Ordinary Time Week 16

Psalm: Psalm 19 or Psalm 116:1-9
Old Testament: Proverbs 1:20-33 or Isaiah 50:4-9a
  or Wisdom of Solomon 7:26-8:1
Gospel: Mark 8:27-38
Epistle: James 3:1-12

 I want to discuss our Proverbs and Psalms readings this week because we haven't discussed them in awhile and especially the proverbs reading presents a lot of themes that are present throughout the book of Proverbs. Also, in terms of genre, the Epistle of James is in the same tradition as the Old Testament wisdom writings (Job, Psalms, Prov., Ecc., and Song of Sol.). And since we have been discussing James the last few weeks, I think it is appropriate to explore the tradition it flows out of.

First, let us look at Psalm 19: a Psalm of praise to the Lord. The Psalm begins by declaring that the heavens reveal the glory of God. This is an important point to make not only in our time, where the main counter-claim to that is atheism, but also in the time of the Psalmists where the prevailing wisdom was that nature itself was to be worshiped. Verse 4 says that "God has pitched a tent for the sun," and the implication is that the Lord is over the sun and thus there is no reason to worship it. The Israelites constantly struggled with idolatry and Psalms like this remind them and us that God is the Creator and to be worshiped.

Another point the Psalm makes in these opening verses is that although creation isn't able to use words, its speech still goes out into all the earth. I think there is a tendency in some circles to discredit the ability of creation to reveal God to us. God created this wonderful and beautiful habitation for us both to reflect his glory and also for humanity to reflect God's glory in and to creation. In the Fall that relationship got messed up. But still both creation and humanity (by God's prevenient grace) are able to reflect and glorify God.

In the second half of the Psalm the writer moves into an exposition of the Law and how it is able to bring us closer to the Lord. We might say the first half of the Psalm refers to the "natural law" or "general revelation," whereas the second half deals with what has been called "special" or "direct" revelation. God had given the Israelites certain statutes and precepts that to the writer are "perfect," "refreshing", "joyous", "radiant," and "more precious than gold." Now we typically have a negative view of the Law, but we must remember that first, this was the way God had setup to interact with his people in the Old Testament. And second, Jesus himself said that he came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it. So the Law was/is good and has/had a place.

I'm trying to step gingerly around this issue because the question of the Law, in terms of fulfillment and continuity, has vexed Christians from the very beginning. Even in Jesus lifetime his followers and his enemies didn't quite understand what Jesus was doing in terms of the Law. So it takes more than one paragraph to flesh out the issues of the Law in the new Kingdom inaugurated in Jesus. I am also hesitant to expound on the issue because it is one which I don't have a full grasp on. I am still trying to figure out theologically what exactly Jesus meant when he said, I have come not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. (Matt. 5:17) We are set free from the Law, no doubt (Rom. 8) but we still have to wrestle with its importance and how God was/is able to use it. (As an aside, a good place to begin to answer this question is to explore how Jesus related to the Law, and then the other New Testament writers, and particularly Hebrews does a lot of comparison and exploration of the old Law with the new covenant in Jesus.)

Ok, I have almost used up all my space talking about the Psalm but I want to briefly mention the reading from Proverbs. As it is the first Proverb, it sets the stage for the 30 chapters to follow. The writer particularity deals with Wisdom personified and her opposite, the "scoffer." In Proverbs 1 Wisdom is not some mysterious secret whispered behind doors by old men. No, it is shouted from the streets and at the city gate. It's not a matter of searching for Wisdom, it is more of a matter of taking the time to listen and learning and then actually putting that wisdom in practice. The scoffer on the other hand has no time for that work. It is much easier to scoff, tear down, criticize, and scorn, then to seek the path of Wisdom. As I hear about the scoffer, I just wonder if the modern day version is the cynic and skeptic. Our society is full of cynical and skeptical people who have no belief in authority or respect for anybody but themselves. They have no time for God and "old-fashioned" thinking. Yet Wisdom still stands on the corner and shouts to the people. Creation still raises its voice to glorify God as is said in Psalm 19.

I find myself  more in that category of the cynic and skeptic. And in that thinking I am a product of my generation to some extant. The cry of Wisdom is to find the Lord. Seek his glory and his Way of life; come find life and joy with God rather than the lonely way of the cynic who only trusts him or herself. The cynic and skeptic are good at tearing things down, but not so good at building anything to replace it. The work of the Kingdom of God is that through the Spirit we are able to build something, we are able to participate in what God is doing, and we are able to glorify God in this life. So for me the call is to reject the way of the scoffer and instead seek Wisdom as she points to God.

Grace and Peace.