Job 28:20-28; Luke 10:38-42; John 15:9-17: God's wisdom provides new understanding
What's a woman doing, talking about wisdom this morning, and why are all you women listening to me? Can women be wise? Job evidently doesn't think so. When trouble comes on him, from the massacre of all his children and the destruction of all his possessions, to the infliction on him of boils so horrible all he can do is scratch, his wife - evidently not one of nature's optimists - thinks it's all over. Curse God and die! she recommends. And what is his response to her suggestion? Probably it's more irritated than normal, given his circumstances, but still it's a telling one - You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Maybe, if we're feeling charitable to Job, we can deduce from that that he doesn't think all women are foolish, but it's still a put-down, something along the lines of: Typical woman!
I was interested to note in the dialogue on Job, given to us by the women of Guyana, that one speaker at least is interested in the plight of Job's wife - who, as she points out, must have suffered from the loss of children and possessions every bit as much as he did, without getting any attention or sympathy for it either from him or from subsequent preachers. But I digress.
When we come to our second reading, from Luke's Gospel, preachers through the generations have pitched sister against sister, wise Mary who listens to Jesus against foolish Martha who'd rather do the housework. I am glad that so far back in our tradition we have in Mary an example of a woman who is Jesus' disciple, a woman whom he welcomes as a study partner on an equal level with the men, one who can learn from his teaching. Yet my heart is with Martha too. Surely running a household also requires wisdom? If you read the passage right at the end of Proverbs which takes two-thirds of a chapter to praise the good wife, you will certainly come to that conclusion. The practical wisdom of organising household supplies and maintenance, bringing up children, making sure family life runs smoothly and juggling it with work outside the home: this is something that those of the wise who are male may take for granted, until they try it for themselves.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not arguing that women aren't capable of theoretical wisdom, though they may not always get the credit for it. Those of us who use the Revised Common Lectionary for our Bible readings in church will discover this coming Sunday that Martha has her own wisdom revealed in John's Gospel, when on the death of Lazarus she confesses her faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world. Surely in grasping this, Martha is just as wise as Peter, yet Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus is the Christ is widely known, and credited to him as heavenly insight, while Martha's confession by her brother's tomb is little mentioned.
Yet we're talking not about women's wisdom this morning, not even about human wisdom, if there's any difference between the two, but about God's wisdom, which according to our theme provides new understanding. And what can any human being, female or male, know of that? In our reading this morning Job confesses that no human being knows the way to the wisdom of God, hidden from our eyes in that secret place where the answers to our deepest questions lie, whether scientific - how was our universe put together? - or philosophical - what happens after death? All we can do, Job reckons, is to hold God in awe, choose good rather than evil, and leave it at that. And many people today, both male and female, would agree with that: Live as well as you can, and don't worry about what it all means.
When our anthem this morning addresses God's wisdom directly as Sophia, Hokmah, Sapentia, however, it doesn't think of that wisdom as a reclusive presence we couldn't understand if we tracked it down. Grammatically, whether you look at the question in Greek, Hebrew or Latin, you can't get away from it: God's wisdom is portrayed as female. And Lady Wisdom, as we know from reading Proverbs, is not a woman who hides herself away from people, only addressed when human wisdom gives up on mysteries beyond our ken.
On the contrary, she is a party-giver: someone who loves human company so much that she's redecorated the house, prepared meat and drink, bread and wine, and sent out the women under her command to invite passers-by to come and dine with her.
This image of God's gracious, inviting, hospitable wisdom is already there in the Hebrew Bible - though compared with images of God as king and father she gets little attention - but in the New Testament, John's picture of God's Logos or word - remember In the beginning was the Word? - translates that understanding of wisdom into concrete terms in the person of Jesus. The third reading chosen for today, from John's Gospel, comes from the long conversation Jesus holds with his friends around the supper-table, the last time he shares bread and wine with them before his death. He has shocked them to the core by taking the part of a servant and washing their feet. Judas has given way to his worst impulses and left; and the rest are starting to lose their bearings, as Jesus piles more and more on them. He is going away. He will prepare a place for them. He is the way, the truth and the life. God and he are one. He is going to the Father. He is the true vine, and they his branches, to be pruned into bearing God's fruit.
If we had been sitting among his disciples, could we have understood the wisdom Jesus was sharing with them at that meal? I wouldn't have done. Indeed, without the wisdom of hindsight after the events that followed, both cross and resurrection, I don't see how anyone could have understood him: even Martha or Mary, who had witnessed the raising of Lazarus.
God's wisdom has to be greater than human understanding, for God has that infinite overview of life, the universe and everything which is impossible for our finite minds to grasp. There will be times in our lives and the life of the world when, however hard we rack our brains, we can only ask Why? with Job and, like him, get no answer we can understand. There will also be times when, like the disciples around the table at the Last Supper, what God's trying to get over to us feels like too much information, and we'd rather not think about it at all.
Yet just as, when we sit at Jesus' feet in prayer, and meditate on what he has to share with us, we become Mary's sisters and brothers, that practical life-wisdom that Jesus demonstrated in his actions at the Last Supper - washing and drying dirty feet, blessing and sharing food and drink - is also something that, as sisters and brothers of Martha, we can appreciate. This is God's generous hospitality, that can become the fruit of our lives too, as we offer it to others in God's name. And as Jesus' friends, we are also promised God's Holy Spirit, who will inspire us with unexpected wisdom, teach us what we do not yet understand and remind us of all that we cannot now take in: who will provide us with all the new understanding we need to become representatives of God's Holy Wisdom, inviting each and all to her banquet of love. Thanks be to God.