God’s Delight
Prov. 8:22-31[1]
When I was in college, one of the required readings in
Sophomore Literature class was Jonathan Edwards’ sermon, “Sinners in the Hands
of an Angry God.” Edwards was one of the
driving forces in the “First Great Awakening” in the early 1700’s with his
insistence that we recognize and repent of our sin.[2] But the image of God in this sermon is one
that seems positively sadistic. God is
depicted as dangling sinners over the fires of hell like someone might dangle a
spider over an open flame.[3] Not an image that makes you want to get very
close to God. In fact, I’d say it’s an
image that makes you want to run as far away from God as possible.
But the biblical view of God is very different. The Bible presents us the God of love, the
God of relationship, and the God of community.[4] In
fact, God himself is depicted in this way, which is why we believe in one God
who is three. As one of our confessions
puts it: “One God who is the Creator and Sustainer, the Savior and Lord, the
Giver of life within, among, and beyond us”[5] Since love requires a counterpart, it should
come as no surprise that God has counterparts in the Bible—especially Jesus the
Christ and the Holy Spirit. This one God
who is three exists in a relationship of love and community with one
another. This is central to our faith,
because the love it represents is the basis for everything God does—including
both creation and salvation.
We sometimes skip over creation with all our focus on
salvation, but creation is the basis for our faith as well. God creates everything out of the same love
that motivates him to save. Creation
comes from God’s desire to have a relationship with those who can choose to
return God’s love and share God’s love. Our
lesson from Proverbs for today is a beautiful image of all this. In it, God creates as a master craftsman, as
a skilled artist. And like a skilled
artist takes delight in a sculpture or a painting, God takes great delight in
the creation.[6]
And surprisingly, though it pre-dates Jesus by several
centuries, there is already hint of God having a counterpart. Our lesson describes “Wisdom” as God’s
companion in creation. But more than
that, Wisdom is God’s counterpart, not only applauding with joy at every aspect
of creation but also working with God to make sure everything fits—as a “master
craftsman.”[7] I like the way Gene Peterson translates it in
The Message : “ I was
right there with him, making sure everything fit. Day after day I was there,
with my joyful applause, always enjoying his company, Delighted with the
world of things and creatures, happily celebrating the human family” (Prov.
8:30-31).
The interesting thing about Wisdom in Proverbs is that
Wisdom is more than just practical knowledge; wisdom is personified as a woman
crying out in the streets, seeking those who are simple-minded and going astray
from the truth to return and live the life God intended for them. I find it
fascinating that a book of the Bible from the days when women had few rights
portrays the one who acts on God’s behalf to call people to the truth, the one
who is God’s counterpart in creation, as a woman![8]
In the New Testament, Jesus has pretty much assumed the
roles of “Lady Wisdom” in proverbs.[9] But there is another counterpart of God’s
that gets overlooked at times—the Spirit of God. According to our lessons from John’s Gospel
recently, the Spirit is the one who will comfort the disciples in Jesus’
absence, who will remind them of all he taught them, who will guide them as
they seek to continue his work, and who will empower them to do even greater
works. I don’t know about you, but it sounds to me that in our day and time,
the work of “Lady Wisdom” from the Book of Proverbs has been assumed by the
Spirit of God.[10] Does the Spirit of God also have the feminine
quality of Wisdom? [11] It’s hard to say for sure. But there’s something about the Spirit that
seems to fit a feminine image in my mind.
For me, the idea of the Spirit as a feminine image enhances the comfort
of knowing that we are constantly supported by God’s presence.
In our day, not many people have much use for the idea of
God as Trinity. It seems an abstract and
far-fetched concept for theologians to debate.
But I think nothing could be further from the truth. The point of our belief in the Trinity is
that God is a God of love—not just love that cherishes from afar, but love that
acts for us and among us. Love that
reaches out to us and seek a relationship with us. “One God who is the Creator and Sustainer,
the Savior and Lord, the Giver of life within, among, and beyond us.” This is an
image of God who takes great delight in the beauty of the natural world, and
takes great delight in the human family.
That’s right—all this means we are all a part of God’s delight!
[1] ©
2013 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by
Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm at First Presbyterian Church of Dickinson, TX on 5/26/2013.
[3]
Edwards says, “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a
spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully
provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of
nothing else, but to be cast into the fire.” Cf. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html.
[4] Jürgen Moltmann, God
for a Secular Society: The Public Relevance of Theology, 101: The biblical
image of God is “God in community, rich in relationships. ‘God is love.’”
[5] Presbyterian Church in the United States
[6]Cf.
Pheme Perkins, “Beside the Lord,” The
Christian Century (May 17, 1989) 522: “The Lord rejoices in her [Wisdom] as
she rejoices in all of creation, including the human race. This image of creation
is very different from the mechanical putting-it-together activity that we
might regard as part of making something. Creation is shared. It is an object
of beauty, order and delight.” Cf. also
Jürgen Moltmann, God in Creation,
311.
[7]Cf.
William P. Brown, “Proverbs 8:22-31,” Interpretation
63 (July 2009) 288: Wisdom is God's full partner in play, and all
creation is hers to enjoy. The world was made for her sake, for her flourishing
and delight, and it is her delight that embraces the world. Cf. also Jürgen Moltmann, God in Creation: A New Theology of Creation
and the Spirit of God, 9: “Through the energies and potentialities of the
Spirit, the Creator is himself present in his creation. He does not merely
confront it in his transcendence; entering into it, he is also immanent in it.”
[8] Cf.
Roland E. Murphy, Proverbs, 280.
[9]
Cf. Moltmann, God in Creation, 95,
for a description of the “Wisdom Christology” that attributes creation to Jesus
as the Logos.
[10]
Cf. Moltman, God for a Secular Society,
103: “According to Wisdom literature, this creative Wisdom can also be called
God’s Word or God’s Spirit. But it is the presence of God in all things which
is invariably meant, a presence immanent
in the world.” Cf. Similarly, Jürgen
Moltmann, Science and Wisdom, 185.
[11]
cf. Jürgen Moltmann, Science and Wisdom,
185: “According to Wisdom literature (Ecclesiasticus, for example), this
creative Wisdom can also be called God’s Word or God’s Spirit. But what is
meant is always the presence of God immanent in the world and present in all
things.” Cf. also Jürgen Moltmann, The Spirit of Life: A Universal Affirmation,
46.
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