September 1, 2024
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
"Meeting Wisdom"
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
September 1, 2024 Based on Proverbs 1:1-7; 3:5-6, 13-18
If I’m being honest, I think up until I went to college, I treated the Bible like some sort of mystical Ouija board.
I’d get my bible, close my eyes, and open it to any random page. I’d then open my eyes and put my finger on the page on any random verse. I’d read the verse and then re-read it trying to interpret what this verse was supposed to mean for me. Like the Spirit was leading me to this verse to offer some wisdom to navigate my life.
Let’s try it again here and see what happens…
Ah, such applicable wisdom…
You see, I thought this is what the Bible was meant to be for us: a book of isolated ancient sayings and stories, any one of which that could immediately be applicable to my life. And while there isn’t anything particularly wrong with this method of using the bible, it is missing out so much of the wisdom the Bible can offer. The context of scripture within a larger story, the characters, the language and poetry, the history around it, the narrative.
The same can especially be said for the book of Proverbs, which actually contains a collection isolated sayings and wisdom, but there is so much more there beneath the surface that I hope we can get into in the coming weeks.
But first, I think we need a little primer, a little introduction.
The first thing to know about Proverbs is that it is linked to King Solomon. Maybe you remember the story in 1 Kings chapter 3: where Solomon asks God for wisdom to lead Israel well, and so Solomon became known as the wisest man in the ancient world. We’re told in 1 Kings chapter 4 that he wrote thousands of proverbs and poems and collected knowledge about plants and animals, so Solomon was like the fountainhead of Israel's wisdom literature.
So while not all the material in this book is written by him personally, he is where Israel's wisdom tradition begins. And the book of Proverbs is just one of three books in the Bible that are rooted in this wisdom tradition that we commonly call “Wisdom Literature.” The others in this category are Ecclesiastes and Job. And all these books are addressing the same set of questions: What kind of world are we living in, and what does it look like to live well in this world? And how do we be good at living a good life?
Each of these books tackles these books from a different and unique perspective. In fact, one scholar thought it best to summarize these books by imagining them each as a unique person and suggested that to imagine it like this:
Proverbs would be like this brilliant young teacher, Ecclesiastes the sharp middle-aged critic, and Job would be the weathered old man who’s seen a lot in his day. To understand the wisdom literature of the Bible you really need to get to know each of these books, but since we’re going to be reading proverbs this month, let’s get to know the brilliant young teacher Proverbs.
If she’s a brilliant young teacher she’s like fresh out of graduate school at the top of her class smart. And she’s not just book smart; she's smart about everything—work, relationships, sexuality, spirituality. She has deep insights, things you wouldn't see on your own.
So what makes her so smart? Well! She can see things that most people aren’t aware of in this life. She believes that there is an invisible creative force in the universe that can guide people in how they should live. A force that, just like you can't see gravity, you can’t see but it affects everything that we do.
So what's this force? In Hebrew, it's called "hokhmah," and it usually gets translated into English as "wisdom." It's an attribute of God that God used to create the world, and hokhmah or wisdom, is what proverbs teaches that God has woven into the very fabric of things and how they work. So wherever people are making good, just, or wise decisions, they are tapping into hokhmah, and whenever someone is making a bad decision, they're working outside of or even against God’s wisdom. Or as it says in Proverbs later in chapter one, "the waywardness of fools will destroy them, but the one who listens to wisdom lives in security."
So Hokhmah is like a moral law woven into the universe. It's a cause-effect pattern that no one can escape.
And the other thing that’s important to know about Proverbs is that God’s divine wisdom or Hokhmah is personified as a woman. Lady Wisdom, who runs around the earth, calling out to guide creation, making herself available to anyone who's willing to listen to her and to learn, which leads us to the second thing to know about this book: Proverbs believes that anyone can access and interact with Wisdom. That anyone can listen and follow wisdom to make a beautiful life for yourself or others. You can create with it like a designer. Hokhmah in Hebrew isn't simply wisdom like intellectual knowledge that you educate yourself with. The word is also used to describe the skilled artisan who excels at their craft, like woodworking or stonemasonry. So you show you possess hokhmah when you put it to work and develop the skill of making a good life.
Proverbs has one more really important thing for us to consider. Hokhmah isn’t some impersonal force—it’s an attribute of God’s very self, perhaps even the same concept that we would come to know and name later as the holy Spirit.
And so in Hebrew thought, your journey to becoming wise has to begin with what Proverbs calls “the fear of the Lord.” Which isn’t about being afraid at all. It’s more like awe, or reverence, It’s this healthy respect for God’s understanding of what is right and what is wrong, and true wisdom for proverbs means learning those boundary lines and not crossing them.
[The majority of this section above is taken from The Bible Project’s excellent introduction to the Book of Proverbs]
So friends, if you’ve ever asked yourself questions about the world we live in, why it is the way it is and what it looks like to live a good life in this world? I think God’s wisdom in this book may have something to offer us.
In the coming weeks, we’ll read excerpts together in worship that will shape our worship of God and open our ears to God’s wisdom, so we might better know how she is still speaking in our lives. But I also encourage you to read through this book on your own. Its 31 chapters, one for everyday this month and one more to grow on. Though you might be able to find some wisdom in a single selection or a single proverb, I think if we read this together in whole, I think God’s Hokhmah will be all the more apparent to us. If you like, in the silence to follow this sermon you can crack open your pew bible to proverbs, and find a random verse, to see what wisdom might already be whispering to you.
Until then May Lady wisdom meet us each day.
May She guide our steps along our journey and help shape our lives into the good life that God intends for this world.
May it be so, Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE “Morning Bell” Johann Friedrich Burgmüller
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
One: This is the day that the Lord has made
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it
*CALL TO WORSHIP Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock
Leader: Beloved Community! Why have you gathered today?
All: We seek God’s wisdom to guide us and show us how to live.
Leader: Are you ready to follow when God’s wisdom leads down unexpected paths?
All: We will trust, and we will follow wherever God’s wisdom leads us.
Leader: Well then, Beloved of God, what are you waiting for?
All: Come! Let us seek to know God’s wisdom together, Let us listen and worship!
* HYMN 450 “Be Thou My Vision” SLANE
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION Written by Rev. Andy James Peter Maurath
We long for wisdom, O Lord, but prefer that it be our own. We turn away from the ideas of others and ignore the possibility and promise that come from life
together with you. Most of all, we drown out your gift of Wisdom as she seeks to get our attention, for we believe that we know better or would prefer to decide where we make her welcome. Forgive us, loving God. Bring an end to the self-righteousness that ignores you and awaken us anew to the Wisdom that comes only from you. Show us how to walk in your ways and listen to your promise each and every day… Individual confession offered in the silence
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 205 “Ubi Caritas” sung 3 times UBI CARITAS
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
MUSICAL OFFERING “Mothering God” Tom Trenney
SUNG OPRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION 174 “Come and Seek the Ways of Wisdom” MADELINE
SCRIPTURE Proverbs 1:1-7; 3:5-6, 13-18
Trust in the Lord and the Blessings of Wisdom.
The proverbs of Solomon, King David’s son, from Israel:
Their purpose is to teach wisdom and discipline,
to help one understand wise sayings.
They provide insightful instruction,
which is righteous, just, and full of integrity.
They make the naive mature,
the young knowledgeable and discreet.
The wise hear them and grow in wisdom;
those with understanding gain guidance.
They help one understand proverbs and difficult sayings,
the words of the wise, and their puzzles.
Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
don’t rely on your own intelligence.
Know him in all your paths,
and he will keep your ways straight.
Happy are those who find wisdom
and those who gain understanding.
Her profit is better than silver,
and her gain better than gold.
Her value exceeds pearls;
all you desire can’t compare with her.
In her right hand is a long life;
in her left are wealth and honor.
Her ways are pleasant;
all her paths are peaceful.
She is a tree of life to those who embrace her;
those who hold her tight are happy.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Sharon Renkes
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE followed by the Lord’s Prayer on screen
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
OFFERTORY “Quiet Wisdom” Brad Jacobsen
*OFFERTORY RESPONSE 697 vs. 6
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only all for thee
Ever, only, all for thee.
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Divine Source of Wisdom, we bring these offerings with hearts attuned to your call. As we gather in your presence, may our gifts reflect the wisdom and discernment you desire for us. Use these offerings to nurture understanding, compassion, and justice in our world. Guide us to listen and act with insight, spreading your love and grace. Transform our giving into actions that make a difference. Help us grow in our faith and commitment to your ways. In the holy name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
*HYMN 684 “Faith Begins By Letting Go” LUX PRIMA
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “How Great the Wisdom and the Love” Thomas McIntyre arr. Sherrie Manwill Boren