Learning Wisdom from the Apocrypha

An Excerpt from Valerius Herberger's Sermon on the Prologue to Sirach

Hi friends! Believe it or not, Luther translated the Apocrypha into German, and our tradition has received the Apocrypha, not as Scripture like the Old or New Testaments, but as important devotional works from antiquity. To begin to reconnect ourselves with these texts, I’ll be translating sermons from Valerius Herberger (1562–1627) on Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus. Below is an excerpt from his sermon on the prologue to the book.

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Be present, O Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, unto the glory of Your Name, and the edification the Church, Amen!

On the Prologue of Jesus Sirach to His Book

Jesus Christ reigns, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. May He also, through His grace and blessings, aid our intentions to begin, to continue, and to finish! May He be praised most highly and loved, together with God His heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit, in eternity, Amen!

O pious ones, O those devoted to the will of God:  With God we have decided to treat and expound in these sermons the exceptionally beautiful Book of Jesus Sirach, which every household father ought to diligently read and acquaint himself with, together with his children and servants. So that it may advance the honor of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that it may also redound to an exceptional and marked edification of our Christendom, we lay the foundation for it today with loving prayer and heartfully call to God: “Let it please you, O Lord, to deliver me” (Psa 40:13). “Stand by me, O Lord my God. Help me, according to Your grace. I will greatly praise You with my mouth, and I will extol You among the multitude” (Psa 109:26, 30).

With passion, hear at this blessed beginning the prologue of Jesus Sirach to his book:

Many great people have set forth wisdom for us  from the Law, the Prophets, and others who have followed them. Therefore, it is right for Israel to be praised for its wisdom and teaching. Not only should those who have and read it become wise from it, but they should also serve others with instruction and writing. My grandfather, Jesus, after striving greatly in his reading of the Law, the Prophets, and many other books which have been left to us by our fathers, and having become greatly practiced in them, undertook to also write something concerning wisdom and good habits, so that those who gladly learn and desire to have knowledge would all the more gain understanding and become prepared to lead a good life. Therefore, I ask you to kindly receive it, diligently read it, and show forbearance if we are not able to speak as well as the famous orators. For what has been written in Hebrew does not sound the same when it is brought into another language. Not only my book, but that of the Law, the Prophets, and also the other books sound much different when spoken in their own language. When I came to Egypt in the 38^th year of the Ptolemaic King Euergetes, where I then remained for life, I gained the opportunity to read and to write much that is good. Therefore, I deemed it good and necessary to expend the industry and effort in translating this book. Because I had time, I labored with much diligence in making this book and bringing it to light, so that those living abroad who desire to become accustomed to good habits may live according to the Law of the Lord.

My beloved friends, two things belong to true Christianity, says Athanasius, the former bishop of Nicaea in Bithynia: Fides & Bona Opera, faith and good works. A blessed comfort in the heart, and a chaste conduct in the external life. Faith ascends to God in heaven. Love, or the Christian conduct through which faith becomes active, shows itself to the neighbor here on earth. For this reason, St. Paul also brought these two parts together when he prayed for God to grant the Christians at Ephesus the power according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened through His Spirit in the inner man, and for Christ to dwell in their hearts through faith, that they be rooted and grounded in love (Eph 3:16–18). In these two parts, our Christianity moves like a wagon on two tracks. For it is not enough to hear beautiful consolation from the regular gospel lessons and other comforting words; rather a Christian life must come along with it. Beatissimi, qui divina oracula vertunt in opera, those are the most blessed who make pure works from God’s Word.  So that no one may complain that he does not know the most necessary rules of life which belong to the upright deeds of Christianity, I have undertaken, in the name of God, to read and summarize Sirach alongside the catechism and the regular Sunday readings.

Valerius Herberger, Erklärung des Haus- und Zucht-Buchs Jesus Sirach ([1598] 1739 Edition)