God's Love Overflowing

 God’s Love Overflowing

Proverbs 8:1-11, 22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15[1]

When you think about religion as our human efforts to worship and serve God, you would think that a concept so basic to the human experience would be consistent across the board. But the opposite is true. The cultures of the world throughout history have held many beliefs about “God.” In ancient religions, the “gods” were simply a picture of human impulses on a large scale. But while the “gods” may have embodied the best human qualities, they also embodied the worst. Other cultures have approached their understanding of “God” through nature, and some even found their way to a “benevolent” notion of God. But our notions of “God” have always been as varied as the human family is.

Even in the Christian faith there are very different images of God. Some see God as a stickler for rules, always eager to punish those who go astray. And in many cases, those who understand God like that have come up with all kinds of things you have to do in order to stay on God’s “good side” so you can go to heaven when you die. Others have such a casual view of God that they turn the creator of the vast universe into their “buddy.” And they think this “buddy” of theirs is a personal “genie in a bottle” who will make their every wish come true. How you understand God makes a difference!

That’s why we observe “Trinity Sunday.” It’s a day for us to recall that there are important reasons we worship one God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I realize that may sound like a “stretch” to some. A lot of people these days think it doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you have some kind of faith. But I would insist that the Bible bears witness to God in this unique way of understanding that we call “Trinity.” And it’s not just about making sure we follow the Bible. Believing in, worshipping, and serving God as “Trinity” makes a big difference in what your faith and your life look like.

Our scripture lessons for today point out some of the reasons why it’s important that we understand God in this way. In our lesson from Proverbs, we get a better glimpse of what it means to say “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” There is something intimidating about the notion that God created all the galaxies we can see with the new James Webb Space Telescope. But our lesson shows us a different side: God enjoying creation and delighting in the human family. Creation was not only an expression of God’s power, but also of God’s love, overflowing in the beauty of the world that is “very good” (Gen 1:31). Part of what it means to believe in “Trinity” is that we see God not only as all-powerful but also as one who takes great delight in loving all creation.

Our lesson from John’s Gospel reminds us of what it means to say, “I believe in Jesus Christ God’s only Son our Lord.” As we’ve seen in our journey through John’s Gospel during Easter, Jesus’ whole life was one act of demonstrating God’s love for us. By coming in human flesh, he showed us what God’s love looks like. By serving “the least of these” (Mt 25:40), he demonstrated God’s love for everyone. And by giving his life on the cross, Jesus revealed just how far God is willing to go to draw us into the embrace of love shared eternally by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Part of what it means to believe in “Trinity” is that we know God’s love for us through Jesus Christ.

Our lesson from Romans reminds us of what it means to say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” God not only poured out his love when he created all things “very good.” And God not only poured out his love by sending Jesus to show us what love looks like in real life. God also continually pours out his love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Again, as we have seen in John’s Gospel, the Spirit is our constant companion, the one who leads us to faith, who shows us the truth of what God is doing in and among us, and who guides us daily. Part of what it means to believe in “Trinity” is that we trust that God’s love for us means that he continually accompanies, guides, sustains, and empowers us.

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. If it’s true that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), it should come as no surprise that the one God who is three—Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer—exists in a relationship of love and community. This is the image of God in the Bible: God in relationship, God in community, God involved in our lives. This is central to our faith, because the love shared between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the basis for everything God does in our lives, for all that God does in our community of faith, and for all that God does through us as we serve others.

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 seeks 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. About twenty years ago, the PCUSA commissioned a study of our understanding of God as “Trinity.” That doesn’t take any kind of stretch of imagination! The (inevitable) report encouraged churches to explore ways to include affirmations of our faith in God as “Trinity,” using the range of expressions in the Bible and in the history of the Church. And the overarching theme was framed in the title of the report: “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing.” I can think of no better way to understand God: love overflowing in and through all creation and in and through every one of our lives!

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[1] © 2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm Ph. D. on 6/12/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE. For a video recording of this sermon, check out my Pastor Alan YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/q6bP3CkiA0Q

God's Delight

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.

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[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.

God's Delight

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!

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[1] © 2013 Alan Brehm.  A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm at First Presbyterian Church of Dickinson, TX on 5/26/2013.

[2] Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(theologian) .

[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. A Declaration of Faith. 117th General Assembly (1977), reissued by Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 1991.

[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.

Consequences

Consequences

Prov.1:20-33; Mk. 8:27-38[1]

We are a people with a distinct aversion to consequences. We want to be able to do whatever we please, and if we get caught doing something we shouldn’t, we want to be able to get out of the consequences.  In fact, we think we should be able to get off the hook, because people get away with things every day.  As a people, we’re not very fond of “you reap what you sow.”  And yet, the principle of reaping what you sow is one that has pervaded human culture from the beginning.  Hindus and Buddhists call it “Karma.”  More practical-minded folks say, “what goes around comes around.”  But throughout history there has been a profound awareness that our choices and our actions bring their own consequences with them.

As Christians, we may be more comfortable with concepts like forgiveness and grace than reaping what you sow.  But our lesson from Proverbs for today makes it clear that our choices make a difference.  “Wisdom” is personified as a woman crying out in the streets, offering insights, guidelines, and instructions for living, and the rewards that come from living by Wisdom’s teaching.[2]  But, in ancient times as in our day, it seems that many, perhaps even most people, prefer to go their own way and ignore Wisdom’s counsel.  For example, when will we ever learn that “a gentle word turns away wrath” (Prov. 15:1) instead of trying to overcome violence by violence?  How many of us really believe that our lives don’t consist of the abundance of our possessions (Lk. 12:15)?  Or when will we learn that when we indulge in promiscuity we’re actually harming ourselves (1 Cor. 6:18).  Or how many of us really believe and live by the principle that we are all children of one Creator (cf. esp. 1 John 4:19-5:1), and therefore what I do affects you and what you do affects me.

Some of these precepts are obvious in daily living.  Others are not, because it takes time for the consequences to show up.  This is true of our spiritual choices as well.  When we choose a path that is essentially selfish and ignores the effect of our actions on others, we may not see the consequences of that choice right away, but they will eventually make their appearance.  When we live a life that ignores justice and compassion for others in our world, we may not see the consequences immediately, but we will eventually and inevitably “eat the fruit of our way” (Prov. 1:31). [3]  When we choose to ignore the divine dimension that fills and defines all of life and simply go our own way, we will at some point become “sated with our own desires” (Prov. 1:31).[4]

Jesus didn’t have a lot to say about consequences, but he did address the issue—especially to the spiritual hypocrites of his day.  But I think our Gospel lesson for today presents us with a similar kind of choice.[5]  Like Wisdom, Jesus calls to all who would hear him, and challenges them to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him in a life of “doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God.”  If we reject the path of discipleship because the price is too high, because Jesus asks too much of us when he asks us to give ourselves away for the sake of others as he did, we may hang on to some things we hold dear, but he warns that we will lose our very soul.  If, on the other hand, we choose to follow him, we may very well face losses in this life.  We may face significant losses.  But Jesus promises that if we follow him we will have gained our very souls.[6] 

I will be the first to admit that a life of giving ourselves away for the sake of others is not an easy one.  It’s one that asks for all the very best we have to give, and continues to ask for that over and over and over again.  It’s easy to burn out when you’re always giving to those around you.  That’s why it’s so important to maintain some kind of spiritual discipline—reading, prayer, meditation, something.  It’s essential to have some way to build yourself up, to maintain your own inner resources if you’re going to continue living a life of giving yourself away.

Consequences are built into the very structure of life.  We can accept that fact, or we can spend our lives in an effort to get around them, to get out of paying the price of our choices, to get off the hook for our actions.  But it will be a futile effort.  Because, in the end it is always true that we reap what we sow.  We will “eat the fruit of our ways” as Wisdom reminds us.  And as Jesus points out, this is not only true for life in general, it is also true for the spiritual life.  It is especially true for the spiritual life!  Jesus not only taught us, he showed us that the only way to truly live is to give yourself away for the sake of others.[7]  If we refuse that choice because the price of surrendering our own self-interest is too high, the consequence is that we will lose the very heart and soul of what it means to really live.  But if we have the courage to follow him, then we will find that this path of self-giving is the way to freedom, and true joy, and all the life that God wants to give us each and every day.

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[1] © 2012 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/16/12 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX and at A Community of the Servant-Savior Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX.

[2] Cf. R. E. Murphy, Proverbs, 12, where he points out that “Wisdom” in Proverbs speaks and acts like God.  He says, “What was referred to God is now referred to her. It is she who feels rebuffed, and who threatens those who refuse to listen. She has divine authority, and she hands out reward and punishment. She does not mention the Lord; she does not urge conversion to God, but to herself!”  Cf. similiarly, Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 2.1:428-430.

[3] Cf. Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, “The Book of Proverbs,” New Interpreters Bible V:41:  “Sometimes, ‘I like myself just the way I am’ is not a healthy affirmation of self-respect, but a denial that life requires growth and correction”!

[4] Cf. Van Leeuwen, “Book of Proverbs,” NIB V:41: “Wisdom is a matter of life and death not just for individuals but for families, corporations, universities, nations, and cultures. They, too, reap what they sow.”

[5] Cf. similarly, Joel C. Marcus, “Uncommon Sense,” The Christian Century (Aug. 30, 2000): 860.

[6] Cf. H. W. Attridge and A. Y. Collins, Mark, 409 on the play on words in Greek between “life” and “soul.”

[7] Cf. Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.1:190, where he emphasizes that the call to self-denial is based on Jesus’ example, which in itself is a reflection of the Christian conception of who God is!  Cf. also Craig A. Evans, Mark 8:27-16:20, 20; and Pheme Perkins, “The Gospel of Mark,” in New Interpreters Bible VIII:628.

Sowing Justice

Sowing Justice

Prov. 22:8-9,22-23; Jas. 2:1-10; Mk. 7:24-37[1]

As a white male, born into a relatively comfortable middle-class family, I didn't have much experience with the systemic injustice in our culture as I was growing up.  Not personal experience at least.  I did have a run-in with a Texas Christian University Campus Cop who had quite an attitude and cornered me in my car over a parking ticket.  But otherwise, I really can’t say I suffered injustice.  In fact, I’m quite sure I benefitted from the systemic injustice of our culture indirectly at least—whether I knew it or not, I had certain advantages that others did not.  It seems to me that justice is like that—you have to have experienced injustice personally to have much concern for it. Most people like us these days don’t seem to have much interest in justice.  We are worried about our jobs, or about our kids, or about where our culture and society are headed.  Come to think of it, maybe we are interested in justice after all.

Justice is a concept that is at the heart of the Hebrew Bible.[2]  The very essence of what God expects from the people who claim to practice faith is to “do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with our God” (Mic 6:8).  I’m not sure we know what to do with that.  We think of justice in terms of crime and punishment.  It’s hard for us to reconcile justice with mercy, because in our minds they seem to be opposites.  But in the Hebrew Bible, nothing could be further from the truth.  The practice of justice and the practice of mercy are one and the same.  They go hand-in-hand, like faith and hope and love.  The Hebrew Bible makes it clear over and over again that justice is about ensuring well-being, or shalom, for everyone.[3]  It’s about a way of life that makes it possible to everyone to thrive, not just the privileged few.

If you look at key passages in the Hebrew Bible, you’ll find that justice is about lifting up those who have been beaten down.  It’s a way of life defined by compassion and generosity (Prov. 22:9).[4]  As we saw last week, the Bible gets very specific about this—justice means taking care of orphans and widows, who have no one else to take care of them.  It means welcoming immigrants, not hunting them down and chasing them out.  It means feeding the hungry, not blaming their bad choices for their lot in life.  It’s about supporting the sick with a compassionate presence, and comforting those who are grieving.  It is mercy in action.[5]

One reason we Christians are so unfamiliar with the concept of justice is because the New Testament doesn’t speak the same language the Hebrew Bible does.  For that reason, it’s easy to get confused and think that the Hebrew Bible is a book of Law and commandments and obedience and judgment.  We much prefer the New Testament as a book of grace and compassion.  But that kind of understanding is a vast misunderstanding.  The Hebrew Bible is just as much a book of grace and love and mercy as the New Testament, and the New Testament is just as much a book of obedience and justice.  They just use different words to talk about it.

It seems to me that the way the New Testament talks about “doing justly” is “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Jas. 2:8).  Jesus said this was the heart of God’s command.  And, in fact, in this Jesus is following the Law, the Torah, of the Hebrew Bible, because he is quoting from one of the Books of the Law, the book of Leviticus.  If we were to take the time to look at Leviticus 19, where this command comes from, we would find that loving your neighbor is defined in very down-to-earth terms.[6]  For example, loving your neighbor is about leaving the gleanings from your field for the poor (Lev. 19:9-10).  It’s about dealing honestly with others (Lev. 19: 13).  It’s about honoring the handicapped (Lev. 19:14).  It’s about not slandering others, not hating them, and not seeking revenge (Lev. 19:16-18).  Sounds like justice to me.[7]

When you look at our world, it feels like things are out of kilter.  From the workplace to the schoolhouse to the courtroom to the home, it feels like things aren’t quite the way they’re supposed to be.  It certainly doesn’t feel like we’re thriving.  Perhaps we are in this situation not in spite of all that we’re doing, but precisely because of what we’re doing.  If you take a close look at our way of life, I think it’s hard not to conclude that we as a people are sowing injustice.  We ought not be so surprised, then, when we reap the calamity that goes with injustice (Prov. 22:8).

How do we change things?  What can we do to make a difference?  What would it look like for us to sow justice in our land instead of injustice?  Well, it may sound trite, but I think we won’t go far astray if we follow Jesus’ example.  It seems to me that Jesus’ whole life was one of sowing justice—whether it meant healing a gentile woman’s daughter, even though both of them would have been despised by most of the Jewish people of their day.  Or whether it meant caring for a deaf mute, who would have been very easy to overlook and ignore.  As in the two examples from our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus’ life was dedicated to caring for those who were the least and the left out and the passed over and the shut out.  This made him not so popular with the “job creators” of his day and time, but he did it because he was following the Biblical mandate to love your neighbor as yourself.  As we follow his example, we will sow justice, and hopefully bring healing to ourselves and to those around us.

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[1] © 2012 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/9/12 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX and at A Community of the Servant-Savior Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX.

[2] Cf. Gerhard Von Rad, Old Testament Theology I:370, where he says that there is no concept in the Hebrew Bible with so central a significance.

[3] Cf. James L. Mays, Psalms, 311, “Righteousness is the rightness that makes for life and shalom; justice is found in decisions and actions according to righteousness,” Cf. also Jürgen Moltmann,The Way of Jesus Christ, 121: “God’s justice and righteousness brings shalom to both his people and land.”  Cf. also J. Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 163-96; Hans Küng, The Christian Challenge: A Shortened Version of On Being A Christian, 293-312.

[4] Cf. R. E. Murphy, Proverbs, 167: “riches do not entitle one to establish class distinctions since God created all, both rich and poor.” Cf. also ibid., 261 where goes further: “both rich and poor were created by God, so that mockery of the poor is a blasphemy.”  Cf. also Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, “Book of Proverbs,” in New Interpreters Bible V:200.

[5] Cf. Von Rad, Old Testament Theology I:374.  Cf. Robert W. Wall, “Where Wisdom is Found,” Christian Ethics 2009, 31: “The care of poor and powerless believers is a hallmark of God’s covenant-keeping people.”  Cf. also Robert W. Wall, The Community of the Wise, 114: “God stands on the side of those the powerful of this world exploit and the people of God ignore.”

[6]Cf. similarly Luke Timothy Johnson, “The Letter of James,” New Interpreters Bible XII:195, where he says that the actions specified by Lev. 19 (and in the Letter of James) are “incompatible with love.”  Cf. also J. Milgrom, Leviticus, 226; Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.2:804.

[7]Cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus, 322-24, where he explains that Lev. 19 is a call to holy living, and that “Holiness finds tangible expression in loving,” especially in the ways spelled out in this chapter.  Cf. also Milgrom, Leviticus, 235-36.

Gentle Strength

Prov 31:10-31; Jas 3:13-4:3; Mk. 9:30-37[1]

We live in a world where ambition is required. If you don’t have ambition, you must be some kind of slacker. If “money makes the world go around,” ambition is the engine that turns it. In our world, “climbing the ladder” is a way of life. Now, some kinds of ambition are good. But the problem with most of our ambitions is that they are all about us. And when our ambitions are essentially selfish, we tend to adopt an “any means to the end” approach. I think we can agree that when selfish interest dominates our ambitions, our principles seem to go right out the window.

James was very concerned about this tendency. That’s why he wrote to warn First-Century Christians about the effects of what he called “selfish ambition” on people and on the communities they belonged to. He says, “Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things” (James 3:16, CEV). I’m not sure anyone could have said it better. The alternative, from James’ perspective, is “the wisdom that comes from above.” He says that this wisdom “leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere” (James 3:17, CEV). For James, the real goal of the one who seeks the meaning of life in the “fear of the Lord,” in “walking humbly with your God,” is wisdom.[2] Wisdom that is a way of life defined by walking in God’s ways— humility, meekness, gentleness, along with integrity, peace, and justice! For James, “wisdom” is about taking our religious faith and making it real in daily life.[3]

That’s not really what we look for in terms of “the meaning of life.” We see the meaning of life in terms of what we can achieve (success), who knows our name (fame), and what we have acquired (wealth). And we see the meaning of life in terms of what it takes to get there. But like his brother James, Jesus took a different path. In the Gospel lesson, Jesus’ interaction with the disciples about their argument over who would be greatest is almost comic! Jesus turned their goals on their head and told them if they wanted to be “the best” in the Kingdom, then they should become the servant of everybody else.

And just in case they didn’t get the practical implications, he took a child and said that the way they treated that child determined the quality of their commitment to the Kingdom. Now, what you have to understand was a child was someone you could treat however you wanted and nobody would be the wiser.[4] Jesus said that the true test of one’s character is how you treat those who have absolutely no recourse, who cannot “report” you to anyone. In Jesus’ perspective, true wisdom, true strength, true greatness is found in the kindness you show to the most vulnerable people in our world.[5]

For some, this kind of approach to life and the world might seem “weak.” But this kind of wisdom is not a matter of weakness. The image of the ideal woman in Proverbs makes that clear in a very ironical way. In a culture where men dominated pretty much everything, the book of Proverbs chooses a woman as the ideal of “wisdom”— the ideal of what it looks like to “fear the Lord.”[6] And in this context, the ideal of success in life is not just any woman. The woman described in this passage is called “noble,” “capable,” “virtuous,” “excellent,” and “worthy.” But the Hebrew calls her a “woman of valor.”[7] Now the irony is that in the Hebrew Scriptures, “man of valor” is a title reserved for champions and heroes and leaders—and they are pretty much all men. But when it comes down to giving us a concrete image of the wisdom that Proverbs seeks to instill in us, that image is one of a woman who embodies gentle strength.[8]

I think that’s what James envisions as the “meekness of wisdom” or the “gentleness born of wisdom” (James 3:13). It is a way of life that is born of walking humbly with God. When you live like that, you develop a kind of confidence about life; but it is always a humble confidence. This kind of wisdom is a way of life that is inspired by the presence of God’s Spirit. When you live in such a way that you are consciously aware of God’s presence, it tends to create a sense of inner strength; but it is always a strength that manifests itself in gentleness, in humility, in self-sacrifice, and in kindness.

The point of this is not really to give us another yardstick by which to measure others and point out all the ways in which they fall short, tempting as that may be. The point is that we each look to ourselves, and evaluate the character of our lives. How do I speak to people who cannot report me if I get out of line? How much respect do I show people who are essentially invisible in our world? How concerned am I about the rights and the quality of life of those that for the most part nobody really cares about?[9]

Let’s be clear about the implications of following this path. It is not a path that will lead you to “success,” or “fame,” or “wealth,” in the sense that our culture defines them. Who in our world really believes that the meaning of life is to be found in service to others? Our society recognizes that there are some brave and courageous crusaders who give their lives away in service to others, but they tend to look at them as if they are on some sort of quixotic quest! But Jesus said that this is the path of life that the Kingdom of God calls us to follow. And James said that the wisdom that marks true piety is defined in these terms. And Proverbs says that this is what the “fear of the Lord” looks like. The end result is a way of life that promotes peace, God’s peace, lasting peace.[10]

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[1] © 2009 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/20/09 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX and at A Community of the Servant-Savior Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX

[2] Cf. Robert W. Wall, The Community of the Wise, 181.

[3] Paul Tillich, “On Wisdom,” in The Eternal Now, 167-72.

[4] Judith Gundry-Volf, “To Such as These Belong the Kingdom of God: Jesus and Children,” Theology Today (2000): 475-76. Although in Jewish society children were viewed as a blessing and a gift from God, in the Graeco-Roman world of Jesus’ day children were a burden and a nuisance. Cf. also David E. Garland, Mark, 367: “The child had no power, no status, and few rights.”

[5][5] Cf. Judith Gundry-Volf, “Mark 9:33-37,” Interpretation (1999):57-61, where she says that Jesus advocates a “feminine greatness” that is to be practiced by men and women alike. Cf. also Garland, Mark, 375.

[6] Claudia Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book of Proverbs, 186-208; cf. also Thomas Ρ McCreesh, “Wisdom as Wife Proverbs 31 10-31,” Revue Biblique 92 (1985): 25-46.

[7] Cf. the Douay-Rheims version, a Catholic translation of the Vulgate: “a valiant woman”; cf. also Richard J. Clifford, Proverbs, 272-73.

[8] Christine Roy Yoder, “The Woman Of Substance (esheth-hayil): A Socioeconomic Reading Of Proverbs 31:10-31,” Journal of Biblical Literature 22 (2003) 427-447. She says (p. 427, n. 1) that the word “valor” is used in the Hebrew Scriptures for “persons of ‘substance’” which she defines in terms of “strength and capacity, wealth and skill.” Note that one of the features of this woman is that she engages in “loving instruction” or “kind teaching” (Prov. 31:26; Cf. TEV: “She speaks with a gentle wisdom.”).

[9] Cf. The Message translation of James 3:18: “You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God … only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.”

[10] Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 289, 291-92, where he describes the church as a fellowship of peace, freedom, and service.

Healing Words

Prov 1:20-33; Ps. 19; Jas 3:1-12; Mk 7:24-37[1]

A couple of weeks ago I preached a sermon about how the way we use words has the result that they mean nothing at all. I think I should add an asterisk to that opinion: except when we use words to attack another person. The sad truth is that we live in a culture where verbal attack has become a way of life. We have celebrities who are famous because they are so “good” at verbally attacking other famous people. Nobody watches “news” unless the commentator takes a “slash and burn” approach to the news—meaning slashing and burning the people they are supposedly “reporting” about!

Like me, many of you were raised with the proverb, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Of course, in this day of when we pay people millions of dollars to do exactly the opposite, perhaps we should change the saying to “if you can’t say anything nice, you are on your way to fame and fortune!” Various alternatives of the saying are actually in common use, like “if you can’t say anything nice, come sit next to me!” Or, “if you can’t say anything nice, make sure you have a good lawyer.” Or one of my personal favorites, “if you can’t say anything nice, say it in Yiddish!”[2]

I must confess that I get pretty jaded about it all. I for one am tired of living in a culture where we are surrounded by words that I think Jesus and James would have considered “lethal.” It seems that there is no part of our society that is not infected with the poison of harmful and hateful words. Yes, even the church. Make that “especially the church!”

But the Bible makes it very clear that words are powerful, and that we must respect that power. One of the common themes in the book of Proverbs concerns the contrast between the speech of the wise and that of the unwise.[3] Consider a few golden gems:

· The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.[4] (Prov. 10:11 NRSV)

· The more talk, the less truth; the wise measure their words. (Prov. 10:19, MSG)

· It is foolish to speak scornfully of others. If you are smart, you will keep quiet. (Prov. 11:12, TEV)

· Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin. (Prov. 13:3, Today’s NIV)

· The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil. (Prov. 15:28, NIV)

Such wisdom is completely foreign to us—in fact it seems completely opposite from the commonly accepted practice of our day!

In our text for this morning, wisdom is personified as a woman crying out in the streets for anyone who will be wise enough to listen. I’m afraid that’s part of our problem these days—we really don’t want to listen to anybody else. But “Lady Wisdom” in Proverbs makes it clear that we will never hear and heed the truth as long as we’re running our mouth; to listen properly we have to be silent (Prov. 1:22-23, 33)!

In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus says that it is not the food you put in your mouth that defiles you, but what comes out of your heart (Mark 7:20-22). In Matthew’s version of this episode, what defiles you is what comes out of your mouth (Matt. 15:11). In fact, in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says that we will all be judged not only by what we’ve done, but also by what we’ve said. He says, “on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:36-37)! I think we ought to take that particular Scripture a lot more seriously!

Not surprisingly, James elaborates on this theme at great length.[5] It can be argued that James’ whole thesis in his letter is “let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).[6] In our lesson for today, James elaborates on being “slow to speak.” He clearly thinks of words as having great power to destroy. For example, James says that the tongue is “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). In an interesting parallel to Jesus’ comment about what comes out of your mouth defiling you, James says that the tongue “corrupts the whole person” (James 3:6, Today’s NIV). Most of us can bear witness to the way in which words can literally destroy our whole lives and the lives of those around us. Once unleashed, harmful words are like a spark that ignites a fire and consumes a whole forest (James 3:5-6). Words of anger, where we say what we will very likely regret; words of gossip, where we say what may very well be true but ought not be said; words of slander, where we say what we know to be false simply to tear someone down; words of abuse, where we tell someone in effect “you’re worthless.” Harmful words like these “set the whole course of one’s life on fire” (James 3:6, Today’s NIV). [7]

I think we have ample evidence around us to verify James’ assertion that our words have the potential to be lethal. I don’t know about you, but I’ve about had it with all the barrage of angry and violent and hateful words—including the ones that come out of my mouth! I think it’s high time we put our words to better use—the use for which they are intended. Not only are our words intended to “bless” God (James 3:9), they are also intended to bless others! [8] Paul says that we should speak “only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29; cf. also Colossians 4:6). Our words ought to be healing words; they ought to bring grace and peace; they should build up and not tear down, heal rather than kill, encourage rather than discourage. Then we can truly join the Psalmist in praying, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Ps. 19:14).

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[1] © 2009 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/13/09 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX and at A Community of the Servant-Savior Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX.

[2] This is the actual title of a recent (2006) book by L. B. Epstein!

[3] Cf. Roland E. Murphy, Proverbs, 258-60.

[4] Cf. Richard J. Clifford, Proverbs, 114 points out that “cover” in Prov. 10:11 could mean “conceal” as above or it could mean “fill,” i.e., “the mouth of the wicked is full of violence.”

[5] On the relationship between Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5-7 and the Letter of James, see Virgil Porter, “The Sermon on the Mount in the Book of James, Part 1,” Bibliotheca Sacra 162 (2005):344-60 and “The Sermon on the Mount in the Book of James, Part 2 ,” Bibliotheca Sacra 162 (2005):470-82.

[6] Cf. Robert W. Wall, Community of the Wise, 30.

[7] Cf. Gene Peterson’s translation in The Message: “By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.” (James 3:6, MSG)

[8] James points out the inconsistency of professing to praise God and then turning around and using the very same tongue to assault others with words! Cf. Wall, Community of the Wise, 177: “In Christianity according to James any form of duplicity, including ‘double-speak,’ is the mark of spiritual failure.” He attributes this to a “faulty theology of creation, which supposes there is no connection between a good Creator and the creatures of a good creation.” It seems that, for James, it takes a great deal of “nerve” to speak destructively about or to a person who is created in God’s image!

Mercy Triumphs

Prov 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23; Jas 2:1-17[1]

I have long felt that one reason why most Christians in this society avoid the Hebrew Scriptures like the plague is because they are so focused on the theme of justice. Not judgment, mind you, but justice. I realize that there’s a lot of so-called “judgment” there, too, but I don’t think that’s what God was trying to get across. I think the justice that God was calling his people to practice was more along the lines of compassion and mercy. And the primary motivation for it was the fact that God has shown us mercy and compassion.[2]

But I think we are afraid of justice, because it is hard. The fact that it is so hard makes us fear that we might fail to live up to it and so be rejected and condemned to perdition for all eternity. We are also suspicious of justice because it calls us to not to criticize or stereotype or condemn but to show mercy.[3] Justice calls us to “deny self, take up your cross, and follow me.” It calls us away from a life that is lived solely for our own benefit to a life that is lived for the benefit of others. We really don’t like that.

Although it consists of mercy, God’s justice is hard—it relentlessly exposes our selfishness and calls us to relate to others with mercy and compassion. But it is nevertheless a justice of mercy—always has been, always will be. Justice that consists of mercy must seem like an oxymoron to us. Our version of “justice” is to some extent exactly opposite of the justice of mercy. So it doesn’t surprise me that we live in a world where the mercy of God’s justice simply does not compute. “Mercy triumphs over judging” (James 2:13) makes no sense in our world where we’re constantly evaluating and measuring up and criticizing and condemning!

And yet the call to the justice of mercy remains. You simply cannot read much of the Bible without running into it. Something like Prov. 22:22-23: “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who plunder them” (NIV).[4] But we live in a society where “greed is healthy,” to quote Ivan Boesky, so we find all kinds of ways to avoid the call to the justice of mercy.

But you cannot really avoid that call just by avoiding the Hebrew Scriptures, because this message also shows up in the New Testament. It is very prominent in the letter of James. James is in full agreement with the Hebrew Scriptures regarding justice for the poor: “Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor!” (Jas. 2:5-6). It seems that the conclusion is inevitable: “God … has always been on the side of the poor.”[5] But then, James sounds so “Jewish” that many have followed Martin Luther’s example by simply ignoring him!

You can avoid James and still not be able to avoid this theme. You really don’t have to look that far in the Gospels to find that this perspective is also central to Jesus’ teaching—“the first shall be last and the last first”! And then there’s Jesus’ take on the great commandment, which in his view includes, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). This text from Leviticus is one of the unifying threads of this whole subject in Scripture. That much you probably know. What you may not know is that much of the content of Leviticus 19 is concerned with showing kindness and fairness toward the poor and marginalized. That gives us a perspective for what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself.” From this perspective, it seems obvious that mercy truly is the “royal law” (James 2:8), or the central principle upon which God’s kingdom is founded.[6] And from this perspective it also seems obvious that in the end God’s justice which consists of mercy will eventually win out over all the ways we discriminate and look down on and diminish those we deem “less than” (James 2:13).

The bottom line is that the only way to avoid the “hard” demand of God’s justice that we repent of our selfishness and practice mercy toward others is to completely unravel the whole Bible. But then, that’s what some people do with their narrow selection of a few “memory verses.” The real bottom line is that the Scriptures make clear God’s call that we who have experienced mercy extend mercy to others.[7] From Genesis to Revelation, God’s call is one of justice, a justice defined by compassion and mercy toward others, especially the least and the lost and the left out.[8] There is simply no way around it. So the question we have to ask is this: “When will we stop ignoring the central teaching of Scripture and start walking humbly with our God?” May God grant us courageous faith to take that question to heart.

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[1] © 2009 Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/6/09 at First Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX and at A Community of the Servant-Savior Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX

[2] Cf. Robert W. Wall, “Where Wisdom is Found,” Christian Ethics 2009, 31: “The care of poor and powerless believers is a hallmark of God’s covenant-keeping people (cf. Exodus 22:22; Deuteronomy 24:17-21; Psalm 146:9; Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 5:28; Acts 2:45; 4:32-35; 6:1-7; 9:36-42).”

[3] I think criticizing, stereotyping, and condemning are ways in which we practice the kind of “favoritism” or discrimination James prohibited.

[4] Prov. 22:2 provides a foundational rationale: “The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.” Cf. Roland E. Murphy, “Proverbs 22:1-9” Interpretation 41 (1987): 399: “while material possessions create distinctions among human beings, they do not do so with the Lord.”

[5] Cf. Jeanine K. Brown, “James 2:1-13,” Interpretation 62 (April 2008): 175. She points out that the example James gives in 2:2-4 of seating rich and poor differently according to their status “not only would not offend ancient sensibilities, it would be the obvious pattern of social interaction.” I’m not sure much has changed! Cf. also Robert W. Wall, The Community of the Wise, 114: summarizes this theme well: “God stands on the side of those the powerful of this world exploit and the people of God ignore.” He says that the very act of choosing the poor defines “the impartial character of God’s coming reign.”

[6] Cf. Wall, Community of the Wise, 122-23; cf. also Luke T. Johnson, James, 223, 230.

[7] Cf. Deut. 15:11: “I command you, ‘Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.’” And the motivation was “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you” (Deut. 15:15).

[8] James also calls this principle the “law of liberty” (2:12) perhaps in part because it is a principle of “jubilee justice,” i.e., justice that sets the poor free from their oppression. Cf. Wall, Community of the Wise, 127-28. Cf. also Wall, “Where Wisdom is Found,” 32: “the ‘law of liberty’ concerns ‘the year of liberty’ (Leviticus 25:8-24), which became important especially during the Second Temple period for fashioning a sociological model of God’s coming kingdom (cf. Luke 4:16-21; James 2:5).”