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Morning Devotion for the Season of Pentecost
October 25, 2024
Reading: Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 11:1-11
The wisdom of the humble lifts their heads high,
and seats them among the great.
Do not praise individuals for their good looks,
or loathe anyone because of appearance alone.
The bee is small among flying creatures,
but what it produces is the best of sweet things.
Do not boast about wearing fine clothes,
and do not exalt yourself when you are honored;
for the works of the Lord are wonderful,
and his works are concealed from humankind.
Many kings have had to sit on the ground,
but one who was never thought of has worn a crown.
Many rulers have been utterly disgraced,
and the honored have been handed over to others.
Do not find fault before you investigate;
examine first, and then criticize.
Do not answer before you listen,
and do not interrupt when another is speaking.
Do not argue about a matter that does not concern you,
and do not sit with sinners when they judge a case.
My child, do not busy yourself with many matters;
if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless.
If you pursue, you will not overtake,
and by fleeing you will not escape.
There are those who work and struggle and hurry,
but are so much the more in want.
Meditation by Jeremy O’Neill
I always look forward to an opportunity to write on the Apocrypha, and especially the Book of Sirach. I find Sirach to be one of the most complicated books in scripture as it contains many beautiful lines that showcase the incredible intimacy between us and our creator, while also including some ethical doctrine I find unhelpful in our attempts to be a loving church.
This passage reflects two themes that I think we could benefit from considering in our times. One of them is humility and the other is stillness. The text reminds us of our smallness in comparison with God’s greatness, but also empowers us to be great in our own way. “The bee is small among flying creatures, but what it produces is the best of sweet things.” We are called to examine and reflect on our place in the world, and not act out of presumptions that we might be more important than we are. When we act out of this hubris, we try to put ourselves in the place of God.
That doesn’t mean that we can’t be a part of some truly amazing and beautiful things in this creation. Part of our role as Christians is to say “look at this” and highlight the beauty that lies all around us. I can’t help but thinking of the ministry of The Very Rev'd Dr. Robert Willis. Dean Willis was Dean of Canterbury until 2022, and I had the privilege of getting to know him this past year as he was a visiting fellow at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. He died suddenly and peacefully in New Haven this week, and what I will remember most from him was his emphasis on humility, stillness, and joy. Although being Dean of Canterbury is one of the most prominent positions in the Anglican communion, Dean Willis will likely be remembered by the general public for his interactions with the garden cats of Canterbury, whose antics during his Morning Prayer services went viral during the pandemic. His position as Dean of Canterbury meant that he often worked with the Queen of England and other famous figures but, you always got the sense that he was most happy in the garden, conversing with people over scripture with cats running around him.
Our world is full of violence and busyness. But it is also a place of incredible stillness and joy. Our commandment to preserve the Sabbath reminds us to take time for stillness and recognize our place in God’s beautiful creation, for it is in our humility that we fully see how much God can do.
Prayer, from the Burial Office of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:
Almighty God, with whom do live the spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, and with whom the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity: We give thee hearty thanks, for that it hath pleased thee to deliver this our sibling out of the miseries of this sinful world; beseeching thee that it may please thee, of thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom; that we, with all those that are departed in the true faith of thy holy Name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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