May understanding raise her voice

Scripture Lesson: Romans 5: 1-5 and Proverbs 8: 22-36, OT page 591 Sermon Title: May understanding raise her voice Preached on 5/22/16 This lesson from the book of Proverbs is appropriate for Trinity Sunday (which is today), because it’s been assumed for generations that this “wisdom” who calls and “raises her voice” in verse 1 is the third person of the Trinity or God the Holy Spirit. In this second Scripture lesson she accompanies the first person of the Trinity, God the Creator, through the great acts of creating the world, the land the sea, plant and animal life as well as human kind. So our passage reads: “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, The first of his acts of long ago. When there were no depths I was brought forth, Before the mountains had been shaped” And then the Proverb goes further, detailing Wisdom’s unique role in creation: When he drew a circle on the face of the deep When he made firm the skies above When he assigned to the sea its limit So that the waters might not transgress his command When he marked out the foundations of the earth Then I was beside him, like a master worker.” This passage from Proverbs highlights the part that wisdom plays, so unlike the creation account that we are most familiar with in the book of Genesis where we read that God said let there be light and there was light, God said let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures and there they were, God said let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind and so it was, here in Proverbs we read that Wisdom was brought forth when depth was assigned to the ocean and when the height of the mountains were determined – in other words, Wisdom is beside God the Creator not to bring forth creation from nothing, but to establish what is the breadth and length and height and depth, how deep should the oceans be and how high the mountains. Wisdom then, what is wisdom? According to Proverbs chapter 8, Wisdom is the voice who tells the all-powerful God to “stop right there.” When “Wisdom raises her voice” it is the voice that says, “Enough!” even to God. It’s Wisdom who is there to set the limits – to decide where things should stop, and if the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were anything like a group of mere mortals than I can imagine that by so doing she quickly established herself as the least popular of the group. Wisdom’s job in creation sounds something like the job of my fraternity’s treasurer. Back in college, when I was a student at a small Presbyterian school and a member of a fraternity of about 30 people, from time to time the brothers would decide that it was time for us to have a party and to hire a band. Everyone would be excited about the idea, calling out the names of the bands they thought that I, the social chairman should contact first, but then the voice of our treasurer, Moultrie Townsend would be heard, telling us that there’s no way we could hire any of those bands because we didn’t have any money. Today his cautionary words sound reasonable enough, but back then we’d all “boo” Brother Townsend and would throw cans at him and tell him to leave the meeting because some people just don’t like limits and like even less those who are courageous enough to set them. In the words of Bible scholar Bill Brown, Wisdom baby proofs God’s creation. She establishes boundaries, creates limits, and draws the line in the sand where the waters would not transgress his command. Wisdom then, what is wisdom – according to Proverbs chapter 8, Wisdom is the voice who says: Those mountains – they are tall enough. Those seas – they are deep enough. Those oceans – they are wide enough. And those waves should go no higher. Think for a moment about how you felt as a child when the mother who told you the same kind of thing raised her voice. You were up in a tree reaching for the next branch when you heard: “Now come down from there – that’s high enough.” You were swimming in a pool in the heat of summer when you heard: “It’s time to come in from the pool – you’ve been in there long enough.” Or you were getting ready to walk out the door when you were stopped in your tracks: “Don’t you worry about what the neighbors are doing – I’m your mother and I’m telling you that your dress is short enough.” “And you’ll be home when I say – 11:00 is late enough.” Maybe you’d thank her now, but back then – back then the one who was making the rules was keeping you from the freedom that you wanted. But I imagine that now you can see that she was so wise as to know that what you thought was freedom was not freedom at all. I say that in setting the boundaries of height and depth Wisdom played her part in Creation, but she was there too speaking in God’s Law: That 6 days is enough to work, and that you must rest on the Sabbath. That in marriage, your wife or husband is enough, so don’t let your eyes be drawn to anyone else’s. And when it comes to money – be happy with what you have been given – and even take 10% of what you have been given and give that away because if you don’t stop yourself somewhere you will never be satisfied. TV makes this hard I think. Just when you think you have all the right stuff you see an advertisement for something else. Just when you think you’re looking pretty good, you see someone in a bathing suit looking just a little bit better. To all of this and more, “Enough”, she says – “enough”. Those mountains – they are tall enough. Those seas – they are deep enough. Those oceans – they are wide enough. Those waves should go no higher. And you might want to be free to take that paycheck and spend it on whatever wish that sweeps your mind, but that freedom that you call freedom will lead to bondage – the slavery of debt and bills and financial misery. The countercultural claim of our Scripture Passage from the book of Proverbs is that freedom, real freedom, comes from accepting the boundaries set by our God for life. There’s a great Fred Craddock story about this kind of wisdom. You’ve heard it before, but as Dr. Craddock said himself, if a sermon’s not worth hearing more than once you have to wonder if it was even worth hearing once, so remember this story again – Dr. Craddock was in a Waffle House, and Waffle House he says is a good place to get a BLT. You have to take a shower after, but it’s a good place to get a BLT. Once Dr. Craddock was in the Waffle House and he ordered from the waitress a cup of coffee. She sat the cup down on his table. Then, “Creamer?” she asked him. “Yes, two please,” he responded, and she proceeded to pat down her Waffle House apron looking for the creamer in her various pockets and he heard her say, “I can never find anything in this capricious apron.” “Capricious?” he asked. Then he asked, “Are you a waitress or a philosopher?” not having expected to hear such a word out of her mouth. She set down 5 creamers on the table. Dr. Craddock took 2 and pushed the three back to her but she slid the three back to him saying, “Better to have and not need than to need and not have.” Knowing now who he was dealing with, Dr. Craddock responded by saying, “Maybe, but true freedom comes in having what you need and being willing to give the rest away.” Then he slid the three creamers back to his waitress knowing he had triumphed in this philosophical contest, and I remember this story with you today knowing also that by doing so Dr. Craddock embodies the essence of wisdom. Wisdom is different from intelligence, because intelligence means knowing what to say, but wisdom is knowing that you shouldn’t always say it. Wisdom is different from power, because power means being able to, but wisdom is knowing when you should. And Wisdom is different from what we call freedom, because we think freedom is being able to do whatever we want but Wisdom says that doing whatever you want whenever you feel like it will result in bondage. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should. Just because the mountains could be higher doesn’t mean they should be. Just because the sea could be deeper doesn’t mean it should be. Just because you can afford it doesn’t mean that you should have it. And just because you have the chance doesn’t mean you should take it. Wisdom is knowing when to stop, and I imagine that there was a time when we didn’t need quite as much wisdom as we need today because the lines were once drawn for us. We were at Miss Mary Bobo’s on Monday. Frank Bellamy drove a bus load of Presbyterians over there and the problem with a place like that is that once you’ve emptied out the fried okra bowl it comes back again full. Now self-control is nothing in the face of okra that good. But something else was true that I haven’t thought of in a long time. At the table there at Miss Mary Bobo’s we talked. We talked and laughed and talked and laughed and it reminded me of a limit my mother put on my life. That when we sat down at the dinner table and the phone rang, no one dared stand up to answer it. Today we have technology and access to each other that we’ve never had before. It’s as though the mountain keeps on growing, the sea keeps on getting deeper, our ability and our temptation is outstretching our wisdom and we must all get better at knowing when to say when. We need some rules. If we want family, community, trust, we need some rules. Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice? She does, so listen. Listen to the one who took a table and made it sacred – so enough with the interuptions. Listen to the one who commands that you rest on the 7th day, that 6 days of work is enough. Listen to the one who calls you to give away 10% of what you’ve earned, because 90% is enough. Listen to the one who tells you to stop looking, who puts “coveting” what your neighbor has on the same list with murder because always wanting more will suck the life right out of you. Listen to the one who wants to keep you safe for “happy are those who keep her ways. Who hear instruction and are wise.” “Whoever finds her finds life.” Amen.