Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 CEB

Doesn’t Wisdom cry out

    and Understanding shout?

2 Atop the heights along the path,

    at the crossroads she takes her stand.

3 By the gate before the city,

    at the entrances she shouts:

4 I cry out to you, people;

    my voice goes out to all of humanity.

22 The Lord created me at the beginning of their way,

    before their deeds long in the past.

23 I was formed in ancient times,

    at the beginning, before the earth was.

24 When there were no watery depths, I was brought forth,

    when there were no springs flowing with water.

25 Before the mountains were settled,

    before the hills, I was brought forth;

26     before God made the earth and the fields

    or the first of the dry land.

27 I was there when they established the heavens,

    when God marked out the horizon on the deep sea,

28     when they thickened the clouds above,

    when God secured the fountains of the deep,

29     when God set a limit for the sea,

        so the water couldn’t go beyond their command,

    when God marked out the earth’s foundations.

30 I was beside God as a master of crafts.

    I was having fun,

    smiling before God all the time,

31     frolicking with God’s inhabited earth

    and delighting in the human race.

Wendell Berry wrote,

“As I have read the Gospels over the years, the belief has grown in me that Christ did not come to found an organized religion but came instead to found an unorganized one. He seems to have come to carry religion out of the temples into the fields and sheep pastures, onto the roadsides and the banks of the rivers, into the houses of sinners and publicans, into the town and the wilderness, toward the membership of all that is here,”

Hmmm. Did Jesus found an organized religion?

Or was Jesus more into

31     frolicking with God’s inhabited earth

    and delighting in the human race.

As we just read in Proverbs 8:31.

The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, certainly felt that we needed to share the gospel in “the fields and sheep pastures, onto the roadsides and the banks of the rivers, into the houses of sinners and publicans, into the town and the wilderness.”  Wesley wrote in his journal in 1739 that he had submitted himself to be more vile, after the first time that he preached in a field to a bunch of workers.

Wesley continued to be more and more vile over the years, preaching to factory workers on the street after work let out.  Preaching in fields to farm workers.  Even preaching on his fathers tombstone when he was not allowed to preach inside his father’s former church.

Wesley was an Oxford educated Anglican Priest, who very much believed in high church and ancient rituals, but while he was at Oxford, he made the mistake and actually read the Bible.

What happens when you actually read the Bible, especially the gospels, you start to notice that Jesus did spend time in the Temple and Synegoges, but Jesus spent most of his time hanging out with ordinary people, in ordinary places.  

Jesus didn’t sit in the Temple or the Synagogue and wait for people to come to  him.

Jesus didn’t assume that if they didn’t come to church, they weren’t interested in God or spirituality.

Jesus didn’t limit his interactions to people who dressed like him, spoke like him, or worshiped like him.  

Church, can I just say how proud I am of you?

The other day, Joanne commented to me that as she interacts more with the different people whom we have started engaging with…folks who wouldn’t normally come to church, like our Haven Dinner folks and our Rahab’s Sisters friends… the more she interacts with them, the more she feels comfortable.  Like we’re not us and them anymore, we’re just all of us.

All of us just trying to get through the day without watching too much news.

All of us trying to find some joy amidst the struggle.

All of us doing our small part to do all the good we can, do no harm, and practice love for God and our neighbors.

But people aren’t always easy to love.

I mean, have you met people?

Just try to drive across town and I guarantee that you will encounter many drivers who have not answered Wisdom’s call!

The Lectionary Committee decided to leave out verses 5-21, but when we’re talking about those who have not answered wisdom’s call, it’s kind of relevant.  I’m going to ask our Liturgist to come up and read verses 5-21.

5 Understand skill, you who are naive.

Take this to heart, you fools.

6 Listen, for I speak things that are correct;

from my lips comes what is right.

7 My mouth utters the truth;

my lips despise wickedness.

8 All the words of my mouth are righteous;

nothing in them is twisted or crooked.

9 All of them are straightforward to those who understand,

and upright for the knowledgeable.

10 Take my instruction rather than silver,

knowledge rather than choice gold.

11 Wisdom is better than pearls;

nothing is more delightful than she.

12 I, Wisdom, dwell with prudence;

I have found knowledge and discretion.

13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil.

I hate pride and arrogance,

the path of evil and corrupt speech.

14 I have advice and ability,

as well as understanding and strength.

15 By me kings rule,

and princes issue righteous decrees.

16 By me rulers govern,

and officials judge righteously.[a]

17 I love those who love me;

those who seek me will find me.

18 Riches and honor are with me,

as well as enduring wealth and righteousness.

19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold;

my crops are better than choice silver.

20 I walk on the way of righteousness,

on the paths of justice,

21     to provide for those who love me

and to fill up their treasuries.

I think we all have those moments when it’s just hard to watch somebody else’s choices.

Especially when it’s somebody you care about, 

and they won’t listen to good advice, 

and they keep making unhealthy choices, 

and you can see so clearly the consequences of their actions barreling towards them like a freight train of doom,

and you just want to yell at them, “that’s not the light at the end of the tunnel!!!”

Or as the author of this Proverb wrote:

5 Understand skill, you who are naive.

    Take this to heart, you fools.

And normally I would say that it’s the worst when it’s your kids or grandkids who are not answering Wisdom’s call.

But right now, I’m thinking that maybe it’s worse when the Leaders of Nations don’t answer Wisdom’s call.

And yet these people who seem not to be on speaking terms with Wisdom are also Beloved Children of God.

Which leaves us with important questions like: 

• “How do we love people while not getting hit by the train that is the consequences of their actions?”
• “How do we love people who are embracing hate, while also loving those who are being targeted by that hate?”
• “How do we resist evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves, without being filled with rage by those who have been deceived into participating in injustice?”
• “How do I accept grace for myself when I realize that I’m the one who has not been listening to Wisdom?”

The truth is that life is complicated.

That many issues have more than one right answer.

And if we are so worried about doing everything correctly, then we will end up doing nothing at all!

So we’re going to make mistakes.

We’re going to make mistakes.

Sometimes we’re going to make mistakes with the best of intentions.

And sometimes we’re going to choose to do horrible things because hurt people hurt people.

And sometimes people choose to do horrible things because they believe that the ends justify the means.

But God is still

 31     frolicking with God’s inhabited earth

    and delighting in the human race.

God still loves us, just as Jesus loved Judas.

So before we come to the Table of Grace, please join me in the spiritual practice of Confession and Forgiveness.

Most Merciful God,

We confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. 

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We have not heard the cries of the needy, 

and we have not responsibly stewarded your creation. 

We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, 

by what we have done and by what we have left undone. 

Have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, 

so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, 

to the glory of your holy name. Amen.

Hear the good news: 

Christ came not to condemn, but that the whole world might be saved through him. (John 3:17)

In the name of Jesus the Christ we are forgiven!

In the name of Jesus the Christ, we are forgiven! Amen.