The Fear and the Fool (Proverbs 9:1-6)

The Fear and The Fool

 When you walk into a large bookstore (Borders, Barnes and Noble), you will often find a “super sale” section of books. It is an odd collection of overstock books. For example, you will find hardback copies of former best sellers—usually the ones that you bought for top dollar when the book first released and now there you spot that great book, dozens of copies piled in a corner, all at rock bottom prices. You can find a number of “how to” books: cookbooks, “fix it yourself” house repair books, books on popular people, places, or historical events. Then, almost hidden, sandwiched between a book on plumbing and a book on Civil War nurses, you spy a small volume of “quotable quotes” of famous persons throughout the ages.

 These collections of quotations are fun reading for a rainy Saturday afternoon. An old quote by Shakespeare might be the first time you read the Bard since high school and entice you to read Hamlet again. Quotations from famous people in history can make you laugh a bit or give you something funny to say while having dinner with friends. Books like this might cost just a dollar or two on sale, but the treasures of thoughtful and wise sayings inside can be appreciated for years to come.

 In the Bible, we have a similar book of quotations. The book of Proverbs is a source of ancient wisdom, little sayings about human existence, observations about daily life as well as the big questions. Here, the reader encounters sayings delightful and astonishingly relevant as well as other proverbs a bit perplexing, a product of a bygone generation.

One of the recurring themes of the Wisdom writings is its affirmation that you have to be of certain maturity (age, life experience, and horse sense) to understand them. When I read and teach Proverbs and the other “Wisdom” writings found in the Bible (Ecclesiastes and the Book of Job), I note my youth. Thus, at this point, I am going to call in assistance. When I think of age, life experience, and horse sense, I invited Mary Harrington to help me with part of the sermon. Mary will read a few proverbs to help us experience the wide range of observations about life offered by the book of Proverbs:

First: A proverb about the stages of life (or why age matters):

The glory of youths is their strength, but the beauty of the aged is their gray hair.

Second: A proverb about the importance of laughter:

A cheerful heart is a good medicine,
but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.

The book of Proverbs speaks to what seems like modern day issues. Take for example this proverb that seems to speak about couch potatoes:

The lazy person buries a hand in the dish,
and will not even bring it back to the mouth.

Sometimes, the book of Proverbs shows the problem of quoting ancient scripture. Could you imagine this proverb for marriage counseling?

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
than in a house shared with a contentious wife.

Proverbs takes a straightforward approach to the idea that humans can do foolish things:

The clever see danger and hide;
but the simple go on, and suffer for it.

In their strangeness, the proverbs challenge us to appreciate the beauty of words able to speak deeply to the foibles and glory of human existence and the life of faith. While some proverbs are inescapably bound to a past era and its culture, the little sayings witness to the pursuit of Wisdom. As we explore them, we find the pursuit of Wisdom and her ways is a worthy journey.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

The book of Proverbs offers a variety of wise sayings about human life. Some proverbs make you laugh. Some make you scratch your head, a bit befuddled. More than a few proverbs make you nod, hearing in ancient sage wisdom a word that speaks to you about the perplexities of your life. The question, however, is what separates this biblical book from other collections of wise sayings. Why would ancient Israel add this book to their sacred writings?

The Hebrew Scriptures were written as part of a culture deeply in love with and respectful of wisdom. In the ancient Near East cultures, wise persons were highly revered as “those who understood the basic order of the created world and lived in fidelity with it.” (The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, S-Z, p. 863). Proverbs are deceptive: a few words that hold deep wisdom, illumining truth, laden with truths pointing toward a better way through life.

In the book of Proverbs, there are many warnings against being foolish: seeking out ways to shortcut your way through life or acting brashly or without considered thought. The book of Proverbs “presents a traditional view of the path of wisdom, the path to a good life: live in harmony with others, obey the commandments of God, and be sensitive and caring for those less fortunate than yourself.” (Ibid., 865).

To describe Wisdom, the book of Proverbs claims the wise path goes clear back to the very creation of the world. The wisdom humanity seeks is rooted in the divine, as God is heralded as the source of all good and fruitful knowledge. Like other ANE cultures, Wisdom is personified, described as a woman who dances at the beginning of creation, and in whom God takes great delight.

The book of Proverbs depicts Lady Wisdom calling out to anyone and everyone, not merely in the temple or the royal courts, but out in the midst of the market and streets. Wisdom is not reserved for the powerful or the pious. Instead, the path of wisdom, the way toward a deeper and more meaningful life, is open to all persons.

Later tonight, the Emmy-winning Mad Men begins its third season on AMC. Set in the 1960s, Mad Men follows the stories of executives and their staff at the offices of the Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City. The lead character is Don Draper, a rising star in advertising. He cuts a fine figure: a tall, handsome man with impeccable taste in suits. He is a “rain maker”, tasked with bringing in major business accounts. Draper is a talented “ad man”. He creates dynamic campaigns nearly effortlessly, leaving his colleagues awestruck or intensely jealous.

From all outside appearances, Don Draper is the epitome of the ideal man. He has the trappings of the 1960s upper middle class Euro-American ideal: a beautiful wife, two children, and a beautiful home to go along with his executive perks and privileges at work. He is successful, good looking, and seems to have it all under control. Draper, however, is a complicated man. He lies compulsively. He hides many secrets about his past. He habitually steps out on his wife and evidences a variety of other self-destructive habits.

The show keeps pressing questions of whether or not the culture that Don Draper moved within was really that great. Racial minority, female, and gay characters are shown bearing the brunt of Draper’s world of “white male privilege”. While Draper enjoys the high life, it comes at the expense of others.

I cite Don Draper as sermon material as the original audience for the book of Proverbs is thought to be the privileged young men of Israel. These proverbs serve as brief lessons for living your life without the foolishness and the vanities of success. Proverbs is the word to those whom need “age, life experience, and horse sense” so they do not become the fools of their day. Draper smokes and drinks his way through his upscale life, able to pull off remarkable feats with his business dealings. Last season ended with Draper returning home to find his wife and children had left. He sits there in the darkness, the reality of how he has lived his life sinking in.

To be a follower of Wisdom is to go back to the basics of very existence, seeking a simple path and refraining from the many temptations of gaining power, wealth, or success by quick fixes or scheming. (Note: If this is the case, a good old Bible study on biblical wisdom might do Wall Street and Washington, DC, a world of good.) It can be a word of grace to us that our lives are not meant to be struggling constantly after unattainable things. Indeed, we can live earnestly without pretense and be at peace with our humanity. We do not need to be anything but ourselves, God’s beloved children.

Wisdom builds a house where everyone is welcome. It is a place where a fine meal awaits, and we have on good authority Wisdom herself is a good dancer. What more could we want from our lives? To seek out wisdom is to move ourselves further away from the illusions we chase and closer to the fruitful and rewarding life for which we yearn.