Mark 9:30-37

Mark 9:30-37 (NRSV)

³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” ³² But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

³³ Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” ³⁴ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. ³⁵ He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

This particular section of Mark is set both on the road (9:30-32), and in a house in Capernaum (9:33-37). We find the main themes of this section throughout Mark 8-10, which focuses many of its texts on appropriate models of discipleship.

Mark 9:30-32 is the second passion prediction in Mark, the first being in 8:31-32.[1] Knowing who Jesus is comes only from God, who remains hidden but present in the life of Jesus. ³⁰ They went on from there and passed through Galilee. Jesus and his disciples are on the road again. The journey motif has been prevalent throughout 8:27-10:52, as Jesus sets his eyes more firmly on Jerusalem (11:1). After Jesus healed the boy with the mute spirit whom his disciples were unable to heal (9:14-29), they continue traveling through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it. This text shows Jesus and the disciples moving through Galilee while keeping a low profile.  He sequesters the disciples for what is soon to happen. These private, intensive tutorials focus first on the message the disciples least want to hear and most stubbornly refuse to comprehend — the approaching persecution and trials. ³¹ Jesus did not want people to know of his journey because he was teaching his disciples about the events of his passion. He said to them, “The Son of Man, first, in the revelation of a new, chilling detail, is to have someone betray him into human hands, identified as elders, chief priests, and scribes in 8:31, and second, they will kill him, and third, three days after his enemies kill him, he will rise again.” The prediction emphasizes that people will participate in the plot. Yet, it directs us as readers to give attention to the plan of God. The plan of God is the major component of the passion narrative. Jesus as the Son of Man becomes passive in the sense that others will betray him and kill him, while yet another will give him new, eschatological life. The role of God in the passion is difficult to put together. It remains an important matter for us to ponder. The theme of the suffering of the Son of Man directly relates to the vision of Christian discipleship we find in Mark. ³² Of course, as we have come to expect, they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. At least after Jesus’ first mention of his future, Peter had talked back to Jesus.  Now, silence. Knowing who Jesus is comes from only from God, who is present but hidden in the lives of Jesus and his disciples. The previous healing narrative has highlighted the disciples’ lack of understanding. There we see that the disciples were unable to heal the boy with the mute spirit, but Jesus was able to perform the miracle. The disciples asked him why they could not cast out this spirit, and Jesus replied, “This kind can come out only through prayer.”[2] Mark 9:32 resumes the story of the disciples’ confusion by simply stating that they did not understand, but it expands the narrative by adding that the disciples were now afraid to ask Jesus what he meant. This is a direct contrast to 9:28, where they do ask Jesus why they were not able to heal the mute boy. Even though the disciples are receiving answers to their questions and seeing glimpses of glory (the transfiguration, 9:2-13), they are still unable to understand the place of the suffering of Jesus in the divine plan. We see an echo of this inability to understand after the first passion prediction in 8:32-33 when Peter rebuked Jesus, and will happen again after the third prediction, when James and John ask for places in glory (10:35-40). By using these repetitive motifs, Mark continues to emphasize that the disciples will not understand who Jesus is and what discipleship means until after the crucifixion and resurrection.

Mark 9:33-37 is a series of sayings around the paradox of true discipleship, service, and true greatness. Knowing how to follow Jesus comes only from God, who remains hidden in the simple acts of serving each other and welcoming the vulnerable.

            Mark 9: 33-34 are the setting Mark provides for the following sayings. ³³ Then they came to Capernaum. When he was in the house of Peter, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” Jesus seems to be playing the part of the teacher who asks two disruptive children -- “Why don’t you share that with the whole class?”  The disciples should know by now that Jesus had an intuitive knowledge of the heart of the disciples.  Yet, they give further evidence of misunderstanding Jesus. It was a rule that students did not walk beside the rabbi. At least some topic is fascinating to them.  Mark reminds the reader that Jesus has chosen this unlikely lot of the Twelve.  In their hands and hearts lies the future of Jesus’ ministry. ³⁴ However, they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. How could they admit that this was the topic of their conversation? They knew something was profoundly wrong about their topic of conversation. After all, they tried to keep it from Jesus. Sin loves secrecy. We are often willing to confess our little faults in order to persuade people that we do not have large ones.[3] If we are not careful, we will age and tell boring stories of our glory days, whenever that was. Is there something of the entertainer in us all that longs to be the star in our chosen field of endeavor?[4] Salvador Dali said that at age six he wanted to be a cook, at seven he wanted to be Napoleon, and his ambition has been growing steadily ever since. Many have found their ambition to receive honor, money, fame, and power result in suffering and difficulty. The saint sees the mercy of God in this. Divine mercy sometimes shows itself in not allowing us to find pleasure in that which is not of God. We will need to leave behind our ambitions and turn to God.[5] We can even clothe ambition in godly clothes. In a paradoxical way, some Christians experience the temptation to imitate the sufferings of Jesus. It sounds pious. Yet, the practice of it is godless ambition. Beneath the temptation is the notion that we can step into the shoes of Christ and suffer as he did, killing the sinful person in us. We subtly engage in working out our redemption rather than receiving the redemption Christ has already won for us. The passion of Christ is the basis of a life of better service and deeper humility rather than a weak imitation of the sufferings of Christ. Our discipleship becomes a show for others to watch, in which we secretly hope to make others react with shame as to how weak their discipleship is. Our path of discipleship has now become the way of our salvation. Such public acknowledgement has already received the reward it seeks.[6] After the first passion prediction, Jesus told them that discipleship meant that denial of self, a cross, and following him. Instead, in arguing who among them was greatest, they focused upon self. On this very road to the Messiah’s humiliation, disciples had been quarreling over places of honor!  Nothing could stand in sharper contrast to Jesus’ journey than their private ambitions. 

            Mark 9: 35 is a saying that shows Jesus putting restraints upon ambition. ³⁵ He sat down, sensing their misunderstanding, called the twelve as if they were children, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” He begins instructing them on the peculiar work of divinity at work in him. Jesus’ lesson turns all the disciples’ arguments about who is greatest to dust.  Were they, his select group of teachers and preachers, expected to become servants to all?[7]  Mark has increased the irony when we recall the setting. As Jesus was traveling to his death in Jerusalem, the disciples seem to have concern only about their personal success. Therefore, Jesus underscores the previous lesson about self-denial by stressing that they must become servants. Mark firmly connects ideas of service with discipleship. This is particularly apparent, as the paradigmatic teacher, Jesus, is the one who will serve by suffering. After the third passion prediction in Mark 10, Jesus makes this connection obvious when he says that the Sn of Man has come to serve by giving his life (10:45).  Therefore, the disciples, or “learners,” should follow the model of discipleship their teacher sets forth. They, too, will paradoxically become “first” by serving.

 The point is not so much that we are naturally self-centered, selfish, prideful individuals who look out for number one. In fact, much exploration into the sociality of human beings suggests the opposite. As much as we struggle with ambition, learning to cooperate has been an important part of human societies. In fact, wisdom involves learning the appropriate place in our interactions for listening to divinely oriented ambition, learning the self-destructive dimension of ambition, and even learning the self-destructive dimension of serving. For example, ancient societies could be brutal. Yet, prehistoric men and women helped each other more than they harmed each other. Of course, they had some enlightened self-interest in doing so, but they did so nonetheless. In all human societies, some individuals will come out ahead by harming others. Yet, most of the time, one maximizes personal good fortune by cooperating with others. Pre-historic human beings banded together for mutual aid. Generally, hostile and destructive societies, such as Spartans or the Nazis, disappear while cooperative societies flourish. One could argue that good people do not finish last. Rather, they generally do better than bad people do. Most human interactions are win-win results, both parties coming out ahead. Of course, war is a “game” in which one party wins and the other loses, but most human interactions are not like that. The orientation of human beings is toward increasingly complex forms of social organization, thus moving away from imperial domination and war by the progressive adoption of interactions that provide the potential for win-win results. In fact, one could argue that the spread of global commerce brings a growing recognition of a common humanity.  One cannot do business with a people while executing them.[8]

Mark 9:36-37 contains a story about Jesus, children, and providing a welcome to the poor and vulnerable. ³⁶ Then he took a little child (παιδίον child or servant in Aramaic, dramatizing the play on words) and put it among them. Mark documents the fact that Jesus is giving his disciples these private lessons in the midst of a warm, comforting environment — a home — by the casual presence of a child.  Jesus’ action immediately makes the child — who had only moments ago been an insignificant, perhaps slightly annoying part of the environment — the central focus of all attention.  To place a little child in the midst of a circle of adult men whom their rabbi is teaching was a tremendous breach of all the social and cultural boundaries of Jesus’ day. Taking it in his arms, wraps his arms about this child, giving it his protection and his most heartfelt welcome into their midst.  God’s loving concern and presence down to the very lowest, weakest of human beings, finds assurance in this act. Focusing on the relationship between Jesus and the child, Jesus shows the disciples how this discipleship might manifest itself. A disciple is supposed to fill the role Jesus does, by welcoming and serving even the children, the least, the lowliest. Here is a moment, when the Christian might have some humility in witnessing to Jesus. We might admit that we cannot prove a thing. Yet, we see something in his eyes and voice. We see something in the way he carries himself, even as he is on the way to the cross. In the end, we see something in the way he embraces and carries us.[9] Jesus said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Such a saying is proverbial.  To welcome an emissary was the same as welcoming the person who had dispatched the emissary. Finally, those who perform such service will not have just served others, but they will have served Jesus and ultimately, God. The passive verbs used in Mark 9:31 to describe the passion show that the presence of God hides in the passion narrative. In a similar way, the act of service and true discipleship will become the way the follower of Jesus finds God hidden and present in daily life. This is true greatness; this is the way of the cross.

Welcoming a child means willingness to have your life disrupted. Children frustrate us. One father shouted at his child, “Why do you not grow up?” The boy finally blurted out, “That is what I am trying to do!” We do not welcome children well, in spite of all the attention we give them. Few of us responsible adults have time to receive children. We turn over children to what they will see on television, play on video games, and learn in school. Yet, the point of the story is to invite us to ponder how well we truly welcome all persons into our lives. Jesus embodied the welcoming and inviting nature of God in what John Wesley would call prevenient grace. We need to learn that grace as well.

The play "A Streetcar Named Desire" has a couple meet who are not impressive.  Blanche is not pretty.  She seeks love.  She meets Mitch, a man overweight and who is embarrassed that he perspires profusely and who, like Blanche, is frantically lonely.  It is not their strength, but their mutual weakness, which brings them together.  Because they are both so weak, Blanche is able to trust Mitch with the tragic story of her life.  Mitch then takes her in his arms and says, "You need somebody, and I need somebody, too.  Could it be you and me, Blanche?"  She looks at him in amazement, then reaches for him, her eyes filling with tears, and says, "Sometimes there's God, so quickly."  Thus, maybe this likeable, comfortable text, is not as it seems.  The places of weakness in our lives and in the world may well be the places we need to be most open to the amazing intrusion of the God who is small, weak, tugging from behind, wanting to get our attention.

Jesus never promised that it would be easy.

Jesus is calling us to flip our usual attitudes toward greatness, honor and fame completely upside down. Our normal perspective is to look at life from the top down, giving our greatest attention to the people who have competed with one another and come out on top. We do this with dancers, singers, actors and artists, as well as with politicians and business leaders. Their fame draws us to them. Their talents and accomplishments impress us. 

I have felt it. I had lunch with Anthony Campolo. True, it was a group of college students, but still, he sat across from me. I was with a past governor, a well-known Christian singer, and so on. I was younger then. In retirement, I was with Jürgen Moltmann for his 90^th birthday, had him sign books, and took pictures with him. It was easy to lift them up to a point where one hardly knows what to say.  However, Jesus is saying, “No — change your perspective.” Instead, he says, look at life from the bottom up and give your greatest attention to the people who have no fame. True greatness results not from how far we rise above others but in how far we are willing to go to include and care for others. In fact, the challenge I see in this passage is that we cannot genuinely welcome unless we are willing to serve. I invite you to reflect upon welcoming someone into your home. Can you welcome them if you do not serve them in some way?

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[1] The first time he specifically mentions his death is in 8:31-32. This prediction in chapter 9 is a little more vague; it does not mention the groups of people to whom Jesus will be betrayed (the elders, the chief priests and the scribes; see 8:31), but it still tells the three movements of the passion narrative in terms of betrayal, death and resurrection. There is yet another passion prediction in 10:32-34, which is still more detailed than either of the previous predictions. Thus, the central point of all of these predictions is found most succinctly here.

[2] (and some, generally later, manuscripts add, “and fasting”; Mark 9:29).

[3] We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones. —François de La Rochefoucauld.

[4] I sing the body electric, I celebrate the me yet to come,

I toast to my own reunion when I become one with the sun.

And I’ll look back on Venus, I’ll look back on Mars, and I’ll burn with the fire of 10 million stars;

And in time, and in time, we will all be stars.

-Fame, the musical

I’m gonna live forever, I’m gonna learn how to fly — High!

I feel it comin’ together, People will see me and cry — Fame!

I’m gonna make it to heaven, Light up the sky like a flame — Fame!

I’m gonna live forever, Baby, remember my name!

[5] I aspired to honors, money, marriage, and you laughed at me. In those ambitions I suffered the bitterest difficulties; that was by your mercy – so much the greater in that you gave me the less occasion to find sweet pleasure in what was not you. Look into my heart, Lord. In obedience to your will I recall this and confess to you. My soul now adheres to you. You detached it from birdlime which held me fast in death. How unhappy it was! Your scalpel cut to the quick of the wound, so that I should leave all these ambitions and be converted to you, who are above all things and without whom all things are nothing, and that by conversion I should be healed. – St. Augustine, Confessions, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991, p. 97

[6] There is always a danger that in our asceticism we shall be tempted to imitate the sufferings of Christ. This is a pious but godless ambition, for beneath it there always lurks the notion that it is possible for us to step into Christ’s shoes and suffer as he did and kill the old Adam. We are then presuming to undertake that bitter work of eternal redemption which Christ himself wrought for us. The motive of asceticism was more limited – to equip us for better service and deeper humiliation. But it can only do that so long as it takes the suffering of Christ as its basis; if not, it degenerates into a dreadful parody of the Lord’s own passion. Our whole motive now becomes a desire for ostentation. We want other people to see our achievements and to be put to shame. Our asceticism has now become the way to salvation. Such publicity gives it the reward it seeks. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship [New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995], p. 171.)

[7] However, many scholars would say it reflects leadership problems after the resurrection.

[8] Wright, Robert. Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny (New York: Pantheon Books, 2000).

[9] A Christian is one who points at Christ and says, "I can't prove a thing, but there's something about his eyes and his voice.  There's something about the way he carries his head, his hands, the way he carries his cross -- the way he carries me. (Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, 32).  

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a

James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a (NRSV)

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. ¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. ¹⁶ For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

^4:1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? ² You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

James 3:13-18 has the theme of true wisdom. Although the community gathers in the name of Jesus, their attitudes do not exhibit friendship with God. Their lives remain ambiguous and lack consistency. They have converted, but need to keep winning the spiritual battle through many conversions. The language or wisdom of the world has written itself deeply into our hearts. We will not let go of it easily.[1] The wisdom of which the author speaks builds up the Christian community rather than singles out individuals for envied attention, and nurturing Christian communities is the overriding concern of the entire epistle. The epistle of James owes much of its style and focus to Jewish wisdom tradition. In fact, some would term James not as an epistle so much as a unique form of Christian wisdom literature.[2] James' affinity for wisdom sayings and emphasis on the role of wisdom in the Christian life is evident in this text. Not only is defining wisdom itself the subject of the text, but James' advice focuses on everyday matters and applications -- yet another sign of traditional wisdom literature.  James directs his words on wisdom toward those who would be teachers in the Christian community -- those whose trade was in their correct grasp of knowledge. At the very outset of his words to teachers, James cautions that few could qualify, few could meet the strict requirements demanded (James 3:1). Biblical wisdom is never mere speculative thought or detached sophistry. Wisdom in the biblical tradition is always the wisdom that embeds thoroughly in the practicalities of life, which includes, inevitably, an ethical dimension. The purpose of wisdom is to learn how to understand the world in its deepest aspects and, in so understanding, live in accordance with those aspects. According to both Proverbs (8:22-31) and Job (28:25-28), wisdom was present with God at creation, and so is a part of the elemental nature of reality. The knowledge wisdom imparts is all-encompassing. Yet, such wisdom is far from simplistic or superficial, for the discovery of wisdom’s secrets demands diligent application and long experience. Wisdom is the tree of life (Proverbs 3:18), and those who depart from wisdom do so at their peril. When Paul speaks of Christ as the “wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:24), he hearkens to the tradition of Jesus as the Word/Logos of God, present with God at the beginning of creation, and instrumental in creation’s being (John 1:1). This mediating role of wisdom between God and humankind is not without its ambivalent qualities, as the story of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil makes clear (Genesis 3). Hatred blinds the soul in such a way that one despises truth (Testament of Gad 3:3). Guard against jealousy and envy and live out of the integrity of the heart (Testament of Simeon 4:5).

The circumstances in which believers might feel deficient in wisdom are specific: “whenever you face trials of any kind” (1:2). James does not point to specific historical trials the community faces. However, the prominence they receive in the epistle is one of the grounds on which scholars base their dating of the work to a period when persecution of the Christians had become a reality (such as Nero’s persecution after the fire of Rome in 64). James identifies wisdom with adversity in the opening words of the epistle, linking wisdom with how Christians are to experience suffering.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? See 1:5, where those who think they lack wisdom are to ask of God, who gives wisdom generously. They may think they lack wisdom in dealing with trials, which plays a prominent role in the letter, even though the author provides no historical context for them. This proves to be a trick question, in a sense, a rhetorical device, such as the lawyer in Luke 10:29 asking who is my neighbor, or the question of the crown in John 12:34, “Who is the Son of Man?” If God is for us, who is against us? (Romans 8:31) Where is the one who is wise? (I Corinthians 1:20) Paul goes on to discuss wisdom in that letter from a perspective similar to the perspective found in the letter of James, namely, that “worldly” wisdom and the wisdom which is from God are often antithetical, and the latter is often incomprehensible to the former. Biblical wisdom is never mere speculative thought or detached sophistry. Wisdom in the biblical tradition is always the wisdom that is embedded thoroughly in the practicalities of life, which includes, inevitably, an ethical dimension. The purpose of wisdom is to learn how to understand the world in its deepest aspects and, in so understanding, live in accordance with those aspects. Show by your good life that you do your good works with gentleness, a spirit of humility or meekness, found also in 1:21, born of wisdom. A phrase found only here. The truly wise will reveal this through good Christian behavior.  ¹⁴ But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth.[Many of his readers go the direction of using wisdom to get success in society.] ¹⁵ Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. [Earthly "wisdom" is sensual, even "animalistic" --everything that is not spiritual. Earthly "wisdom" is inspired by demons, devilish -- everything that is not of God.  James' conviction that there is a discernable difference in spirit and origin between human wisdom and "wisdom from above" is a concept drawn directly from rabbinic wisdom literature. In that tradition, there are numerous references to wisdom or teachings communicated directly to human beings by the angels of God. In a wisdom commentary on Genesis, Rabbi Chiya states, "The wisdom from above was in Adam more than in the supreme angels, and he knew all things" (Zohar Yaluit Rubeni, fol.19). Likewise, the rabbis noted of Enoch "that the angels were sent from heaven and taught him the wisdom that is from above" (Zohar Chadesh, fol.35).] ¹⁶ For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder [anarchy] and wickedness of every kind. ¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is, which has no ulterior motives and shows itself in certain behaviors, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. The antithesis between earthly and heavenly wisdom continues.  One of the most telling signs of genuine wisdom, James insists, is gentleness -- or what we might better term "humility" or even "meekness." Wisdom is not boastful about itself but serves others humbly. Humility is the essence of humanity.  Throughout James' discussion, there runs an essential dichotomy between two worlds. Divinely inspired wisdom, on the other hand, has no ulterior motives. It is "pure." As such, one knows it through its spread of peace, its gentle and yielding spirit, its merciful nature and the tangibly good and fair results of its presence. The New Testament does not take this view because it respects the state.  The point is that believers must not fill their minds with envy, bitterness, or filth. James’ own gift for particularity and practicality leads him to cite the positive traits of genuine wisdom that come from above. The list of qualities reminds us of Paul’s list of the qualities of love in I Corinthians 13, such as patience, kindness, but not envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude. Wisdom bears fruit that has the spirit of intelligence, holiness, clarity, loving of the good, beneficent, humane, free from anxiety (Wisdom 7:22-30). The fruit of the Spirit listed by Paul is similar (Galatians 5:22-23). The connection between knowledge and right behavior is clear. This heavenly wisdom has its root in the tradition of wisdom as God’s eternal companion, found in Proverbs (2:6; 8:22-31) and especially in the Deuterocanonical literature. ¹⁸ Further, a harvest of righteousness [II Corinthians 9:10 and Philippians 1:11] is sown in peace for those who make peace. James connects righteousness and peace. The ultimate goal of a Christian community is not to be "wise," but is to be so in peace that all might live in righteousness.

James 4:1-3, 7-8a is part of a passage that extends to verse 12 that concerns disunity among Christians. This text is a parenesis, or series of admonitions.  ¹ What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members?   War fills the inner life of the readers, so that what has erupted in open fighting. ² You desire and do not have, so you kill. Not only that, you covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and wage war. This may refer to Christian zealots in 66-70 AD involved in riots and ended up creating martyrs among the people. Their efforts have not succeeded. More likely, the imagery of fighting is a metaphor for the spiritual battle they face. You do not have, because you do not ask. They have these problems because of a failure in their prayer.  ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, a phrase found only here, although Matthew 7:11 is similar, to spend it on your passions. “Pleasures” or “passions” usually have a negative connotation.  He states the reason for their error in praying. They are wrong in their prayers because they focus upon the fulfillment of their selfish passions. Thus, their prayer focuses on material things. The desire to receive in order to spend on one’s own pleasures is the error.

In verses 7-8, we find the appropriate response to those who have fallen victim of the false wisdom of the world. ⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.   ⁸ Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. To attempt to follow the world and to follow God simultaneously was an impossible desideratum in the minds of the biblical writers, and the truly wise person knew which option was the only ultimately viable one.

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[1] Luke Timothy Johnson, " James 3:13--4:10," The New Interpreter's Bible. Vol. XII. Nashville: Abingdon, 1998, 212.

[2] Sophia Law

Proverbs 31:

Proverbs 31:10-31 (NRSV)

¹⁰ A capable wife who can find?

She is far more precious than jewels.

¹¹ The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain.

¹² She does him good, and not harm,

all the days of her life.

¹³ She seeks wool and flax,

and works with willing hands.

¹⁴ She is like the ships of the merchant,

she brings her food from far away.

¹⁵ She rises while it is still night

and provides food for her household

and tasks for her servant-girls.

¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;

with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷ She girds herself with strength,

and makes her arms strong.

¹⁸ She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

Her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹ She puts her hands to the distaff,

and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰ She opens her hand to the poor,

and reaches out her hands to the needy.

²¹ She is not afraid for her household when it snows,

for all her household are clothed in crimson.

²² She makes herself coverings;

her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³ Her husband is known in the city gates,

taking his seat among the elders of the land.

²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them;

she supplies the merchant with sashes.

²⁵ Strength and dignity are her clothing,

and she laughs at the time to come.

²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

²⁷ She looks well to the ways of her household,

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸ Her children rise up and call her happy;

her husband too, and he praises her:

²⁹ “Many women have done excellently,

but you surpass them all.”

³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

³¹ Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the city gates.

Proverbs 31:10-31 concerns the ideal woman. The poem in verses 10-31 is an acrostic, with each Hebrew line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and although the form can sometimes yield forced results, the present composition coheres admirably. The poem jumps from topic to topic because of the acrostic from.  The mental image that guides the author is that of the ideal wife and the general theme, but he does not directly connect to what precedes or follows.  It is a description of a wife of quality. Acrostics are beautifully and carefully constructed works of poetry, and this poem provides a fitting conclusion to a book extolling the virtues of wisdom. In fact, the woman described here is the living embodiment of the teachings of Lady Wisdom throughout Proverbs.[1] Collectively, these themes constitute the life of practical wisdom, the ideal of the entire book of Proverbs. As verses 10-31 make clear, the “oracle” was not, by definition, a spontaneous, unpolished outburst of divine revelation. If the compilers of the Hebrew canon intended the closing verses of the chapter to be considered part of the “oracle” that opens it, then the highly stylized literary form of the acrostic was understood in wisdom circles, at least, as a legitimate expression of prophecy. The woman here described is Vitruvian[2] in the proper proportions of her affections and deeds.

¹⁰ A capable[3] (ideal, strong (verse 3), excellent (verse 29)) wife[4] (woman of worth or noble character) who can find? In the present context, the word denotes the opposite of pampered, on the one hand, and wanton on the other; the background implication is balance or poise combined with ability. The range of her attributes and actions far exceeds the norm. The embodiment of practical wisdom described in proverbs generally and now in the ideal wife must have been such a rarity that the poem intentionally opens with a question rather than a statement. The question is rhetorical rather than pessimistic. She is far more precious than jewels, like wisdom herself in 3:13, 15. Such a comparison is common in wisdom literature. Precious jewels or pearls are scarce, which increases their value. Her values will make explicit the practical complementarity of the sexes. ¹¹ The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. This expression is emotionally evocative and doubtless true in many cases. The husband has complete confidence in her, for she is consistent and brings nothing but good. Yet, the statement is unusual in the theological context of the book of Proverbs. Elsewhere in the book, gain and prosperity come from trusting in the Lord or heeding wisdom (e.g., 1:20-33; 8:17-21). ¹² She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She is of great value as partner for life. The woman described is striking in her entrepreneurial abilities. It must have been possible for people in ancient Israel to trade and sell the surplus of their flocks and fields. Yet, it was unlikely that much commercial venturing was typical for the majority. Her business executive behavior would be rare. The practical obstacles to female entrepreneurship — from the limited presence of literacy and numeracy among women to the heavily circumscribed nature of their sphere of activity — would have made the successful operating of even a home business by a woman difficult. Small-scale subsistence farming was the way of life for the vast majority of women and men alike in ancient Israel. The lifestyle described here is more like that of the woman of the manor than it is of an ordinary farm wife. ¹³ She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She can turn these raw materials into finished articles of various kinds. She is a weaver (vv. 13, 19, 22), which was an ancient Near Eastern profession dominated by women, so much so that the Egyptian hieroglyph for weaving features a female figure. One did not weave just for one's family; cloth was a valuable commodity that one might trade for items that one's own household did not produce. ¹⁴ She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from far away. She explores every possibility to get food. Her weaving is how she "brings her food from far away." She makes woven goods and sells them (vv. 18, 24). Like a merchant with a fleet of trading ships, she uses her weaving to allow her to trade for food produced elsewhere. ¹⁵ She rises while it is still night to perform her duties, and provides food for her household (unusual description) and she gives tasks for her servant-girls. In a society where male ownership and identification were the norm, to describe it as her household is striking. In verses 16-19, she has a capacity for sustained work. She is a good administrator in that she oversees a staff. Further, she is a good administrator in that ¹⁶ she considers a field and buys it. Even more than just acquisition, she uses the new property to expand further the production of the estate, for with the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. She has a sharp eye for business opportunities. She earns money as a dressmaker that allows her to buy a vineyard.  The vineyard will produce grapes and wine for trade and consumption. This behavior suggests economic egalitarianism would be the ideal rather than typical. ¹⁷ She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong. ¹⁸ She perceives, like an executive, that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She makes the most of the business opportunities by burning the midnight oil. ¹⁹ She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. Here is an attribute that is gender specific. ²⁰ She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy. Here is an attribute of significance for all persons, especially the ideal ruler. She is virtuous as well as competent. She takes care of her household while also caring for the households of others, especially the poor. ²¹ She is not afraid for her household (unusual description) when it snows, for all her household (unusual description) she clothes in crimson. She cares for the entire household, which includes servants and their families. Snow usually appears as a simile or other figure of speech Exodus 4:6; Numbers 12:10; 2 Kings 5:27; Psalm 51:7). It only occasionally as actual frozen precipitation (e.g., II Samuel 23:20 = I Chronicles 11:22; I Maccabees 13:22; and especially in the book of Job, e.g., 6:16; 24:19; 37:6; 38:22). ²² She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple. She makes fine quality cloths for her own wardrobe and warm clothing that withstands the snow. ²³ Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land. The city gates were the location of most civic affairs, legal hearings and business transactions (see, for example, Ruth 4 and 2 Samuel 15:2), and as in most traditional societies, segregation of the sexes was the norm in ancient Israel, and the public presence of women of all classes was carefully regulated. A man’s reputation “in the city gates” and “among the elders of the land” was dependent upon his own actions; that his wife could enhance that reputation by her own was undoubtedly a fact “on the ground” in ancient Israel, but not ordinarily commented upon in the Bible. ²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them; and like an executive, she supplies the merchant with sashes. ²⁵ Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. ²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She is wise and kind. ²⁷ She looks well[5] to the ways of her household (unusual description), and does not eat the bread of idleness. She works hard and is attentive to the needs of her household. ²⁸ Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her: ²⁹ “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” ³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is the one to praise. The fear of the Lord is the summit of human wisdom and involves the theological or theoretical aspect of wisdom in Israel. Most of this ode concerns practical matters. ³¹ Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works (of domestic competence and quality of family) praise her in the city gates. Recurrent themes sounded throughout the book of Proverbs — the fear of the Lord, thrift, kindness, honesty, the importance of a good reputation, the deceitful nature of charm and the ephemeral nature of human beauty — appear in rapid succession in verses 28-31. Collectively and put into practice on a daily basis, these themes constitute the life of practical wisdom, the ideal of the entire book of Proverbs.

It may well be that this description is impossible for a single human woman to fulfill. If so, we might speculate that this woman is Lady Wisdom. The female personification of wisdom begins the book of Proverbs as she promises wealth, happiness honor, and long life as the reward for following her prudent teachings. The Woman of Worth described here is the fulfillment of those earlier promises. 

Ironically, although this passage is perceived by many to advocate total domesticity for women, those who view it that way are forgetting how different the ancient Israelite domicile was, say, from a house in the American suburbs in 1950. The household this woman tends is more like a frontier homestead, where the farm that is your home is also the center of your livelihood, and the work done there and on other neighboring farms forms the core of the local economy. In this regard, the portrayal of this woman in primarily of her economic function is unique.^[6]

---

[1] Carole Fontaine ("Proverbs," The Women's Bible Commentary, Sharon Ringe and Carol Newsom, eds. [Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992], 151-52).

[2] This is a reference to the famous drawing of the male body by Leonardo Da Vinci, suggesting perfect proportions. Vitruvius was a Roman architect.

[3] The word translated "capable" also has many other connotations, a good number connected with warfare and the bravery of soldiers. For this reason, one often finds the term translated "valiant" or even "mighty" when applied to men. It can also mean "wealthy" or "strong," as well as "capable." The fact that both these words can have numerous meanings explains the many different descriptions of the woman being sought. In the KJV she is "a virtuous woman." In the Vulgate, she is "a strong woman" (mulier fortis). Fontaine prefers the translation "woman of worth" because the adjective, when applied to men, is used to describe "persons at the height of their powers and capacities." Roland Murphy, probably in an attempt to capture some of the ethical connotations of the adjective, decided upon "a wife of noble character." (R. Murphy and E. Huwiler, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs [New International Biblical Commentary; Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1999], Mass.: 154). What follows, however, is a description of a woman who is not only strong, virtuous and capable - she is the epitome of ancient Israelite womanhood.

[4] This verse's use of the word "wife," however, is not required in the Hebrew. The same word also means "woman."

[5] The word that begins verse 27, "she looks well," or "she watches out for," is pronounced "tzophia" - which sounds very much like the Greek word and name for personified wisdom, Sophia. (A. Wolters, "Sopiyya [Prov. 31:27] as Hymnic Participle and Play on Sophia," Journal of Biblical Literature, 104 [1985], 577-87).

[6] Carol Meyer (Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988], 180).

Psalm 1

Psalm 1

¹ Happy are those

who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

or take the path that sinners tread,

or sit in the seat of scoffers;

² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law they meditate day and night.

³ They are like trees

planted by streams of water,

which yield their fruit in its season,

and their leaves do not wither.

In all that they do, they prosper. 

⁴ The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1 is a wisdom psalm from the post-exilic period. The psalm occupies one of the most pivotal places in all of Scripture as the introduction to the Psalter. The Psalter begins with devotional instructions on what it takes to live a holy life. Many of us know people who are good persons in the very worst sense of the word.[1] This psalm can read like the prayer of the successful and right. It can read like a prayer for someone who has everything already worked out. Psychologically, however, persons who present a public persona as having everything all worked out often hide a shadow interior they regard as unacceptable. The more what we present to others is bright and clear, the darker the shadow within.[2] Thus, one could read this psalm as an expression of such unhealthiness. However, I am choosing a different path. Such an approach to this psalm has the ring of arrogance and the type of scoffing this psalm wants the people of God to avoid. I suggest we become critical of criticism in a way that helps us celebrate rather than protest. Some church leaders want the church to be a perpetual protest movement, usually loyal to one or another preferred subculture or tribe. Sometimes, however, people need to hear words of affirmation regarding the course they are following. This psalm reminds us of the happiness we can find in following the way God prescribed. It has a simplicity, but one that masks its difficulty. This psalm points us to the blessedness or the life of human flourishing that relies upon the Lord. Those who compiled the Psalter did not choose to begin with a psalm whose first words cited David as its author or gave instructions for musicians or singers. Rather, the whole Psalter begins with devotional instructions on what it takes to live a holy life, which will in turn lead to a happy and fruitful life. The Psalm assumes that each of us has a choice as to the kind of people we will be.

Since we are discussing wisdom in this psalm, let us remember that even our modern culture likes to formulate wisdom. Here are the Ten Commandments of a Long and Peaceful Life:

1.         Thou shalt not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities. 

2.         Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass. 

3.         Thou shalt face each problem as it comes. You can handle only one at a time. 

4.         Thou shalt not cross bridges before you get to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this. 

5.         Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows. 

6.         Thou shalt not borrow other people’s problems. They can take better care of them than you can.

7.         Thou shalt be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It is very hard to learn something new when you are talking. 

8.         Thou shalt not try to relive yesterday for good or ill — it is gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life today. 

9.         Thou shalt not allow frustration to bog you down, for 50 percent of it comes from self-pity and only interferes with positive actions. 

10.        Thou shalt count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones — for many small blessings add up to a big one.[3]

 

A boy came home from school with a report card that was not very complimentary.  It was a disaster, in fact.  His father brought the subject up at the dinner table that evening.  The boy's response was quite resourceful.  He said, "Dad, we have a problem here, all right.  What do you think?  Is it primarily environmental or hereditary?" 

Character is the fruit of personal choice‑‑and exertion.  We do not inherit it from parents. We do not have it as an appendage to our birth, to wealth, or station in life. Character is the result of our endeavors to respond to the challenges of life. Character is the result and reward of "good principles sown in the course of a lifetime of virtuous and honorable action" (J. Dawes). One way to think of character is by what you are willing to do when the spotlight is turned off what you are doing, the applause has died down, and no one is around to give you credit. 

This psalm makes a division between the wicked and the righteous. I would like to shift our attention toward a different type of division. We live in a politically divisive time. We get into trouble, however, when we usurp the divine prerogative and start assigning our fellow mortals to the way of the righteous or the way of the wicked. Consider, for example, a column that appeared in the Los Angeles Times after Donald Trump was no longer in office. The columnist, Virginia Heffernan, clearly not a Trump supporter, sounded flummoxed by the fact that a neighbor whom she called a “Trumpite” had just plowed her driveway without being asked and had done a great job. In trying to understand this act, which she described as “aggressive niceness,” Heffernan theorized that this generous deed was freely done because both she and her neighbors were white people in an all-white neighborhood. What is wrong with just calling it “being neighborly”? Is there any reason not to believe that a black neighbor with a snowplow might have just as generously plowed Heffernan’s drive? Neighbors come in all colors. Heffernan went on to acknowledge that she owed her neighbor thanks, but it was a parsimonious admission: “It really looks like the guy back-dragged the driveway like a pro,” she said. But she wondered “how much thanks” she was willing to give someone on the other side of the political divide. That is a lot of freight to dump on an act of kindness! Eventually, Heffernan cited a comment from Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a never-Trump Republican, following the January 6 Capitol attack: The United States, Sasse said, “isn’t Hatfields and McCoys, this blood feud forever.” And, he added, “You can’t hate someone who shovels your driveway.” “So, here’s my response to my plowed driveway, for now,” Heffernan wrote. “Politely, but not profusely, I’ll acknowledge the Sassian move. With a wave and a thanks, a minimal start on building back trust. I’m not ready to knock on the door with a covered dish yet.” Yes, it is easy for us to take the divine perogative and divide humanity into those whom we define as good, which is our side, and the other side, which is evil. Instead of allowing experience to modify our judgment, we are often ready to cling to beliefs that no longer match experience. We may not be able to do much about the state of the political scene, but Heffernan was talking about her neighborhood. And for her, the neighbor plowing snow from her driveway was an incongruity that did not fit with the caricatures she had formed about people who voted for the candidate she did not support, and she was having trouble getting past it.

In 2002, the late columnist Charles Krauthammer, who self-identified as a conservative but was often hard to nail down to any one ideology and was widely read by liberals as well, posted a column in which he said, “To understand the workings of American politics, you have to understand this fundamental law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.” Krauthammer’s point was that both groups see the other as caricatures, though he did not use that term in the column. A caricature is when certain characteristics of a person or a group are exaggerated to a comic or grotesque effect. But the trouble, as Krauthammer suggested, is that both groups treat the other as though the caricature is an accurate portrayal. He said, for example, that when conservatives say liberals are stupid, they mean this “in the nicest way. Liberals tend to be nice, and they believe — here is where they go stupid — that most everybody else is nice, too. Deep down, that is. Sure, you’ve got your multiple felon and your occasional war criminal, but they’re undoubtedly depraved ‘cause they’re deprived. If only we could get social conditions right — eliminate poverty, teach anger management, restore the ozone … everyone would be holding hands smiley-faced, rocking back and forth to ‘We Shall Overcome.’” Regarding liberals’ view of conservatives, Krauthammer said, “Liberals are not quite as reciprocally charitable. It is natural. They think conservatives are mean. How can conservatives believe in the things they do — self-reliance, self-discipline, competition, military power — without being soulless? How to understand the conservative desire to actually abolish welfare, if it is not to punish the poor? The argument that it would increase self-reliance and thus ultimately reduce poverty is dismissed as meanness rationalized.” No wonder politics include so many episodes of “irreconcilable differences”! Some aspects of the current political climate suggest that those who think the other side is evil is increasing on both sides. Yet Krauthammer’s primary point remains the same: that we pigeonhole people who see things differently from us and assign them motivations that may be inaccurate or overstated. Using the vocabulary of Psalm 1, we are assuming our way is the way of the righteous, and the others’ way is the way of the wicked.

What is happening in the country is of deep concern. Hate multiplies hate. Vilence multiplies violence. Toughness multiplies toughness. The descending spiral is toward destruction. This chain reaction needs to be broken, or we shall plunge into the dark abyss of annihilation. History is cluttered with the wreckage of communities that surrendered to hatred and violence. The healing of the nation, and even the healing of divided humanity, calls us to follow a another way. We need to hear clearly in our time, and let it sink deeply into our souls, “Love your enemies.” In the 1950s and 1960s, many in the civil rights movement recognized that while segregation was abhorrent, they would love the segregationist. This love would be the only path toward beloved and just community.[4] I am not sure this generation has the equivalent type of leader on either side of the political divide.

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines magnanimity as “behaviour that is kind, generous and forgiving, especially towards an enemy or competitor.” We find this description on display in Lincoln’s life and speeches. Lincoln’s second inaugural address (March 4, 1865), which was delivered just weeks prior to his assassination (April 14, 1865), includes these words in closing: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” Certainly, Lincoln had the end of the war and reconstruction of the South in mind. One who possesses magnanimity of spirit is not petty. A person with a malicious spirit holds grudges and seeks to do harm, get even. A leader who is characterized by magnanimity will not allow personal or public grievances to get in the way of pursuing the greater good, as we find in Lincoln’s second inaugural. Lincoln looked to reconstruction of the South after the Civil War to bring about full inclusion in the union and a “just and lasting peace” not simply for the United States, but for “all nations.”

Division is not so new. What might be new is the lack of leaders willing to show magnanimity toward the opposing side. Christens need to remember this. With the Lord Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, and the Spirit’s descent at Pentecost, his followers did not seek vengeance, but repentance and forgiveness on Jesus’ behalf for the restoration of all peoples to God. They bore the fruit of Jesus’ magnanimous spirit with malice toward none.[5]

Americans have the potential of doing better. America does not have arguments; America is an argument – between Federalist and Anti-Federalist world views, strong national government and local control, liberty and equality, individual rights and collective responsibility, color-blindness and color-consciousness. We will not have consensus on much, and that might be a good thing, for those of us who like a lesser role for the federal government. We need genuine pluralism that respects the right and value of those with whom we disagree. Fighting that descends into physical intimidation of those who are neutral or on the other side is not helpful. However, fighting to make our fights more useful, honest, open to change, and more human, is a potentially productive path.[6] As Christians, we do not have the option of dodging on the love and mercy of God for some “greater” political result. We cannot isolate our political choices and actions, as if they do not reflect who we are as followers of Christ. When I look to Jesus to think about how to practice my faith in the political realm, I see no path to glory that sidesteps humility, surrender, and sacrificial love. The path of wisdom in such a political climate is living our political convictions with humility regarding our positions and with compassion that embraces my political other as a brother or sister.

The psalm begins with a contrast of two ways. We might wonder how the Lord deals with people who do not fit neatly into either category — those who are neither altogether righteous nor altogether wicked, which includes most of us — but this psalm does not tell us. Its concern is to show how readers can be Happy (‘ashrei),[7] fortunate, rich, blessed, and prosperous. Such a person has discovered what it means to live a life in harmony with God. However, becoming wise in this way takes more than a sheer acquisition of knowledge. Israelite wisdom tradition does not value knowledge for its own sake; it values wisdom, which combines piety, humility and a right reverence for God with a deep understanding and appreciation for how God intends the world to work. Think of Genesis 2, where a stream of water flows from the earth and provides for trees in the Garden of Eden. Think of Jeremiah 17, where the prophet contrasts the shrubs in the desert with the tree planted by life-giving water, always bearing fruit. Such persons are those who do not follow (halak, walk) the advice of the wicked, or take (‘amad, remain in) the path that sinners tread (derek, path) as they would offer leadership, or sit (yashav, to sit, dwell, or inhabit) in the seat (moshav, seat or habitation) of scoffers (letzim, jeering)[8], as in holding prominent office. Just as the wicked may offer their advice, and the sinner may offer leadership, the cynical and disrespectful may achieve prominent office in society. Such persons hold in contempt the value of wisdom and moral uprightness. They “know better” than what Israel has received in Torah. When we are full of self and our resources, we have no room for God. The person who is wise and hopes to become “happy” because of that wisdom will avoid such persons and associations. One way to think of this is our relationship to the culture that forms us. Today, we might need to think of our sub-culture or tribe. Some of its values may well be godly, even where it does not know it as such. Some of its values may not be so. Our happiness is in learning the difference. Wisdom develops a form of resistance when it needs to resist. Throughout the psalm, the image of traveling on the right path in life recurs. By both opening and closing the psalm with the image of the “way” the psalmist stresses that those who wish to live a life whose value will live on in the world after them must walk the life-path that God sanctions. ² But their delight is in the law (Torah, instruction, teaching) of the LORD,[9] which is the first source for acquiring wisdom. They meditate (hagah, recite, utter[10]) on divine law day and night. The focus upon Torah, or for the Christian, the Word of God as a faithful witness to the revelation of God in Israel and in Jesus Christ, is the path that helps us to maintain ourselves as the people of God in distinction from our tribe. Genuine flourishing, blessing, and joy are not in the values of the culture or tribe in which we find ourselves. Virtue is a state of character gained by repeatedly performing good actions.[11] Virtue is an acquired excellence of character that renders a person capable over the long haul of behaving in certain reliable ways.[12] Thus, the law is a source of joy for it reveals the will of the Lord. Without the event of revelation of Torah, which means God’s “teaching” (from the Hebrew verb yrh, “to teach”), one cannot be wise. Psalm 1 joins several other OT passages that contrast righteous(ness) and wicked(ness). We can find examples in Genesis 18:23 ff. and II Samuel 22:21-28 (= Psalm 18:20-27). In addition, one might also note Psalms 7:9; 11 (all); 32:10-11; 37 (all); 94:12-23 (with ’ashrei and torah in v. 12); 119:61-62. We could also see Proverbs, in chapters 10—15; 21; 28 and 29.

Sarvam-annam ("All is food") is a saying from India. Everything we eat, breathe, and take into our being through our others senses.  Destructive, negative consumptions will have a destructive, negative impact on our lives. The Indian tradition recognized that mental and spiritual pollution are equally as dangerous as physical pollution. 

The genuine path to happiness may be as simple as learning not to unite with those who take far too much pleasure in complaining or complaining.  

Two taxidermists stopped before a window in which an owl was on display.  They immediately began to criticize the way someone mounted it.  Its eyes were not natural; its wings were not in proportion with its head; its feathers were not artfully arranged; and one could certainly improve its feet.  When they finished analyzing the owl, the old owl slowly turned its head ... and winked at them.[13]

Maya Angelou refers to her grandmother's store in Arkansas.  When someone came in and complained, the grandmother called her over and had her listen to the person complain.  Then she said, "There are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake up again.  Those who expected to rise did not ... And those dead folks would give anything, anything at all for just five minutes of this weather or ten minutes of that plowing that person was grumbling about.  Therefore, you watch yourself about complaining.  What you are supposed to do when you do not like a thing is change it.  If you cannot change it, change the way you think about it.  Don't complain.”[14]

³ They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper (thrive). Among the many important images for spiritual life is that of organic life, such as the growth of trees and plants. Psalm 1 contains such an image of the righteous being like trees planted by the life-giving waters. Such persons are “blessed, fortunate, rich, prosperous, and happy.” All these adjectives could be used, in the parlance of Old Testament wisdom literature, to describe the person who has discovered what it means to live a life in harmony with God. However, becoming wise in this way takes more than a sheer acquisition of knowledge. Israelite wisdom tradition does not value knowledge for its own sake; it values wisdom, which combines piety, humility and a right reverence for God with a deep understanding and appreciation for how God intends the world to work. Think of Genesis 2, where a stream of water flows from the earth and provides for trees in the Garden of Eden. Think of Jeremiah 17, where the prophet contrasts in the shrubs in the desert with the tree planted by life-giving water, always bearing fruit. John used the concept of “living water” to have Jesus describe the nurturing relationship of God to the Samaritan woman (John 4). Paul talks about living a life that is “rooted” in Christ (Colossians 2:6-7). Our willingness to root our lives in a relationship with God, a relationship characterized by obedience, is what yields true happiness and a life that yields “fruit.” 

The way to a life that flourishes and bears fruit is one that has roots. You can try finding happiness or blessedness by living on the surface. Such a life is without roots and fleeting. We need lives planted well. We run the risk of being a cut-flower civilization. Yes, cut flowers are beautiful. We use many means to keep such flowers looking fresh for a while. However, they will die because they no longer have any roots. The root sustains the beauty of the flower.[15] Any landscaper can tell you that in transplanting a tree, the root is the most important part. The rootball must stay tightly packed and moist. It must get into the right kind of soil and at the right depth. All kinds of damage to the trunk, branches or leaves can happen in the journey, but the tree will survive if the roots are intact. It will recover and grow. Planting a tree by a stream of water suggests it has found the best possible place. The tree will drink from life-giving water. Not even a drought can keep it from flourishing. In order to find such a place, we may have to leave our place of comfort. When we find a such a place, we will increasingly discover who we are. We are not just the spouse of someone, the parent of others, a profession, the member of a religion, or what we do. The journey of self-discovery makes all the difference. Strip away the layers that we have carefully built, along with their labels, titles, and definitions, and what is left? When we are that tree planted by streams of water, we discover who we are. Happy are those who plant themselves by such rivers. Their lives will yield much fruit.

Auguste Rodin once said, “The world doesn’t lack beauty of life, only the eyes to see it.”  Or, we might add, the desire to dig for it. Take the beauty of trees, for example. While many artists in North America are looking upward and painting the fiery beauty of autumn leaves this time of year, in China an artist named Fang Peichun is out in the forest looking down, crawling on his hands and knees, looking for beauty in the tangle of tree roots. Fang, you see, is a root-carver [google root carving and see several images to display at this point], following an ancient Chinese tradition of coaxing art from a part of the natural world that everyone else ignores. Out there in the forest, Fang sees hidden beauty where others see dirt. “The period of searching for tree roots is the most exciting part for me,” says the energetic old man. “Sometimes I even dream of finding some tree roots in strange shapes and have some illusions.”Fang has been carving roots for more than 50 years. He began his obsession with roots when, as a boy, he encountered a farmer who had just dug up a knotweed tuber, which Fang immediately envisioned as being formed in the shape of a child. Fang tried to buy the root from the farmer, but the old man, being superstitious, believed that eating the root would enable him to live forever. Still, Fang began to see the potential for beautiful images coaxed from the most utilitarian part of the tree.

While other kinds of art are subjective and are usually created out of the artist’s own vision, tree root art requires a more deductive approach with the final image taking its cue from the natural shape of the root. Root carving is thus a cooperative effort — a combination of “man’s work and God’s work,” according to Fang. No two roots are alike; thus, every discovery of a new root yields new possibilities and different pictures to imagine. One of his favorite works is the “Bathing Beach” with several women resting on a root-made beach. In the middle, a young couple lies against a rock, while another girl is ready to jump in the water; to the right, an old man sits on the beach, in thought. Another work titled “Happy” depicts a long-haired woman bathing, her arms and legs stretched elegantly. Other works depict animals, historical figures and even written Chinese characters like “Shou” which means “long live” in Mandarin. 

Root art is a reminder to us that often it is the things beneath the surface, the hidden yet practical things that are most important. While fruit trees yield a harvest of food, maples and oaks provide autumn glory, and evergreens yield a harvest of wood for building, none of them can do so without the foundational and functional support of a good root system. It’s the beauty of rooted-ness that makes it all possible.

While trees live or die depending upon their roots, we, too, live and die according to how rooted we are in the things that matter. Being rooted spiritually is a thing of beauty, which is the essential message that kicks off the piece of art known as the Psalms.

⁴ The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. A simple gust of wind can blow away chaff. Jeremiah 17:6-7 says they are like shrubs in the desert that do not see relief and no longer bear fruit. The temptation might be to look upon people who seem to have it all in terms of wealth, popularity, and power with envy for them, as Psalm 37:7 and 73:3 remind us. In fact, all too often, life will bring down such persons. The wicked will not leave a significant mark on the world after them. Their existence is tenuous and once they die, we find no sign of them. ⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, or sinners in the congregation of the righteous. If their lives are on the surface, they will not withstand judgment from the Lord. What we need for human flourishing, happiness and blessedness is to have a life properly rooted and grounded. Like the roots of a tree, the source of such a life is real, but hidden below the surface. Such a life has its roots in a relationship with God in which we accept the guidance that God gives for the way we live. Such a life acknowledges its dependence upon the Lord. It will also not allow adverse circumstances or challenges to carry it away. After all, ⁶ the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. The Lord watches over such a life. Such a life is beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. The world does not lack beauty, but lack human beings who have the eyes to see it.[16]

This psalm and other wisdom writings that describe a holy life as a “way or path” is the background to the gospel image of Christ as the way (John 14:6). By describing Christ as “the way,” John connects faith in Jesus with Torah faith, Israelite wisdom traditions and the entire value system on which those concepts rest, implying that unlike the purely intellectual philosophies of late antiquity, Christianity offers real wisdom/Truth which leads to eternal life by following God’s Way.

Here are a few practical applications of this psalm.

First, you can try to find happiness by living on the surface. Such a life is rootless and fleeting. Rather than gaining true happiness and prosperity, the wicked are “like chaff” that gets blown away in the wind while the good seed remains (Psalm 1:4). We have all seen people who have had it all, done it all, reached the pinnacle of worldly prosperity, yet their lives “wither” when confronted with an ultimate crisis. Jeremiah 17:6-7 says they are like shrubs in the desert that do not see relief an no longer bear fruit. Do not be like them, says the psalmist. In fact, one of the major themes of the psalms concerns not being envious at the apparent prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 37:7; 73:3). Their prosperity does not last and their lives cannot hold up to God’s judgment. Without roots to grow on, the wicked eventually “perish.” 

Second, you can seek happiness by being properly rooted and grounded. The prosperity of the righteous, by contrast, is very real but hidden below the surface, in the roots of a relationship with God. When we have that kind of relationship with God, a relationship based on trust and a recognition of our dependence on God vs. our own sinful independence, we are not carried away by the winds of adverse circumstances or challenges to our faith. When we are rooted in God, God “watches over” our way (v. 6). It is the roots that stay, not the leaves that blow away, that are beautiful in God’s eyes.

I would note some misconceptions of “tree root systems.” One is that roots extend only to the dripline (the extent of the branches). Roots can extend four to seven times past the dripline of the tree. The other misconception is root depth. Roots require water, oxygen, minerals, support, and warmth, usually found in the upper few feet of soil, rarely growing below four feet. It explains why a strong wind can easily disturb a tree.[17]

Here is an example, one of which I am sure many of you have heard or read. The mighty redwood trees of California’s Sequoia National Park are the largest life-forms on Earth; yet it is a rare thing to see a redwood standing alone. This is because the roots of the Sequoia do not extend deep into the earth, as most tree roots do; they snake along just beneath the surface of the soil. So shallow are the redwood’s roots that, when a tree is young, it is easily toppled by the wind. The redwoods that survive — and that grow to such astounding heights — are the ones whose roots intertwine with those of other trees, forming a great interwoven mass of support. The storms that bluster their way through the valleys of the Sierra Nevada can work no harm on those trees: for they stand strong and tall together, in community.

What this tells me is that spiritual life is not so much about your roots going deep, so much as your roots spreading out to others. If we are not careful, we will buy into a form of individualism that will make spiritual life nothing more than “me and God,” instead of about us connecting with God through our connections with others. 

Nature depends upon hidden resources. The great trees send their roots down into the earth to draw up water and minerals. Rivers have their sources in the snow-capped mountains. The most important part of a tree is the part you cannot see, the root system, and the most important part of the Christian’s life is the part that only God sees. Unless we draw upon the deep resources of God by faith, we fail against the pressures of life.[18]

Bottom line is that when it comes to spiritual matters, it is usually the unseen and unpretentious practices that we engage in that make up the raw root material that God, the master artist, can shape to his image of life for us. When we study Scripture, meditate on it, obey God’s commandments even when no one is looking, when we practice daily spiritual disciplines, and order our lives according to God’s priorities, God can make something spectacular and unique out of each of us. 

How are you becoming more firmly rooted in your personal relationship with God? Spiritual disciplines and obedience to God involve some challenging work, some digging deep to find the life-giving roots underneath the surface.

Well, there you have it. Human beings find happiness, blessedness and flourishing as they learn the path of wisdom and righteousness. It is only easy to write this. It is not easy to live this way.

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[1] Mark Twain said something like this.

[2] Carl Jung

[3] Attributed to Dear Abby.

[4] —Martin Luther King Jr., “Loving Your Enemies,” in Strength to Love (Fortress, 2010), 50.

 

[5] —Paul Louis Metzger, “Great Leaders Model Magnanimity, Not Malice,” Patheos.com, October 9, 2020.

[6] —Eric Liu, “Americans Don’t Need Reconciliation — They Need to Get Better at Arguing,” The Atlantic, November 1, 2016.

[7] The Hebrew term ‘ashrei, which begins the psalm, can mean “fortunate,” “rich,” “blessed” or “prosperous,” as well as “happy.” One could use all of these adjectives, in the parlance of Old Testament wisdom literature, to describe the person who has discovered what it means to live a life in harmony with God. However, becoming wise in this way takes more than a sheer acquisition of knowledge. Israelite wisdom tradition does not value knowledge for its own sake; rather it values wisdom, which combines piety, humility and a right reverence for God with a deep understanding and appreciation for how God intends the world to work.

[8] The phrase “sit in the seat of scoffers” is less clear in its meaning, but when taken along with the others it seems to imply “to share an important position in society offered to one by a disrespectful person.” The verb, means “to sit,” “dwell” or “inhabit,” and the noun from the same root, can mean “seat” or “habitation.” Therefore, this phrase could describe both the simple action of sitting and the broader concept of sharing inhabited space. This verb also, however, sometimes implies the possession of a powerful social position, such as when one is said to “sit” as the reigning monarch. So here, it most likely implies that just as one might be offered advice by the wicked, and leadership by the sinner, one might be offered prominence in society by those who are cynical and disrespectful. The person who is wise and hopes to become “happy” because of that wisdom will avoid such gifts and association with such gift givers. The word doesn’t mean generic scoffing or jeering (as, for example, at a person with a disability); it means to hold in contempt the value of wisdom and moral uprightness or what we might describe as the biblical way of life. The sense conveyed by the biblical scoffer is “I know better,” with the strong implication of self-indulgence. The etymology of the word is uncertain, although a possible Arabic cognate means “to turn aside” with the suggestion of speaking indirectly or obliquely. In a few instances, this sense of the biblical word can mean “interpreter” (Genesis 42:23, Joseph’s communications with his brothers through an interpreter) or “ambassador” (2 Chronicles 32:31).

[9] This is a theologically reductionistic rendering of the Hebrew word torah, which means “lore, instruction, teaching, guidance” as well as “law.” The habitual default translation of torah as “law” appears to be an echo of the NT’s law/faith contrast (found, for example, in Romans 3:27-28), not taking into account the fact that much of the literature designated by the word “torah” has no legal connotations whatsoever (e.g., the stories contained in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). Of the roughly 6,000 verses that make up the first five books of the Bible (the Torah), the rabbis reckoned that there were only 613 commandments in this mass of material, or perhaps a bit over 10 percent (excluding duplicates). Leviticus, which means “priest’s manual,” is the only book among the first five devoted almost exclusively to religious legislation. “Law,” therefore, in the context of the OT in general, and, in today’s reading in particular, is much more broadly defined and understood than “law” is commonly thought of today. Compare, for example, the translation of this word in the version of the Jewish Publication Society. There, the Hebrew word torah is translated as “teaching.”

[10] To Mumble The word translated “meditate” should not be visualized as the solitary scholar silently reflecting, since the Hebrew verb hagah means “to moan, growl, utter, speak, muse.” As has often been noted by scholars, silent reading in the ancient world was virtually unknown, since the private book was equally scarce. Reading was a group enterprise, necessarily audible, and the JPS translation “studies” (with a footnote offering “recites” or “utters” as alternatives) is perhaps a closer approximation to the original.

[11] Aristotle 

[12] Thomas Hibbs

[13] Anthony de Mello liked to tell the story.

[14] Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, 1993, 85-87.  

[15] The Quaker theologian Elton Trueblood spoke of the necessity of being well planted:  

"The terrible danger of our time consists in the fact that ours is a cut‑flower civilization.  Beautiful as cut flowers may be, and much as we may use our ingenuity to keep them looking fresh for a while, they will eventually die, and they die because they are severed from their sustaining roots.  We are trying to maintain the dignity of the individual apart from the deep faith that every person is made in God's image and therefor draws life from the divine source."

[16] Auguste Rodin once said, “The world doesn’t lack beauty of life, only the eyes to see it.”

[17] Sherry Rindels (“Tree root systems,” April 1, 1992, ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1992/4-1-1992/treeroot.html. Retrieved April 22, 2008)

[18] —Warren Wiersbe.