all life

wherever and in whatever form

it may dwell---on earth my home,

and in the mansion of the stars.

To honor all life requires help, divine help. In our Gospel reading this morning from John we are assured that we will not be left alone because the Spirit of truth will come and guide us. The Holy Spirit, the Advocate, will come and sustain us after Jesus has risen. This was a relief for the disciples and it is welcome news for us too because the call to follow requires a strength.

In our epistle reading from Romans, we are told that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit, thus, also dwells within. We are vessels for the divine. We are the Grail we are seeking.

For this reason some have suggested that Lady Wisdom has become the Holy Spirit, has become the third part of the trinity. Others say she is Christ, the logos, who was there in the beginning, that they are one in the same, or that Christ is Sophia incarnated. Centuries of theologians have spent much time and thought on these issues accusing at times those who disagree heretics. I invite you to reflect about these interpretations not as a quest for the truth but as a journey for meaning.

I invite you to reflect on what makes the most sense for you by focusing more on the actions of our triune God then on the name. For example, “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost” can also be prayed as “In the name of the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer.”

In the end, we are invited today to reflect on the meaning of our Triune God Trinity with the knowledge that Lady Wisdom was there from the beginning and calls to become beacons of truth.

If indeed Wisdom is at the crossroads of our lives, what direction or action is she calling us to take? What challenging truth does she want us to hear or speak? If God’s love has been poured into us, how are we holding it or manifesting it? If the Holy Spirit is our advocate or truth, who are we standing up for?

Dear Ones, go forth today knowing you have been called to live and speak truth, to sing and praise, to be guardians of nature, healers of misery, messengers of wonder, and architects of peace. “Give voice to those who have not spoken; find words for those whose lips are sealed; make tunes for those who sing no longer”; express the love that lives in your heart.  In the middle of your busy ordinary lives you have been called in the name of the One who created you, loves you, and sustains you. Listen. Follow. Become the torch.