Habits of Godly Living (Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Bruce Gordon and Felicity Harley-McGowan discuss wisdom, reading practice, and habituation in Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23. The text is appointed for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary.

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Bruce Gordon is Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale Divinity School. Felicity Harley-McGowan is Lecturer in the History of Art at Yale Divinity School.

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Transcript

Voiceover Voice:

There’s a degree of critical reflection on the world here. And the answer isn’t always, perhaps, what you might want it to be.

Helena Martin:

This is Chapter, Verse, and Season: a lectionary podcast from Yale Bible Study. Join us each week as two Yale Divinity School professors look at an upcoming text from the Revised Common Lectionary.

This episode, we have Felicity Harley-McGowan, Research Associate and Lecturer, and Bruce Gordon, Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History. They’re discussing Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23, which is appointed for Track 1 of the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 18, in Year B. Here’s the text.

[Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23]

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.

Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail. Those who are enerous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.

Do not rob the poor because they are poor or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.

Bruce Gordon:

So, we come to Proverbs 22 and I have to admit, I always find Proverbs a little difficult. Not so difficult to read, but to know quite what to do with. They seem like witty, clever, sometimes very poignant bits of advice, but I'm not entirely sure what to what I'm supposed to do. They always seem very agreeable but then when you read on, it seems to switch to a completely different topic. 

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

Yeah.

Bruce Gordon:

Is there any kind of continuity? So, Felicity, how should we read these?

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

Hmm. Well, I think the secret to this is taking them one by one. So that this is, if we think about this as the preeminent book of wisdom in the Old Testament that this isn't so much about teaching wisdom, but how to give us tips as to what wisdom constitutes. So, rather than us taking it all in one bite, thinking about a step-by-step process. A little like how you would tell children to sit at the table and eat a meal. I don't know. And that if we give them all the advice or all of the instructions at once, then they'll just want to scream and run away. So, I think that would be my approach. And I find that more digestible that we can contemplate one or two at a time, consider them, and then come back. And then over time I guess they interact with each other and speak to each other and enlighten each other as a sort of moving organism rather than a big blob of undigestible advice. 

Bruce Gordon:

It’s like a lot of good advice. On one level, of course, it makes great sense, but then often it raises a question at the same time. So, our first one that we have is, a good name is more desirable than great riches. Okay? To be esteemed is better than silver or gold. But we don't really know quite what a good name is. 

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

No.

Bruce Gordon:

We can guess what it might be. It might be faithful to the law. It might be love of neighbor. It might be generosity. And to be esteemed is, I think we would all agree is something desirable. Is it better than silver or gold? Well, obviously for the author it is but I'm not sure for a lot of people they would necessarily see that having a good name is better than having material rewards, particularly in our society. So, there's a kind of degree of critical reflection on the world here. And the answer isn’t always, perhaps, what you might want it to be.

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

No, that's right. And I think one of the things that makes these more accessible is that there's an ordinariness behind them, even though you and I might not leave this conversation and talk about our lust for silver and gold. Obviously, we have to unpack it a little and correlate it to everyday life. But there's something here, isn't there, about the aspects of daily life. And that wisdom is really ground in our right relationship with God. And so, if that's the case, then this step-by-step approach is a way of building that right relationship and thinking right from the ground up of when I wake up in the morning, do I yell at the dog or, you know. That it creates a structure for an ordinary individual, even if ordinary means we have to reframe what silver and gold is. What's your silver and gold Bruce? [laughter]

Bruce Gordon:

I don't know. I think I'd just be quite happy with silver and gold.

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

Yeah [laughs]

Bruce Gordon:

But maybe mine is something else. But one of the things that strikes me about these messages is cumulatively, as you were saying, they kind of map out life.

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

That's right.  

Bruce Gordon:

And there are things that we should keep doing again and again and again. It's not just, oh, that seems like a good idea, but it really is. I should value every day a good name rather than riches. 

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

That’s right.

Bruce Gordon:

And that's something I should ever do as it goes on. I should not sow injustice because that will reap calamity. I should be generous because they will be blessed. I should not exploit because God will take up the case of the poor. I should not crush them in court. These aren't just sort of one and done things. They're meant to be repeated every day.

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

Yes. It reminds me of Psalm 1 where there is that rhythm of obeying the law. But that isn't just about technicalities, but it's about entering into a rhythm of life that is actually providing you, on the one hand, with structure and a guide to live, and on the other hand, liberating you from a sense of being tied.  

Bruce Gordon:

And it’s a joy.

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

That’s right. 

Bruce Gordon:

So, obeying the law, following the law, is something that is life fulfilling, not simply a set of rules.

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

Yes, exactly. It's a delight. And that is what your relationship with God is founded on. And that is the beginning of growth and the guiding structure for your life. 

Bruce Gordon:

Yeah. And these messages which we should keep before us, I guess, by having Proverbs open in front of us. But it's like a lot of things, repetition makes, builds habits. 

Felicity Harley-McGowan: 

Exactly. 

Bruce Gordon:

And habits of righteousness, habits of generosity, habits of kindness, habits of rejecting injustice, that it habituates us into godly living by being reminded of these every single day.

Felicity Harley-McGowan:

That’s right. That's right. And that creates its own, one doesn’t want to say productivity, but there's new life within there, and the habituation isn't about being shackled to something that is a route to the end of life, but in actual fact there are life giving elements that are beyond ourselves. That are creating new opportunities for others or spreading the joy, if you like.

Bruce Gordon:

Yes. Yes. And as verse 2 of Proverbs 22 reminds us, the rich and poor have this in common. The Lord is the maker of them all. There's this radical equality. This kind of living is not for the rich.

Helena Martin:

Thanks for listening. For a transcript of today’s episode and lots more, check out YaleBibleStudy.org.

Chapter, Verse, and Season is a production of the Center for Continuing Education at Yale Divinity School. It’s produced by: Creator and Managing Editor, Joel Baden; Production Manager, Kelly Morrissey; Associate Producer, Aidan Stoddart; and I’m your Host and Executive Producer, Helena Martin. And our theme music is by Calvin Linderman.

We’ll be back with another conversation from Chapter, Verse, and Season.