Such is the title for the Women's World Day of Prayer for which I have to preach on Friday. I am not over enamoured with the material I've been supplied with which seems too simplistic to me. I have a bit of an idea rumbling around my brain, but I'm not sure whether it will work with a group of mainly older women , so I thought I'd dump it here instead!
One of the best things I was every taught in respect of preaching was based on a Barth idea of
WORD
Word
word
Where WORD refers to Christ, the Logos, the word-made-flesh; Word is the Bible, the scriptures; word is the thing the preacher speaks, shares, tells forth.
So how about a parallel for wisdom?
WISDOM
Wisdom
wisdom
Where WISDOM refers to the Holy Spirit, Sophia, the Wisdom-of-God; Wisdom is again the Bible, the scriptures, the inspired account of faith; wisdom is the thing that arises in humans as they acquire new understanding.
The two stories I have to work with - Job and Luke's Mary & Martha seem to me to represent three situations in which God's Sophia brings wisdom...
For Job there is a new perspective on questions of suffering, not answers but an awareness that God has not abandoned him. I have to admit I don't find Job easy to work with because he has a happy ending and real people in real situations very often don't. But even so, I think I can say God's Sophia can transform our views from within suffering, not to fatalistic acceptance but to the assurance of God-with-us.
For Mary there is excitement and desire to be at Jesus' feet. Something prompts her to do this, because we don't actually know that she was a dreamer or a lazy little sister! Something about God's Sophia moving us to new encounters and new possibilities.
For Martha there is just daily routine made worse by all these blokes arriving! She questions Jesus (brave woman!) and is prompted to think again about her priorities. From the Johannine accounts it is clear that her perspective does move on. Even the everyday can be transformed by God's Sophia.
And this, I think, is where I want to go with these women - that no matter what life is like, God's Wisdom brings new Understanding - new ideas, new perspectives, new hope, new practices, new dreams, new attitudes. We might not get the answers we long for, but God who is present as Spirit can and does offer hope and a future.
Does that make any sense? Is it total heresy? Who thought of it before me? And will the good ladies of the church south of Leicester get it?
Comments
Thanks for the inspiration - I was quite stuck about what to say!
Glad I'm not the only one who stuggled with the material as well. I looked at it and thought if only God's wisdom came to me that easily!
This is my first women's world day of prayer and I'm speaking at it - bit concerned its going to be a bit sufficating with all those old ladies any ideas how I can get through it?:)
Hi Lucy, hmm, know what you mean, sadly. Though having said that I do know of churches whose life is totally dependent on their little old ladies who pray...
I guess because I like the idea that there are 24 hours of people praying with this material across the world, I draw solace from that. I always struggle a bit with the fact that the whole thing - apart from the speaker - is read from the leaflet, so I tend not to read any more of it than I absolutely have to... I like to hear/listen rather than just read. At least msot of the songs are OK this year and I do actually like 'The Day Thou Gavest.' Not sure about that 'right hand' one though - what about us poor left-handers?! :-)
Just be glad you only have it once - I have it twcie!! Speaking in the morning and leading in the afternoon.
I'll be thinking of you and I'm sure they'll love you.
All best wishes for your day of prayer.
My nephew, Chris, at the age of 2 sat on his grandma's knee and noticed she was a different shape from some other family members. He asked about this as 2 year olds do.
My mother thought and then explained that she was a lady and grandad was a man. Chris was a little boy and his sister was a little girl. Grandad had been a little boy once and so had Christopher's daddy. One day when Chris grew up he would be a daddy, then when he grew up some more he would be a grandad.
Chris had been taking all this in. He nodded happily and said "Yes, and then I will be a grandma!"
I know we don't all progress along the parental route - as there are many ways which lead to perfection - but, when faced with a room of older ladies, I often remind myself that one day I too will be a grandma.
Thanks Andy, that is beautiful.
Maybe when you're a grandma you get to be a Sophia?
Isnt this total heresy? This seems to say that God is female (New Age thought) and that god is found is every human. Correct? If so total heresy
Hello Bergy. Thank you for your comment.
This does not say that God is female, though it does acknowledge the feminine within God - not the same thing at all. Sophia is a feminine noun for wisdom, and the OT also portrays wisdom as female (e.g. Proverbs); further there are many feminine/female images of God within the Bible. God is neither 'male' nor 'female' but more than both.
It also does not say that God is found in every human, though I do believe God's Spirit can and does 'nudge' every human. Because I believe in free will people may ignore that 'nudge.' Potentially, God's Spirit is in every human, that's not heresy, that's just the wonderful potential that free grace offers.
You are, of course, free to disagree with me, but I am not proposing to enter a long debate on this topic.