"The Play in You"
Proverbs 8: 1-4; 22-31
Yonce Shelton, Westmoreland UCC
June 15, 2025
Only in a very open and expansive community can I get away with talking about Wisdom – which has a feminine identity – on Father’s Day. Don’t worry fathers, there will be no jokes about our wisdom.
What is Wisdom? Wisdom is a divine attribute or being that was present with God during creation. Wisdom is portrayed as a skilled craftsperson, indicating an active role in the creative process. Wisdom is regarded as feminine. In this Proverb, Wisdom tells us she was with God when the heavens were created, and before God made springs, mountains, earth, and fields. Wisdom was a “master worker” – a partner – from the very beginning.
This Proverb ends with Wisdom focusing on playing, telling us she was “daily [in God’s] delight, playing before [God] always, playing in [God’s] inhabited world and delighting in the human race.” One description of this Proverb is that it “describes the dynamic of authentic play. Play is not wasting time, but entering into time with fullness of heart. This reflects rejoicing in the birth of each new day, delighting in how we as God’s children co-create with God, bringing forth a world of beauty.”1
Today, I invite you to consider that this ancient relationship of play is relevant for your relationship with God. To wonder if you need to play more.
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In learning about Proverbs 8, I found a webinar hosted by a minister who did his seminary thesis on play.2 In that webinar he asked attendees what play meant. Answers included: freedom; unselfconscious delight; enjoyment without a grade; discovery. How about you? What's your definition of play? Let's hear a few.
The leader went on to stress that the best translation in this passage really is “play,” even though “rejoice” often gets used. In other places in the Bible the translation for the same Hebrew word is rendered “play,” but for some reason people sometimes want to use “rejoice” here. Are they/we afraid of play? Does that make God too accessible? Too close? Not serious or real enough? Does playing with God threaten what we want God to be? Does it challenge our world view and sense of order?
I like the certainty of play - like I also appreciate the ambiguity of the translation “master worker.” While some prefer that translation, there is enough agreed upon uncertainty that many believe the translation is actually “little child.” I like that. Playful. Substitute little child and see how that may inform your understanding of how God creates.
Translation questions are important ones, not because we always need certainty, but because “what if” adds something to our relationship with God. Makes it more interactive. I hope you spend time with them. But what I really want to focus on today is that the culmination of Wisdom’s reflection is a celebration of play. This knowledgeable co-creator with the God of all creation moves from a recap of power and knowledge to an affirmation of play with God. From heady into fun!
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Before I apply the wisdom of play to Pride Month, I want to say clearly: as a straight, white man I can never fully understand what many people are going through right now given our political context. What I offer now is done with humility, respect, and admiration. Proverbs 8 and many other passages tell us about the importance of creation, uniqueness, and relationship. I believe God wants that to be honored. I’m trying to do my small part.
JoJo and I were at the Wharf last Friday evening as Pride Weekend began. We sat at a bar outside right on the main walkway connecting restaurants, concert venues, stores, and more. What I saw was a celebration of identity, expression, relationship, and boldness. I saw authenticity. I saw joy and play. And I wondered: how can members of the LGBTQ communty be so upbeat and playful with what is going on in our country? With how they are being disrespected by so many?
It made me ask: Do I really know anything about resilience and perseverance in that way? Do I really know anything about playing with God when times are hard?
In past months I’ve heard people say that joy is a form of resistance. Having never had to really resist, I wonder if I could do that. Our “Have mercy” banner was hung because we wanted to speak out against oppression, targeting, and disrespect. I wonder how else we are called to speak - and act. I wonder what we can learn by paying close attention to how those are targeted resist. I also realize it's not all play, all the time. It's not just about appearance and action. Play really is much deeper for all of us. In part, it's about how we respond to what we know about the God who created us. How we recognize God more, and worldly systems and power less. How we embrace a different way of authentic being. How we are queer – different – in our own personal, unique ways.
Easier said than done. Easy for me to offer such a lofty pronouncement. In all of these words and ideas, I truly am praying: What can my creation and invitation to play mean for others? What awareness might playful relationships unleash?
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Today’s Call to Worship is from the book “Playground” by Richard Powers. Anyone read it? Long before I read Proverbs 8, a few parts about play in the book really grabbed me. They seemed to call to me. So I underlined sentences and made a mental note. And then, last week, I saw Proverbs 8 as the lectionary passage, which means it is chosen for this day by liturgical powers that be and that many churches will use it. As I read it, I experienced energy, knowing, and a big smile.
There was another playful encounter that made this convergence of book and scripture more enjoyable. I was in a discussion with a few of you in which one offered a vision of church that another said sounded like a book club! Of course I’m going to play with that!
In the book, characters come alive because they play; because they love play for the sake of play. It drives relationships and decisions. It helps them grow. Things only get tense and complicated when power and calculation come into the picture. They are very authentic characters. I won’t offer spoilers, but relationship plays a big part in the ending.
If you’ve been here on certain recent Sundays, you’ve heard me talk about the Holy Spirit, synchronicity, coincidence, and the like. In my younger days, I might have asked what this convergence of scripture, book, and life might mean for me; if there was something bigger going on; if it might help with a belief, decision, or step. But now, I simply enjoy these things. And laugh. I don’t think this recent interaction of different things means I’m called to change careers and become a marine biologist. I think maybe it's just God’s way of helping me have fun - and perhaps nurture some awareness that I can’t know much about right now. Whereas we might be tempted to analyze the details, facts, and specific events of situations, maybe what is most important is that God connects things, and often does that repeatedly and maybe in patterns along our journeys. The fact that God wants to be known – to play – in this way, not a practical outcome, may be most important. Playful relationship and invitation.
How can play transform us? Is it much deeper than we think? Can it prepare us for weightier matters? Can it transform us – and our pain? Maybe play won’t allow you to solve all the problems you would like, but perhaps it can allow God to work through you in more creative ways.
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This could be a sermon in which I’ve tried to do too much. But that's OK. To play with this feels right. I think it can help us. And one more coincidence makes me believe it's worth my attention. I outlined my sermon with about 15 pages left to read in the book. When I sat down to finish it, the final part of the story included Proverbs 8.
Play for the sake of play. Be who you are. Be free, authentic, and unselfconscious. Discover. Do that with God. Do that with others. See where it leads in things big and small.
Amen.
