Sermon Notes: Learning the Fear of the LORD from "Warrior Woman"

 

Proverbs 31.10-31; Psalm 1; James 3.13-4.3, 7-8a; Mark 9.30-37

 

Prayer of Invocation

 

Father, teach us to trust in you with all our heart, and to not lean on our own understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge you and to live faithfully according to  your calling on our lives, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. Amen. 

 

Prayer of Illumination

 

Father, in your Son Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Open our eyes that we may see the wonders of your Word; and give us grace that we may clearly understand and freely choose the way of your wisdom; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Proclamation

 

In our modern world, wisdom is different from knowledge. Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing that you don’t put a tomato in a fruit salad just because it’s a fruit!

Wisdom is applied knowledge; it’s not only knowing about something but also knowing how to do something in the right place and at the right time--it’s about knowing what, how, and when. This is why the artisans of the tabernacle are described as “wise”, because they skillfully applied their knowledge as they constructed the tabernacle. 

The Book of Proverbs is all about learning how to live wisely in the world in light of what the God of Israel has revealed about the world and our place in it; it is about applied knowledge, skilled faithfulness. The primary charge in Proverbs is to seek wisdom! Pursue it like you would a hidden treasure. Treasure it more than silver or gold; store it up; listen to her as she cries in the streets. Why? Because wisdom will deliver you, protect you, guide you, and bless you. The Book of Proverbs is one of the first to acknowledge what James would make famous, namely that  faith without works is dead (Jam 2.17, 26); faith is not just about knowing to affirm certain beliefs about God and His world and our place in it, but that faith is truly faith when it is turned into faithful actions, faithful responses to circumstances. Faith is not just a set of beliefs but is rather a way of life. 

The Book of Proverbs has an interesting structure to get all of this across:

1. It has an introduction, 1.1-7, that reminds the readers that “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” and that “fools despise wisdom and instruction”. The fear of the LORD is where all right living starts; it starts with having a healthy reverence and respect for the one true God, YHWH (LORD) and understanding your place in His world. (We talk a lot about vocation at LETU; vocation talk is wisdom talk.) 

 

2. Proverbs 1.8-9.18 consists of ten speeches that a father gives to a son, in which he urges the son to seek wisdom so that he can live a life of peace and prosperity: “nothing you desire can compare with the goodness of wisdom” (3.15).  But he also warns the son about becoming a fool (or folly), that is characterized by pride (being wise in one’s own eyes and injustice) and an unwillingness to be instructed and corrected.  Wisdom, the father says, is the most important item on the agenda, the greatest treasure. 

 

1. Within this section of Proverbs wisdom is often personified as a woman who calls, instructs, guides, exercises justice, builds, corrects, provides, and brings blessings (1.20-23; 3.13-20; 4.4b-9; Prov 8 & 9).

 

2. It is here in this section of Proverbs that we also learn that the created order is built on wisdom; so to pay attention to God’s order in creation is to learn wisdom (Prov 8.22-31).

 

3. Proverbs 10-30 make up a massive assortment of wise sayings arranged in chapters that don’t always seem to have an apparent larger coherence or theme. What is important about this section of Proverbs is repetition--because this helps us see the overall message of the Book of Proverbs. The fear of the Lord is the central theme in Proverbs, as we already mentioned: this is where all wisdom starts; it is the source of all right living. And the point of Proverbs is that if one fears the LORD this generates a kind of life that is characterized with the themes that emerge in Prov 10-30:

 

1. Those who fear the LORD look out for the poor, the disadvantaged, and the vulnerable.
2. Those who fear the LORD have healthy families with mutual respect between spouses and children
3. Those who fear the LORD have healthy marriages that are characterized by encouraging communication
4. Those who fear the LORD know how to handle wealth wisely
5. Those who fear the LORD work hard and are diligent, reliable, and disciplined.
6. Those who fear the LORD guard the tongue and use it to bless and instruct. 

 I say all of this to help us understand what is going on with Prov 31.10-31. The Book of Proverbs is using the woman of Prov 31.10-31 to pull together the major themes of Proverbs 10-30 in order to show what it looks like when wisdom is applied in a very particular circumstance. Prov 31 draws on the daily life of a woman to illustrate what it looks like to embody the wisdom developed in the rest of the book. 

 When we read this “last word” with an awareness of what the book as a whole is doing, we realize that Prov 31 is not functioning as a prescription for how to be a woman. In other words, Prov 31 is not saying “this is the only way a woman can be godly, by doing these roles and tasks”. Proverb 31.10-31 is not limiting where a woman can express her faithfulness to God; instead the Proverb is doing something quite different. 

Why is this important to see? Because Prov 31 is not just written for wives, or even just for women. It is written for all of us! The “eshet chayil”, the woman of valor (or the “warrior woman”; Prov 31.10), is a model for all of what it looks like to fear the LORD. Literilary, in the Book of Proverbs the son needs instruction; lady wisdom calls; and “warrior woman” embodies the fear of the LORD to bring the book to its conclusion. The son needs to be taught; the woman manifests skilled faithfulness. Look to her!

 Let’s see where these themes of Prov 10-30 show up in Prov 31.10-31:

1. Healthy family relations
1. Her husband trusts her (31.10)
2. Her children call her blessed (31.28)
3. Her husband praises her (31.28)

2. She is diligent and hard-working (Prov 31.13-16, 18-19, 27).

3. She helps the poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged (Prov 31.15, 19, 21).

4. She uses her tongue in an uplifting way (Prov 31.26)

5. But it all culminates in this: “charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Prov 31.31). 

 The Book of Proverbs is bookended with “the fear of the LORD”.  In Prov 1 we are called to seek it; in chapter 31 we are given an illustration to encourage us to become wise and to fear the LORD. The point is not that we must duplicate this in order to be wise. The point is not to offer up rigid roles that godly women must take up. That is, the point is not that biblical women know how to make their own clothes;  women who fear the LORD get up really early; wise women bring food from afar. I say all this because Prov 31 has often been used to burden women. But also because if we read Prov 31 this way, half of us (males) think this text is not for us! 

 Instead, the point is for all of us to ask, What does the fear of the LORD and wisdom look like in my life, in my context? What would it look like to illustrate wisdom and the fear of the LORD  in my circumstances? How am I using my tongue? How are my relationships in my family? Am I helping the poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged? Am I diligent, reliable,  and hard-working? 

 And this is part of the skill of being wise--learning how to pay attention to yourself and to your circumstances, learning how to apply knowledge of God to what’s going on in you and around you. Prov 4.26 says it like this: “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.”  

 This is what James is all about in his challenging letter that we’ve been reading. Like the Book of Proverbs, James reminds us that wisdom is shown by our conduct, by our actions (Jas 3.13). And so he asks us: are you bitter? Are you jealous? Does selfish ambition govern your life? “This is not the wisdom that comes from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic (Jas 3.15).” Do you quarrel? It is because you covet, because you are a friend of the world. 

“Better is an open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov 27.5-6)

 

“Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.” (Prov 10.17

 

“The ear that listens  to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise” (Prov 15.3``1)

 To be open to rebuke and correction, instruction and discipline, is the path of wisdom, it is the path to life; and we have to learn to pay attention to what is going on in us and through us and around us if we are going to walk in that way. 

 Eucharist

 Maybe you can relate to Agur: “I am weary, O God. I am weary, O God, and worn out! Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know! (Prov 30.1-4)

 His name is Jesus. “By him all things were created--all things we created through him and for him.” (Col 1.16). And in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2.3). 

 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in him (Col 2.6). And how have we received him as Lord? As the one who came to heal us and our loves so that we could be wise; as the one who came to embody for us wisdom and knowledge, so that by the Spirit we might walk in his footsteps. 

 Benediction

 The LORD instruct, enlighten, correct, and equip you to be wise and understanding in the place where He has put you.