I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called on God, and the Spirit of Wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to kingdoms and thrones, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her.
Nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, next to her, is sand; and before her, silver is but dirt.
Beyond health and beauty I loved her, and I chose her rather than the light, for her light is never quenched.
Yet all good things came to me through her, and countless riches at her hands.

Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 90:

    R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

    Teach us to number our days aright,
    that we may gain wisdom of heart.
    Return, O LORD! How long?
    Have pity on your servants!

    R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

    Fill us at daybreak with your great love,
    that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
    Make us glad as many days as you afflicted us,
    And as many years as we saw evil.

    R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

    Let your work be seen by your servants
    And your glory by their children;
    And may the favor of the LORD our God be ours;
    Prosper the work of our hands for us!
    Prosper the work of our hands!

    R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Today's Epistle is from the Letter of Paul to the Hebrews, beginning at the 4th Chapter, and the 12th Verse:

        For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.  Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

+ A Reading from the Gospel of Mark, beginning at the 10th Chapter, and the 17th Verse:
 

        And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.  You know the commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"

        And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth."  And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."  At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.   And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!"

        And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?"  Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God."  Peter began to say to him, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you."  Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,  who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

        In the first Reading, from the Book of Wisdom, the author sings the praises of Wisdom -- the inspiration of God's word, received through the Bible, above all merely material riches.  "I preferred her to kingdoms and thrones, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her..."

        And again:  "I chose her rather than the light, for her light is never quenched."  The Word of the Lord -- either spoken or written -- has a curious power to move us, to enlighten us, to lift us out of ourselves.  Not all of the Bible is equally edifying -- the "begats" are deadeningly dull -- but a surprising amount of both the Old and New Testaments is electrifying.

        The Bible -- and its message -- has both formed and informed all of Western Civilization, and , in particular, the King James Bible has formed American English.  Without the Bible and its message -- both Old and New parts -- we would be a very different people, and the poorer for it.

        It turns out we are formed, not just by the message, but by the way the message is told.  The Spirit of Wisdom has indeed descended upon the writers of the various books, to inform them of not only what message to deliver, but how to deliver it effectively.

        The author of Wisdom is indeed right in saying:  "...all things came to me through her, and countless riches at her hands."
 

        In today's Epistle, St. Paul talks about the Word of God -- not only the spoken/written Word, but the Incarnate Word -- Jesus Christ, our High Priest and Savior.  Here is the same idea and image that John the Evangelist invokes in the beginning of his Gospel:  "In the Beginning was the Word . . . the Word was God . . . The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

        Jesus and His message are, indeed "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing" deeper into us than we can know ourselves.  The infinite, the beyond -- He, about whom St. John says: "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." -- comes to each of us through His words, and through His flesh.

        Noting is hidden from Him, and in Him, nothing from us.  We are lifted up unto the Lord, lifted up to the Father, made one with Him and the Son, and the Spirit.  We are called out of mere flesh, out of mere daily boredom and repetition, to witness and be part of a vastness and a glory we cannot imagine -- but it is His (and their) free gift to us.

        Even more wonderfully, as Paul says:  "For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin."  And who suffered like we do -- voluntarily in His case.

        A night or two ago on the Internet, some nitwit was taunting Christians about wearing crosses -- he said:  "When Jesus comes back, he ain't gonna like seein' that thing -- it's got bad memories for him."  Quite the contrary -- when He returns, he will say:  "Show me your Cross -- show me that you have followed me."  The Cross is a badge of honor to Christ, and to us -- not a symbol of shame and pain as it was to the Jews and Romans.  In the Cross, we are reborn and glorified, and so He will see it when He returns.
 

        In today's Gospel, St. Mark tells the story of the rich man who cannot give up what he owns to follow Christ -- who values gold and silver over wisdom and the Word of the Lord.  How much too often do we allow ourselves to be led astray by the things of the world -- not only the riches (gold, silver, Treasury Bonds, stock options), but by the niggling concerns (worries, depression, debts, television).

        We need to pay attention to the world -- part of our ministry as a "royal people, royal priesthood" is to transform our outer, physical world, as well as our inner, spiritual one.  We are called to teach justice and love to all the nations, and this requires physical work -- often hard and dreary.

        We also need to support ourselves, our families (we need to remember them), and the church.  This takes cash flow, bluntly, so we need to work in the world.  Some few can retire to the contemplative life, but even contemplative communities raise money for their own upkeep by working in the world -- either growing their own food, or selling their services.
 

        We need to nourish both body and soul, so let us pray with the Psalmist:  "Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!   Teach us to number our days aright,  that we may gain wisdom of heart." And, as St. Paul says:  "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

        And we end, as always:

        In the Name of
        The Father     +
        And of the Son
        And of the Holy Spirit
Amen.