Wisdom - A Bittersweet Bread

It is written in Proverbs:

Wisdom calls -from the beginning of time- “Come, eat, of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.  Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

Wisdom teaches: the wise, when rebuked, will love you; give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach righteousness and they will gain in learning.

Wisdom calls.  Wisdom teaches.  Wisdom imparts where to start: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Wisdom was a virtue in both the Hebrew and Greek world.  The scriptures are filled with the personification of Wisdom, of Spirit. Roughly 750 years lie between the writing of Proverbs and the letter to the Ephesians, yet, the message is shared.

Wisdom calls. Wisdom teaches.  Wisdom imparts where to start.

It is written in Ephesians:

Wisdom calls: be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.

Wisdom teaches: Be filled with the Spirit – Wisdom- understand what the will of the Lord is;

Wisdom imparts where to start: as you sing songs among yourselves, making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God at all times and in everything.

As you know, we are in the midst of a lectionary cycle that talks about bread. For a number of weeks, we have been digesting Jesus’ teaching following the feeding of the 5000.  Jesus has called himself the Bread of Life.  Earlier, tempted in the wilderness to make bread from stone, Jesus quoted to the Tempter, God’s word from Deuteronomy (from the Law): One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Here Jesus equates himself with the word of God; the Bread of Life which is not about physical bread.  Jesus goes on about being the true bread from heaven, and that his flesh and blood is food, for eternal life; those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Notice that in this verse Jesus speaks in the present tense.  Jesus is speaking of life, now, in the present; not just “eternal life,” as is often the take away from this passage. Yes, there is life in the next world, but, life begins during the earthly life of the believer.

Wisdom calls, inviting us to come and eat. Now --- for the present journey.

Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, is encouraging the readers and hearers, to give thanks to God at all times and in everything. This is not as easy as it sounds.  The people of the time are facing persecution for being followers of the Way.  Following Wisdom’s call, Wisdom’s teachings; come, eat, bread and wine – and walk in a way of insight—leads to death under Roman tyranny: crucifixion, stoning, imprisonment. Consider the BREAD that Wisdom invited these people to eat. It was for the now --- for their present journey. It was to encourage faith, to give them strength for today, and hope for tomorrow.

Wisdom is not talking about a loaf of bread.  Wisdom is speaking about the Word.

There is a rich tradition in scripture of prophets eating the Word, eating sacred and holy Word.

The prophet Jeremiah is an example.  His prophetic words, which were a judgement on the way people were living, led to him being persecuted, and the people showed great opposition to the words he preached. He lamented in a poem addressed to God: Your words were found and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts. It is the Word of God that encouraged Jeremiah’s faith, and gave him the strength to carry on preaching God’s word to the people. 

The prophet Ezekiel, in his commissioning, is called by Wisdom: hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.   Ezekiel is given a written scroll.  It had writing on the front and on the back – lamentations and judgement; mourning and woe. Ezekiel ate the scroll, filled his belly with it, so that he could set off to speak to the house of Israel the words of the Lord. Ezekiel writes of the experience: I ate it, and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.
John of Patmos, the author of Revelations, was told to take a scroll that was open in the hand of an angel and eat it. Take it, and eat; it will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth.  John was then to go and prophesy about peoples, nations, languages, and kings. The scroll tasted bitter because of the message to be delivered; yet, it tasted sweet because it was God’s word.

The story is told in Buddhism where a person is pursued by a tiger. In efforts to escape the person runs over the edge of a cliff, while falling the person manages to grab a vine that hangs from the rock. Above the tiger looks down waiting for the person to try to climb up; looking up from below there is another tiger licking its lips waiting for the person to fall farther.
Two mice suddenly appear, one light, one dark. The mice start gnawing through that vine.
As all this is going on, a bee flies near the person and a drop of honey-dew falls from the bee onto the person’s lips. The person cries, “Ah…how sweet it tastes!”

Bittersweet. This word comes to us from the Middle English of the late 13^th century. It is a word that describes something pleasant, that is tinged with sadness; a mixture of bitter and sweet tastes. It is a happy memory, mixed with grief of a departed loved one.  It is the harsh word of judgement, and sweetness of grace.  It is lamentation, pain, or suffering; wrapped up in a peace that surpasses understanding, or faith amidst chaos, joy despite the circumstances.

Wisdom calls.  Wisdom teaches.  Wisdom imparts where to start: Come, eat, of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.  Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” This insight comes from eating the Word.  I am not suggesting you go home this evening and start eating the pages from your Bible, rather, hear, read, study, memorize, and meditate on the Word. We have been instructed to do these very things, many times through our Christian journey. I suspect for many of us, the words have gone in one ear and out the other.

As another school year approaches, I recall the number of times I was to write learning goals for the coming year. As each calendar year begins, I am to write goals for ministry for the coming year, and send them in to the Bishop’s office. Have you ever written goals to understand the will of God, as it says in Ephesians? Or written goals to acquire wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One, as mentioned in Proverbs? Perhaps it is time for us to reflect on settling such goals.  Where do you want to be in your understanding of God’s Word, a year from now, 5 years from now? When you are facing a crisis, what Wisdom, what Word, would you like to draw on?

That is the bread we are to eat now, so that we might have life, now.

There is a parable about a loaf of bread that fell off a delivery truck. When it hit the ground a crumb broke loose.  Three sparrows eyed the crumb and swooped down to grab it.  The sparrows argued over the crumb. Eventually one bird won the battle, by picking up the crumb, and flew away with the other birds in hot pursuit. The sparrows were so intent on the crumb, they failed to notice the rest of the loaf of bread still sitting on the ground where it had fallen.

I think this is how we eat the Word, how we answer Wisdom’s call to come and eat. We eat what is offered in this space – the Bread of Life. As we go home, and into the world, we nibble at crumbs – never thinking to hear, read, study, memorize, or meditate on the Word – to set goals for understanding the will of God, and knowledge of the Holy One.

Wisdom calls. Come, eat, of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.  Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight. Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. Wisdom teaches. Understand what the will of the Lord is. Wisdom imparts. As you sing songs among yourselves, make melody to the Lord in your hearts, give thanks to God at all times and in everything.

Eat of the Bread of Life; a bittersweet food provided for the present journey – may this bread be an encouragement of faith, strength for today, and hope for tomorrow.