Proper 20, Year B | James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a | Mark 9:30-37
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
September 22, 2024
the Rev. Jonathan Hanneman
To watch the full service, please visit this page.
“Who is wise and understanding among you?” – James 3:13a[1]
We use the word like it makes sense to everyone, but defining “wisdom” isn’t the easiest thing. We might describe it as a form of knowledge, but I think we can all sense that it involves more than just information. After all, it’s possible to have extensive knowledge in quite a few areas and still make very poor decisions. It seems to carry an aspect of skillfulness with it. In fact, some languages don’t make any distinction between what we understand to be skill and wisdom—hence the strangely worded ads claiming certain mobile games “take a lot of wisdom” to play. We talk about it like sort of object—this perfect, unchangeable pearl we all seek to possess. Yet yesterday’s wisdom is often today’s folly, meaning it can’t actually be as immutable as we’ve been led to expect. So, then, what exactly is wisdom?
The last few weeks our epistle from James has been running in parallel with Hebrew Bible readings from the book of Proverbs. The people who compiled our Lectionary may have paired these two books on purpose, but if not, the connection is a more than happy accident. Last Sunday we heard Wisdom calling in the streets to all who would listen, and this week we find her exemplified in the figure of a highly competent, completely trustworthy lady. At the same time, James has picked up the bookmark he dropped in chapter one about wisdom being one of the gifts coming “down from above.” Hopefully these ancient examples can help us understand at least what the Bible is talking about when it uses the term.
In both ancient Hebrew and Greco-Roman culture, Wisdom always appears as a woman. Most natural phenomena or psychological constructs, which people then discussed using the terminology of gods, required both masculine and feminine representation in order to maintain a balance between the extremes any single idea might contain. It’s odd, then, that Wisdom has no partner to stand beside her. I’ve seen arguments that the Early Church gave Sophia, as she’s known in Greek, a sort of masculine makeover with logos—the term we often see translated as “the Word,” particularly in reference to Jesus—but to me the arguments appear more coincidental than intentional. It could be that Wisdom appears as a woman simply because the term is feminine in both languages. But I suspect it’s more likely due to Wisdom’s own nature as someone who doesn’t really express herself in the more aggressive, often brash way that masculine entities required.
And that gives us a clue toward our definition. While masculine deities displayed the more energetic or assertive aspects of an idea, the supernatural feminine stood as the more receptive or nurturing sides of the concept. They provided refuge and guidance. Their followers developed themselves through slower, natural processes rather than intense activity or conquest. Maybe there is no masculine Wisdom because Wisdom isn’t something anyone can seize all at once (or truly grasp once and for all) but rather demands time to take root and grow, something that requires patient tending before it can bear healthy fruit.
Another thing to notice about Wisdom is that, although nurturing, she rarely appears as a static figure. In Proverbs we see her both waving down people in the marketplace and directing the activities of a household or business, but we never notice her twiddling her thumbs. James’ description also reflects the subtle movement associated with feminine deities: purifying with calming motions and compassionately persuading people to accept fair solutions, she seeks progress and resolution through simplicity.
Combining our initial intuitions of knowledge and skill with supportive motion, Wisdom then exemplifies not simply information or capability but embodies the one who skillfully applies their knowledge to advance peaceful development. Wisdom isn’t a static Olympian god, a perfected state to somehow be attained. No one can capture and isolate her or keep her forever caged. Her nature is always to change and grow, shifting and adapting as she absorbs new knowledge and begins to implement the information in creative and useful ways.
Looking at it that way, Jesus may very well be the masculine expression of Wisdom. If not, he’s certainly closely acquainted with her. After warning his disciples a second time about his upcoming trials and getting wind of their ensuing power plays as they headed toward their next destination, he stops to offer them a bit of wisdom: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”[2] Seeking greatness, jockeying for position, and commending or demeaning others is no path of Wisdom. Wisdom doesn’t dwell “where there is envy and selfish ambition,” because her presence disrupts “disorder and wickedness of every kind.”[3] Wisdom is no courtesan to Chaos; you won’t find her lurking his halls or boasting at his tables. Wisdom expresses herself in action and simplicity. She doesn’t show off her skills; she simply does her job. She neither walks in the counsel of the wicked nor lingers on failure’s pathways nor settles herself among those who scorn.[4]
Rather, Wisdom learns and turns and goes and grows. She humbly accepts new information and recognizes changing realities as they emerge. She reacts to substantive transformations by examining her plans and weaving a new path. She moves forward, nurturing and guiding those she encounters along the way. And she keeps becoming: continually gathering knowledge, adapting her ways, and uplifting with simplicity and compassion. Wisdom inherently respects and learns from all, even the least, and in the process seeks to serve not simply herself but everyone she encounters—even people others might deem to be below her.
“Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom.”[5]
[1] All Bible quotations are from the NRSV unless otherwise noted.
[2] Mark 9:25
[3] James 3:17
[4] Psalm 1:1 | paraphrase
[5] James 3:13