Monday 21 October 2013

Background

"Who will buy?" (the song from Lionel Bart's musical, "Oliver")imagines the streets of London in the 19th century, filled withwomen and men selling their wares. Each develops their own cry intoa tune, so "Ripe strawberries, ripe" harmonises with "Any milktoday, mistress?" and "Who will buy my sweet red roses, two bloomsfor a penny?" in a charming (if sanitised) way. However, the sceneis not a bad backdrop for the drama of today's passage, and formuch of the book of Proverbs. Traditionally the book was ascribedto Solomon, David's son and successor as king of Israel, known forhis personal wisdom, which he received as a gift from God followinga dream (1 Kings 3:3-14). It is more commonly regardednow as a collection of sayings and writings from different authorsover different periods, possibly with the early chapters addedafter the exile as a commentary on and extended introduction tomaterial dating back to pre-exilic days.

In this passage Wisdom is personified as a female street crier,extolling the virtues of her character in the city squares,competing with the louder but less wholesome appeal of theadulteress (eg Proverbs 6:23-35). So, we note that Wisdom isportrayed as feminine, almost as a celebrity, one of the voices ofher day, a social commentator who is there for those with ears tohear. In the 21st century, Wisdom would certainly have a Facebookpage and a Twitter account to present her guidance for wise livingin the public domain, if we will but listen.

"How long ... will you love being simple?" (v. 22) is a verydirect question, reminding hearers or readers that wise living isnot a result of intelligence or education, but of choices made. InJohn 5:6, Jesus asks the crippled man at thepool of Bethesda, "Do you want to be made well?" In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf encourages Frodoto realise that whilst many circumstances of life cannot bechanged, it is the choices which are made within thosecircumstances which shape the consequences.

Verses 24-33 outline the dangers of not heeding wisdom, and the'told you so' tone adopted here may make Wisdom sound rather smug,but reinforces the message that those who ignore Wisdom will end uplooking foolish, or worse.

To Ponder

• Where do you hear the voice of Wisdom today? And what are thevoices which threaten to drown out her appeals?

• What have been the wise choices you have made in your life?What about the unwise choices?

• How can we avoid sounding smug as Christians, when we emphasisethe importance of choice? Where does grace fit in?