Editorial: Winter 2009-2010

Ellen Davis, an Old Testament scholar, was asked to give a daylong seminar on Proverbs at a church in southern California. The weather was perfect the day it was scheduled, and she couldn’t imagine many people would show up for a study of the book of Proverbs. But to her surprise the room was full and the people were excited by what she had to say.

She asked them at one point, "Where does all the energy come from?" A woman quickly responded, "Oh, most of us work in Hollywood. We write commercials and advertising copy. And when we were in training, they told us to read Proverbs."

This response made Davis realize that both the Proverbs and advertising are aimed at shaping and stimulating our desires—toward different ends.

Advertising makes us want something that we don’t have like a new car, or more of something we already have like a larger investment portfolio. Proverbs shapes our desires toward wisdom and the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.

It would not have occurred to me to look to Proverbs for help in this time of financial crisis, until I read Davis.* Indeed, many of the Proverbs are about people who are in crisis of some kind, whether in the family, their finances or in relation to the powerful and those who rule over them. I was surprised to learn how relevant the Proverbs are to our current economic downturn, including the identification of a major cause for it—greed (see Lynn Miller, p. 2).

Proverbs taught me this about economics in our own context:

1— Whether rich or poor, we have all been created by the same Lord; it is God who gives light (or sight) to the eyes of both rich and poor (22:2; 29:13). Having the same Creator has a leveling effect on rich in relation to the poor.

2— Proverbs promotes a "just enough" economics (30:7-9). If we have too much, we become selfreliant and no longer fear the Lord. If we have too little, our want tempts us toward devious means of acquiring what we need. But where is that "sweet spot" of having just enough—not too much, not too little? Answering that question takes wisdom and a supportive, discerning community.

3— Hard work and savings are both encouraged. A "nature lesson" illustrates that without being told, ants do what they must—prepare and harvest their food in season so they have something to eat all year long (6:6-11). On the flip side, laziness is condemned (24:30-34). Moreover, the so-called "parable of the ant" has something to say to us about caring for the earth that sustains us.

4— Beware of "quick buck" schemes (20:21) and ill-gotten gains (10:2)—necessary advice for Wall Street and Main Street. The Proverbs seem to anticipate the teachings of Jesus who asked what profit we have if we gain the whole world (by whatever means), only to lose our own souls.

5— We will be blessed if we are kind to the poor (14:2b); conversely, if we oppress or insult the poor, we insult the Lord who made them (14:31; 17:4). Having regard for the poor entails lending to them and being generous with them by sharing our food (19:17; 22:9). But charity alone is not enough; justice is required (21:3; 28:3).

6— Whatever your work, commit it to the Lord who will bless it (16:3).

The Proverbs are more like poetry than prose. As poetry, they shouldn’t be treated as a blueprint for life as much as a lens through which we see the world and live our lives.

In applying Proverbs to life, contextual sensitivity is in order. Although laziness can lead to poverty, the poor shouldn’t be accused of laziness. As one man said who lost his $200,000 job on Wall Street, "I used to see unemployed people and think that they were lazy, that it was all on them. Now it’s happened to me."

I cannot say I’ve ever heard a sermon based on Proverbs, nor have I ever preached one. Nevertheless, a study of how Proverbs speaks to the deep recession we are in would be very timely. At such a time as this we learn to trust not in our own ways and means, but trust in the Lord with all our heart (3:5).

—Richard A. Kauffman

* Ellen F. Davis, "Surprised by Wisdom: Preaching Proverbs," Interpretation, Vol. 63, No. 3 (July 2009) 264-77. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs: Westminster Bible Companion (Westminster John Knox Press) 2000.