There is a wisdom theme going on today. In the Gospel, Jesus gives us some down-home, practical advice: If you’re invited to a big banquet and arrive a little early, don’t go and sit in one of the seats of honor, because when the guest of honor arrives he may say to you, “Fred, I’m actually saving that seat for someone else. Would you mind going to sit over there?” Then you are embarrassed and annoyed, the honored guest is probably a little embarrassed also, your friends are embarrassed for you and avert their eyes so they don’t have to look at you as you toddle on down. No, when you’re early at the banquet, sit in the modest seat first, and then perhaps the honored guest will say, “Fred, come here. I’ve saved this seat just for you.” Not bad advice.
In the Epistle to the Hebrews the unknown author says, among other things, do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. This is a reference to one of the stories of Abraham and Sarah. Remember that they were promised their own land, and descendants more numerous than the stars in the sky or grains of sand at the seashore, but that promise hung out there for a long time. One hot afternoon Abraham was sitting under the oaks of Mamre. I always imagine that those are a beautiful stand of Oregon white oaks, which are such a beautiful tree. But Abraham is sitting there, he looks up and sees three men approaching. Abraham welcomes them and he asks Sarah to prepare some bread from their best flour. They are served the food, and the men say the promise will be fulfilled before a year passes. And within the year, Sarah delivers Isaac, which means laughter. In the iconography traditions of the church, those men are not men, but angels with wings.
The other lesson is from Sirach, and it points out that the beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord. The alternative lesson from Proverbs is exactly what Jesus tells us: do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great. For it is better to be told, come up here than to be put lower in the presence of the noble. If you want to go home and do a little research on Sirach and dig deeper into that lesson, you might have to hunt around a little bit. The long title is Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus, Son of Sirach. This book is not always in the Bible. Jews do not accept it as scripture. It was probably written very close to the birth of Jesus or shortly thereafter. It is in Roman Catholic Bibles in a particular place, it is generally found in Orthodox Bibles, but the Protestants chucked it out at the time of the Reformation. Anglicans, being Anglicans, said it is OK to read, it is even OK to read out loud in church. On the other hand you cannot use it for doctrine, but you can use it for guidance for daily living. There are a number of books in this genre known as Wisdom. Some are in scripture, and some are in the section that we call the Apocrypha, which can appear either between the Old and the New Testament, or at the end of the New Testament.
The Proverbs are practical guides for daily living, and the whole genre harken back to Solomon. You remember that David, the greatest king who ever lived, is succeeded by his son, Solomon, his son by Bathsheba. He is remembered as the wisest king who ever lived. Early in his reign he had a dream in which God said, “Solomon, I will grant one wish.” Solomon said, thank you for making me king, but they are a stiff-necked lot. So I ask for one thing—wisdom, literally, a discerning heart to govern wisely. God tells Solomon he will be wiser than any of the writings from Egypt, where many of the wisdom writings come from, or Babylon, which had a long tradition of writing about wisdom. Solomon will be remembered broadly and widely as the wisest king who ever lived.
This pronouncement is immediately followed by three stories that give examples of the wisdom of Solomon. The first one is “Who owns the baby?” Two women are fighting over one baby, and he sorts it out. This illustrates his wisdom of discernment, the wisdom of solving difficult puzzles. Next, Solomon organizes the kingdom. He puts together a central administration, then he divides the kingdom into regions and appoints governors. This illustrates the wisdom of administration and organization. Thirdly, Solomon sets about building the temple, showing the wisdom of architecture, the wisdom of engineering, the wisdom of trade. How do you get those cedars of Lebanon down without trading with the King of Lebanon? It’s down home stuff about how to live our daily life; it’s not esoteric, it’s simply guides for daily living.
So I decided to give it a try. You can call this the Wisdom, or Proverbs of Old Bishop Powell. These are things I’ve heard here and there in my lifetime.
First, pray, and pray for wisdom. I found as Bishop that every once in a while a really challenging problem would land on my desk. I found that if I prayed over it, and prayed for wisdom, it was surprising how often an answer would float in to the situation. I also tried to remember to pray every day for wisdom.
Two: Welcome strangers. I think St. Mary’s does a pretty good job of this. I remember our Presiding Bishop Michael saying one time that the Episcopal Church is a friendly church: we love going to church and seeing our friends. But we’re not always a welcoming church. Something to consider—welcome strangers.
Three: You can’t be where you aren’t. In the 60s we called this bloom where you’re planted. This is St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in downtown Eugene. It is not the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, it is not St. Michael and All Angels in Dallas, or St. George’s in Roseburg, or Trinity Cathedral in Portland. It is St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in downtown Eugene. This is where we are and this is where we do God’s work.
Four: Try not to confuse malice with stupidity. Do I need to repeat that?
Five: This one is from mom: You can’t push folks with a rope. We are a community almost completely made up of volunteers. Even in the most top-down structured organization there is a limit, but fundamentally you cannot push folks with a rope.
Six: Thank you for this one, Dad: keep your eye on the ball and follow through.
Seven: Build on your strengths. Use the gifts you have to create and build and work with. I mention this because it often shows up when congregations are trying to do a new long-range plan or they are changing leadership. I have seen really good stuff dropped, sometimes accidentally, in the fevered pitch of fixing something else. I could relate some stories to illustrate this, and perhaps I will over coffee. But I am a great believer in using the strengths that God has given you
Eight: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Nine: Try to see the other fellow’s point of view.
Finally, I’ve looked at the end of the Good Book, and God wins. God is love. God loves you more than you can ask or begin to imagine.
AMEN
