Wisdom That Works for Us

Then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. (Proverbs 8:30-31 ESV) Trinity Sunday is the only Sunday dedicated to a doctrinal teaching about God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But this Biblical truth is more than just about having the right belief, it is about knowing what this Triune God has done for you and me to make us His very own. Today at International Lutheran Church, we confess the ancient creeds and hear again the truth of God’s love for you and me.

One thing I remember about my father is his love for and enjoyment in the work of his hands. It seemed to me as I was growing up that my father’s recreation was “working.” This was maybe tilling the garden, mowing the grass, trimming the bushes, or painting the fence. All of these things seemed to add to his energy and excitement. Some people enjoyed golfing or shopping or exploring something new or different, but for my father those could not compare with the opportunity to make something, do something, change something for the better. I am sure that part of his work ethic was learned early on in his growing up on a farm in Northern Wisconsin where there was a whole day full of things that needed to get done – water to carry, cows to milk, chickens to feed, fences to mend, and tools to repair. But I also can’t help but hear in this Wisdom book of Solomon the heart of something even deeper within our own human existence.

In the passage we have for us today from Proverbs 8, Wisdom is personified, first as a woman and then as a craftsman. Both exhibit qualities that we can relate to, like a caring and hospitable woman calling out and inviting the weary traveler to find rest within her home. I actually think of my father’s mother whose smiling face was always red with enthusiasm when she welcomed us into her home and settled us in our beds when we would arrive for our summer “vacation” of bailing hay and milking cows. Maybe this is where my father got his love of working. She never seemed to tire of sharing her best with others. Not that she didn’t complain at times or recognize the benefits of modernity. After reflecting on the early days of carrying water to the house from the spring in the cold Wisconsin winter (think “The Little House in the Big Woods”), I can recall her saying more than once, “The good old days?! Ha! The only thing good about them is that they are gone!” Yet, this woman never tired or complained about what she was doing for so many around her. It was like it gave her energy to serve.

The kingly-prophet Solomon, speaking in the Spirit as his father David had done, also speaks in the first person of wisdom who is there at the side of Him who made all things before anything had come to be, bringing forth as a master workman or craftsman his very joy and delight – the hills, the deep, the mountains and the expanse, but also you and me – the “children of man.” This is what is so amazing about this passage as it describes the lengths and depths of God’s creative work and how He – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are there in the midst of it and taking delight. No wonder then that Peter would boldly declare in the Spirit that this same Triune God would allow Himself to be torn apart through the hands of the children of men to bring us back into relationship with Him (Acts 2:36). This wisdom is too deep for our own ability to comprehend, but not too deep to experience as we do in Baptism and in the Lord’s Supper. He even shares this wisdom through us with others as a potter would through the vessel of His own creation. God Himself is that Master Workman, building in you and me and building of you and me a palace for His own dwelling. Our work is in a real and practical way His work, His hands, to serve and care for our world, our neighbor, even our own family.

The Trinity is Wisdom beyond our understanding, but not beyond God’s ability to call us into lives of joy-filled work that reflect His love and care for all. This is the Wisdom that works in us and for us to His glory. 

Pastor Carl