Wisdom Cometh From The Lord
THE TENTH SUDNAY AFTER TRINITY
The apocryphal book called Ecclesiasticus, which is also entitled The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, is an outstanding example of the wisdom genre of literature that was popular in the early Hellenistic period of Judaism (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD). Ecclesiasticus, from which the first lesson is taken, appeared in the Septuagint, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.
Like other major wisdom books such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and The Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus contains practical and moral guidance and exhortations applicable to every man, woman, and child, but especially to the covenant people of God across all generations, times and places. At the time of the Protestant Reformation, English reformers like Archbishop Thomas Cranmer wisely retained books like Ecclesiasticus to be read within the life of the Anglican Church.
If you turn to page 603 in your prayer books you will find in the sixth Article of Religion entitled Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation the following statement: "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." Then follows a familiar list of the thirty-nine Old Testament canonical books.
The article continues on the top of page 406, "And the other books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish doctrine. And below in the left-hand column is listed the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, or Jesus the Son of Sirach. This is why we read from apocryphal books throughout the year as we have done so today: for instruction in holiness so that we may enjoy participation in the Divine Life and do the commandments of God.
In an age of reformation zeal, many went beyond the scope of the first reformers and ended up confusing reform with revolution, and there is an immense difference between the two. The agenda of the English Reformers (men like John Wycliffe, Thomas Cranmer, Matthew Parker, and Nicholas Ridley) along with their continental counterparts (men such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, and Phillip Melanchthon) was reform: to re-form the one, holy, catholic and Apostolic Church back to orthodoxy, not blow it up and create something completely new. In other words, they never intended to "throw the baby but out with the bathwater."
Their aim was to correct relatively recent innovations and superstitions which had crept into the medieval Church by going back to the scriptures in their original languages, back to the catholicity of the great apostolic Tradition as articulated in the writings of the early Church Fathers. They wanted to get back to the source, Ad Fontes, to get back to the proper form of faith and practice found in the undivided Church. And when it came to God's Word, these men fought against abuses derived from improperly elevating the authority of Tradition to that of Holy Scripture.
In particular, the English Reformers took great care to not overreact as many of our reformation brothers did, and some, I might add, are still reforming to this day! The Anglican Church retained the apocryphal books because what our reformers found in studying church history and the Church Fathers is that these books were frequently read in the vast majority of the Churches from the earliest ages to the time of the Reformation.
In fact, these same books would have been in the Bible of Jesus' day, the Septuagint, from which the Lord himself cited along with the Apostles. It was not lost on men like Clement and Tertullian that neither our Lord nor any of His Apostles ever gave warning against them, as they quoted from the volume of the Septuagint, which contained them.
With this being the case, one can see why the very first and subsequent Christian churches continued to read them. Following the pattern of history and Tradition, our Anglican Fathers retained the Apocryphal books within the life of the English Church, and we, as Anglican's in North America, are inheritors of a healthy respect for these writings. With the Reformers, we adhere to a maxim originated at the Nicene Council, which is this: Let ancient customs prevail.
An old unnamed English churchman who wasn't particularly inclined to pay such respect to the Apocrypha wrote, "Man is a creature of extremes. The middle path is generally the wise path, but there are few wise enough to find it. Because the Papists have made too much of some things, Protestants have made too little of them... The Papist puts the Apocrypha into his Canon; the Protestant will scarcely regard it as ancient record."
Frequently, Anglicanism is referred to as the Middle Path or the Via Media (The Middle Way), and some of you may be familiar with this description. But let me assure you, this Middle Way does not imply compromise; it implies comprehension. Anglicanism as the Middle Way isn't the part of Christ's Church whose mission is to take Rome in one hand and Evangelicals in the other and play nice. Nothing could be further from the truth! The Middle Way of Anglicanism is one of comprehension: Christian piety informed by Scripture, Tradition, and the Fathers.
It is the fullness of catholicity and the fullness of evangelicalism. It is both catholic and reformed. Compromise says, "you must choose one or the other." Comprehension says, "why choose when we can be both catholic and evangelical." Because these are not two separate things which the Church of England has forever been attempting to hold together by some great feat of compromise. Rather, they both lie behind Anglicanism, and as the New Testament shows, they are, in fact, one. Would we ever say that St. Paul wasn't catholic or that he wasn't evangelical?
M.E. Marshall, the former Bishop of Woolwich, said the following in one of his famous lectures, "The witness of the New Testament is always the same. I believe there are three ingredients in the fullness of the Church: sacramental, evangelical, and experiential. The trouble is that we tend to compartmentalize, "we're sacramentalists, or we're Catholics, or we're evangelicals." Friends, the Middle Way of Anglican comprehension, is this: fully catholic and uncompromisingly evangelical at the same time. When people ask what an Anglican is. I say, "well, I'm a Christian. Reformed and catholic."
Now, I have taken time to teach on the apocryphal books because first, I don't want misunderstanding or lack of knowledge about our use of these books to be an obstacle to experiencing the fullness of Anglican life and worship. Second, I want you to have an answer for any who might ask as to why we read them. But third, and more importantly, I want these writings to serve you as they have since the days of our Lord as "examples for life and instruction in manners." Because this is what Trinity-tide is all about, what the entirety of the Christian life is about: our growth in virtue and holiness unto union with God and obedience to His commandments.
But growth in holiness necessitates wisdom because knowledge alone simply isn't enough. St. James says, "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!" (2:19). Knowledge must be put into action. You see, without wisdom, mere knowledge is useless and often dangerous. The highest purpose in God's pouring out of wisdom is to make us holy.
Time and time again, scripture connects wisdom with holiness. You see, wisdom is different from knowledge. Knowledge is the content, the data of revelation. But wisdom employs knowledge in a way that leads to righteousness- or to put it another way- Divine wisdom is how we take what we know and walk in holiness. "All wisdom cometh from the Lord and is with him forever."
The fountainhead from which wisdom comes to men is the word by which God creates the world and reveals himself. The 'ways' or channels through which its life-giving waters flow down to men are God's commandments. St. Paul tells us in today's epistle that "to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom." But we must seek wisdom in prayer.
Of Wisdom, Proverbs 8:17 says, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me." In order to attain wisdom, one must go after it. We must seek the fount of wisdom, which is the source of all virtue and blessedness, and by warnings, admonitions, and promises revealed in the Divine Word be encouraged to the pursuit of the same.
True wisdom is Divine wisdom; it is an intrinsic characteristic of God revealed to Israel in the Torah. But the wisdom of God first spoken through the Old Testament Law and prophets has now been fully communicated through the incarnate Son of God. In the person of Christ, the new Torah, the Law of God incarnate, linking the commandments and wisdom of God given to Israel to the God-Man Jesus Christ Who is the image of the invisible God.
Beloved, Jesus is the wise man, the great philosopher, the True Solomon, the one not only endowed with Divine wisdom but the very embodiment of Divine Wisdom itself. Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God. St. Paul says, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."
Therefore, we must draw near to Christ, who is Divine Wisdom if we wish to live well before God, which means we must be in his body, the Church where the Wisdom of Christ resides. Through His bride, the Church, Divine wisdom comes as she prays, as she studies and preaches God's Word, and through the proper administration of the Sacraments, particularly in the Lord's Supper.
Ecclesiasticus tells us that He gives wisdom to those who love Him. The impartation of Divine Wisdom is always preceded by our love of Christ and to love Him is to love his Church. So, having found the Wise Teacher let us 'sit at his feet' within the school of Christ's church feeding on the Divine Wisdom found in the Holy Scriptures, her liturgies, and her sacraments. And may we all like Christ, grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Amen+
