In our readings today from Proverbs 1, the 84th Psalm, and Romans 12, we have such golden wisdom. What we hear is for us, in the words of Proverbs, graceful garland for our head and pendants for our neck. These are such as ornament a Bride, and we are a Bride; for the Church is the Bride of Christ and Christ is our Bridegroom. By our Baptism we are married to Christ. Indeed being a Christian is as a Bride loving her Bridegroom. To be a Christian is to desire God, as a Bride desires her Bridegroom. In the words of 4th century Church Father Saint Gregory of Nyssa, brother of Saint Basil the Great, “The true vision of God consists in this: that the soul that looks up to God never ceases to desire Him.” This is captured in the 84th Psalm: “My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.” And we know that if we love God, if we love our Bridegroom Jesus Christ, then we will keep His words, and treasure His words. Thus the place of Scripture is seen: in Scripture are the words of Christ, and we love Him if we love His words; we love Him if the words of Scripture become our treasure, our prayer, our contemplation. By keeping the words of Scripture, the words of Christ, we cannot be conformed to the world, in the words of Saint Paul; Scripture transforms us by the renewal of our mind it demands.

Scripture is given to us by God in the same manner as Proverbs is described in the first verse: “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity.” By Scripture we learn about Christ. We learn about Christ and how He expects us to live. We learn about Christ in Scripture, and what it means for Him to be the Son of God Who speaks throughout Scripture. To realize that it is Christ Who says in Genesis, “Let there be Light” – that it is Christ Who speaks to Moses at the Burning Bush – that it is Christ Who calls Abraham – Christ Who speaks to Isaiah and the prophets, and through them He speaks. To realize this and ponder this deeply in our heart – to understand, as Jesus Himself said, that Moses wrote about Christ; that before Abraham was, Christ is – this throws us into wonder and awe, as well as trembling. Such as what “fear of the Lord” means: wonder, awe, and trembling combined. And it is this state, the state of holy fear, that is the beginning of true knowledge of Christ.

This is the state that the teachers in the Temple were in as they listened to 12 year old Jesus Christ. Mary and Joseph found their Son, and in finding their Son, then found the Temple priests and scribes “amazed.” In this boy they heard wisdom and understanding beyond the telling. He was teaching them. And He taught Mary and Joseph, who had searched for Him, to always find Him in the Temple, which is His Father’s House. “Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” He taught Mary and Joseph this so that they would teach this to the Church at the right moment for the Church to receive this teaching.

And let it be known, that this is teaching for us. For we are the Temple, as Saint Paul teaches: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are.” We are the Temple, the Temple of the Holy Spirit Who Himself reveals Christ to us: reveals Christ in us. God has caused a new light to shine in our hearts, to give the knowledge of His glory in the Face of Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son. Our task is to perceive Christ’s Face. Our task is to perceive Christ in us, and we may know what things we ought to do, and that we may have the grace and power to faithfully fulfill what Christ expects of us.

Christ seeks to speak to us. Are we listening? He Who has the words of eternal life is speaking to us. Are we listening? He Who seeks to transform our mind is speaking to us. Do we have a desire to enter into His courts, and a longing to rejoice in the living God? Let us ornament ourselves with Scripture, and let us not be foolish but wise, to hear Christ in Scripture and increase in learning about Him Who made us and sustain us, and feeds us: Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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