|
Trinity Sunday—the only Sunday named for a doctrine. Trinity—we use symbols like: a three-leaf clover; intertwined knots; the three phases of water (steam, liquid, ice); Beloved, Lover, and the love between them—all to try to describe a mystery—God’s own self.
One professor, Karoline Lewis, suggested in her blog, that Trinity Sunday should be a chance to share with one another how WE experience God.
“This is not to suggest a replacement of the Trinity. By no means! as Paul would say. But it is to acknowledge that theology [talk of God] cannot be something that was decided long ago so as never to be questioned again. Theology is radically contextual and if we keep perpetuating church as that which has God all figured out, we clearly have no clue who God is..
Now don’t get all worried that you are going to have to “do” this sermon by talking to one another (although I gave it some thought). But as an assignment for this week, spend some time thinking about how you experience God? What names would you give to that experience? Are there some interactions with God you don’t pay attention to?
Today we are going to explore the voice of Wisdom. In the Hebrew Scriptures, Wisdom is embodied—she walks among us, she seems to have emotions like us. She is almost a characteristic of God, in the flesh. In the New Testament, Jesus seems to be following in the Wisdom tradition, and even takes on some of her descriptions.
What is the relationship between Wisdom and God? In the Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom is described as “a breath of God’s power,” “a pure and radiant stream of [God’s] glory,” “a reflection of eternal light,” and “ a perfect mirror of God’s activity and goodness.” This is no shrinking violet, or aloof puppeteer in heaven. Where is this One of God? “On the heights, beside the way, at the crossroads, beside the gates, in the front of the town, at the entrance to the portals”—basically everywhere, especially anywhere where people live and move and have their being. Her cry is to everyone, to all that live. Certainly an image that is expansive, interested, present, and vocal. God here among us.
Then comes the passage about the creation of the world. Wisdom is “the beginning of God’s creation” (can you hear the echos of Christ being called the “first born of all creation, the one through whom everything was created—Colossians 1:15-20?). And she is ‘amon’—which can be translated either 1) master worker (as the NRSV as done) or 2) little child. Juliana Claassens comments that “this is one of the most ambiguous texts in the Hebrew Bible with multiple interesting interpretive possibilities to explore” (workingpreacher.com, May 22, 2016).
As the master worker, Wisdom was there to see the beginning of depths and springs, of mountains and hills, of heaven and earth. Wisdom was there in the chaos, and Wisdom was there to help when God created order, made limits, delineated sky and sea and land. In this creation story, as in the more familiar ones we know, there is a theological statement of belief. Chaos will not be forever. God and God’s helpers (personified by Wisdom, but including those of us who follow in her path) continue to actively work, continue to shape creation.
It seems to make perfect sense that amon would mean master worker from this perspective. But like a sketch that has two pictures embedded in it (the young girl and old crone is a famous one), if we read the next two verses, the “little child” can be seen.
“and I was daily God’s delight, rejoicing (maybe giggling) before God always, rejoicing in God’s inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” (Proverbs 8:30-31)
As Claassens sees it “The image of a giggling, joyful, little girl who laughs when God shows her God’s new creations—the hilarious giraffe and hippopotamus, the monkeys and busy little ants—is [a] marvelous [way] to imagine the joy and awe that is present in God’s creation.”(workingpreacher.com) Here is another theological statement. We can delight in all that is around us. We can delight in the other, as other. That too is following in the ways of wisdom.
On this Trinity Sunday, we give thanks for the mystery of God. And we give thanks for the glimpses we get of how God relates to us. Today, we give thanks:
for the call to be involved in our world,
in all its aspects
for the invitation to work alongside God
in tending the creation
for the reminder to find laughter and joy
even in God’s presence
We give thanks for Wisdom. We pledge to do our part. We want to walk the path of firey, hands-on, giggling Wisdom.
And we join our voices to all those who have sung that great hymn of Henry Emerson Fosdick, written for the opening of the Riverside Church in New York—
God of grace, and God of glory, on thy people pour thy power; crown thine ancient church’s story; bring its bud to glorious flower.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour, for the facing of this hour.
Yes, Grant us wisdom, grant us courage
For the facing of this hour,
For the living of these days
Lest we miss Thy kingdom’s goal
But always Serving thee whom we adore.
May it be so. Alleluia, Amen.
|
