Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23

This isn't a jump to a new place in the OT, rather a continuation of the story we have been following from Samuel and Kings. Proverbs was written by Solomon in his middle age years, according to tradition. So what wisdom does he have for us? Put your reputation before your riches, which I'll take to mean honesty and integrity. Okay not bad. Then equality is addressed. It is not based on income. Birthright or nationality is not mentioned, which would be nice except it is mentioned in so many other places. But at least the concept is here. So, maybe this is good advice.

To truly create a just society, humanists suggest a thought experiment called the "veil of ignorance". You forget about all you know about the current injustices of culture and instead look only at human nature. Then create a society that no matter where you were inserted into it, you'd consider it just. God should be able to imagine the world from that perspective, but the idea is not taught in any religion I know of. Proverbs is considered "wisdom literature". You decide.

There are a couple more verses about being good and fair. Being generous is sometimes debated, because how generous should you be? If you are too generous, you will become someone who needs the generosity of others. I think it assumes that at any given time, many people will be rewarded based on luck and the accumulation of wealth from their ancestors. So, generally, if you find yourself in that position, the just thing to do is to notice that there are unlucky people around you. God is the judge in these verses, but really it's you, or some conglomeration of all of us. The "gate" is where legal and business activity occurs in a town. The warning is, just because you are in the lucky position don't take advantage of it or you mess things up for everyone.

Mark 7:24-37

We met this woman in Year A, in Matthew, although she was called a Canaanite, but the story is the same. We don't know if Mark meant anything specific by stating that she was Syrophenician. I'll stick to the significant fact that she is non-Jewish and in fact from a rival culture. In the telling of either version, it is a miracle story and a story of a controversy. In Mark, it takes a significant position, right after a story of telling the Pharisees that their purity law is not important, covered last week. As often happens in Mark, Jesus just wants to chill, but he doesn't get to, and he gets a little annoyed about it.

There are many interpretations offered for why Jesus would make a crude remark about dogs to this woman in need of healing for her child. Some of them saying it's not crude at all. I side with those who say "dog" was a pretty harsh insult at the time. I think it fits better with how she responds by turning his own words against him and how that leads to Jesus changing his mind and healing the child. I see this as a parable showing how he put his words to the Pharisees in to action. The change of mind happens "because of what you have said", probably a comment not only on the words but the attitude of wisdom and humility that she shows.

James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17

There are a couple classics in this passage. First, The Royal Law. It's God's law of course, but it's royal, it's something about the kingdom, it's critical to the life of the church. Instead of being selfish and favoring some within the church over others, love them all as yourself. So, a restatement of the Golden Rule, no big deal. He does seem to be limiting this to Christians, or actually they would be Jews at this point. He mentions "your assembly" for instance. Notice when he refers to the poor they are the ones who are chosen. He addresses this at first as if his audience is somewhere in the middle, but then comes down pretty strongly in favor of the poor. This is missing in quite a few churches today. But let's not forget; it can be just as hard for a rich church to welcome someone in dirty clothes as it is for a poor church to be open up to someone wearing gold.

He then segues into works as an expression of faith again emphasizing the type of work that is an expression of faith, feeding and clothing the poor. Some can reconcile this with Paul's "faith alone" theme. James isn't saying works give rise to faith rather that our works are produced through faith. Faith bears fruit. James is asking what kind of faith you have. Paul was answering the question of the instrument of justification to God. Paul's answer was faith alone. James was justifying his faith to people who are observing him. Whatever.

If you read to the end of this chapter, the stories that are chosen to illustrate works are interesting. Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son and the harlot Rahab who helped the messengers. Is he saying here that it's more than just being a nice person, that your actions need to show that you really believe?