with no time for doubt

with the pain & anger

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel
Proverbs 8:

“Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?”

The answer, of course, is yes.

Proverbs today depicts wisdom as a woman. Tireless. Devoted. Standing out there, along the highways and byways. Ceaselessly calling out. Raising her voice, offering a life that is full. The kind of life only she can offer.

…But, and I barely need to say this; it isn’t all that easy. Is it?

Sure, Wisdom raises her voice. But so do so many others. We live in a world bombarded with noise. Filled with sales pitches.

And chapter 7 depicts one of those other voice. The voice of “Dame Folly” as she is called. 

Woman Wisdom isn’t out there calling, raising her voice for any ‘ol reason. She’s doing it because she has to…

So often we talk about faith as as something we do. Which is bonkers. Especially if you consider all God has done. 

We’re like folks who have fallen overboard, been rescued by the crew, and given CPR. Who, immediately after being resuscitated, stand up and say, “Did you see how well I got saved?”

It’d be funny if it weren’t so foolish! 

Yes, the call is to live wisely. But the truth is, we’d never have half a chance if Woman Wisdom weren’t out there, showing up in the places we do, raising her voice above the others…

“Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?”

The answer, of course, is yes.

It’s just that, and I barely need to say this, we’re not so good at listening…

What I love about Proverbs is how honest it is. How we don’t hear from Woman Wisdom, until we’ve heard from Dame Folly first.

Because life is often like that. Isn’t it?

We live in world inundated with voices. Eventually all those voices blend into one great hum. Harmonizing into a siren call. An ear worm repeating over and over again; the refrain from the epic Queen song, “I Want it All.”

And, I want it now…

Of course, that’s a fool’s errand. 

And even our old pal Freddie knew as much. “I’m a man with a one track mind / So much to do in one lifetime.”

The siren call to wanting it all always leads to a shipwreck.

But the truth is, and I barely need to say this, the addiction to wanting it all is a hard one to kick. Isn’t it?

There’s some part of us that thinks we can have a little of what Dame Folly has to offer and be alright. 

…But, like Dr. Phil asks, “How’s that working out for you.”

…A constant criticism of Proverbs is that it is a little too cute. Too simple. That is see everything through rose tinted glasses. 

And, I suspect there are some of us cynics out there thinking as much, too. But, Proverbs recognizes those other voices out there, and how alluring they can be.

It is just that, wisely, Proverbs doesn’t give those voices more time than they merit. 

We love our stories of the Icaruses who fly too close to the sun. But Proverbs recognizes those stories for the tragedy they are. How the highs never redeem the subsequent crash. So Proverbs gives little time to those siren songs.

“Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?”

The answer, of course, is yes. It’s just that, and I barely need to say this, we’re not so sure…

I just finished this compelling memoir about addiction. What was so great about it was the author’s boredom with all those other addiction memoirs out there. The ones that let you peer in on the havoc addiction wrecks on lives, and leaves it at that. 

Early on, she lets us see how the chaos of addiction isn’t all that glamorous. How monotonous it actually is. And, refreshingly, she lets us see her desire to be free from addiction’s pull. 

But, she is also honest about how hard it is to break away from. She describes her fear that sober life would be a “lemon squeezed dry.”

And that’s a little how we feel about Woman Wisdom’s offer. Isn’t it?

We worry that if we pursue the life she has to offer a little too vigorously, we’ll come out the other side lobotomized, dull as church mice.

…We’re used to saying Jesus is fully human and fully divine. But if we’re honest, we tend to focus on the divine side. We think most of the time he acted divine. And other, rarer times, he acted “human.”

Like when he gets angry, or cries. 

As if all it means to be human is to have emotions.

But, that’s not what we confess! We confess Jesus is both fully human and fully divine—all the time!

In Jesus, not only do we get a glimpse of what God is. We also get a glimpse of what human is. It’s just not a picture we tend to paint! 

To be fully human isn’t to go after our own whims and desires, it’s to be obedient. Obedient, even to the point of death…

We say to err is human. But that’s not exactly right. 

Yes, on this side of Eden, to err is a given. But that’s not because we’re human, it’s because we’ve inherited a preexisting condition; Sin. And Sin leads us into error after error. Most notably, to pursue our own desires…

To be fully human is to be like Jesus. Obedient and humble.
And, if we’re being honest, we have to admit, the portrait we’ve gotten of Jesus is irresistible. 

Isn’t? Isn’t that why you’re here on a blazing evening/morning? Because you’ve caught a glimpse of Jesus’ life, and you want a little of that for yourself?

“Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?”

The answer, of course, is yes. 

It’s just that, and this barely needs to be said, we’re afraid.

If Dame Folly and Woman Wisdom each had an Instagram account, I don’t need to tell you which one would have more subscribers. But, and here’s the part the sermon has been building to; it’s Woman Wisdom who’d have the more fulfilled life!

We live in a world full of competing voices and competing claims of what life ought to be. And the truth is, we’re as gullible as the next person. We see the glitz and glam and fool ourselves into believing life is found in the highs.

But, that is just to repeat Adam and Eve’s old error all over again!

…We call the expulsion from of Eden “the fall.” But that’s not what Adam and Eve do. Their problem is that they reach up! Try to grasp something out of reach!

And it’s a congenital disease we’ve inherited, too. Because we, make the same mistake time and time again. Don’t we? We reach up, thinking that the good life is to be found above us. 

And all we have to show for it are the wounds we’ve suffered and inflicted of others…

Yes, Woman Wisdom calls, she raises her voice. But her call is to real life. Real life in all its humbleness. And we’re so addicted to the highs, we have a hard time taking what she has to offer.

Yes, we’re here because the portrait of Jesus’ life is compelling. 

But, we’re also here because we’ve crashed and burned. Haven’t we? We’ve fallen for those other offers out there. We’ve learned, for ourselves, how those offers always and only lead to disaster…

But, when we learn how foolish our own decisions have been, we’re most free to hear what Woman Wisdom has to offer!

“Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?”

The answer, of course, is yes. Thank heavens!

The end of today’s scripture depicts Woman Wisdom rejoicing! Delighting alongside God! 

And the promise Woman Wisdom makes to you is that this joy, this delight IS yours! Your’s by virtue of your humanity. Your’s by virtue of the promise that it is humanity Jesus has come to redeem! 

This joy and delight is found in the last place you expect. Not in the too good to be true lives of the rich and famous; but in long, unglamorous walk of real life. Because it is there, Jesus shows up!

On any given week we are bombarded with no shortage of voices. Aren’t we? 

And the truth is, those voice can be alluring. But they can never deliver. And we know that. That’s why we’re here.

So, you who are here, listen up:

“Does not wisdom call, and does not understanding raise her voice?”

The answer, of course, is yes. And what she says is, those paths you’ve come from, and the ones you'll return to; they are the paths Jesus’ walks. The places he meets you. 

You who are here with a bruise or two from your attempts to reach up; you are finally right where you need to be; real life. Humanity with all its rough edges. Because this is where Jesus meets you!