‘Faces of God’

(Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Romans 5:1-5)

Does not wisdom call and understanding raise her voice?  On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries out; To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all who live.

“The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.  Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.  When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.  Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, when God had not yet made earth and fields or the world’s first bits of soil.  When God  established the heavens, I was there; when the circle was drawn on the face of the deep, when the fountains of the deep were established, when God assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when God marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside God, like a master worker, playing before him always, playing in the inhabited world and delighting in the human race.”

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to the grace in which we stand, and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

            So, folks, if you wondered what relationship that the Proverbs reading and the text from Romans have, it’s because I’m trying to do several different things this morning.  That’s because this day has many titles and many intentions.  It’s traditionally known as Trinity Sunday (the Sunday after Pentecost), a day in which we observe and celebrate the variety of ways that God comes to us.  Don’t forget that it’s also Peace with Justice Sunday, the third Sunday in June, which gives us a chance to stand up for who we are as people of love and compassion.  And, oh, there are so many reasons to stand up for peace and justice today. 

This day is also nearby to Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the final end of slavery in the rebelling states just after the end of the Civil War.  That’s 160 years ago!  Finally, needless to say, today is Fathers’ Day.  We’ve already talked about that.  Many themes, many truths, one Spirit.

            Our different readings this morning show different images of God.  Let’s face it, there are many more faces to God than our human minds could ever imagine.  Naturally, we all try to limit God to what we can or choose to understand, and this is okay as long as we realize and admit that the way we talk about God, each of us, comes from OUR perspective only, and that, in reality, God HAS no limits.

            On this Fathers’ Day we need to have this conversation.  At the close of our service we will be singing “This Is My Father’s World.”  That is one way to think about and to refer to God, but if we insist only that God be called Father, that could be problematic for some people whose fathers were either not present, cold and distant or mean-spirited.  To say over and over that God is father makes it hard for some people to trust and come close to God.  But we must, also, underline that some of us had and have really good fathers, so, in that case, it’s easy to extend our experience to thinking of God as Father. 

In that same vein, there are those whose earthly mothers were not loving and trustworthy, so to speak of God as loving mother could be traumatic for some.  There are passages in scripture that characterize God as a warrior, but if we only use that image to talk about God, this may not feel comforting or a place some people could go to come near to the Divine.

            Thank goodness our God is greater than any of us humans can imagine.  Today’s readings have given us only a glimpse of the breadth and width and height of our Divine Parent. 

            In Romans we hear Paul witnessing to our being saved through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Specifically Paul talks about having peace with God through Christ, that God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.  All this is God relating to us, being there for us, giving us what we need, in different ways.

            You heard part of today’s Psalm 8 in the Call to Worship.  It is a praise Psalm to our Creator God, comparing the majesty of the universe that God has made to how little and insignificant we are.  The Psalmist wonders why God has blessed US by making us a little lower than God, crowning us with glory and honor and giving us dominion over God’s creation.  In days like these when our earth is in such dire straits, what with many more hurricanes and them being much stronger and more powerful, the melting glaciers and rising ocean levels, the more extreme temperatures, in these days, we must wonder how God can continue to be hopeful that we humans really can care for God’s world.

            Finally, Proverbs 8 gives us a glimpse into that face of God that we call Wisdom, that entity that walks in the way of justice and righteousness.  We are told in this passage that Wisdom was created before the beginning of the earth and that she walks beside God, like a partner in God’s work.  She is the One who is God’s daily delight, and who rejoices with God.  This side of God is spoken of by using feminine pronouns.  Wisdom shows us another side of our God.  Let’s not forget about Wisdom, especially on this day when we raise peace with justice before ourselves and our world.

            Our God is beyond our humanness, yet our mind’s categories are the only way we can experience God.  …Still, we continue to pray to Father God, Mother God, Creator God, Wisdom, God of Justice, God who is the bakerwoman who puts yeast in the bread to provide the leavening for life, or the ocean that places sand in the oyster shell so that pearls can be brought forth.  Our Bible provides us with so many ways to know God.  God provides us with so many ways—if we listen and allow God into our lives to teach us.  So, listen and learn, for God is coming to us all the time—in old ways and in new ways.

Last week was Pentecost when we celebrated the coming of the Spirit to us Jesus People.  The Spirit also is spoken of, especially in the Hebrew Bible, in the feminine form (the Hebrew word is ruach).  God is with us.  Let’s not limit God by mandating that there is only one way to think about, dream about and talk about God.  You may recall that our ancient ancestors were not even permitted to say aloud the Hebrew word for God, Yahweh.  Perhaps that was partly because our human minds are simply unable to grasp the entirety, the enormity, of our Higher Power. 

So our job is to pray and meditate, to listen and watch for the Divine in our lives.  Then our job is to testify to the ways in which God shows up in our lives.  …So let’s pay attention, to open ourselves to the new ways that God is around you, above you, beneath you, within you and beyond you.  But let there be no doubt—God is with you, guiding, inspiring, helping you reach out in love and concern for all God’s children. 

And let’s not finish without respeaking the final words of our reading from the book of Proverbs.  This is from the Message Bible: Wisdom declares, “Day after day I was there, with my joyful applause, always enjoying God’s company, delighted with the world of things and creatures, happily celebrating the human family.”  So, friends, if we are to be celebrated, let’s give God and Wisdom a reason to be joyful.  Let’s not disappoint or let Jesus down because what’s going on right now in the United States of America cannot possibly make God and Wisdom delighted.  There is nothing in our Judeo-Christian faith that would rationalize taking food from the mouths of children, health care away from people who are poor, scheming ways to make the rich richer, being cruel to those among us who have come to seek refuge, not cruelty and hatred. 

But I leave it to you, as you listen to the God of your understanding to hear the Word of the Lord, to feel the presence of the Spirit, to allow Lady Wisdom to inform your own mind and your actions.

Finally, in our Wesleyan tradition, we are told to determine how God speaks to us by using the Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience.  …So, we ask, what are we told in Scripture consistently?  How do our Traditions guide us?  What does our ability to Reason teach us (in other words, don’t check your brains at the door when you enter here)?  And, how do you experience God? 

So, that’s it, I guess.  It’s a lot to chew on in this day of so many themes.  God be with us and bless us all.     Amen.