Mentmore Sunday 15 February

Reading

Proverbs 8.1,22-31 copyright TNIV

¹Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?
²²The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
²³Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
²⁴When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
²⁵Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth –
²⁶when he had not yet made earth and fields, or the world’s first bits of soil.

²⁷When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep²⁸when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
²⁹when 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,
³⁰then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
³¹rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.

Gospel

John 1.1-14 copyright TNIV

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. ⁴What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

Sermon

Proverbs belongs to type of literature in middle east known as Wisdom literature. Other books in same category are Job, Ecclesiastes and in apocrypha Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus.

Philosophy in Wisdom books not like modern philosophy, but closer to a science of practical living. More than just a manual of good behaviour that enables us to maintain relationship with God by observing his decrees given to us through prophets and teachers.

Proverbs presents itself as textbook designed to educate humans in general and young people in particular in wise living. Wisdom is founded on fear of the Lord. But it is also personal. Wisdom mediates God’s revelation of himself in creation to human beings.

Wisdom is naus. Skill or ability. Manual skill of a craftsman. Navigational skills of seafarers. To learn about Wisdom is to become equipped with skills necessary to live a good and successful life. Disciplined life under authority of instructor or parent. Right conduct and right relationships. Shrewdness and prudence.

So Proverbs starts with the first of several instructions from a father to a son. The son is taught to avoid evil men – gangsters, robbers, murderers. Why? Because their attractions are self-destructive and foolish. To join in is to share their fate.

So it is strange to find Wisdom suddenly becomes personified. The Hebrew word is feminine. Wisdom is personified as a woman. She speaks with divine authority. To reject what she says is to deny the fear of the Lord.

Like a prophet, Wisdom takes her stand in public places and cries out to anyone who will hear her. She extols her providential role in good and orderly government of the world. She brings wealth and prosperity.

Wisdom claims to be a child of God. Her origins go back to before creation. During creation, Wisdom was there beside God. She took an active part in the design and construction of the world. She rejoices at what is brought into being, and as she brought pleasure to God, so she now brings joy to human beings.

It’s a complicated concept to grasp – and if that wasn’t enough the paired gospel reading is all about Logos – the Word. The Word was also with God from the beginning, but John the Evangelist identifies the Logos with Christ himself. All things came into being through him, and without him nothing was made. What came into being in Jesus was life and light – Jesus is the light of the world that illuminates everyone and banishes darkness.

The light is closer to our own experience than Wisdom or Logos. It is something we can understand more easily. We use light every day, and are used to turning on a light to eliminate dark places. So we can relate to Christ as the light.

Wisdom seems somehow more alien – a middle eastern philosophy that is easily boiled down into a manual for life, but one that speaks of a bygone age.

Fortunately, we don’t need to understand either concept to have a lively faith. At 10.30 we have an all-age service at Cheddington when we will try and reclaim St Valentine for the church. It is led by the Emmaus Group. My part is to sum up by relating love between human beings to Christian love.

You might think this is impossible in just a few minutes. I could not expound on Wisdom or Logos in that space of time, so how could I say anything meaningful about Love?

Actually it’s easy. Love is so simple to understand, whether human love or Christian love. It’s the application that’s hard. It’s not stepping over the boundary between self denying love and self serving love.

You can of course read I Cor. 13 as we do in most weddings, but there’s an easier way. Look in Matthew 22. 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' That was how Jesus answered the Sadducee who was an expert in the Law. Anything else is exposition.

This is why our faith is simple enough for a child to grasp in its fullness. No need to wrestle with Wisdom or Logos except to deepen and expand the underpinning of our faith. But if you have not the time or inclination to do so, no matter. Love is all, and what better message is there on St Valentine’s weekend?

Amen