Wise up!
Commentary
We live in an era of an explosion of knowledge. Never before have so many people had so much knowledge at their finger tips. The internet has given us access to all we ever wanted to know and more. Indeed, the problem now is not access to knowledge but its management. How do we process all this information?
Within this information age, it is sometimes startling to see incidents of what appear to be sheer foolishness. For example, we try to legislate safety on our highways and seem to fail. As one commentator put it, "You can't legislate stupidity!" That may be the case, but what is far more interesting is how such foolishness seems unaffected by the onslaught of knowledge in our society. People still put gasoline in their kerosene heaters and cause fires. People still smoke cigarettes in spite of all the research that demonstrates the dangers of doing so. People still refuse to recognize the dangers of reckless driving or driving while intoxicated. And most of us can also identify our own acts of foolishness. We don't have to accuse others of it, for we too are sometimes foolish.
The ever-present nonsensical movies seem to allow us to laugh at the foolishness of others and thereby feel better about ourselves. Dumb and Dumber and other such movies may cleanse us of the embarrassment of our own foolishness. Watching bumbling characters in a situation comedy is both entertaining and self-assuring.
Sometimes we may want to shout to our world and to ourselves, "Wise up!" Many of us seem to need wisdom to accompany all our knowledge. We need the basic "smarts" that enable us to act wisely and with discernment. Wisdom is a theme that runs through our lessons for today and reaches a climax in the Gospel Lesson.
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
While David is sick and dying, others clamor for the honor of being his successor. Out of that process, Solomon, David's son by Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:3) or Bathshua (1 Chronicles 3:5), emerges the choice to succeed his father. We have now passed out of the history found in the books of Samuel into its continuation in the books of Kings, both comprised of the work of the Deuteronomist historians. After David has instructed his heir (1 Kings 2:1-9), he dies and Solomon succeeds him (2:10-12). Although the first segment of our lesson says that Solomon's rule "was firmly established," the following episode (2:13-46) depicts his efforts to solidify his kingdom (see 2:46b). Having done so, his next act is to seek God's support of his rule (chapter 3).
The second part of the reading (3:3-14) describes the new king's religious devotion. It is introduced in 3:1-2, which tells of his political marriage and observes the fact that the people had to worship at "high places" because there was yet no temple. In this way the narrator tips us off to Solomon's greatest achievement, the building of the first temple. The reading itself is comprised of several sequential parts: a description of Solomon's piety (3:3-4), God's appearance and invitation to ask whatever Solomon wishes of God (3:5), Solomon's request (3:6-9), and God's reply (3:10-14).
The narrator hints at one of Solomon's problems when the text informs us that the new king was faithful to the spirit of his father's reign, except ("only") that he worshiped at "high places." These were shrines or platforms where sacrifices were made. Some were dedicated to Israel's God and some to other deities, and the narrator at least hints that Solomon may have worshiped other gods in these holy places. Gibeon had emerged as one of the most important of these high places and actually continued to be active long into the period of Israel's monarchy. Dreams were considered one of the ways by which God revealed divine truth (e.g., 1 Samuel 28:6), and this one constitutes a conversation between the dreamer and God like the one found in Genesis 20:3-7. God speaks first and offers to give Solomon whatever he desires -- not three wishes but one sure prayer.
Solomon's response to God's offer is constructed in an impressive way (3:6-9). He first acknowledges all that God did for David (3:6) and then what the Lord has already done for him (3:7a), only then to turn to his request (3:7b-9). Solomon's description of David's reign (without mentioning his blunders) implies faithfulness to the covenant his father had with God. "Faithfulness" and "steadfast love" are covenantal terms, suggesting that Solomon expects to have the same agreement with God for his reign. Accordingly, he credits God for making him king. His request is made with all humility, presenting himself to God as if he were but a child, needing instruction if he is to rule effectively. Verse 9 then states his simple request: an "understanding mind" and an ability "to discern between good and evil." In other words, as God later summarizes his request, he asks for wisdom (3:12). "Understanding mind" is literally "listening heart," since the heart was understood to be the seat of the intellect and the connection one might have with God.
God is impressed! Of all the things he could have asked for, Solomon requested gifts that will benefit the people he rules (3:10-14). God itemizes all the things Solomon might have asked for and commends his request: "understanding to discern what is right." The Lord grants Solomon's wish and promises that he will be unique among the kings. Then Solomon is promised all those things for which he did not ask as well as that for which he did ask -- "riches and honor all your life." However, the gifts bring an obligation. Verse 14 is God's covenant with the new king. Solomon's part is to live and rule as his father David lived -- obedient and faithful; and God's end of the bargain is to grant Solomon long life. The promise to Solomon is premised on David's faithfulness. Some refer to this kind of an agreement as the "divine charter" by which the kings and others were to live.
The passage betrays an understanding of kingship in Israel. The king is God's "servant," a word used four times in verses 6-9. As one in covenant with God, the king is God's subject (3:6 and 14), and the whole monarchy is simply for the sake of the people, as 3:8-9 make clear. The word "walk" (halak) is used here in a typical Hebraic way. It means to live on the path one takes in life.
Solomon may not have been successful in his effort to be faithful to God (see 1 Kings 11), just as his father was not. However, his prayerful request seems honest and sincere. What was it exactly that Solomon asked for? It is actually expressed in four different ways throughout the lesson: "a listening heart," "to discern between good and evil" (v. 9), "understanding to discern what is right" (or literally, "to hear judgment," v. 11), and "a wise and discerning mind" (or "heart," v. 12). These expressions represent the kind of wisdom Solomon sought and God gave. A wisdom to be attentive to God and to be able to differentiate between what is consistent with God's will and what is not (i.e., what is "good" and "right"). That kind of wisdom is as important today as it was in Solomon's day and as necessary for Christian discipleship as it was for faithful kingship. We listen, and we try to discern.
Ephesians 5:15-20
The author of Ephesians exhorts readers to live by the kind of wisdom Solomon was given. In our trek through the epistle to the Ephesians, we have seen again and again how moral exhortations are used and how they are linked with Christian faith (see the reading for Proper 14). That careful combination is discernible in this passage as well. In 5:3 the author turns to the task of helping readers understand how their lives in Christ are different from their previous lives. They are particularly warned against those who would mislead them, and our passage is connected with that warning.
The reading is comprised of three exhortations, each one expressing what is to be done as well as what should not be done. Those couplets are "unwise - wise" (v. 15), "foolish - understanding" (v. 17), and drunkenness from wine - "filled with the Spirit" (v. 18). Furthermore, each pair is connected in some way to the readers' faith. The first couplet is linked with valuing the days because there are not many left. The second couplet is given depth by its relationship with the "will of God" (as opposed to human will). And the third is associated with worship and thanksgiving. In such a way, the author empowers the exhortations by pointing to their importance for the Christian life. They are not rules in and of themselves, but choices which arise directly from a theological context.
The meaning of verse 16b, "making the most of the time," is not clear. It may be literally translated, "redeeming the time," and may intend making the most of time or trying to increase the days before the end in order to have opportunity to do good. The simplest sense is that there may be little time left before the end -- make the most of it. The author's apocalyptic perspective peeks through in the judgment that "the days are evil," which is a view of those who expect things to get much worse before Christ reappears in glory. There is an urgency about responding to these admonitions. Verses 19 and 20 may give us an idea of early Christian worship. Worship arose from the presence of the Spirit (v. 18b) and involved singing and music which gave "thanks to God." The Greek word translated "giving thanks" (eucharistountes) suggests the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and "in the name of Jesus Christ" appeals to Christ and worship in the light of what one knows of God through Christ.
We don't know exactly who they are who would deceive the readers (3:6), but wisdom seems to be the antidote for such dangers. In a sense, the second and third exhortations appeal to the first, for wisdom clears away "foolishness" and leads one away from drunkenness. Certainly wisdom enables us to use time productively when faced with the threats of evil. Most of all, however, wisdom allows one to know "the will of God." Just as Solomon prayed that he might be able to discern the good and just, so the writer of Ephesians claims that with wisdom comes an understanding of what God wants of us.
The will of God is a complicated matter these days, given the loose way in which the expression is sometimes thrown around. So many people of so many different Christian beliefs all claim to know the will of God, and they most certainly cannot all be right. So, to find our way through the underbrush of talk about God's will, we desperately need the kind of wisdom that enables us to perceive what God might desire in an array of different situations. Therefore, the Second Lesson leads us to pray Solomon's prayer so many centuries later.
John 6:51-58
Where is wisdom in this lesson? To begin with, there is good evidence that the bread of life metaphor draws on the theme of wisdom in the Hebrew Scriptures. The citation in verse 45, "taught by God," clearly implies wisdom in the Hebraic sense and in early Jewish thought. Moreover, wisdom is often symbolized as food, for instance, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 24:21: "Those who eat of me will hunger for more, and those who drink of me will thirst for more." Or, consider Proverbs 9:5 where, like Jesus, wisdom invites people to "come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed." This view suggests that the concept of wisdom may provide us insight into how the imagery of bread is used here. However, in our lesson for this Sunday there is, additionally, a foolish opposition of wisdom which is equally important.
As the lesson for last Sunday repeated verse 35 from the previous week, so the concluding verse of last week's lection begins this one. Like the pattern in verses 35-42, this passage begins with Jesus' words about his identity which are followed immediately by complaints and in this case "disputes" (v. 52). In this lesson, the religious leaders (see our column for last week for the meaning of "the Jews") seem divided, that is to say, they are seeking ways of understanding Jesus and cannot agree. What sparks the dispute is Jesus' equation of the bread with his flesh. Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus when he spoke of being "born from above" and took the words literally (3:4), and the Samaritan woman did the same when Jesus spoke of "living water" (4:11). The religious leaders follow that pattern of misunderstanding, or so it would appear. While Jesus is still speaking metaphorically, they have visions of sitting around a table consuming Jesus' physical body. The misunderstanding motif in the Gospel of John is one of the most frequent of its literary techniques and suggests that God's revelation in Christ is so foreign that humans cannot begin to grasp it.
Jesus responds with some of the most startling and radical words credited to him in the New Testament. Like the rest of the discourse, this unit spirals upward, repeating themes mentioned before, and furthering them. In verses 53-54 by contrasting "no life" and "eternal life," Jesus makes the basic claim that his flesh and blood are the source of authentic life spoken of as "eternal." Just as we saw the gift of eternal life coupled with the promise of resurrection in verses 40, here again the linkage is made. The expression, "I will raise them up at the last day," appears three times in the whole of the discourse (vv. 40, 44, and 54) and suggests both a future resurrection and one that is already present in Jesus (see the Lazarus story in chapter 11). The comparison of Jesus with the bread of life now becomes very specific and concrete: the bread is Jesus' physical self.
Verses 55-56 give the reason for why eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood bestow eternal life. He is "true" (alathas) flesh and blood, as opposed to others which are false. In the Gospel of John the word "truth" (alathea) often refers to the revelation of God brought in Christ, so the "true" flesh and blood are the revealing qualities of the incarnation. They are also "true" in the sense that they nourish real life, not simply physical existence. Eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood bring us into relationship with Christ so that we dwell in him and he in us. Menein ("abide") is a favorite word in this Gospel and may be understood simply to characterize a very intimate relationship when each party seems to get inside the other. Interestingly, taking Christ into oneself not only enables Christ to live within us but also enables us to live within him.
The next brief circle in this spiral (v. 57) draws an analogy between Christ's relationship with God and the human's relationship with Christ. Christ lives because God sent him; therefore, those who consume him are given that same life. What is important about this is that it claims our relationship with Christ is comparable to the God-Christ relationship.
Verse 58 brings the discourse full circle to its beginning. Jesus' own flesh and blood are the "bread that came down from heaven," which is unlike the manna God gave the people in the wilderness. All this restates verses 32-33 in only slightly different words. The primary advance is found in how Jesus has identified the bread with his flesh and blood and in the contrast of the death of those who ate the manna with the promise that those who consume Jesus "live forever."
Verses 51-58 comprise the portion of the whole discourse which seems most clearly to refer to the Eucharist, but scholars have debated this issue for centuries. Martin Luther flatly declared that these verses do not refer to the Lord's Supper, but today many scholars believe you have to be blind or deaf to miss the Eucharistic tone of the language. Whatever the truth may be, the passage clearly suggests that we are to take the incarnate Jesus within us, however that may be done.
The bread of life is the wisdom of God now incarnate in the human Jesus of Nazareth. He is not simply a wise man but God's wisdom among us. The foolishness of the religious leaders represented in their dispute in verse 52 and their query in verse 41 stands in sharp contrast to what God is offering in Christ. To "wise up" is no less than to take Christ within our lives, to allow his love to make its home in us and come to expression in our actions, and to be wise not simply by knowing God's will but we ourselves incarnating it. Wisdom in this sense is the continuation of God's incarnation of the Word in flesh. It continues to be incarnate in our own flesh and in the flesh and blood of the church. All the information and all the knowledge in the world are useless if one is not wise in a deeper sense, and the deepest sense of wisdom is embodying it.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Between the notice of David's death in 1 Kings 2:10 and the succession of his son Solomon to the throne ca. 961 B.C., stated in 1 Kings 2:12, there belongs the material found in 2:1-46. Adonijah, David's son, and Joab, his commander, pretend to the davidic throne, but are slain and their supporters are banished from the kingdom. Then, in accordance with God's love for Solomon, stated earlier in 2 Samuel 12:24, the kingdom is "established in the hand of Solomon" (1 Kings 2:46). This seemingly very secular history is proceeding according to the desire of God.
Not only does God love Solomon, but we are told in our text (v. 3) that Solomon "loved the Lord." Solomon therefore is accustomed to offering enormous burnt sacrifices to the Lord at the sanctuary in Gibeon. The temple has not yet been built and so worship is carried out at various sanctuaries or "high places" throughout the land.
As Solomon spends the night at the sanctuary at Gibeon, he is granted a dream-vision, in which God appears to him and offers to give him any gift that he asks (v. 5). In a prayer of great humility, in which Solomon calls himself the "servant" of God and "a little child," Solomon asks for the gift of an understanding mind, in order that he may discern between good and evil and know what is the good way to govern his people (v. 9). The Hebrew terminology used expresses especially the ability to make wise and good judicial choices in deciding disputes among his people. That Solomon receives such a gift is then illustrated in the story that follows in 3:16-27, in which the king is able to discern who the true mother is of a child who is brought to him by two harlots. Indeed, "the wisdom of Solomon" becomes a stereotype in Israel, and his name is associated with both Proverbs and Songs in the Hebrew canon (cf. 1 Kings 4:29-34). In 1 Kings 4:30, he is said to have wisdom greater than that found in Egypt, which was noted for its wisdom writings.
There is a great deal more involved in our text than merely a tradition about wisdom, however. As God's reply in 3:10-12 indicates, Solomon has wisely chosen the pattern of kingship that is reflected in both Deuteronomy 17:14-20 and Isaiah 11:1-5. In that pattern, the davidic king is subject to the conditions of the covenant with the Lord and is expected to be obedient to them (1 Kings 3:14). His is a conditional kingship, in which he is called upon to reign in justice and righteousness, protecting the poor and helpless and fostering the welfare of his people (cf. the royal Psalm 72). Those are the actions expected of the Lord's anointed, in a servant kingship, and those are the actions sanctioned by God in this text. Israel always looked forward to the coming of such a davidic king -- to the coming of a Messiah -- and our text confirms that Solomon, as the Lord's beloved, began his reign according to that expectation.
The historian who composed our text for the morning knew that Solomon strayed far from such an ideal kingship, however, and he tries to account also for the royal magnificence that surrounded Solomon's reign. He states that the Lord also promised Solomon riches and honor (v. 13).
But if we read further in the story of Solomon, we find that he largely took those earthly goods for himself. In fact, under Solomon, the power and the glory of the throne reached its zenith in Israel. To be sure, Solomon was responsible for the building of the temple, but he did it with forced labor (1 Kings 5:13) . He had a magnificent palace and other edifices erected for himself, again using slaves (1 Kings 7; 9:15, 22). He replaced the tribal people's army with mercenaries (10:26). He built up his harem from foreign women (1 Kings 11). He erased the old tribal boundaries and divided the land into set districts under his officers, for the purpose of taxation (4:7). He became, in almost every sense of the word, like an oriental monarch, wielding absolute power and fulfilling the warning that much earlier Samuel had given to the people who desired that they have a king (1 Samuel 8:10-18).
"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Solomon was corrupted by power, and the result was that at the end of his reign in 922 B.C. his kingdom was divided permanently into two -- into a northern kingdom of Israel and a southern kingdom of Judah -- by the rebellion of Jeroboam against the house of Saul and its corruption of power (1 Kings 12).
God grants many gifts, and we are told in the New Testament that earthly rulers are established by God to exercise authority (Romans 13). By them, God keeps order in society. But when human authorities forget that they rule only at the pleasure of God and that they are subject to the commands and will of God; when they instead take power unto themselves for their own glorification and wield it according to their own desires, then they bring misery and suffering upon their people and the judgment of God upon themselves. Finally the Lord rules the kingdoms of this earth, and it is to his rule that everyone owes obedience.
Lutheran Option -- Proverbs 9:1-6
The Book of Proverbs contains what is known as Wisdom theology, which is basically a theology of creation. Wisdom theology maintains that God has set particular orders into his creation of nature and human life, accustomed ways that human beings and the natural world act. These orders can be observed and learned by careful study -- study that is carried on by wisdom teachers, but also by lay people who carefully notice the way of the world. The Book of Proverbs is made up of the shorter and longer proverbs that encapsulate the results of such study.
The view of Proverbs is that the person who learns Wisdom, that is, who learns the ordered ways of the creation and acts accordingly, is wise and will find life and good. But the person who ignores Wisdom and will not act in concert with it is ignorant and evil and will not find good.
In the first nine chapters of Proverbs, Wisdom (that is, the orders that God has set into the world) is personified, usually as a female figure. She is variously described as one calling or preaching in the streets; as a guide, guardian, and conversationalist; as a sister or intimate friend; or, in our text for the morning, as a hostess inviting to her table. Personified Wisdom has prepared a feast, according to our text, secured meat and wine and set her table, and sent her servant maidens out to invite persons to her dinner. The words of the invitation are given in verses 5-6. Various interpretations -- many of them quite fanciful -- have been given of the "seven pillars of wisdom," from 9:1, but the terms probably refer in some manner to the structure of the book itself.
Proverbs is quite aware of the fact that human wisdom is limited and that finally human beings should find their guide for life from God, in dependence on him. Thus, the central saying of Proverbs is, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom."
Certainly it is good to learn the accustomed ways of nature and of human beings. Our scientists have enlightened us repeatedly on that score, although we often do not heed their teachings. We still build cities on earthquake faults and place houses on flood planes and in the path of hurricanes, not to mention our devastation of nature by pollution and our greed. Similarly, what we have done to whole populations by war and hunger and will-to-power forms a horror story. We need the gift of wisdom.
But when we're speaking of invitation to table, as does our text, perhaps we should say that the best table to which we are invited is the Lord's at his Supper, where we participate in the wisdom and love, the communion and grace of the One who is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and redemption, and the way to life abundant.
Within this information age, it is sometimes startling to see incidents of what appear to be sheer foolishness. For example, we try to legislate safety on our highways and seem to fail. As one commentator put it, "You can't legislate stupidity!" That may be the case, but what is far more interesting is how such foolishness seems unaffected by the onslaught of knowledge in our society. People still put gasoline in their kerosene heaters and cause fires. People still smoke cigarettes in spite of all the research that demonstrates the dangers of doing so. People still refuse to recognize the dangers of reckless driving or driving while intoxicated. And most of us can also identify our own acts of foolishness. We don't have to accuse others of it, for we too are sometimes foolish.
The ever-present nonsensical movies seem to allow us to laugh at the foolishness of others and thereby feel better about ourselves. Dumb and Dumber and other such movies may cleanse us of the embarrassment of our own foolishness. Watching bumbling characters in a situation comedy is both entertaining and self-assuring.
Sometimes we may want to shout to our world and to ourselves, "Wise up!" Many of us seem to need wisdom to accompany all our knowledge. We need the basic "smarts" that enable us to act wisely and with discernment. Wisdom is a theme that runs through our lessons for today and reaches a climax in the Gospel Lesson.
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
While David is sick and dying, others clamor for the honor of being his successor. Out of that process, Solomon, David's son by Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:3) or Bathshua (1 Chronicles 3:5), emerges the choice to succeed his father. We have now passed out of the history found in the books of Samuel into its continuation in the books of Kings, both comprised of the work of the Deuteronomist historians. After David has instructed his heir (1 Kings 2:1-9), he dies and Solomon succeeds him (2:10-12). Although the first segment of our lesson says that Solomon's rule "was firmly established," the following episode (2:13-46) depicts his efforts to solidify his kingdom (see 2:46b). Having done so, his next act is to seek God's support of his rule (chapter 3).
The second part of the reading (3:3-14) describes the new king's religious devotion. It is introduced in 3:1-2, which tells of his political marriage and observes the fact that the people had to worship at "high places" because there was yet no temple. In this way the narrator tips us off to Solomon's greatest achievement, the building of the first temple. The reading itself is comprised of several sequential parts: a description of Solomon's piety (3:3-4), God's appearance and invitation to ask whatever Solomon wishes of God (3:5), Solomon's request (3:6-9), and God's reply (3:10-14).
The narrator hints at one of Solomon's problems when the text informs us that the new king was faithful to the spirit of his father's reign, except ("only") that he worshiped at "high places." These were shrines or platforms where sacrifices were made. Some were dedicated to Israel's God and some to other deities, and the narrator at least hints that Solomon may have worshiped other gods in these holy places. Gibeon had emerged as one of the most important of these high places and actually continued to be active long into the period of Israel's monarchy. Dreams were considered one of the ways by which God revealed divine truth (e.g., 1 Samuel 28:6), and this one constitutes a conversation between the dreamer and God like the one found in Genesis 20:3-7. God speaks first and offers to give Solomon whatever he desires -- not three wishes but one sure prayer.
Solomon's response to God's offer is constructed in an impressive way (3:6-9). He first acknowledges all that God did for David (3:6) and then what the Lord has already done for him (3:7a), only then to turn to his request (3:7b-9). Solomon's description of David's reign (without mentioning his blunders) implies faithfulness to the covenant his father had with God. "Faithfulness" and "steadfast love" are covenantal terms, suggesting that Solomon expects to have the same agreement with God for his reign. Accordingly, he credits God for making him king. His request is made with all humility, presenting himself to God as if he were but a child, needing instruction if he is to rule effectively. Verse 9 then states his simple request: an "understanding mind" and an ability "to discern between good and evil." In other words, as God later summarizes his request, he asks for wisdom (3:12). "Understanding mind" is literally "listening heart," since the heart was understood to be the seat of the intellect and the connection one might have with God.
God is impressed! Of all the things he could have asked for, Solomon requested gifts that will benefit the people he rules (3:10-14). God itemizes all the things Solomon might have asked for and commends his request: "understanding to discern what is right." The Lord grants Solomon's wish and promises that he will be unique among the kings. Then Solomon is promised all those things for which he did not ask as well as that for which he did ask -- "riches and honor all your life." However, the gifts bring an obligation. Verse 14 is God's covenant with the new king. Solomon's part is to live and rule as his father David lived -- obedient and faithful; and God's end of the bargain is to grant Solomon long life. The promise to Solomon is premised on David's faithfulness. Some refer to this kind of an agreement as the "divine charter" by which the kings and others were to live.
The passage betrays an understanding of kingship in Israel. The king is God's "servant," a word used four times in verses 6-9. As one in covenant with God, the king is God's subject (3:6 and 14), and the whole monarchy is simply for the sake of the people, as 3:8-9 make clear. The word "walk" (halak) is used here in a typical Hebraic way. It means to live on the path one takes in life.
Solomon may not have been successful in his effort to be faithful to God (see 1 Kings 11), just as his father was not. However, his prayerful request seems honest and sincere. What was it exactly that Solomon asked for? It is actually expressed in four different ways throughout the lesson: "a listening heart," "to discern between good and evil" (v. 9), "understanding to discern what is right" (or literally, "to hear judgment," v. 11), and "a wise and discerning mind" (or "heart," v. 12). These expressions represent the kind of wisdom Solomon sought and God gave. A wisdom to be attentive to God and to be able to differentiate between what is consistent with God's will and what is not (i.e., what is "good" and "right"). That kind of wisdom is as important today as it was in Solomon's day and as necessary for Christian discipleship as it was for faithful kingship. We listen, and we try to discern.
Ephesians 5:15-20
The author of Ephesians exhorts readers to live by the kind of wisdom Solomon was given. In our trek through the epistle to the Ephesians, we have seen again and again how moral exhortations are used and how they are linked with Christian faith (see the reading for Proper 14). That careful combination is discernible in this passage as well. In 5:3 the author turns to the task of helping readers understand how their lives in Christ are different from their previous lives. They are particularly warned against those who would mislead them, and our passage is connected with that warning.
The reading is comprised of three exhortations, each one expressing what is to be done as well as what should not be done. Those couplets are "unwise - wise" (v. 15), "foolish - understanding" (v. 17), and drunkenness from wine - "filled with the Spirit" (v. 18). Furthermore, each pair is connected in some way to the readers' faith. The first couplet is linked with valuing the days because there are not many left. The second couplet is given depth by its relationship with the "will of God" (as opposed to human will). And the third is associated with worship and thanksgiving. In such a way, the author empowers the exhortations by pointing to their importance for the Christian life. They are not rules in and of themselves, but choices which arise directly from a theological context.
The meaning of verse 16b, "making the most of the time," is not clear. It may be literally translated, "redeeming the time," and may intend making the most of time or trying to increase the days before the end in order to have opportunity to do good. The simplest sense is that there may be little time left before the end -- make the most of it. The author's apocalyptic perspective peeks through in the judgment that "the days are evil," which is a view of those who expect things to get much worse before Christ reappears in glory. There is an urgency about responding to these admonitions. Verses 19 and 20 may give us an idea of early Christian worship. Worship arose from the presence of the Spirit (v. 18b) and involved singing and music which gave "thanks to God." The Greek word translated "giving thanks" (eucharistountes) suggests the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and "in the name of Jesus Christ" appeals to Christ and worship in the light of what one knows of God through Christ.
We don't know exactly who they are who would deceive the readers (3:6), but wisdom seems to be the antidote for such dangers. In a sense, the second and third exhortations appeal to the first, for wisdom clears away "foolishness" and leads one away from drunkenness. Certainly wisdom enables us to use time productively when faced with the threats of evil. Most of all, however, wisdom allows one to know "the will of God." Just as Solomon prayed that he might be able to discern the good and just, so the writer of Ephesians claims that with wisdom comes an understanding of what God wants of us.
The will of God is a complicated matter these days, given the loose way in which the expression is sometimes thrown around. So many people of so many different Christian beliefs all claim to know the will of God, and they most certainly cannot all be right. So, to find our way through the underbrush of talk about God's will, we desperately need the kind of wisdom that enables us to perceive what God might desire in an array of different situations. Therefore, the Second Lesson leads us to pray Solomon's prayer so many centuries later.
John 6:51-58
Where is wisdom in this lesson? To begin with, there is good evidence that the bread of life metaphor draws on the theme of wisdom in the Hebrew Scriptures. The citation in verse 45, "taught by God," clearly implies wisdom in the Hebraic sense and in early Jewish thought. Moreover, wisdom is often symbolized as food, for instance, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 24:21: "Those who eat of me will hunger for more, and those who drink of me will thirst for more." Or, consider Proverbs 9:5 where, like Jesus, wisdom invites people to "come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed." This view suggests that the concept of wisdom may provide us insight into how the imagery of bread is used here. However, in our lesson for this Sunday there is, additionally, a foolish opposition of wisdom which is equally important.
As the lesson for last Sunday repeated verse 35 from the previous week, so the concluding verse of last week's lection begins this one. Like the pattern in verses 35-42, this passage begins with Jesus' words about his identity which are followed immediately by complaints and in this case "disputes" (v. 52). In this lesson, the religious leaders (see our column for last week for the meaning of "the Jews") seem divided, that is to say, they are seeking ways of understanding Jesus and cannot agree. What sparks the dispute is Jesus' equation of the bread with his flesh. Nicodemus misunderstood Jesus when he spoke of being "born from above" and took the words literally (3:4), and the Samaritan woman did the same when Jesus spoke of "living water" (4:11). The religious leaders follow that pattern of misunderstanding, or so it would appear. While Jesus is still speaking metaphorically, they have visions of sitting around a table consuming Jesus' physical body. The misunderstanding motif in the Gospel of John is one of the most frequent of its literary techniques and suggests that God's revelation in Christ is so foreign that humans cannot begin to grasp it.
Jesus responds with some of the most startling and radical words credited to him in the New Testament. Like the rest of the discourse, this unit spirals upward, repeating themes mentioned before, and furthering them. In verses 53-54 by contrasting "no life" and "eternal life," Jesus makes the basic claim that his flesh and blood are the source of authentic life spoken of as "eternal." Just as we saw the gift of eternal life coupled with the promise of resurrection in verses 40, here again the linkage is made. The expression, "I will raise them up at the last day," appears three times in the whole of the discourse (vv. 40, 44, and 54) and suggests both a future resurrection and one that is already present in Jesus (see the Lazarus story in chapter 11). The comparison of Jesus with the bread of life now becomes very specific and concrete: the bread is Jesus' physical self.
Verses 55-56 give the reason for why eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood bestow eternal life. He is "true" (alathas) flesh and blood, as opposed to others which are false. In the Gospel of John the word "truth" (alathea) often refers to the revelation of God brought in Christ, so the "true" flesh and blood are the revealing qualities of the incarnation. They are also "true" in the sense that they nourish real life, not simply physical existence. Eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood bring us into relationship with Christ so that we dwell in him and he in us. Menein ("abide") is a favorite word in this Gospel and may be understood simply to characterize a very intimate relationship when each party seems to get inside the other. Interestingly, taking Christ into oneself not only enables Christ to live within us but also enables us to live within him.
The next brief circle in this spiral (v. 57) draws an analogy between Christ's relationship with God and the human's relationship with Christ. Christ lives because God sent him; therefore, those who consume him are given that same life. What is important about this is that it claims our relationship with Christ is comparable to the God-Christ relationship.
Verse 58 brings the discourse full circle to its beginning. Jesus' own flesh and blood are the "bread that came down from heaven," which is unlike the manna God gave the people in the wilderness. All this restates verses 32-33 in only slightly different words. The primary advance is found in how Jesus has identified the bread with his flesh and blood and in the contrast of the death of those who ate the manna with the promise that those who consume Jesus "live forever."
Verses 51-58 comprise the portion of the whole discourse which seems most clearly to refer to the Eucharist, but scholars have debated this issue for centuries. Martin Luther flatly declared that these verses do not refer to the Lord's Supper, but today many scholars believe you have to be blind or deaf to miss the Eucharistic tone of the language. Whatever the truth may be, the passage clearly suggests that we are to take the incarnate Jesus within us, however that may be done.
The bread of life is the wisdom of God now incarnate in the human Jesus of Nazareth. He is not simply a wise man but God's wisdom among us. The foolishness of the religious leaders represented in their dispute in verse 52 and their query in verse 41 stands in sharp contrast to what God is offering in Christ. To "wise up" is no less than to take Christ within our lives, to allow his love to make its home in us and come to expression in our actions, and to be wise not simply by knowing God's will but we ourselves incarnating it. Wisdom in this sense is the continuation of God's incarnation of the Word in flesh. It continues to be incarnate in our own flesh and in the flesh and blood of the church. All the information and all the knowledge in the world are useless if one is not wise in a deeper sense, and the deepest sense of wisdom is embodying it.
FIRST LESSON FOCUS
By Elizabeth Achtemeier
1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Between the notice of David's death in 1 Kings 2:10 and the succession of his son Solomon to the throne ca. 961 B.C., stated in 1 Kings 2:12, there belongs the material found in 2:1-46. Adonijah, David's son, and Joab, his commander, pretend to the davidic throne, but are slain and their supporters are banished from the kingdom. Then, in accordance with God's love for Solomon, stated earlier in 2 Samuel 12:24, the kingdom is "established in the hand of Solomon" (1 Kings 2:46). This seemingly very secular history is proceeding according to the desire of God.
Not only does God love Solomon, but we are told in our text (v. 3) that Solomon "loved the Lord." Solomon therefore is accustomed to offering enormous burnt sacrifices to the Lord at the sanctuary in Gibeon. The temple has not yet been built and so worship is carried out at various sanctuaries or "high places" throughout the land.
As Solomon spends the night at the sanctuary at Gibeon, he is granted a dream-vision, in which God appears to him and offers to give him any gift that he asks (v. 5). In a prayer of great humility, in which Solomon calls himself the "servant" of God and "a little child," Solomon asks for the gift of an understanding mind, in order that he may discern between good and evil and know what is the good way to govern his people (v. 9). The Hebrew terminology used expresses especially the ability to make wise and good judicial choices in deciding disputes among his people. That Solomon receives such a gift is then illustrated in the story that follows in 3:16-27, in which the king is able to discern who the true mother is of a child who is brought to him by two harlots. Indeed, "the wisdom of Solomon" becomes a stereotype in Israel, and his name is associated with both Proverbs and Songs in the Hebrew canon (cf. 1 Kings 4:29-34). In 1 Kings 4:30, he is said to have wisdom greater than that found in Egypt, which was noted for its wisdom writings.
There is a great deal more involved in our text than merely a tradition about wisdom, however. As God's reply in 3:10-12 indicates, Solomon has wisely chosen the pattern of kingship that is reflected in both Deuteronomy 17:14-20 and Isaiah 11:1-5. In that pattern, the davidic king is subject to the conditions of the covenant with the Lord and is expected to be obedient to them (1 Kings 3:14). His is a conditional kingship, in which he is called upon to reign in justice and righteousness, protecting the poor and helpless and fostering the welfare of his people (cf. the royal Psalm 72). Those are the actions expected of the Lord's anointed, in a servant kingship, and those are the actions sanctioned by God in this text. Israel always looked forward to the coming of such a davidic king -- to the coming of a Messiah -- and our text confirms that Solomon, as the Lord's beloved, began his reign according to that expectation.
The historian who composed our text for the morning knew that Solomon strayed far from such an ideal kingship, however, and he tries to account also for the royal magnificence that surrounded Solomon's reign. He states that the Lord also promised Solomon riches and honor (v. 13).
But if we read further in the story of Solomon, we find that he largely took those earthly goods for himself. In fact, under Solomon, the power and the glory of the throne reached its zenith in Israel. To be sure, Solomon was responsible for the building of the temple, but he did it with forced labor (1 Kings 5:13) . He had a magnificent palace and other edifices erected for himself, again using slaves (1 Kings 7; 9:15, 22). He replaced the tribal people's army with mercenaries (10:26). He built up his harem from foreign women (1 Kings 11). He erased the old tribal boundaries and divided the land into set districts under his officers, for the purpose of taxation (4:7). He became, in almost every sense of the word, like an oriental monarch, wielding absolute power and fulfilling the warning that much earlier Samuel had given to the people who desired that they have a king (1 Samuel 8:10-18).
"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Solomon was corrupted by power, and the result was that at the end of his reign in 922 B.C. his kingdom was divided permanently into two -- into a northern kingdom of Israel and a southern kingdom of Judah -- by the rebellion of Jeroboam against the house of Saul and its corruption of power (1 Kings 12).
God grants many gifts, and we are told in the New Testament that earthly rulers are established by God to exercise authority (Romans 13). By them, God keeps order in society. But when human authorities forget that they rule only at the pleasure of God and that they are subject to the commands and will of God; when they instead take power unto themselves for their own glorification and wield it according to their own desires, then they bring misery and suffering upon their people and the judgment of God upon themselves. Finally the Lord rules the kingdoms of this earth, and it is to his rule that everyone owes obedience.
Lutheran Option -- Proverbs 9:1-6
The Book of Proverbs contains what is known as Wisdom theology, which is basically a theology of creation. Wisdom theology maintains that God has set particular orders into his creation of nature and human life, accustomed ways that human beings and the natural world act. These orders can be observed and learned by careful study -- study that is carried on by wisdom teachers, but also by lay people who carefully notice the way of the world. The Book of Proverbs is made up of the shorter and longer proverbs that encapsulate the results of such study.
The view of Proverbs is that the person who learns Wisdom, that is, who learns the ordered ways of the creation and acts accordingly, is wise and will find life and good. But the person who ignores Wisdom and will not act in concert with it is ignorant and evil and will not find good.
In the first nine chapters of Proverbs, Wisdom (that is, the orders that God has set into the world) is personified, usually as a female figure. She is variously described as one calling or preaching in the streets; as a guide, guardian, and conversationalist; as a sister or intimate friend; or, in our text for the morning, as a hostess inviting to her table. Personified Wisdom has prepared a feast, according to our text, secured meat and wine and set her table, and sent her servant maidens out to invite persons to her dinner. The words of the invitation are given in verses 5-6. Various interpretations -- many of them quite fanciful -- have been given of the "seven pillars of wisdom," from 9:1, but the terms probably refer in some manner to the structure of the book itself.
Proverbs is quite aware of the fact that human wisdom is limited and that finally human beings should find their guide for life from God, in dependence on him. Thus, the central saying of Proverbs is, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom."
Certainly it is good to learn the accustomed ways of nature and of human beings. Our scientists have enlightened us repeatedly on that score, although we often do not heed their teachings. We still build cities on earthquake faults and place houses on flood planes and in the path of hurricanes, not to mention our devastation of nature by pollution and our greed. Similarly, what we have done to whole populations by war and hunger and will-to-power forms a horror story. We need the gift of wisdom.
But when we're speaking of invitation to table, as does our text, perhaps we should say that the best table to which we are invited is the Lord's at his Supper, where we participate in the wisdom and love, the communion and grace of the One who is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and redemption, and the way to life abundant.
