God’s Delight
Prov. 8:22-31[1]
I’ve spoken before about the problems of our “virtual” culture.
Most of us are constantly staring at some kind of screen or other. On the one
hand, I’d have to admit, that I really appreciate the access to information, photos,
and videos from around the world. Having spent a fair amount of my life hunting
down a book in a library somewhere, it’s really nice to be able to look up the
information I need on the web. Having instant access to pictures and images
from around the world makes the news seem somehow more real. And, of course, I
myself am a connoisseur of internet music, movies, and TV.
I think, however, that the problem with our “virtual” culture, is
that we may be in danger of losing our ability to just enjoy the beauty of
life. We get conditioned to having a certain level of stimulation from the
screens we watch, and that makes it harder for us to just “be still” and watch
a sunset, or children playing, or simply to cherish the company of another
person. Although it has been disproven that we humans now have a shorter
attention span than a goldfish, there is an abundance of information available
that makes it clear that the way we pay attention is changing. Primarily, it
shows that, with so much more information available, we are more likely to lose
interest in some activities more quickly.
Our lesson from Proverbs presents us with a beautiful image of a
very different approach to life. It
depicts God creating all things like a master craftsman or a skilled artist. If
you’ve ever tried to create something in that way, you know that it takes
sustained and careful attention. That’s the way God relates to his creation.
After all, 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 with one another. And
like a skilled artist takes delight in a sculpture or a painting, God takes
great delight in all creation. That means that all creation, including the
human family, continues to be the object of God’s sustained and careful
attention.
Though the book of Proverbs pre-dates Jesus by several centuries,
there is already hint here of God being more than a single solitary being far
removed from anyone or anything. In Proverbs God has a counterpart and God is
actively involved in our lives. In our lesson “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. 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” as God’s counterpart in
Proverbs is that Wisdom is personified as a woman! “Lady Wisdom” gets involved:
she cries out in the streets, seeking those who are simple-minded and going
astray from the truth and calling them to return and live the life God intended
for them. In the New Testament, Jesus pretty much assumes this role. He is the
one who calls all people to God’s love and God’s life. And as we are reminded
on Pentecost, God has another counterpart that gets overlooked at times—the
Spirit. In the Bible, it takes all three, God the Creator, Jesus the Redeemer,
and the Spirit who sustains us, to fully understand who God is.
This is the image of God in the Bible: God in relationship, God in
community, God involved in our lives.[2] If it’s true that “God is love” (1 John 4:8),
it should come as no surprise that God has counterparts in the Bible, since
love requires a counterpart, an “other” to love. This one God who is
three—Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer—exists in a relationship of love and
community within Godself. This is central to our faith, because the love
represented by the relationships in the Trinity is the basis for our community
and for everything God does in our lives.
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. To those of us in the church, it may seem like just words we recite in
the Apostles’ Creed that don’t really affect us in real life. But the point of
the Trinity is that God is a God of love—not just love that observes from afar,
but love that reaches out to us and seek a relationship with us. The God who
creates and redeems and sustains us is a God who shows us a love that is
constantly present among us, that gets involved in our lives, and that takes
action to fill our lives with love. [3] The ultimate goal is that our lives might
reflect that same love in our relationships with one another.
As our affirmation of faith for today puts it, our God is the “One
God who is the Creator and Sustainer, the Savior and Lord, the Giver of life
within, among, and beyond us.”[4] If we understand this image of God through the
lens of our Scripture lesson, we see God as one who takes great delight in the
beauty of the natural world, and takes great delight in the human family.
That’s right—all this talk about Trinity means that each one of us benefits
from God’s unfailing love and care, God’s constant presence and support, and
even more than that, we are all people in whom God takes keen interest and
great delight.
[1]
© Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 6/16/2019 at Hickman
Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE. Based in part on a sermon by the same title
from 5/26/2013.
[2]
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.’”
[3]
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.
[4]
Presbyterian Church in the United States. A
Declaration of Faith. 117th General Assembly (1977), reissued by
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 1991.
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