Psalms of Wisdom

                                             Psalms 1, 15

                Today is the last week of our Psalms sermon series.  I hope that it has been informative and of interest to you.  But more, I hope that you have been able to connect to the book of Psalms in a new way, seeing them a little differently, and hearing the invitation within the psalms to express yourself creatively to God: to say it like you feel it with your words and with other forms of art: music, poetry, dance perhaps, stories, drawings, sculpture, knitting, quilting – in whatever way you express your art and your feelings.  The Book of Psalms is an ARTISTIC book of the bible rather than a narrative, rather than history, rather than story.  The psalms are liturgy, they are song, and they are creative expressions of one’s experiences and feelings much more than one’s thoughts.

               Psalms of wisdom, however, I think contain one’s beliefs or thoughts more than the other type of psalms we’ve discussed.  Psalms of trust, praise, lament, and even history – these psalms invite us into the feelings of the experiences of the writers, as well as into our own experiences and feelings towards God, life, others and ourselves.  They express in total raw, open honesty prayers to God, and reflections on one’s situation at the moment.  But psalms of wisdom reflect more on the writer’s beliefs and reflections rather than feelings: they express a mandate for what it is to live a good life.  They are instructive for what it means to be people of God, and they talk to us rather than being prayers, pleas or supplications to God on our behalf.  And they tell us what is good in our behaviors, what is right, what is wise for us to do and be.  We see in their words wisdom expressed once again in beautiful poetry, we hear encouragement to choose well, to act well, to live well. 

We also know that words such as have been found in both of the psalms read today have been used by some people to attack, judge or correct other people.  We have seen on the news that no matter what you believe, you can probably find a way to justify it, Biblically, and these psalms are no exception: they, too, allow people with very different beliefs to use them in ways that can either help or harm.  For example, Psalm 1 says that the way of the wicked is destroyed.  And I have heard people use this with the prosperity gospel mentality, saying that if a person is not doing well, it shows that their behavior is suspect.  If a person is poor, or struggling, or ill – that this somehow indicates that their behavior is wrong. 

               We know this is false, and we know there are many other scriptures that confront this thinking.  The book of Job focuses on the idea that people’s suffering is not a reflection of their goodness or lack of goodness.  As Jesus himself says, “God causes the rain to fall on the just and unjust alike.” 

               So, too, with Psalm 15, these wise words have sometimes also been used to inflict damage.  The words are wonderful, beautiful and true: who is it who dwells with God? The one who speaks truth, who does no damage with their talk, does not harm a friend, someone who keeps their promises.   All of this is good and true.  But as we know, context here is very important.  For example, the “keeping the promises” part is tricky.  We know that Herod felt it was so important to keep his promise to Herodias that he killed John the Baptist.  And we know that because valuing promises over people is so dangerous, Jesus himself encouraged us to never make promises at all.  As he said: (Matthew 5:33-37) “Again you have heard that it was said to those who lived long ago: Don’t make a false solemn pledge, but you should follow through on what you have pledged to the Lord.  But I say to you that you must not pledge at all…Let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.”  He said this because when people put their promises above the needs and realities of relationships and changing contexts, people get hurt, and damaged sometimes in very serious ways.

               The point I’m making is that wisdom is contextual.  And when we become too legalistic or rigid about anything, we lose wisdom all together.

               Let me give you some more modern examples. 

I look around at the sanctuary today and I have the (not very great) insight or wisdom to notice that something is “wrong.”  That things are not right here.  What is wrong?  Well, what’s wrong is that there are only a very few people here in the building.  The Church is not the building, it is the people.  So normally we would look at this empty church and say, “this is a sign that we are not doing well, that we are struggling.”  But today, during this season, during this crisis time in our community, we know that an empty sanctuary is not a sign that our congregation is struggling.  It is, instead, on this day, a sign of our deep connectedness, our commitment to caring for the larger community by practicing social isolation until the virus scare is past.  We know that it is a reflection of an effort to keep ourselves and everyone safe, healthy, well.

Another example: we know that eating is important.  But we usually save eating for specific times and places: we don’t eat in church, except for communion.  We usually don’t eat at work or in school.  And if we have allergies or other health problems such as diabetes, there are foods we cannot eat, or foods we should not eat.  The context of our own health and well being, and sometimes of social practices – these dictate whether or not it is wise to eat something and when it is wise to eat. 

Bathing is important, hygiene is important.  But we aren’t going to brush our teeth in the swimming pool or at the water fountain in the park. 

Being in community is very important.  But also taking time to retreat and pray is also important.  And during times such as this, we know being apart is not only important but necessary.

The reality is that very few things are good all the time.  Very few things are right in every situation or in every context. 

I think about Jesus’ words about anger and the danger of anger.  He said (Matthew 5:21-22): “You have heard that it was said to those who lived long ago, Don’t commit murder, and all who commit murder will be in danger of judgment.  But I say to you that everyone who is angry with their brother or sister will be in danger of judgment.”

He said this, and yet, later in the same gospel we hear of Jesus’ anger.  Matthew 21:12-13  “Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”

We also know that Jesus probably did not have a problem with buying and selling: he just had a problem with the context of doing so within the temple.

Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  He picked grain on the Sabbath, too.  Did Jesus have a problem with the 4th commandment which is to keep the Sabbath holy?  And to do no work at all on the Sabbath?  No, he just had a problem with people using the law as an excuse and a justification for hurting other people, avoiding healing, and forbidding eating. 

               In the book of Proverbs, 26: 7-12, we are told,

As legs dangle from a disabled person,

    so does a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Like tying a stone in a sling,

    so is giving respect to a fool.

 Like a thorny bush in the hand of a drunk,

    so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

 Like an archer who wounds someone randomly,

    so is one who hires a fool or a passerby.

Like a dog that returns to its vomit,

    so a fool repeats foolish mistakes.

Do you see people who consider themselves wise?

    There is more hope for a fool than for them.

In other words, we need to be wise even in our wisdom.  Wisdom means acting appropriately based on one’s context.  The wise have an understanding of context, a vision into when something is right and when it is not.

The truth is that we just don’t know it all.  We just don’t.  Not one of us is all knowing, not one of us is wise beyond it all.  I wish it were otherwise, but we become stuck or confused because we know there is not one single person alive today who is all-wise. We all need help knowing how to do good, how to be good, how to understand these words of Wisdom written in our scriptures.  Where is that help for us?

First and foremost, weigh everything you do against the 2 commandments that Jesus summed up for us – loving God, and loving your neighbor as self. These are more important than any one law.  These are more important than all laws put together.  We are called to love, and wisdom requires that we value and weigh everything based on whether it does good or does harm to those we are called ot love: to everyone.  But even then sometimes it’s hard to know what’s right.  We have scriptures, we have the writings of wise people, we have our friends, our families, our communities, we have prayer, we have history.  Lots of resources to teach us.

I want to share with you a story.

There once was a boy who saw one of his old teachers after years at a wedding.  The boy walked up to the teacher and asked the woman if she remembered him.

The teacher did not recognize the boy who was now a man, but after George introduced himself, she said, “Oh yes!  I remember you now, George!  I have thought of you often over the years.  What are you doing now with your life?”

George told her that, like her, he had become a teacher. He then went on to tell the woman that he was a teacher because of her teaching him.  He said that he had followed in her footsteps because of the huge impact she had had on his life. 

She asked him what kind of impact she had made on his life and George told her this story:

“One day when I was a boy, I stole a beautiful, but very costly pocket watch from one of the other children in the class.  It was a birthday present to him and he loved it.  But it was beautiful and valuable and I had taken it.  Danny found you and told you and the whole class that someone had stolen his precious present, the watch.  I remember how you pled with the class and begged the class to return the watch, but I was too embarrassed to admit I had done it or to return it.  Then you locked the classroom door and asked the class to line up and close our eyes. You went from pocket to pocket searching for the watch. You came to my pocket and you found the watch and you gently pulled it out.  But you did not stop there. You continued, moving from pocket to pocket all the way to the end of the line. After you had the watch, you told us to open our eyes and return to our seats and you returned the watch to Danny. 

You never said a word to anyone about the fact that it was me who took the watch.  You didn’t even confront me about it.  You saved my dignity, and your kindness changed my life forever.  That is the power of being a good teacher, and because of your actions, I chose to be a teacher as well.”

The teacher responded to George saying that this was an amazing story, but that she didn’t remember much about it and certainly didn’t remember that George had stolen the watch.

George was stunned.  “How can you not remember that I stole it?  How could you not think of that story every time you thought of me?” 

The teacher responded, “I really don’t remember that it was you who stole the watch.  And here is the reason why: As I moved from pocket to pocket I kept my eyes closed, too.”

The power of kindness, the power of love – when we look through our wisdom psalms, ultimately, good behavior comes back to Godly behavior: behavior that is kind, behavior that is grace-filled, behavior that reflects the love of the God who loves us beyond our imagining.  Our wisdom Psalms help us to know how to love, they help us to follow God more closely.  They help us to be wise. 

What are the ways in which you are being called to use your wisdom, your kindness, today?  It may feel harder with our isolation, but there are ways.  Our food pantries are suffering right now, our people on the edge are losing housing and needing care.  You can support organizations with your money and resources even if you can’t visit people.  You can think about who in your community is most isolated and lonely and reach out with a phone call or an email.  You can follow the wisdom of today’s Psalm 15: speak truth, do not do damage with your talk, do not harm one another, do not insult one another, share your resources, without expecting a return; do not bribe, threaten or manipulate. 

I am grateful for each of you, as far away as you may be at this moment.  I am praying for you, wishing you well, sending you love.  Reach out if you need help.

My prayer for all of us today is that we use the psalms more fully as our own prayers, as our own commitment to seeing, hearing, understanding and loving God with ever more fullness.  Amen.