A sermon from a text in one of the deuterocanonical books is a rare event in Anglican circles. Fr. Allen sees in the book of Sirach an attempt to build a bridge for a world in transition. Jews in the day of Sirach were attempting to bridge the new world of Hellenism with the "old" Jewish worldview: God working in history for the sake of Israel. Sirach attempted to bridge the worldview gap with the question: "What leads to well-being?" Perhaps this is a good question for the Church today.
