Wisdom & The Good Life
The Ninth Day of Christmas
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Proverbs 1:1-7
James 3:13-18
Very often, churches focus on salvation. But not today’s readings. Our readings today
are all about wisdom.
Recall from yesterday that wisdom literature is a specific genre in scripture. And understanding
the genre helps us to better read the text.
“In the Bible,” observes Rachel Held Evans, “wisdom is rarely presented as a single decision,
belief, or rule, but rather as a ‘way’ or ‘path’ that the sojourner must continually discern amid
the twists and turns of life.”
The author of James tells us that wisdom is shown by a “good life” with “works...done with
gentleness.”
And he tells us a little about what that looks like: “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.”
This is contrasted with a different kind of wisdom: an “earthly, unspiritual, devilish” wisdom
that “does not come from above” that is characterized as “bitter envy and selfish ambition” on
the inside, “boastful and false to the truth” on the outside.
All of this has an air of spirituality to it that begs the question: What does this mean, practically,
in our lives? And how do we learn this wisdom from above?
This is where the book of Proverbs comes in, for “proverbs are spiritual guides for ordinary
people,” writes Ellen Davis, “on an ordinary day, when water does not pour forth from rocks
and angels do not come to lunch.”
Proverbs, argues Kathryn Schifferdecker, is about “character formation.” But it’s not some
highfalutin ethics course (like my masters program); no, the basic message is “to do well by
doing good.”
And so our reading today, the opening prologue (Robert Alter calls it a prelude) that “lays out
the agenda for the book.”
“To know wisdom” is unsurprising. But “to know wisdom and reproof”? Alter explains: “the
pedagogical assumption of the book is that the unsuspecting young need to be warned of
life’s dangers and scolded for their susceptibility to temptation.”
Again, we are not surprised by “righteousness, justice, and uprightness.” But what about this:
“To give shrewdness to the simple, to a lad, knowledge and cunning”? This is the same
language used to describe the serpent in Genesis.
This “fits with the pragmatic curriculum of Proverbs,” Alter explains. “Intelligence is of the most
practical sort, involving alertness to potential deceptions and seductions, is seen as an
indispensable tool for the safe, satisfying, and ethical life, and a fool is repeatedly thought
of as a dupe.”
In other words, wisdom gets its hands dirty.
But there is a spiritual element underneath: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
knowledge.”
This gives us a clue about the serpent. It’s not shrewdness that puts the serpent at odds
with Yahweh; it’s the lack of “fear.” And this “fear,” notes Alter, “reflects a distinctive Israelite
emphasis not evident in analogous Wisdom texts in Egypt and Mesopotamia.”
So what is this “fear of the LORD”?
Jon Levenson defines it as “reverential obedience.” Carey Ellen Walsh says it “denotes a
posture of reverence and awe toward the holy, more than it does outright fright.”
“At its most basic level,” says Schifferdecker, “the fear of the LORD is the knowledge that
God is God and we are not.” And she points us to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
“Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh,” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather
nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can
appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or
just plain silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver…”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But
he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
This understanding is central not just to Proverbs, but to Psalms and Job as well. And it’s a
prerequisite for wisdom and the good life.
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