Mighty

Midweek Worship

Seventeenth Week after Pentecost

A Reading from Proverbs:

A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant, she brings her food from far away. She rises while it is still night and provides food for her household and tasks for her servant girls. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid for her household when it snows, for all her household are clothed in crimson. She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them; she supplies the merchant with sashes. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her: "Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Homily:

Lord, we pray for the preacher, for You know his sins are great.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Proverbs is a book of instruction, a sort of how-to or self-help manual, addressed to young men coming of age, so that they might pursue wisdom throughout this life; wisdom being that which is beautiful, good, and true; in short, a godly life.

In pursuit of this, Proverbs is not only an anthology but an anthology of anthologies, collecting many different voices, many different guides. In that sense it trusts in the vox populi, the wisdom of crowds. And while Proverbs traditionally has been attributed to Solomon, wisest of kings, it was probably compiled much later, in the Persian or Hellenistic period of the Bible.

How interesting, then, that a book seeking to teach young men about the life of wisdom should end with a description of an idealized wise woman. Our passage this evening, which closes out the Book of Proverbs, is an acrostic: that is, a poem or word-game whereby each verse begins with the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet: alef, bet, gimel, dalet, and so on.

“A capable wife who can find?” our reading begins. But right off the bat, this is an unfortunate translation. The Hebrew connotes not mere capability but valor and strength. “A mighty wife who can find?” could be a much better way to begin. And see how she is described. The wise wife of Proverbs isn’t just pretty or obedient or demure. “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,” warns the poem.

But here the ideal wife is trustworthy, discerning, willful, hard-working, and surprisingly independent. She travels far to purchase food. She rises early and sets about her tasks industriously. She is generous to the poor and kind to those who work under her in the household. She is a businesswoman, purchasing property, planting vineyards, working with her hands. She spins and weaves and sells her wares. And she is quite strong.

She supports her husband by holding down the fort when he must sit at the city gate to serve as a judge. She directs all the affairs of their estate. And she speaks her mind with prudence and with kindness. On top of everything else, she is a teacher. In short, we are presented with a figure, from more than 2000 years ago, who is powerful, clever, operates under her own initiative, and is herself a font of wisdom.

I realize that, in many corners of the Church throughout much of recent history, this passage of Proverbs has been used to argue for patriarchy, that modern women should be obedient and subservient, sometimes even in the face of marital abuse. But we must never use the Bible as an excuse to perpetuate evil; such violates the most basic of God’s Commandments. And to use this text in particular as a pretense for the subjugation of women is an obvious misreading.

Do we seriously think that the woman described in the poem would ever tolerate a feckless, violent, or overbearing man? Indeed, I should think that any husband who would cross such a wife could do so only at his peril.

Don’t get me wrong: There are several things here we must acknowledge in the text. This was, after all, written by a man, for a time and a place very different from our own. It sets forth an idealized portrait, which is to say, an impossible standard. And of course there is no one single ideal of femininity in the Bible, just as there is no one single ideal of masculinity.

Yet there is still wisdom here for those who would discern it. Part of living a wise life is finding a wise partner—if not in marriage, then certainly in friendship, in community. There is no one way to be a man, or a woman. But whatever we are, in whatever position or situation, wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. The wise woman, like the wise man, pursues not selfish gain but communal flourishing. She gives of herself for the betterment of others.

Which is not to say that she’s a doormat. True selflessness comes not at the expense of human dignity, but to its revelation and exultation. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus said; not love your neighbor more than yourself.

We began the poem this evening by asking who could find so rare a thing as a capable wife, a valorous wife, an abstract and rhetorical question. But the passage ends in something deeply personal: “Many have done excellently,” it says, “but you surpass them all.” Note that now it’s addressed to a “you.” And your beloved, whoever she may be, is always without peer. Love makes her so.

I should point out that some have tried to allegorize this passage, making the mighty wife into Holy Woman Wisdom, who appears elsewhere in the Proverbs. By tortured abstraction they would make this entire acrostic into a lesson about the relationship we share with God, or that Christ shares with His Church. But this is a real woman with a real husband, house, and family. Wisdom may begin with the ideal, but only manifests in the particular, in the lived reality we all must embrace for whatever time we have left.

This then is wisdom: that life is found in relationship, and God is found in love; in the love that we show one another, whether we’re speaking of spouses, neighbors, employees, or beggars in the street.

And honestly, the world might simply be a better, wiser place, if more young men were taught to find for themselves partners—and to be for themselves partners—who are good and strong and true.

In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.