Proverbs 1:21-24 "Lectio Divina"

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE READING

         Let me begin by saying that this is a very extended introduction to our Scripture Reading.  I have not forgotten about it.  It is coming. 

         That being said, let me really begin by saying that I am currently reading a very thick, very dense, but very interesting book on the history of Protestantism. Joe gave it to me for Christmas.

         The book begins, of course, with Martin Luther and the Reformation in Germany in the early 1500’s.  Then it weaves its way through all the other European reform movements from Zwingli in Switzerland to Henry VIII in England, with John Calvin emerging as the preeminent Protestant theologian after Luther. 

         I have also read about the First Great Awakening in the 1730’s and 1740’s that swept Britain and the American colonies.  It was an evangelical revival movement focused on restoring individual piety and religious devotion. 

         I am now concluding the part of the book that focuses on the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800’s.  Among its characteristics was a mounting theological tension between two distinct approaches to Christianity. 

         On the one hand, we find the mainstream denominations whose foundational theology was grounded in knowledge derived through the Word of God as revealed in Scripture.  Sola Scriptura (only Scripture) as Luther was fond of saying. On the other hand, during these years, new Christian movements emerged.  They were characterized by revival tents, demonstrative and eye-popping conversions, and a strong emotional element that the mainstream denominations seemed to lack as they continued to struggle with the embers of the Age of Enlightenment and the relationship between science and religion.  To put it way too simply, a divide existed between the emotional, charismatic movements and the rational mainstream denominations.

         Though to some extent, that divide continues today, I like to think that we as mainstream Christians better understand the emotional component of worship and that our charismatic brothers and sisters realize the importance of well-grounded knowledge in understanding the Gospel message.  Granted, we may not always agree on the meaning or interpretation of that knowledge, but hopefully we all consent to its value. 

       This knowledge that I speak of is the wisdom that we find in the Bible. This knowledge that I speak of is the Word of God. 

         And surely, if we listen – really listen - to Scripture, then maybe- just maybe – we can hear in our hearts what God is saying to us.  We can connect to God in a new and vibrant way. 

         And that, you will recall, is the essence of our Lenten worship series.  During this time of preparation for Easter, we are trying out ways of listening to our still speaking God.  So far, we have figured out that oftentimes making this spiritual connection has something to do with prayer. 

         And so the overarching questions have been:  How do we pray?  Can we pray in different ways?  What might some of the alternatives be to sitting in church and reciting written prayers?  And can we take any of these less churchy practices with us to use in our own personal devotions throughout the week during this Lenten season?  Can reading Scripture be a kind of prayer?  Can we connect with God through the Word of God?

        Using the reading of Scripture as a kind of prayer is an ancient Christian practice.  It usually works better too than starting with Genesis, the first book of the Bible, and figuring we can plow our way through to the very last chapter of the very last book, Revelation.      Most of us find difficulty getting through all those rules outlined in Leviticus – from what animals can be eaten when to safeguarding against mildew to what to do about unclean bodily discharges.  Or we peter out when we come to the seeming endless genealogies – so-and-so begat so-and-so who begat so-and-so.

         Thank goodness we have another way to read Scripture, one with a solid reputation that dates back to early monastic traditions.  It is called lectio divina, which is Latin for “holy reading.”  Back in the days of those monasteries, not everyone could read, and there were generally not enough Bibles to go around anyway.  And so the monks would gather as a community to hear one of their literate brothers read from the Bible.  They were taught and encouraged to listen less with their minds and more with their hearts. After all, it was the Word of God that they were hearing – and that connection with God was made with both heart and mind. 

         Lectio divina encourages us to let the words of scripture simply be present and live in us rather than try to figure out what their “correct” meaning is.  In practicing lectio divina nowadays, we first quiet ourselves, deeply breathing in the Spirit of God, as we talked about last week.  And in the quiet, we remember that we are about to hear not just anything, but the Word of God itself.  How powerful an idea is that!

         Then we listen as the Scripture passage is slowly read, keeping our ears and hearts open for a word or phrase that jumps out at us or that we hear over all the other words, something that touches our heart.  After the reading, there is a period of silence – or a time of contemplative music. One might use this time to savor the word or phrase and to ask such questions as:  What gift does this passage lead me to ask from God? What does this passage call me to do?

         Then the Scripture passage is read one more time – followed by the Lord’s Prayer.  Lectio divina, then, is a personal and flexible way to pray, to listen for, to connect with God through Scripture, through the Word of God.  First, you just listen, then you note what this passage is giving to you, and finally you prepare to respond in the way the Holy Spirit directs you.

         We are going to try lectio divina this morning.  We have been doing it all along during Lent in a modified way – reading the Scripture twice with a brief time of silence in between.  This morning, then, we will begin in silence, so we can really focus on what we are going to do - which is listen to the Word of God.  Then our liturgist will read the passage slowly.  Next we will have a time of silence and music to listen to what God is saying to us. 

         During that time, I encourage you to find a word or phrase that pops out for you and write it on your Doodle space on the back of the bulletin.  Then play with it, write down what else it inspires in you, be poetic, use bullet points, be artistic, whatever.  And listen to whether that word or phrase is pointing you to a person or event that you might want to remember in prayer during your appointment with God time.  Maybe it will, and maybe it won’t.  And that is OK. 

         After that time of silence when you are doodling, I will share with you my personal ramblings with the text.  Then I will read it again, and we will conclude with the Lord’s Prayer.

          What will we hear when we let go of what Scripture is “supposed“ to mean and simply let it reside and percolate within us?

SILENCE

READING OF TEXT

TIME OF SILENCE/MUSIC

MY THOUGHTS

         Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom:  In the Book of Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman.  And, what is more, she has been with God since the very beginning of time itself.  Theologian Frederick Buechner notes that later in Proverbs we read, "The Lord created me (wisdom) at the beginning of his work,"

         Buechner goes on to say, “She was there when (God) made the heaven, the sea, the earth. It was as if (God) needed a woman's imagination to help him make them, a woman's eye to tell him if he'd made them right, a woman's spirit to measure their beauty by.” How cool is that!

         Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom:  Buechner goes on to contrast what we tend to call wisdom with what is meant by wisdom in Proverbs.  He writes, “Worldly wisdom is what more or less all of us have been living by since the Stone Age. It is best exemplified by such homely utterances as ‘You've got your own life to lead,’ ‘Business is business,’ ‘Charity begins at home,’ ‘Don't get involved,’ ‘God helps those who help themselves,’ ‘Safety first’, and so forth.” 

         But Lady Wisdom is about something else, I would say.  Real wisdom is more than living a good and upstanding life.  It has to do with our relationship with God – and with one another. 

         Consequently, wisdom is, on the one hand, very personal but, on the other hand, not achieved in isolation but rather in community.  Wisdom has to do with transformation.  It has to do with developing the street smarts to be more Christ-like.  Wisdom has to do with our heart as much as with our head.

         Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom:  Lady Wisdom is shouting it from the streets.   She is a ballsy woman.  She is mother.  She is prophet.  As Old Testament scholar Brent Strawn notes:  “Her first speech is nothing if not straightforward, and it is strongly reminiscent of several of the prophets. The opening verses locate Wisdom in the midst of society's hustle and bustle. She hawks her wares where everyone can hear -- on the busiest corner and at the city gates (which often (he notes) doubled as the place of justice in ancient Israel).

"How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? Give heed to my reproof; I will pour out my thoughts to you; I will make my words known to you.”

         How few are the wise, it would seem!  How many are the simple ones, the scoffers, and the fools!  They are the ones who fail to take the Word of God seriously!  How few are the wise ones who understand intuitively that justice and compassion lie at the heart of God’s dream for the world!  How many are the ones who live as Frederick Buechner described:  “….basically interested in nothing so much as old number one (yet) still give generously to the American Cancer Society, be on the Board of Deacons, run for town office, and have a soft spot in our hearts for children and animals.”

         Lady Wisdom shouts in the middle of the busiest marketplace, yet so few hear her.  Everyone can hear her, of course, but not everyone will.  It seems in this day and age that everyone is talking, but who is really listening?  Most of us would rather give advice than receive it.  Listening well seems to get harder and harder as we get older and older and more and more set in our ways.  And yet, our capacity to listen – both to each other and to the Word of God – affects every relationship we have, every choice that we make, and every path that we follow.  

         Lady Wisdom is crying out to everyone who will listen.  Her call is to heed wisdom and the Word of God and to make good choices.  She does not promise that wisdom is going to make life perfect, but surely paving the road with justice, compassion, inclusion, and reconciliation will help make it much smoother, especially when hard times do come. 

         Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom:  May we seek knowledge – real knowledge - in the words of Holy Scripture.  This is wisdom:  Blessed are the merciful, the peacemakers, the pure in heart….The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…I am the Bread of Life, the Light of the World…I am the Way….Take up your cross and follow me.

         May we connect with God through the Word of God.  May we connect with God and with one another - with our heart – emotionally – as well as with our mind – intellectually. 

         As Frederick Buechner notes, “Wisdom is….like a woman's wisdom. It is born out of suffering as a woman bears a child. It shows a way through the darkness the way a woman stands at the window holding a lamp.”  May the reading of this Scripture be, for each one of us, the birth of something new, a light in our darkness, and, in the end, a prayer.

READ SCRIPTURE AGAIN

^20-21 Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts.
    At the town center she makes her speech.
In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand.
    At the busiest corner she calls out:

^22-24 “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance?
    Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism?
Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn?
    About face! I can revise your life.
Look, I’m ready to pour out my spirit on you;
    I’m ready to tell you all I know.
As it is, I’ve called, but you’ve turned a deaf ear;
    I’ve reached out to you, but you’ve ignored me.

         Let’s pray….May everything we have gained from the reading of this passage be pleasing to you, O God.  We offer to you everything about it that has touched our minds and our hearts - just as we offer the prayer that Jesus taught his followers long ago:

LORD’S PRAYER