SERMON ~ 09/16/2012 ~ WISDOM

09/16/2012 ~ Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ (Proper 19) ~ Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 116:1-9 or Wisdom of Solomon 7:26 - 8:1; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38.

Wisdom

“Wisdom cries out in the street; / in the squares She raises Her voice. / At the busiest corner She cries out; / She cries out from the top of the walls / at the entrance of the city gates, / on the roads leading to the cities She speaks: / ‘How long, O simple ones, / How much longer, you ignorant people, / will you love being simple, being ignorant? / How much longer, O you who mock others, / will you continue to mock, delight in your mocking? / How much longer will you fools / hate knowledge, sneer at understanding?’” — Proverbs 1:20-22.

Timothy Egan is a writer with The New York Times.  He related some straightforward facts about what happened in the Middle East last week, including its nominal cause, with this simple description.

(Quote) “A fanatic makes a hate movie, filled with wild claims about the founder of one of the world’s major religions.  Fanatics of another sort are inflamed by the crude film, crying blasphemy.”

“Hatred flares.  Mobs attack the embassy in Cairo, shouting there is no God but their God.  Another mob attacks the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, with a military-style assault, using the film as motivational cover.  An extraordinary public servant, Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, is killed in the line of duty in a city he helped save from a dictator’s last gasp.  Three other Americans are killed as well.”  (Pause.)

Also this last week, in part because of the office I hold as the Moderator of the Susquehanna Association, I traveled to Elmira to consult with the Park Church.  Just as a by-the-way, starting in 1854 Thomas Beecher, the brother of Henry Ward Beecher, was the pastor at Park church.

Starting in 1860, Samuel Scoville, the son-in-law of Henry Ward Beecher was the pastor at this church, here in Norwich.  Henry Ward Beecher was, of course in the forefront of the Abolitionist Movement and we— in this area— we were central in that campaign.

In any case, the members of the Park Church are about to embark on re-writing their by-laws.  And, as I said here a couple of weeks ago, I am a well known by-laws geek, so they asked for some guidance.

In my presentation, one of the things I said was phrased this way (quote): “...by-laws can be and are sometimes used as cudgels, weapons.  If someone says the by-laws are not being followed, the odds are that statement is both true and it is not about what the by-laws say which is being called into question.  It is a question about who is wielding power and how that power is being used.”

“Equally, if someone, when challenged on a point of order, claims the right course is obviously being taken, since the by-laws are being followed right down to the last letter, odds are that statement is both true and it is not the by-laws which are being called into question.  This is also a question about who is wielding power and how that power is being used.”  (Pause.)

Now, I have often said there is one sure way to press my buttons, one way to get me really, really upset.  If you want to get to me, be willfully ignorant.

Please note: it is not ignorance which presses my button.  It is willful ignorance.  The way I look at it, ignorance can be fixed.  A person can learn, become better informed, acquire new skills, always grow.

But willful ignorance is, you see, not simply about refusing to learn.  Willful ignorance is about an abuse of power.  How so?  A willfully ignorant person possesses an ability to overcome ignorance.

In fact, a person displaying willful ignorance is not necessarily unaware of the facts.  They may know the facts.  So, a person displaying willful ignorance has the power to overcome ignorance.  A person displaying willful ignorance chooses to ignore facts.  And, since a willfully ignorant person has the ability to over come ignorance, willful ignorance is about the abuse of power.

To be clear: there is only one conclusion to be drawn about an abuse of power, any abuse of power.  The abuse of power is an act of pre-meditated violence.  The abuse of power is an act of pre-meditated violence.  (Pause.)

There really is no question about this: Islam is not a religion that preaches violence.  You can look everywhere in the Koran and you will not find anyplace which condones the violence we’ve seen in the last week and in the last decade plus a little for any reason.

Indeed, none of the major world religions condone violence.  Hence, anyone who uses religion to give violent actions a veneer of justification is exercising willful ignorance, is exercising an abuse of power, is committing a violent act.  (Slight pause.)

I need to make one more point about willful ignorance.  The easiest and the most deceitful way to be willfully ignorant is to just follow a person or a cause without question.

Insisting there is no choice except following, without engaging in analysis, is willful ignorance, an abuse of power, a violent act.  Equally, doing nothing in the face of willful ignorance is, itself, willful ignorance.  Doing nothing in the presence of willful ignorance is not just an act of violence, it is a deceitful act of violence.  (Pause.)

And these words are from the work know as Proverbs: “Wisdom cries out in the street; / in the squares She raises Her voice. / At the busiest corner She cries out; / She cries out from the top of the walls / at the entrance of the city gates, / on the roads leading to the cities She speaks: / ‘How long, O simple ones, / How much longer, you ignorant people, / will you love being simple, being ignorant? / How much longer, O you who mock others, / will you continue to mock, delight in your mocking? / How much longer will you fools / hate knowledge, sneer at understanding?’”  (Slight pause.)

Behind the language in this passage is the deeply held conviction of Israel’s wisdom teachers that a gracious God has placed at our disposal the ability to understand who God wants us to be and what God wants us to do.  God has created a world of order and coherence and, by studying that world in terms both of what we might call “nature” and what we might call “nurture,” it is possible to understand the places to which God calls us.

Now, to be sure, not all the mystery in life has been dispelled.  But we also need to understand life is not so much a mystery as it is a walk with God— a walk during which we are empowered to learn about God and learn about others.

So, this passage is not just a call to education, although it could be construed that way.  This passage is, rather, a call to faithfulness.  And just like willful ignorance boils down to an abuse of power, an act of violence, failing to be faithful can be reduced to a similar formula.

Being unfaithful is also an act of violence.  Why?  Being unfaithful consists of one thing: dismissing knowledge by being tone deaf to the Voice of Wisdom, the Voice of God.  Hence, being unfaithful is the violence of waywardness or the violence of complacency or both.  (Slight pause.)

Earlier I mentioned this church and the church in Elmira were in the forefront of the Abolitionist Movement to ban slavery in this country.  In short, our own history is one of engagement.  Our own history is one of understanding God loves all people.  (Slight pause.)

Now, I suppose it’s likely some of you are tired of hearing me say, “Love God; love neighbor”— you hear me say that a lot.  But I need to tell you, loving God and loving neighbor means this: be engaged.  Be engaged in a relationship with God and be engaged in a relationship with neighbor.

Being engaged means rejecting ignorance; be engaged means rejecting passivity.  And, once we are fully engaged, then Wisdom, the Spirit of God, will flow in our minds, in our hearts, in our whole being.  Amen.

09/16/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Congregational Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “It is often said that knowledge is power.  My friends, knowledge is not power.  When knowledge used to love God and in the service of God, a God who loves us beyond our imagination, and when knowledge is used to love one another, that use of knowledge is powerful.  Hence, knowledge is not power.  But knowledge can be powerful.”

BENEDICTION: We are called to care, even when conventional wisdom says we should not.  God is our helper.  Christ is our teacher.  The Holy spirit is our guide.  Let us go forth knowing that the grace of God is deeper than our imagination, the strength of Christ is stronger than our need and the communion of the Holy Spirit is richer than our togetherness.  May God guide and sustain us today and in all our tomorrows.  Amen.