READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART VI

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 5:1-6:17

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We have a study in contrasts in this post.  Presumption and insincerity contrast with true friendship, just as true friendship contrasts with false friendship.  Backing up into this series by one post and picking up the theme of truth as “activated integrity” contextualizes this material well.

We humans are prone to presume wrongly.  Those who are rich may presume on their wealth.  Those who are prominent may presume on their social status.  Those who mistake God for an absentee landlord (see Psalms 14 and 53) may presume that they need not fear the consequences of their evil actions.  Those who presume on divine mercy underestimate divine judgment.  They miss the balance of divine judgment and mercy.

Insincerity begins internally and extends outwardly.  Such a person may be a false friend who refuses to help a person in trouble.  I write for myself when I tell you, O reader, that adversity has revealed the identities of my true friends.  I also tell you that have been such a friend for a special and beloved woman.  So, I understand what true friendship requires of one; it requires integrity, sincerity, love, endurance, and self-sacrifice.  You, O reader, may also understand, based on your experience.

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter:

he that has found one has found a treasure.

There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend,

and no scales can measure his excellence.

A faithful friend is an elixir of life;

and those who fear the Lord find him.

Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship right,

for as he is, so is his neighbor also.

–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 6:14-17, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

Those are words to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

PROPER 14:  THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT IRENE OF HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN PRINCESS AND BYZANTINE EMPRESS

THE FEAST OF OCTAVIA HILL, ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMER

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READING ECCLESIASTICUS/SIRACH

PART V

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Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 4:11-31

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Those who love divine wisdom love life, we read in 4:12.  This is an echo of Deuteronomy 30:15.  And those who avoid evildoing will also avoid shame (4:20), the dreaded disgrace in Hellenistic society.  Recall, O reader, that Ecclesiasticus/Sirach is a product of the Hellenistic age, although the book condemns Hellenism.

“Truth” is a recurring concept in the Bible.  Frequently it refers to “activated integrity” or “that which is reliable.”  Truth, by these definitions, is tangible and lived.  In contrast, truth, in its Platonist definition, is abstract.  Ben Sira tells us that truth is like the current of a river (4:26), so to attempt to stop it is pointless.  In textual context, truth entails confessing one’s sins (4:25) and is worth dying for under persecution (4:28).  Recall, O reader, that persecution is part of the background of Ecclesiasticus/Sirach.

In my context–North America, 2023–“truth” is a word which many people use, misuse, or abuse casually.  Whenever I hear the word, I wonder how the person defines it.  “Truth” often becomes its own opposite, as in the cases of “truthers” who deny thoroughly documented events and swim in an ocean of hare-brained conspiracy theories.  When people grounded in objective reality use the word “truth,” they may understand it as being either abstract or tangible.  Yet if everyone involved in the discourse does not grasp the intended meaning, people talk or write past each other.  And the ubiquity of postmodernism is evident in people speaking of their own truth and of “alternative facts.”

A related matter is the decline of shame in society.  I do not want to live in a society in which the scales tip too far toward shame, often in the cause of forcing people to conform.  I am a default contrarian much of the time; when I pursue my interests, I frequently go against the grain.  I do not want to live in a society which regards me as one who should feel ashamed of being this way.  However, shamelessness has gone too far in my society.  Shamelessness is endemic in my society.  Many people who, according to the moral standards they profess, should care about this problem, seem not to do so, given the shameless politicians whom they defend publicly.  Shame has a legitimate role in a balanced society.  Properly directed shame helps to maintain truth–as “activated integrity”–measured in deeds.  As I have written frequently at my weblogs,

Deeds reveal creeds.

In other words, orthopraxy and orthodoxy are inseparable from each other.  As one thinks, one is.  In the Hebrew Bible, God is like what God has done and does.  That standard is good enough to apply to God.  It is also good enough to apply to mere mortals.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 13, 2023 COMMON ERA

PROPER 14:  THE ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JEREMY TAYLOR, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF DOWN, CONNOR, AND DROMORE

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH PAYSON PRENTISS, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT IRENE OF HUNGARY, HUNGARIAN PRINCESS AND BYZANTINE EMPRESS

THE FEAST OF OCTAVIA HILL, ENGLISH SOCIAL REFORMER

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