Message: Creator God, Our Common Ground / Proverbs 22:1-2,8-9,22-23
2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all.
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.
9 Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 for the LORD pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.
Today, we reflect on our first Scripture reading from the Book of Proverbs. This book is famous for its collection of wise sayings. The title "Proverbs" comes from the Latin word “proverbium,” which combines pro (forth) and verbum (word). This title reflects the book’s role in capturing common sayings and wisdom passed down orally before being written down.
In Korean, the book is called “잠언” (Jam-Un), which combines “잠” (to prod) and “언” (word). This title reflects how Proverbs provides words that make us think and guide us when we lose our sense of purpose and meaning of life. French novelist Paul Bourget (1852-1935) once said, “One must live the way one thinks or end up thinking the way one has lived.” When we are pushed by the demands of life, we may find ourselves lost along the way. At those times, we need these "prodding words" of wisdom.
So, how does this book describe wisdom? The key verse that shapes the book is 1:7: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." Here, "the fear of the LORD" doesn’t mean being afraid of God as an angry judge or cruel tyrant. The word "fear" comes from the Hebrew word "יִרְאָה" (yi-re-ah), which also means reverence and awesomeness.
German theologian Rudolf Otto (1869-1937) said that experiencing the divine or the numinous involves two feelings: the first is fear, which overwhelms us with the mystery beyond knowledge and language, and the next is fascination, which attracts us toward the ultimate truth, goodness, and beauty of the divine. This experience called the "fearful and fascinating mystery (mysterium tremendum et fascinans)," helps people understand God as the Holy One and offers wisdom that challenges those trapped in illusions, shifting their focus from a "me-centred" to a "God-centred" perspective.
We see these experiences throughout Scripture. For example, Jacob woke up one night after seeing the Holy One in a dream and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17). When Moses encountered the presence of the Holy One in the burning bush in the wilderness, “he hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:6). A psalmist who saw the Holy One coming to everyone and everything in the world said, “Worship the LORD in holy splendour; tremble before him, all the earth […] Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD” (Psalm 96:9, 11-13).
In modern times, one of the most powerful expressions of an encounter with “Holy Mystery” comes from American astronomer Carl Sagan (1934–1996). While the Voyager 1 spacecraft was completing its main mission and continuing to explore the solar system, Sagan suggested that it should turn back and take a photo of Earth. On February 14, 1990, the spacecraft took a picture of Earth from about 6 billion kilometres (3.7 billion miles) away. Remarkably, Earth appeared as just a tiny dot in the vastness of space, almost like a speck of dust. Based on this experience, Sagan wrote a book called Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space in 1994. In this book, he said:
“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [...] It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”
Experiencing the divine mystery frees us from the “prison of ignorance” and helps us connect with God, who is the foundation of everything. In this sense, we confess God as our Creator. God existed even before the first moment of the universe, before the Big Bang. God is present everywhere, even beyond the space we can explore. Out of love, God created everything and continues to create. Wisdom comes from reflecting on the world created through God’s overflowing love and realizing that we are all connected. A Song of Faith beautifully expresses our faith in the Creator as follows:
we can direct our lives toward right relationship
with each other and with God.
We can discover our place as one strand in the web of life.
We can grow in wisdom and compassion.
We can recognize all people as kin.
We can accept our mortality and finitude, not as a curse,
but as a challenge to make our lives and choices matter.”
In this regard, today's reading says: “The rich and the poor have this in common: the LORD is the maker of them all” (22:2). Our common ground is the Creator God. Everyone is made in God’s image. Therefore, in the faith of creation, no one can be divided or marginalized because of their economic status—under God, we are all one family.
However, in reality, economic differences between people are inevitable due to personal and social circumstances. The Book of Proverbs often says that working hard and becoming wealthy is a blessing from God. However, we need to remember that the idea of wealth back then was different from what we think of today. For the ancient Israelites living in areas with relatively little fertile land, being wealthy simply meant having adequate resources to avoid starvation even during several years of poor harvests. So, they were encouraged to have enough food and daily necessities to ensure a stable life, while also being careful not to risk starvation through laziness.
Nevertheless, Proverbs emphasizes that the rich should show mercy to the poor. As Proverbs 22:9 says, “Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.” Treating the marginalized and vulnerable with compassion and taking action on their behalf is a practice of wisdom and living out our faith in God, the Creator.
Sadly, the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider. According to Oxfam International in 2023, over the past two years, the wealth of the richest 1% has grown to nearly twice the total wealth of the rest of the world combined. A report from the Canadian government published in the same year states, “The wealthiest (top 20%) accounted for more than two-thirds (67.8%) of net worth in the first quarter, while the least wealthy (bottom 40%) accounted for just 2.7% in Canada.”
In this situation, it is clear what Christians who believe in God as Creator need to do. God has created and is creating the world out of love, and every person and creature plays a role in bringing joy to God. We are called to live out this love by caring for others and all creation. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, said: “Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” Where there is a sharing of love, God the Creator is there.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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