Guided by Peaceable Wisdom
- davidwperk
- Sep 4
- 6 min read
Devotional Reflection, Thursday, September 4, 2925
Proper 17, the week of the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrase for reflection from today’s epistle reading:
17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 982)
AM Psalm 37:1-18; PM Psalm 37:19-42
1 Kings 11:1-13; James 3:13-4:12; Mark 15:12-21
Today we celebrate The Feast of Albert Schweitzer. (See below.)
David's Reflections
Jürgen Moltmann has observed: "Wisdom does not spring directly from experience. It is the fruit of the reflective handling of experiences. It is not spontaneous perception which makes us wise; it is the perceiving of the perception.”*
If relational history were imaged as landscape (today’s James reading focuses on wisdom in relationships), it might include the vistas of close friendship and romantic ecstasy and the slippery bottoms of betrayal, anger, misunderstanding, and broken commitments. As travelers in that land, wisdom would come from looking over our shoulders at where we have walked and reflecting on our perceptions of that landscape. Could we reframe those experiences so as to gain wisdom from the reflective process? One could pursue a similar reflective process with vocational history, etc. As Moltmann put it, can we perceive our perceptions in reflection?
James, in today's epistle, echoes the words of Jesus. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." James says,, "And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace."
James offers a lucid description of the peace-making behaviors that flow from wisdom. "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” (3:17). Wisdom for James is that judgment arising from a life in tune with God, judgment that understands God's purposes and finds ways to enact them in daily life. One can generate peace in life's testy situations with behaviors like these. We could say that James is challenging us to reflect on our behaviors, to perceive our perceptions and learn from that reflection.
James also lays out clearly the behaviors of those driven by self-absorption, greed and control. "But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind." (3:14-16)
Perhaps our best recourse is to reflect on our most common recurring behaviors in stressful or conflicted situations. Do we routinely react in competitive and controlling ways? Or, do we seek to find ways to enhance relationships and a sense of community? Wisdom may well come only as we also reflect on our perceptions of our behaviors. Can we look at our lives from the balcony of reflection? Can we be open to reframing how we have evaluated our behaviors? Can we gain wisdom from rethinking how we have thought about them? Can we question our prior understandings?
We’ve all known folks who lacked the capacity for self-reflection. Those folks seem never to learn from their mistakes. Their lives look like an ongoing replaying of the same choices and behaviors. James challenges us to sharpen our self-reflective powers.
James leaves us with no doubt that relational chaos, unresolved conflict, and disorder in community arise from someplace other than wise reflecting in the context of our relationship with God. Can you hear echoes of Jesus’ teaching here, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”? I invite you into that reflective process not for the sake of naval gazing; rather, stepping back, getting on the balcony,, rethinking how we’ve understood our behaviors pushes us more deeply into loving our neighbor as ourself.
* Jürgen Moltmann, Experiences in Theology: Ways and Forms of Christian Theology, trans. Margaret Kohl (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000), p. 337.
Collect of the Day, Proper 17, the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 233)
Today we celebrate The Feast of Albert Schweitzer, theologian, physician, organist, Nobel Prize winner (died 4 Sep 1965 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Albert Schweitzer
O God, who endowed your servant Albert Schweitzer with a multitude of gifts for learning, beauty, and service: Inspire your Church that we, following his example, may be utterly dedicated to you that all our works might be done to your glory and the welfare of your people; through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.
A Collect for Protection
O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 124)
For stewardship of creation
O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards
of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 259)
In the Evening
O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen. (BCP, 833)
A Collect for Mission
O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 125)
Daily Office Epistle, James 3:13-4:12
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.
4:1Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. 4Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, ‘God yearns jealously for the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? 6But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ 7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor?
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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