I know I have…and I’ve probably dispensed advice of both kinds in my
ministry and to my friends as well.
For me, the thing about advice giving is that I usually find two things
about myself whenever people ask for my opinion—or if I offer it
unsolicited, you know those moments when you just have to say
something to your crazy best friend who you are just sure is going to
screw this one up. .
First, I actually realize that I have a lot more wisdom within me than I ever
think I do.
I spend a lot of time saying, I don’t know, which is wise thing to say as
well, but when I share advice with others, I am often surprised that I do, in
fact, know more than I thought.
Sometimes I’ll be dispensing some advice to someone and think, “wow,
that actually makes sense.”
Eric Jong has said : Advice is what we ask for when we already know the
answer but wish we didn't.
But secondly, I also realize I rarely follow my own advice.
Its definitely a case of “do as a I say, don’t do as I do.” If I actually
followed my own advice, my life would be a lot less messy, but, hey…the
wisdom you know sometimes takes its time to become the wisdom you
live.
A lot of people have recognized the two sidedness of advice giving—we
know wisdom when we hear it, its just following it that’s the problem.
Oscar Wilde has said that The only thing to do with good advice is pass
it on. It is never any use to oneself.
Carolyn Wells: Advice is one of those things it is far more blessed to give
than to receive.
The Bible has an advice column for us, a dear Abby section, though it
rarely reacts to specific questions.
Book of Proverbs is a collection of ancient sayings collected from
different sources that attempts share wisdom with its readers—its like a
“best-of” collection you get from your favorite artists.
But the its interesting: Proverbs not just words of advice, but are more
like words to live by.
The word “Proverbs” in Hebrew means “to rule,” “to govern”
Beyond just good advice—rules that govern life and social relationships,
how to be with each other, though the rules are not found in a law book.
Rules found in the universe, rules that make the world hum and act right,
rules not found in a law book, but found in your heart
You know the truth of these things, of this advice…
Ever been in that situation when someone said something and you
instinctively knew it was true, that really is the way the world is?
Proverbs is a rule book that doesn’t work like a rule book.
The truth of them is not made real by legal law, but by spiritual law.
Enforcement is found in the spiritual structures of the universe, not the
local police officers.
Remember last week? Psalms of Orientation, Disorientation, New
Orientation
Psalms of Orientation
Life is going well
The universe and we fit, life is going good,
We work hard and we get rewarded
The way the world should be and is and ought to be.
Creation and how well-ordered it is
Sun rise, sun sets
Season come and go
People reap what they sow, good and bad
Universe is moral
Creation has within a fixed rythmn, a fixed moral law.
Psalmist saw the world has ordered—
Good people get rewarded for their goodness
Bad people get punished for their wicknedness
People reap what they sow
Well, the people who wrote Proverbs see the world that way as well.
The writers of the Psalms of Orientation, with their firm belief that world
can be trusted, that the goodness is reward, evil is punished—the writers
of the Proverbs share this worldview.
Now, we know better, that there are other experiences that throw a lot of
this disarray, this trust in the moral rhythm of the universe.
Disorientation happens, chaos comes—the goodness is punished, that
evil is rewarded—that’s what the Psalms of Disorientation are dealing
with.
And we know that out of Disorientation can come life, can come
resurerection, hope and goodness—but a hope and life that is frayed at
the edges—hope may have come from the grave, but it is a different kind
of hope…hope with scars, like Jesus had when he came from the grave.
You can look at all of the Wisdom Literature this way, Brueggemann’s
model:
Wisdom Literature through Brueggemann’s Model:
Orientation: Proverbs, some Psalms
Disorientation: Job, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, some Psalms
New Orientation: Song of Songs, some Psalms
Proverbs is an attempt to show how the world really is moral, the justice
is weaved into the heart of the universe, and there are obvious, obvious
rules to govern humankind.
Rooted in creation—the world itself teaches us this justice, beyond the
sacred Law that was given to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.
The common sense law you can see etched into the universe.
Shares this idea with a lot of Near Eastern writings of its time:
Proverbs 22:20:
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of admonition and knowledge,
21 to show you what is right and true,
so that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
Most scholars recognize that this mysterious reference to the 30 saying
is to the 30 chapters of Instruction of Amenemope, an ancient Egyptian
wisdom text.
Also, there are some passages in Proverbs that parallel a Aramaic
Wisdom tale known as The Words of Ahiqar, who was an official in court
Sennacherib.
Proverbs 13:24: Those who spare the rod hates their children, but those
who love them are diligent to discipline them.
Ahiqar 6:81 …withhold not the rod from your son, or else you will not be
able to save them.
These kinds of sayings, two-line sayings were common in the ancient
world, and its clear that the Biblical writers drew upon some of the
common wisdom of their day to create what we have before us.
Almost like folk sayings
But Solomon is often been the one credited with writing them, or
authorizing them:
Obvious reasons he gets credited: know for his wisdom
But like I said last week about the Psalms—just because it is credited
doesn’t mean he probably had much to do with writing them.
The court of the king often got credited with a lot of stuff they had
nothing to do with, just as a CEO often gets credited for the work that
others do in his or her company.
Trying to figure out how all this material got put together is a mystery, but
it looks as if someone edited and put it together probably right after the
Babylonian Exile—sometime in the 6th century BCE.
Most scholars think that Proverbs is a collection of collections: different
books of wisdom sayings put together into one book
There is some connection to the royal courts of Israel, but there is a lot
of disagreement on how deep that connection is: probably someone in
the court system of ancient Israel
Someone paid to put this together, and the royal court makes sense—
useful for the teaching of the people of kingdom.
And the interesting thing about Proverbs is that we encounter a powerful
femal figure in the text.
In such a male dominated society, its surprising that wisdom becomes
personified in what some scholars have called Woman Wisdom or Lady
Wisdom—later, Sophia, the Greek word for wisdom
Wisdom is more than a set of ideas, for the people who put Proverbs
together:
Wisdom, knowing right from wrong, seeing the sacred rhythm of the
universe, it becomes personified, because humanized in the form of a
woman.
Wisdom is one of the characteristics of God—but is so important that it
becomes personified, becomes human and embodied in a figure, a
person.
We’ve all given advice we don’t follow—Woman Wisdom, Lady Wisdom,
Sophia
Listen to this passage becomes more than idea, it becomes a person, a
woman
Proverbs 1:20-28
20 Wisdom cries out in the street;
in the squares she raises her voice.
21 At the busiest corner she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused,
have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
25 and because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you,
27 when panic strikes you like a storm,
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
To ignore wisdom is to have her laugh in your face.
Wisdom becomes embodied, becomes flesh, becomes something lived
out—
Why? A larger reason, I would say, but there is a practical side to it:
Lived wisdom is more powerful than spoken wisdom.
Tell me the truth by your life, not just your words.
The other piece about why it is a feminine figure:
Wisdom as God’s mate, as God’s sidekick in the creation of the world.
Creation: remember that our psalmist said that creation gave witness to
the goodness and justice of God, and for that we should praise and give
glory to God.
It only makes sense then that Wisdom, would be part of the creative work
God is doing.
Proverbs 8:22-35
22 The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
23 Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth—
26 when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world’s first bits of soil.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.
32 “And now, my children, listen to me:
happy are those who keep my ways.
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
34 Happy is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
35 For whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the LORD;
36 but those who miss me injure themselves;
all who hate me love death.”
Reminds us of the incarnation: the idea of God becoming embodied in a
person, in Jesus, so as to reach us as only flesh can meet flesh, human
can meet human.
Why stories are so powerful—we live in our own personal stories, so we
can relate to the stories told in the Gospels.
What is familiar to us is most powerful to us, as the best means of
communicating truth to us—in the incarnation and in the Proverbs.
Proverbs personifies wisdom so that we will listen to wisdom—it becomes
more real because it becomes a human voice that speaks to us.
That is why the incarnation is so powerful—God speaking to us in ways
that we can be reached, and in ways that are familiar and comfortable.
The negative side of personifying the wisdom of God as a wisdom, is that
she has an opposite, a Woman of Folly who tempts people off the path
wisdom.
Sad thing is that she is portrayed as a loose woman, a temptress, and
this has often been the way that woman have been portrayed, sexually.
Women as seducers, as tempters, as dangerous
Proverbs 9:13-18
13 The foolish woman is loud;
she is ignorant and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house,
on a seat at the high places of the town,
15 calling to those who pass by,
who are going straight on their way,
16 “You who are simple, turn in here!”
And to those without sense she says,
17 “Stolen water is sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 But they do not know that the dead are there,
that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
The irony is the last chapters of Proverbs gives a positive portrayal of a
wife, etc, about the qualities you would want in a wife
No corresponding list of qualities that you would want in a husband—
reminder that the Bible was a generally seen as a book for men written
by men.
OK, so what do the proverbs actually have to say to us, what words of
wisdom are there…what is Sophia trying to teach us?
I think the main thing is what Psalms of Orientation celebrate—that there
is a moral law present in creation, a cause & effect that effects our
personal actions. Do good, you get good. Do bad, you get bad.
There are consequences for our actions, good and bad.
Let’s look at how this works, as an example
Proverbs 21: 20-31
20 Precious treasure remains in the house of the wise,
but the fool devours it.
21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
will find life and honor.
22 One wise person went up against a city of warriors
and brought down the stronghold in which they trusted.
23 To watch over mouth and tongue
is to keep out of trouble.
24 The proud, haughty person, named “Scoffer,”
acts with arrogant pride.
25 The craving of the lazy person is fatal,
for lazy hands refuse to labor.
26 All day long the wicked covet,
but the righteous give and do not hold back.
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;
how much more when brought with evil intent.
28 A false witness will perish,
but a good listener will testify successfully.
29 The wicked put on a bold face,
but the upright give thought to their ways.
30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel,
can avail against the LORD.
31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to the LORD.
But I want to caution you on something…
The reality is that the people writing and editing these sayings come from
a particular point of view—they came from the background where life has
worked for them, the universe was moral, life treated them right,
If they actually do come from the court of Israel, these proverbs, these
words of wisdom come a place where the rich have been rewarded, and
the poor have gotten what they deserve.
You work hard, you get a good and maybe rich life.
If your poor, its because you haven’t worked hard enough.
The rich get what they deserve.
The poor get what they deserve.
And this makes it easy to blame those suffering for their very suffering.
People are getting what they deserve—that is how the universe works,
right?
But we all know that not true, actually.
We instinctively know that such a thing is not the case.
We know plenty of people who suffer needlessly—they’ve done nothing
wrong. with something that has caused this bad thing to happen.
In fact, the greater Biblical witness contradicts this idea of the world—
The Psalms—Disorientation
Job—the good man who does not reap what he has sown
Ecclesiastes—the story of a man who notes that the world is unfair, the
universe doesn’t follow a nice neat cause and effect pattern
You don’t always get the consequences of your action, good or bad.
Plenty of rich folks who got their money the wrong way
Plenty of poor folks who never got to reap the hard work they sowed.
The good news: is that the Biblical witness doesn’t pretend it to be
otherwise,
Even when it shares its wisdom with us.
Let me show you some of the wisdom found inside the Bible.
Psalm 26:4
4 Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will be a fool yourself.
Nothing too big about this point—just a reminder that there is no point in
replying to a fool, because a fool will never be satisfied.
You just end up looking like a fool yourself.
Next verse:
Psalm 26:5
5 Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes.
What? The proverb gives the exact opposite advice!
It says that if you don’t answer a fool, they’re going to think you’re
agreeing with them—your silence will be interpreted as an agreement
with them, and the fool will think he or she is wise because your silence
affirms their foolish idea.
OK…so, what in the world is happening here???!?!?
Actually, what I think is happening is some REAL wisdom—and that is
just a reminder that
1) even wisdom has a context—some things are true in one moment,
and false in the next moment.
2) Both statements are true, but both can be false as well.
Sometimes it makes sense to correct a foolish person—other times it
doesn’t.
Wise people know that most of life is lived in the greys—there is right
and wrong in this world, there are rhythms that exist, but they don’t
always come about—but most of life is lived in the gray areas, not the
black and whites.
Sometimes cause and effect, action and consequences have no
relationship with each other.
That is what Job, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations are struggling with—the
unfairness of it all.
In the end, listen to what writers of Proverb thinks is the beginning of
wisdom
Proverbs 9:10
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Now, this fear is not about being frightened by God, or cower in front of
God—what they mean is to live in awe-inspiring reverence for God, a
respect for the profound otherness and mystery of God.
And I think that is true.
And to be wise is to know when to be silent, and when to shut down the
proverbs, the wise sayings, the spiritual clichés that we tend to throw
around.
Real wisdom knows wisdom is something you live more than it is
something you say.
Someone asked me recently how to be with someone who was in the
midst of a major crisis in their life,
and the only kind of advice I could have give was I have learned in the
last 7 years of ministry and it is this:
Just be with them and let go of your needs for words. Your presence is
enough. You don’t have to say anything about grace or hope—just be
there and you will say enough.
Henri Nouwen says it perfectly
HENRI NOUWEN:
When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the
most us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice,
solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our
wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with
us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour
of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not
healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend
who cares.
Wisdom, wisdom that comes from a deep awe of God, is silent most of
the time, I think—let what you do becomes the wise words of Proverbs,
the gentle truth of God.
