Life’s Realities Questioned - Reflections on Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 for Proper 18, Year B

by John Holbert on Tuesday, September 3, 2024

Proper 18.  Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23. September 8, 2024. “Life’s Realities Questioned”

          We begin today a three-week look at the vast book of Proverbs. The disparate contents of the book defy easy categorization, since we find both remarkable theological speculation about the power of Lady Wisdom (Prov. 8) and rather common statements of human activity (multiple locations!). I imagine it is fair to say that the book has yielded few preaching opportunities for most of you readers, forcing you to revert to the other possible texts for the day. Yet, a closer look at what may at first appear simple, even simplistic, offers to the careful and patient reader much food for thought and potential fodder for a lively sermon or two.

          “A name is chosen over vast riches,
                favor more than silver or gold” (Prov. 22:1)

The key words in this spare observation are “name” and “favor.” The implication of the first is that a name, that is a good reputation, is far more important than great wealth. Is that in fact true, especially in times when wealth is seen as proof of success, as the occasion of great jealousy, even as an indication of moral superiority? What good is a “name” if it is not accompanied by money and its concomitant power? Should one in fact choose “name” over wealth?

          The second word “favor,” is rather more complex in its meaning. On occasion this word can mean something like “elegance,” such as the form or appearance of a woman (Prov. 31:30) or the beauty of a precious stone (Prov. 17:8), or even the beauty of a speech (Prov. 22:11). Yet, the more common meaning has to do with the ways a person is perceived either by God or by other humans, namely “to find favor in the eyes of.” Thus, the second line appears to mirror the first: both a good name and public favor are to be preferred to money.

          I would suggest that neither in 6th/5th century Israel (the purported time of the composition of the book of Proverbs), nor in a 21st century US America are such notions universally true or even acceptable to many. Given the choice of a good name and indications of favor in the public eye, many did and have chosen money. How else explain the increasing gulf between rich and poor, both in ancient Israel, as Amos makes all too clear in his 8th century BCE context, and in our own century. The proverb merely flies in the face of a reality of human life by suggesting that this kind of choice ought to be made. The fact that it is not regularly made makes the proverb a sort of goad, a prod to tease us into thinking again about our choices in life.

          And Prov. 22:2 offers a kind of rationale for some new thinking about the sorts of choices we need to make.

          “The rich and the poor come together (“have this in common” NRSV)
                 YHWH makes all of them.”

In Prov. 22:1 we are urged to make the choice for name and favor over riches, and here we are reminded that both rich and poor are products of YHWH. In the end, says this proverb, all are creatures of YHWH and are thus equal in YHWH’s eyes. Rather than focus our attentions on pursuing wealth and power, we are instead to focus on our human equality before YHWH, whether we are rich or poor.

          I still am hesitant to sweep that initial choice under the rug, not caring whether I am rich or poor, but being concerned only with favor and name, because I, the poor one am finally equal to you, the rich one, in the eyes of God. Is that theological reality, a common enough belief in the Bible, conclusive so that I am finally relieved of my concern for wealth, my concern for the vast gulf between rich and the poor? Is it enough to say that since all are equal in the sight of God, issues of wealth and poverty are set aside in a great ocean of divine equality? Personally, I doubt it, but these proverbs have jolted my thinking in ways that lead to further thought.

          Proverbs 22:8-9 offer other rich reflections:

          “Who sows wrongdoing will reap injustice,
               and the rod of his wrath will fail.
          The generous one will be blessed
               for giving bread to the wretched”

In vs. 8 anyone who sows evil and injustice will reap it, and as a result the anger and wrath conjured up against others will become useless. Again, we must ask, is this in fact true in the life we live? We would like it to be true, that those who are purveyors of injustice will find the fangs of their fury extracted. And, equally, we would like it to be true that all the generous among us will be blessed for their generosity. These are both not universally true in our own experience. Obviously, proverbs are not designed to announce what is always true, but rather sharply question such supposed truths, and bid us to think deeper about what choices in life we make and why we make them. There is much in the book of Proverbs that we may read to energize our minds into restless thought, no bad thing for a preacher.