Tawa Baptist

The Spirit & Lydia

Scripture: Acts 16:6-15

Video Link:  https://youtu.be/Yuu1LtQLwQk

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • An open window
  • A small beginning
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

The expression God never closes a door without opening a window has become a bit of a cliché. But that does not make it any less true. To say that God never closes a door without opening a window implies that God is exercising a guiding hand over our lives for good.

A door represents the usual means of entry. While climbing through a window is not the usual (or expected) way of getting in. Gaining access through a window requires us to think differently, to look for alternatives and to be prepared to make ourselves a bit uncomfortable.

During the month of August, we have been focusing on a series of passages from the book of Acts in support of Arotahi, our New Zealand Baptist mission organization.

The book of Acts tells how the Holy Spirit worked through men and women to spread the message about Jesus. Last week we heard how the Spirit involved Stephen, Ananias and Barnabas in the call and conversion of Saul.

This week we jump ahead in time around 15 or 16 years. By this stage, Saul is now the apostle Paul, about to embark on his second missionary journey.

But, as we shall see, this journey takes an unexpected turn when the Holy Spirit closes a door and opens a window. From Acts 16, verse 6, we read…   

6 Paul and his companions travelled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we travelled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that districtof Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

An open window:

Can you think of a time when God closed a door and opened a window in your life? Such that your life took a whole different path.

Perhaps you thought you would be an accountant or an artist, but you became a social worker or a teacher instead. Or maybe you thought you would live somewhere sunny and warm, but you ended up in Tawa.

Sometimes we think we are headed in a certain direction, only to encounter a roadblock before reaching our destination. Then, when we least expect it, another way is opened to us; a window to a world of possibility quite different from what we first imagined.

The Holy Spirit closes doors and opens windows quite a bit in the Bible.

David thought he was going to be a shepherd of sheep, playing his harp in the field. But God made him the shepherd and king of all Israel and the author of many psalms.

Peter thought he was going to be a fisherman following in his father’s footsteps, but God made Peter a fisher of men following in Jesus’ footsteps.

Paul thought he was going to be a Jewish religious leader, a guardian of the law. But Jesus made Paul an apostle, a guardian of the gospel of Christ.   

What doors has God closed in your life. What windows has he opened?

In the verses we just read from Acts 16, the Holy Spirit shut the door to Asia and opened a window to Europe.

We don’t know why or how the Spirit prevented Paul and his mates from entering Asia, but we don’t need to know. The point is, the Spirit of Jesus was directing the Christian mission with a bigger picture in mind.

The book of Acts isn’t primarily about the acts of the apostles. It’s more about the acts of the Holy Spirit, working through the apostles. 

Verse 6 of Acts 16 says that Paul travelled with his companions. This tells us Paul was not a one-man band. Paul worked as part of a team. Not a large team, just 3 or 4 highly committed people.

When it comes to Christian mission it is best not to go it alone. We need the encouragement, support and accountability of other believers. Paul’s team on this occasion included Silas, Timothy and Luke.

Silas was a respected leader in the early church and recognised as a good speaker, someone who would assist Paul in preaching the gospel.

Timothy was an emerging leader, Paul’s apprentice. The missionary journey was good experience for Timothy. Paul had an eye to the future, hoping that Timothy would carry on the work after he was gone, which Timothy did.

Luke was a physician and historian. Having a doctor travelling with them was a good health & safety measure. But Luke did more than take care of blisters. Luke took notes. He documented Paul’s work and wrote one of the gospels about Jesus, as well as the book of Acts. We (today) owe a great deal to Luke.    

Verse 9 says, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When Paul shared his vision with his companions, they all concluded Macedonia must be where God wanted them to go.

This shows us at least two things. Firstly, discerning God’s will is best done in community with other believers. Paul had the vision, but Silas, Timothy and Luke helped him to interpret it.

Secondly, Paul and his team held their plans loosely. They were open to God. God’s ways are not our ways. God has his own plan and we need to be flexible enough to adjust our sails to the wind of his Spirit. If we push a door and it doesn’t open, we don’t force our way in. We look for a window.

Verses 11 & 12 of Acts 16 tell us how Paul and his team obeyed the prompting of the Holy Spirit, travelling from Troas to Philippi, a leading city in Macedonia. The open window from Troas to Phillipi involved sailing across the sea and walking inland for a bit.

Macedonia is one of the largest regions of Greece. It is the place Alexander the Great came from. When the Romans took over from the Greeks, Philippi was populated with Roman army veterans. Consequently, Philippi was a city that was very loyal to Rome, quite different from Jerusalem.

Verse 12 says that once they had arrived in Phillipi, Paul and his friends stayed there several days. This is interesting. Paul doesn’t dive into preaching the gospel straight away. He simply observes for a while. He walks around, taking in the culture and getting a feel for the place. 

The first job of a missionary is to listen. Before we can communicate effectively, we must get to know the people and their culture.

A small beginning:

So what happened next? From verse 13 of Acts 16 we read about Philippi’s first Christian convert…    

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God.

The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Life starts small. Biological life doesn’t come much smaller than a cell.

Cell size is measured in microns. A micron is a millionth of a meter, which is tiny. Your average human cell is about 25 microns in diameter, so you can’t see a human cell with the naked eye. You need a microscope.

As small as they are, cells are the basic building blocks of all living things.

The human body is composed of trillions of cells. Cells are essential to our physical functioning.

Life starts small but it grows. Last week we saw a video about the work in India. In 1938 Malcolm and Catherine Eade went to Tripura. Gwen told me the Eades worked as missionaries for ten years before seeing their first convert. Now, more than 85 years later, there are thousands of Christians and hundreds of churches in Tripura.  

In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

The kingdom of heaven starts small, but it grows big enough to fill the whole earth.

Paul’s standard mission strategy, when going to a new city, was to begin by preaching in the local synagogue, because this is where the common ground was. As a Jew, Paul was usually welcome in the synagogue, at least at first.

Also, the Jews were more likely to understand what Paul was saying about Jesus being the Messiah of God. They already believed in the one true God and they had a concept of the Messiah through the Hebrew Scriptures.

However, there weren’t enough Jews in Philippi to warrant having a synagogue so that door wasn’t just closed, it did not exist.

Undeterred, Paul and his friends looked for a window. They went down to the river on a Sabbath where they expected to find people at prayer. The idea was to start sharing the message about Jesus with those who were most likely to receive it.

When Paul and his companions arrived at the river, they found a group of women gathered there. Before coming to Phillipi, Paul had seen a vision of a man from Macedonia. But on arriving they were faced with women. 

Now I imagine Paul and Silas probably felt a bit uncomfortable because, in their culture, it just wasn’t done for Jewish men to talk with women they didn’t know, especially Gentile women.

But that’s the thing about Jesus. He is for everybody, including those who are different from us. In Acts 8, the Spirit sent Philip to help an Ethiopian eunuch, who then came to faith in Jesus. And in Acts 10, the Spirit sent Peter to Cornelius, a Roman Centurion.  

Verse 14 says, one of those listening was a woman named Lydia.   

We don’t know Lydia’s origin story, only that she was a dealer in purple cloth, which in today’s terms equates to a business woman in the fashion industry.

The most likely scenario is that Lydia was a widow who took over running the business and the household after her husband died. She appears to be very capable, a woman of means.

Verse 14 notes that Lydia was a worshiper of God. In other words, she was a Gentile who converted to the Jewish faith at some point in the past. Therefore, she believed in Yahweh and was familiar with the Hebrew Bible (our Old Testament) but she did not yet know that Jesus is the Messiah.

Who is the Lydia in your life? Who do you know who is open to hearing about Jesus? Pray for them. Speak with them. Be friends with them.

Verse 14 goes on to say, The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

The heart, in Scripture, generally refers to a person’s inner life. The heart is more than one’s feelings. The heart is the core of your being, including the mind, emotions and will. The heart is where desire and longing and decision making come from.   

I imagine that Paul gave Lydia some wonderful rationale for believing in Jesus, but I don’t expect it was solely logic that convinced Lydia. I believe the door to Lydia’s heart was opened by the love of Jesus. As she heard about Jesus’ sacrifice, Lydia was moved from within to respond to God’s love

In Romans 5, Paul writes, “And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of love and truth. The Holy Spirit is the key which unlocks genuine heart understanding. We can’t really put our trust in Jesus without the help of the Holy Spirit. So how does Lydia respond?

Well, she and her household are baptized with water. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward reality. By being baptized, Lydia is sealing her commitment to Jesus and bearing witness to the work of the Spirit within her.

After Lydia and her household have been baptized, she opens her home to Paul and his friends, saying: “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And the apostle Paul and his friends show their acceptance of her as a true believer in the Lord (like them) by staying in her home.

We are not told if anyone else listening to Paul that day became a Christian.

Unlike the church in Jerusalem, which started with 3000 converts on the day of Pentecost, it appears the church in Europe started small, with just one household.

But life often starts small, with only a single cell. Lydia’s home became the first house church for believers in Phillipi. Since that humble start, 2000 years ago, literally millions of people have become followers of Jesus throughout Europe.

Conclusion:

The thing I like about today’s reading is that there is nothing spectacular or dramatic about it. The opening verses of Acts 16 are like a jam sandwich, sweet but ordinary.

So often in the book of Acts we encounter miracle after miracle. The apostles speak in foreign languages, they heal people and cast out demons, they confound their critics with wisdom from heaven, the doors of prisons fly open for them, they see the Spirit manifest God’s power in supernatural ways, they are bitten by scorpions and live. The miraculous is common place in Acts.

And while that is all wonderful and true (and irritating), it seems a long way from our own experience.

I like that Paul and his companions stumbled their way into Europe. They had intended to go to Asia but the way was blocked. For a few days there they didn’t know where the Spirit was leading them. That’s how it is for us most of the time. More often than not we only see God’s guidance with the benefit of hindsight.

I like the way Lydia and her household came to faith in Jesus. There was no walking on water, no healing of the blind or deaf. No tongues of fire or any other drama. The Spirit did something within Lydia, something deeply personal, which unlocked her understanding and communicated the love of Christ.

This is a work of God for introverts. How precious is that inner change, that almost goes unnoticed.

And I like way Lydia responded with a simple obedience of faith, no grand gestures. She was baptised in water and offered the apostles hospitality.      

Miracles are great but they are not the destination. They are merely sign posts along the way pointing to an even greater reality. The reality of God’s love for us in Christ.

So, this is my prayer today…

May Jesus be real for you in the ordinary things of life.

May Jesus be real for you whether you are vacuuming or making the dinner.

May Jesus be real for you whether you at the supermarket or at work.

May Jesus be real for you whether you are reading your Bible or watching TV.

May Jesus be real for you whether you are feeling happy or sad, angry or calm.

May Jesus be real for you whether the door is open or closed.

May Jesus be real for you whether the beginning is small or large.

May Jesus be real for you in all of life. Amen.   

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  2. Can you think of a time in your life when God changed the direction of your life, when he closed a door and opened a window? What happened?
  3. Who does Paul take with him on his second missionary journey in Acts 16? Why does Paul take these companions? Who are your companions on the journey of faith and mission?
  4. What is the first thing Paul does when he arrives in Phillipi? Why does he do this?
  5. Why did Lydia respond to Paul’s message as she did?
  6. Do you know anyone like Lydia? Who are the people in your life who are most open to hearing about Jesus?
  7. What small (Spirit inspired) beginnings are you aware of?
Tawa Baptist

Wedded to Wisdom

Scripture: Proverbs 31:10-31

Video Link: https://youtu.be/kEbqD1U8ugQ

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Wonder Woman, or
  • Wisdom Woman
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

If someone says to you, ‘His head is in the clouds’, they don’t literally mean that his head is high in the air floating around in the mist. They are using picture language to convey the idea that he is day dreaming.

Likewise, if someone says to you, ‘I feel like a pizza’, you know they are not talking about feeling hot and cheesy. They are speaking figuratively. They are saying, I feel like eating a pizza.

And if someone says, ‘I worked my socks off’, they don’t mean their socks literally came off while they were working. They mean I worked really hard.

Today we continue our series in the book of Proverbs. Much of Proverbs is poetry. It uses metaphor or picture language to convey ideas. Because Proverbs uses picture language you cannot take everything at face value. If what you are reading doesn’t make sense literally, then think figuratively. 

This morning’s message focuses on a poem at the end Proverbs. In the original Hebrew this is an alphabetical acrostic poem which means each line of the poem begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

An English acrostic might go something like, she is Admirable, she is Beautiful, she is Clever, she is Discerning, she is Empathic and so on. 

Some readers see this as the A to Z of being the ideal wife because, if we read it literally, the poem seems to describe a kind of Wonder Woman with superpowers for doing housework, raising children, making money, helping the poor, giving wise advice and making her husband successful. 

If we read this poem metaphorically though, it is not talking about who you marry. It’s talking about wisdom. It’s saying, whoever you are, whether you are male or female, single or in a relationship, make wisdom your partner for life. Wisdom is the ideal help mate. From Proverbs 31, verse 10 we read…

10 How hard it is to find a capable wife! She is worth far more than jewels! 11 Her husband puts his confidence in her, and he will never be poor. 12 As long as she lives, she does him good and never harm. 13 She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth. 14 She brings home food from out-of-the-way places, as merchant ships do. 15 She gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family and to tell her servant women what to do. 16 She looks at land and buys it, and with money she has earned she plants a vineyard. 17 She is a hard worker, strong and industrious. 18 She knows the value of everything she makes, and works late into the night. 19 She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth. 20 She is generous to the poor and needy. 21 She doesn’t worry when it snows, because her family has warm clothing. 22 She makes bedspreads and wears clothes of fine purple linen. 23 Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens. 24 She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants. 25 She is strong and respected and not afraid of the future. 26 She speaks with a gentle wisdom. 27 She is always busy and looks after her family’s needs. 28 Her children show their appreciation, and her husband praises her. 29 He says, “Many women are good wives, but you are the best of them all.” 30 Charm is deceptive and beauty disappears, but a woman who honours the Lord should be praised. 31 Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

As I said earlier, there are basically two ways to understand this poem at the end of Proverbs, literally or metaphorically. Is the poem describing an actual human being, the ideal Wonder Woman that every man should aspire to marry?

Or is the poem describing wisdom herself, so the capable wife is not an actual human being but a metaphor personifying wisdom from God? Let’s starts by exploring a literal interpretation.

Wonder Woman:

We might summarise the qualities of the wife described in Proverbs 31 with the following C’s: character, commitment, capability, compassion and confidence. 

She is a woman of noble character (verse 10). Character has to do with virtue. Things like, honesty, faithfulness, courage and so on. Good character creates and maintains trust and trust is the foundation of any relationship.

Another important quality necessary for any long-term relationship is commitment. As Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality’.

Verse 12 says this wonder woman does good to her husband as long as she lives. That’s real commitment.  

There are times in a marriage when it is simply hard graft because of circumstances outside of your control. There are times when you just have to grit your teeth and commit yourself to getting through the tough stuff together.

The wife described in Proverbs 31 is a capable woman, meaning she has skills in working with her hands (verse 19) and in making good business decisions (verse 16). But she also has the capacity and the strength to work her socks off and get the job done (verse 17).

Verse 13 says, she keeps herself busy making wool & linen cloth. The original Hebrew text does not actually say ‘busy’. It literally translates ‘pleasure of her hands’ (or ‘eager hands’), meaning she enjoys working. Creative work is not drudgery to her. [1]

She is compassionate, opening her arms to the poor and helping the needy (verse 20). There is wisdom in taking care of those less fortunate in your neighbourhood. If you do, they are more likely to take care of you and your family when it is in their power to do so.      

Verse 26 shows us another aspect of her compassion. She speaks with gentle wisdom. The idea here is that she has just the right word in season. Truth with grace. She knows how to turn away wrath with a gentle word. 

Verse 21 tells us she is confident, not a worrier. She is not anxious about her household because she is prepared. Confidence is contagious. This wonder woman inspires confidence in others.

Most people are attracted to a partner by charm or beauty. But charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting. So, if you are looking for a marriage partner then competence, commitment, capability, compassion and confidence are all helpful qualities to keep in mind.

One quality that is conspicuous by its absence, in Proverbs 31, is compatibility. Compatibility has to do with how easily you get along. You want your partner in marriage to have a personality that fits with yours and doesn’t grate. You want to have the same values and be heading in the same direction, otherwise life will quickly become a grind.

A literal reading of Proverbs 31 paints a picture of a woman who is high performance and low maintenance. It is hard to imagine anyone living up to the standard set by this poem though. It seems a bit unreal, sort of like the Cosby Show – trying to hold up an ideal that is often divorced from the reality of everyday experience.

There are perhaps only three women in the entire Bible who come close to fitting the description of the wife in Proverbs 31…

Ruth probably fits the ideal best. She honours her first husband after he dies by looking after her mother-in-law and finding a relative of her husband to marry and provide an heir.

She works extremely hard, is good with her hands and demonstrates wisdom and loyalty, so much so that Boaz (a man of standing in the community) marries her and praises her. Indeed, she is praised by everyone in the community who say she is better than seven sons.

Abigail is another (almost) example of the Proverbs 31 wife. She is an astute business-woman who manages her household well. However, her first husband seems to take her for granted and she doesn’t have a great deal of respect for him either.

Looking at the New Testament; Lydia (possibly) approximates the ideal woman.

I’m not sure what her marital status was but Lydia was a wealthy trader in purple cloth, she honoured God and she provided for the apostles.

The point is this wonder woman of Proverbs 31 is hard to find even in the Bible. So how realistic is it for us to read this passage in a literal way? Because a literal reading seems to exclude most women…

It excludes single women and women who cannot have children.

It excludes women who can’t sew or cook. 

It excludes women whose children have gone off the rails.

It excludes women who don’t work outside the home.

It excludes women whose husbands share the domestic duties because she does work outside the home. It excludes women who don’t have servants.  

And it excludes women whose husband or children take them for granted.

It basically excludes any woman who needs more than 4 hours sleep a day.  

Apparently, some Jewish men used to recite this poem to their wives on Sabbath evenings. [2] If we give them the benefit of the doubt it was perhaps a gesture of their love and appreciation. A way of saying, ‘I see all that you do for our family’.  

But I imagine there were some weeks when the woman did not appreciate it – like she was being reminded of all the ways she did not measure up.

And this is one of the dangers with reading Proverbs 31 in a literal way. Girls might think this is how I should be. This is my duty or else I fail and am not worthy.  

The other danger with reading Proverbs 31 literally is that boys might think this is how my wife is supposed to be. She is supposed to do everything for me and the kids. Then there is disappointment when she does not live up to his expectations.

Ladies, if you try to live up to this, then you are just going to wear yourself out and you will probably end up alienating your husband for all your efforts. When I look at Proverbs 31 from a literal perspective, I find myself asking, ‘When do this couple ever spend any time together?’

She is so busy doing things apart from him that there is not much opportunity for companionship or intimacy in their relationship.

It’s like the chorus line in that song by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay. I’m not looking for somebody with some superhuman gifts, some superhero, some fairy tale bliss. I just want someone I can turn to, somebody I can kiss.

So, is there anything redeemable from a literal reading of this poem?

Well, yes. On the positive side we see a woman who is empowered and trusted by her husband. She has freedom and independence to use her initiative, to buy land and trade.

We could view this as quite enlightened for its time. It’s sort of a ‘women can anything’ text centuries before that became fashionable. It also shows men they don’t need to feel threatened or insecure if their wife is more competent than they are.   

The poem finishes by saying, a woman who honours the Lord should be praised. Give her credit for all she does. She deserves the respect of everyone.

This can be taken literally. Here we see a man who appreciates his wife and does not take her for granted. Men, don’t wait for your wife or mother or sister to meet some perfect ideal before you say good things to her.

Express your appreciation with words and with listening. Say it by helping with the kids and the housework. Say it by taking her out to a nice restaurant. Say it anyway that she can hear it, as long as the message is ‘I love and appreciate you’.

Wisdom Woman:

Okay, so a literal reading of the text can offer some helpful advice, but it also comes with some hooks. On the whole it is probably more helpful (and truer to the context) to understand the woman in Proverbs 31, not as a literal human being, but rather as a metaphor personifying wisdom.

Personification is when we give human characteristics to something that is not human. For example, in A.A. Milne’s stories of Winnie the Pooh – Pooh Bear has a friend called ‘Owl’. Owl is a personification of wisdom, just as Eeyore personifies melancholy and Piglet personifies loyalty.   

In a similar vein the writer of Proverbs 31 personifies wisdom, giving the abstract concept of wisdom, human characteristics.

As Kathleen O’Connor writes…

Rather than supplying the image of the correct marriage partner the poem [in Proverbs 31] serves as a summary of the whole Book of Proverbs. Its central character is no typical woman but the Wisdom Woman herself… this poem demonstrates what life is like once one has chosen to live with wisdom. [3]

In other words, the poem in Proverbs 31 is not suggesting that human wives need to wear themselves out trying to attain an impossible ideal. It is saying that men and women should intentionally seek wisdom like they would look for a marriage partner.

We should love wisdom, live with wisdom, sleep with wisdom, make a lifetime commitment to wisdom. Because then we (and our families) will enjoy all wisdom’s benefits.  

If we read Proverbs 31 metaphorically this is what it might sound like…

Verse 10 – How hard it is to find wisdom. She is worth far more than jewels.

This echoes Proverbs 8, where wisdom speaks as a woman saying…  

Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire can compare with her.

Verse 11 – The man who puts his confidence in wisdom will never be poor.

(As opposed to the man who puts his confidence in luck or dishonest gain.)

As long as she lives wisdom does him good and never harm.

Verses 13 & 14 – Wisdom works with eager hands. Wisdom brings home food from out of the way places. Wisdom gets up before daylight to prepare food for her family…

In other words, a wise man works to provide for his family. He doesn’t wait for things to fall into his lap. He doesn’t waste time doing busy work that bears little or no fruit. He enjoys working for a meaningful purpose, putting food on the table for the people he loves.

Verse 16 – Wisdom looks at land (she considers it first without rushing into a decision) then she buys it, and with money she has earned wisdom plants a vineyard.

This is like saying, a wise man does not leave his land lying unproductive. A wise man puts what he has to good use. Verse 16 is talking about stewardship.

Verses 17 & 18 – Wisdom is a hard worker, strong and industrious. Wisdom works late into the night.

This does not mean burning the candle at both ends or becoming a workaholic. That is not wisdom.

It could mean, a wise decision will go on working for you through the night, so you can sleep and have peace.

But it might also mean, if you have a problem to solve or a difficult decision to make, then often the wisest thing to do is sleep on it. As you sleep, wisdom does its work so when you wake in the morning the way forward is clearer.

The main point is that wisdom enables you to work smarter, so you don’t have to work harder.

Verse 20 – Wisdom is generous to the poor and needy.

In other words, it is wise to show practical compassion to those who are less fortunate. Better to have the poor on your side than to have them cursing you or worse.  

Verse 23 – Wisdom’s husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

The city gate, in ancient times, was sort of like the local council and court room. It was a place where the leaders of the city gathered to make community decisions.

When a man is wedded to wisdom, he earns respect and influence in the community. He is listened to.

We could go on, but you get the point. When we read Proverbs 31 metaphorically, thinking of the capable wife not as an actual human being but as Wisdom personified, then it takes on a whole new meaning.

Conclusion:

As I keep saying throughout this series, Jesus is the personification of God’s wisdom (both literally and metaphorically). Jesus embodies wisdom.

Jesus came that we might have abundant life. The yoke of Jesus’ wisdom is easy, meaning it fits us perfectly. And his burden is light, meaning he does not ask us to carry the weight of unrealistic expectations.  

When we make a lifetime commitment to following Jesus, we find wisdom.  

May God grant you a long and happy union with wisdom. Amen. 

Questions for discussion or reflection:

  1. What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?
  • How do you feel when you read Proverbs 31:10-31 literally? How do you feel when you read this same passage metaphorically?
  • What are the difficulties in reading Proverbs 31:10-31 literally? What parts can be read literally?
  • What sort of qualities are important to you in a long-term relationship? (E.g. marriage or friendship.)
  • How does the meaning of verses 17 & 18 change when read metaphorically? That is, Wisdom is a hard worker, strong and industrious. Wisdom works late into the night. 
  • How does Proverbs 31 point to Jesus?

[1] Graeme Goldsworthy, ‘Proverbs The Tree of Life’, page 163.

[2] Paul E. Koptak, NIVAC Proverbs, page 675

[3] Cited in Alice Ogden Bellis’ book ‘Helpmates, Harlots and Heroes’, page 198.