Judgment and Hope RUMC Chapter 15 THE STORY

Judgment and Hope

RUMC Chapter 15 THE STORY       

In this corner, Biblical lightweights, but with all the weight of Queen Jezebel behind them the 450 priests of BAAAAAL!

And in this corner, the challenger weighing a mere 140 pounds, but quick as can be, the prophet of God ELIJAHHHHHH!

There’s the coin toss, and Elijah wins and defers to the second round. The referee signals that the priests of Baal will receive the first bull. With the wind at their back, they begin to dance. They begin to whirl and wale. We expect that there will be a lot of cutting of themselves today, a lot of shedding of blood but they have not started that way.

It doesn’t appear that anything is happening, but Elijah begins to taunt them. He better be careful or he’ll draw a technical. They dance harder and cut themselves even more, but still nothing.

Finally, the priests take the bench and Elijah takes the field. What do you think his strategy will be today? Rumor has it that he has some tricks up his sleeve. Oh man he does, he has just dumped 4 jars of water on the offering. And another 4, and another 4. Oh, this is going to be a disaster. The field is drenched. Why doesn’t the referee call it off right now? It is obvious that Elijah is just grandstanding. He’s just showing off, but he’s going to end up shooting himself in the foot is what he is going to do.

Wait, he stands back and motions for silence. The crowd falls silent. Even the priests of Baal hold their breath waiting to see what Elijah has up his sleeve. He is muttering to himself, or maybe he is praying to God. The question is, will he get an answer? Will the lone prophet be able to pull off the upset of the century?

Everyone waits… an air of expectation fills the stadium. But nothing seems to happen…

OH BABY… did you see that. A blinding flash of fire descended and consumed not only the bull and the wood, but the water and the soil too. There isn’t even a rock left in the altar. It is all completely gone. What a show. What a tremendous effort on the part of God.

It looks like the priests are storming the field. No, I think they are fleeing for their lives. Now the real bloodbath begins. Reporting from Mount Carmel, for KGOD, back to our studios.

 There is no denying that it would have been a great show, probably higher rated than the super bowl, but it was more than a show.

You see the contest in the story was not really between the Priests of Baal and Elijah. It was not an earthly contest at all. It was a contest between the very real God and all too real idol worshippers. In the end, as anyone who knows anything about God could guess, God won and Elijah was vindicated.

This story is a great example of the work of the Biblical prophet.

Now when I say “prophet” how many of you think of someone telling the future. Some prophets did, but that was never the crux of their message.

When I say the word prophet how many of you think of doomsayers, always talking about sad, bad, and scary things? Some prophets did, but that is not the purpose of the prophet.

I chose this story today because it reveals what I see as the true nature of the Biblical prophet. The Biblical prophet was a warrior. Elijah was a warrior for God battling the worship of the Idol Baal.

Now other prophets fought other battles. Other prophets had other opponents including unrighteousness and injustice, greed and luxury, oppression and poverty, immorality and idol worship. Other prophets fought their battles with words rather than contests on Mount Carmel. But here you see the true nature of the Biblical prophet.

Some would say that the Biblical prophet was all about judgment. If you lived on the side of the idol worshippers, the unrighteous, the greedy, and the immoral I suppose you would be right. But if you read carefully and if you live on the side of God, you can see a word of hope.

Let’s back up just a little and zoom out to look at the prophetic themes in the Bible. Page 215 of THE STORY has a great passage that reflects all 4 prophetic themes

Hate evil, love good;
 maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
 on the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:14-15

The first prophetic theme is righteousness. Righteousness is more than being right or living right. Righteousness is measuring up to the one who is perfectly right.

At the National Institute of Standards & Technology in Washington DC, they store perfect sample of weights and measures. They have what they call prototypes of pounds and Kilograms, inches and centimeters and so forth. Prototype #27 is a reinforced bar of platinum alloyed with exactly 10% iridium. When they want to know the exact measurement of a “meter,” they cool this bar down to 0 degrees Celsius at a sea level and 45 degrees latitude then they know they will have the exact tip to tip measurement of a meter.^[i]

Righteousness is measuring up to our perfect measuring rod. Not a meter, but the ultimate, unwavering perfection that is Jesus Christ.

The prophets called the people to righteousness to measure up to the one who is perfectly right.

The second prophetic theme is Justice.

We all think we know what Justice is, but do we? Justice is not revenge or retribution. Justice is not punishment. Justice is not making them pay the price.

Justice is a voice that tips the scale of a community’s life toward righteousness.

Let me tell you a fable.

“Tell me the weight of a snowflake,” a coal-mouse asked a wild dove.

“Nothing more than nothing,” was the answer.

“In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story,” the coal-mouse said.

“I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, it began to snow-not heavily, not in a raging blizzard-no, just like a dream, without a sound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953^rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say-the branch broke off.”

Having said that, the coal-mouse flitted away.

The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, “Perhaps there is only one person’s voice lacking for justice [ii]

You might not be able to define justice, but you know injustice when you see it. Justice is being that voice that tips the scales toward righteousness.

            The third prophetic theme is Mercy. If you find yourself on the side of unrighteousness, or if you happen to find yourself on the side of injustice, the prophets are quick to point that out. They are also quick to point out God’s mercy.

As Christians, we have no right to look down our noses with disdain on sinners. We can and should be offended at sin, but not personally offended – offended for God and His holiness. But we have to get it in our heads and in our hearts that

·                    All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

·                    When we sinned were dead to God in sin, He gave us life,

·                    when we were without hope He gave us faith,

·                    When we were enemies of righteousness, He came down to us to make peace with us by the blood of his cross.

And when we realize that, we will realize the depths of God’s mercy and the prophetic call for mercy in our lives too.

The fourth prophetic theme is the Remnant. The Bilical remnant, like a carpet remnant means that we haven’t reached the end of the roll. No matter how lacking in Righteousness, no matter how lacking in justice we have not reached the end of the roll. God’s mercy always leaves a remnant. In the fire of the Musserville church, all was completely destroyed on the North end of the building, leaving only the fellowship hall. Not wanting to admit that everything was gone, we spent some time digging around in the ashes to see if there was anything… anything left. Finally, the claw came up with some unsinged material. Scrambling to the other side of the hole, we discovered two boxes of pencils. You know those little red pencils that go in the pews at some churches. Except these weren’t just any pencils. They had inscriptions on them. They each red “Have faith in God. Coincidence? I don’t know… but I do know that that I saved that little remnant and distributed them to everyone on a Sunday when everyone was discouraged. They meant more to us than you can imagine.

God‘s judgment always leaves a remnant.

Righteousness, Justice, Mercy and remnant.

Those are the prophetic themes

Sure, there is judgment for those who are unrighteous.

Sure, there is judgment for those who are unjust.

Sure, there is judgment for those who are merciless.

Judgment but not complete destruction... In God’s eyes, there is always a chance. And that is what the remnant represents. The chance for people to live in righteousness, The chance for people to live in justice and The chance for people to live in mercy

As we commune today. Come. Come to seek righteousness in your relationship with God.

Come seeking to live justly in your relationship with others.

Come seeking to live mercifully among one another.

AMEN

---

[i] Jeff Strite, Church of Christ at Logansport

[ii] retold by Joseph Jaworski in the closing of his book, Synchronicity

Judgment and Hope RUMC Chapter 15 THE STORY

Judgment and Hope

RUMC Chapter 15 THE STORY       

In this corner, Biblical lightweights, but with all the weight of Queen Jezebel behind them the 450 priests of BAAAAAL!

And in this corner, the challenger weighing a mere 140 pounds, but quick as can be, the prophet of God ELIJAHHHHHH!

There’s the coin toss, and Elijah wins and defers to the second round. The referee signals that the priests of Baal will receive the first bull. With the wind at their back, they begin to dance. They begin to whirl and wale. We expect that there will be a lot of cutting of themselves today, a lot of shedding of blood but they have not started that way.

It doesn’t appear that anything is happening, but Elijah begins to taunt them. He better be careful or he’ll draw a technical. They dance harder and cut themselves even more, but still nothing.

Finally, the priests take the bench and Elijah takes the field. What do you think his strategy will be today? Rumor has it that he has some tricks up his sleeve. Oh man he does, he has just dumped 4 jars of water on the offering. And another 4, and another 4. Oh, this is going to be a disaster. The field is drenched. Why doesn’t the referee call it off right now? It is obvious that Elijah is just grandstanding. He’s just showing off, but he’s going to end up shooting himself in the foot is what he is going to do.

Wait, he stands back and motions for silence. The crowd falls silent. Even the priests of Baal hold their breath waiting to see what Elijah has up his sleeve. He is muttering to himself, or maybe he is praying to God. The question is, will he get an answer? Will the lone prophet be able to pull off the upset of the century?

Everyone waits… an air of expectation fills the stadium. But nothing seems to happen…

OH BABY… did you see that. A blinding flash of fire descended and consumed not only the bull and the wood, but the water and the soil too. There isn’t even a rock left in the altar. It is all completely gone. What a show. What a tremendous effort on the part of God.

It looks like the priests are storming the field. No, I think they are fleeing for their lives. Now the real bloodbath begins. Reporting from Mount Carmel, for KGOD, back to our studios.

 There is no denying that it would have been a great show, probably higher rated than the super bowl, but it was more than a show.

You see the contest in the story was not really between the Priests of Baal and Elijah. It was not an earthly contest at all. It was a contest between the very real God and all too real idol worshippers. In the end, as anyone who knows anything about God could guess, God won and Elijah was vindicated.

This story is a great example of the work of the Biblical prophet.

Now when I say “prophet” how many of you think of someone telling the future. Some prophets did, but that was never the crux of their message.

When I say the word prophet how many of you think of doomsayers, always talking about sad, bad, and scary things? Some prophets did, but that is not the purpose of the prophet.

I chose this story today because it reveals what I see as the true nature of the Biblical prophet. The Biblical prophet was a warrior. Elijah was a warrior for God battling the worship of the Idol Baal.

Now other prophets fought other battles. Other prophets had other opponents including unrighteousness and injustice, greed and luxury, oppression and poverty, immorality and idol worship. Other prophets fought their battles with words rather than contests on Mount Carmel. But here you see the true nature of the Biblical prophet.

Some would say that the Biblical prophet was all about judgment. If you lived on the side of the idol worshippers, the unrighteous, the greedy, and the immoral I suppose you would be right. But if you read carefully and if you live on the side of God, you can see a word of hope.

Let’s back up just a little and zoom out to look at the prophetic themes in the Bible. Page 215 of THE STORY has a great passage that reflects all 4 prophetic themes

Hate evil, love good;
 maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
 on the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:14-15

The first prophetic theme is righteousness. Righteousness is more than being right or living right. Righteousness is measuring up to the one who is perfectly right.

At the National Institute of Standards & Technology in Washington DC, they store perfect sample of weights and measures. They have what they call prototypes of pounds and Kilograms, inches and centimeters and so forth. Prototype #27 is a reinforced bar of platinum alloyed with exactly 10% iridium. When they want to know the exact measurement of a “meter,” they cool this bar down to 0 degrees Celsius at a sea level and 45 degrees latitude then they know they will have the exact tip to tip measurement of a meter.^[i]

Righteousness is measuring up to our perfect measuring rod. Not a meter, but the ultimate, unwavering perfection that is Jesus Christ.

The prophets called the people to righteousness to measure up to the one who is perfectly right.

The second prophetic theme is Justice.

We all think we know what Justice is, but do we? Justice is not revenge or retribution. Justice is not punishment. Justice is not making them pay the price.

Justice is a voice that tips the scale of a community’s life toward righteousness.

Let me tell you a fable.

“Tell me the weight of a snowflake,” a coal-mouse asked a wild dove.

“Nothing more than nothing,” was the answer.

“In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story,” the coal-mouse said.

“I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, it began to snow-not heavily, not in a raging blizzard-no, just like a dream, without a sound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953^rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say-the branch broke off.”

Having said that, the coal-mouse flitted away.

The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, “Perhaps there is only one person’s voice lacking for justice [ii]

You might not be able to define justice, but you know injustice when you see it. Justice is being that voice that tips the scales toward righteousness.

            The third prophetic theme is Mercy. If you find yourself on the side of unrighteousness, or if you happen to find yourself on the side of injustice, the prophets are quick to point that out. They are also quick to point out God’s mercy.

As Christians, we have no right to look down our noses with disdain on sinners. We can and should be offended at sin, but not personally offended – offended for God and His holiness. But we have to get it in our heads and in our hearts that

·                    All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

·                    When we sinned were dead to God in sin, He gave us life,

·                    when we were without hope He gave us faith,

·                    When we were enemies of righteousness, He came down to us to make peace with us by the blood of his cross.

And when we realize that, we will realize the depths of God’s mercy and the prophetic call for mercy in our lives too.

The fourth prophetic theme is the Remnant. The Bilical remnant, like a carpet remnant means that we haven’t reached the end of the roll. No matter how lacking in Righteousness, no matter how lacking in justice we have not reached the end of the roll. God’s mercy always leaves a remnant. In the fire of the Musserville church, all was completely destroyed on the North end of the building, leaving only the fellowship hall. Not wanting to admit that everything was gone, we spent some time digging around in the ashes to see if there was anything… anything left. Finally, the claw came up with some unsinged material. Scrambling to the other side of the hole, we discovered two boxes of pencils. You know those little red pencils that go in the pews at some churches. Except these weren’t just any pencils. They had inscriptions on them. They each red “Have faith in God. Coincidence? I don’t know… but I do know that that I saved that little remnant and distributed them to everyone on a Sunday when everyone was discouraged. They meant more to us than you can imagine.

God‘s judgment always leaves a remnant.

Righteousness, Justice, Mercy and remnant.

Those are the prophetic themes

Sure, there is judgment for those who are unrighteous.

Sure, there is judgment for those who are unjust.

Sure, there is judgment for those who are merciless.

Judgment but not complete destruction... In God’s eyes, there is always a chance. And that is what the remnant represents. The chance for people to live in righteousness, The chance for people to live in justice and The chance for people to live in mercy

As we commune today. Come. Come to seek righteousness in your relationship with God.

Come seeking to live justly in your relationship with others.

Come seeking to live mercifully among one another.

AMEN

---

[i] Jeff Strite, Church of Christ at Logansport

[ii] retold by Joseph Jaworski in the closing of his book, Synchronicity

The promises of God 2-23-14 week 14 of THE STORY

·        Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.

·        I’ll swear it on a stack of Bibles.

·        If I’m lyin I’m dyin.

·        I swear it on my mother’s grave.

People say all kinds of things to convince others that their promises are true. I suppose if we told the truth more often we would not have to work so hard to convince others that we are telling the truth now. Let me tell you about one whose word is always true.

First, some background.

We have to back up to Solomon’s chasing after other Gods. Remember, he had 1000 wives and concubines, many of whom were foreigners who brought their religion along with them. In the last paragraph of THE STORY chapter 13 God says, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenants and decrees which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.”

During the latter part of his life, Solomon engaged in a number of building projects in which Jerry (That’s Jeroboam for those of you who are not on a first name basis with him) Jerry proved to be particularly trustworthy. Trustworthy enough that Solomon put him in charge of all the forced labor. About that time, Ahijah the prophet met Jerry on the road. He tore his brand new cloak into twelve pieces and told Jerry to take 10 of them. It represented that he would become king of 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jerry then rebelled against Solomon, trying to take those 10 tribes, which proved to be a mistake and he had to flee to Egypt.

When Solomon died and his son Rahoboam took over the kingdom, (we’ll call him Ray) When Ray took over the kingdom Jerry came back and requested on behalf of the people that he reduce the taxes and forced labor. Ray got both good advice and bad advice, but of course chose the bad advice telling the people that he would not reduce the taxes and labor but would in fact increase both. “You think you’ve got it bad now… just wait,” he says. Jerry took the people and seceded from the kingdom leaving Ray with only 2 tribes, just as Ahijah had prophesied.

The sad summary on page 195 of THE STORY half way down is, “Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.”

No king is going to let some yahoo walk off with 5/6ths of his kingdom so Ray naturally amassed an army and headed for the border. Then the word of the Lord came through a prophet who told him “Do not fight against your brothers, The Israelites. Go home every one of you, for this is my doing.”

“For this is my doing?” YES

In the lower story, this is a disaster. Ray is clearly the villain and Jerry a hero. There is this tragic civil war between the north and the south. The great kingdom has been divided. The great strength of the nation has been cut in half. The influence of the nation has been diminished. There is nothing good about this in the lower story.

The upper story, however has little to do with tyrannical leaders like Ray, or popular heroes like Jerry. The upper story has little to do with nations and politics. The upper story has little to say about the main characters here or the lower story events. The upper story lesson here is really pretty simple. I keep my word. No, cross my heart. No, mother’s grave or stack of Bibles because God has always kept his word.

God keeps God’s word because unlike us he is focused like a laser beam on one goal and one goal only. Seeing people live in perfect community with him and each other.

WE HAVE SEEN GOD KEEP HIS PROMISES OVER AND OVER IN THE STORY SO FAR.

God promised Abraham that his offspring would be a great nation. In spite of the fact that Abraham and Sari were way past childbearing age. Did God let them down? NO. God gave them Isaac who bore Essau and Jacob who became Israel. A great family indeed.

WE HAVE SEEN GOD KEEP HIS PROMISES OVER AND OVER IN THE STORY SO FAR.

God promised Moses that he would lead the people out of Egypt, did he keep that promise? YES. He promised Moses that if the people kept the laws they would be blessed, if they broke the laws they would be disciplined. Did they get disciplined when they broke the first two commandments? You bet they did. Did they get disciplined when they didn’t have faith in God? You bet they did that’s why they wondered for 40 years in the desert. Did they get blessed when they were faithful. Yes, with the promised land.

WE HAVE SEEN GOD KEEP HIS PROMISES OVER AND OVER IN THE STORY SO FAR.

He promised David that he would rule over a great nation and he did. He promised David that he could be forgiven if he came to God and confessed. He was. He promised David that his tribe and his family would rule forever. Is he keeping that promise? Yes. Even though in the lower story it doesn’t look that way.

YOU SEE GOD COULD NOT PUT UP WITH THE CONSTANT BREAKING OF THE FIRST TWO COMMANDMENTS as the people went chasing after foreign Gods. God could have justly destroyed the whole kit and caboodle of them, but promised Noah that he would never do that again. So he doesn’t.

GOD COULD HAVE GIVEN UP ON ISRAEL, but because he promised Abraham he doesn’t.

GOD COULD HAVE WALKED AWAY AND JUST FORGOTTEN RAY AND JERRY, but he had promised David. He has a promise to keep.

Why…? Why was the promise to David so important? Because out of David’s tribe- out of David’s family will eventually come the messiah. Joseph and therefore Jesus is “Of the house and lineage of David.” You see the whole story starts to make sense when you look at it from the upper story perspective. Rather than destroy, God split the kingdom into two in order to make sure that his promise would be fulfilled no matter what. Cross his heart and hope to die. Stick a needle in his eye.

In the lower story it appears that Ray, and the southern Kingdom are being punished for Solomon’s sins. One would guess at this point that it would fade away and be forgotten by history. It appears that the southern kingdom is being let go because Ray listened to the wrong advice. Except if the southern kingdom ceases to be… God is made out to be a liar. And God is no liar.

IN fact this is all about God keeping God’s word. We have to see that the southern kingdom is not being abandoned, it is paying the price for Solomon’s disobedience.  God is simply keeping God’s word.

God will see this through one way or another.

·        With Solomon or in spite of him.

·        With Rahoboam or in spite of him.

·        With Jeroboam or in spite of him.

·        With Israel or with Judah or in spite of both of them.

·        With the church or without the church.

·        With us or without us.

·        With you or in spite you… God will ultimately see his kingdom come.

Nothing stops God.

·        Not Abraham’s age,

·        or the people’s rebellion under Moses,

·        not David’s sin,

·        or Solomon’s idolatry,

·        not Rahoboam or Jeroboam.

·        Not Jonah’s escape into the whale,

·        or the invading armies of Assyria and Babylon.

Nothing can stop God.

·        Not the hard heartedness of the people toward the prophets.

·        Not the cruelty and abominations committed by the Greeks or the Romans.

·         Not the hatred in Herod’s heart,

·        or the blindness of the disciple’s eyes.

·        Not the not the betrayal by friends

·        nor the killing of God’s son can stop God from fulfilling his promise in Jesus Christ.

·        Neither the stupidity of the early church leaders,

·        nor the foolishness of today’s.

·        Neither the slowness of people to respond,

·        nor the distractions we have placed in God’s way.

·        Neither our reluctance to give our all,

·         nor our eagerness to take the credit ourselves will ever, ever, ever, keep God from fulfilling his promises.

The prayer says “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” It doesn’t say they kingdom might come or your will may be done. There is nothing in all of creation that can stop God from fulfilling his promises of a new heaven and a new earth.

·        God will do it either with us or without us.

·        Either with the church, or in spite of the church.

·        Either with our cooperation or against our will.

·        Either with us or without us, God’s promises are being fulfilled.

Nothing harms the church more than when we reflect the wrong image of the God who is.

·        When we judge others or view their pain with apathy we are working against the kingdom of God.

·        When we show unkindness to others especially the widows, children and the poor, we are working against the kingdom of God.

·        When we fail to live the life of a witness for the kingdom either in word or in deed we are working against the kingdom of God.

·         When we treat our faith and our church with lack of interest or a sense of boredom we are working against God’s promises.

v God’s promises however, are a flood that is coming whether we are ready or not. It is slowly rising, and rising, and rushing and rushing and we can be ready or not. Either way it is happening

v God’s promises are like time. The baby is coming, the assignment is due, tax season is upon us, old age is creeping up on us and there is nothing we can do about it because time rolls on.

v Like the seasons rolling from spring into summer, into fall into winter and back into spring, God’s activity is slowly but surely changing the world and we cannot stop it.

God’s promises, however, will be fulfilled and you can fight it, you can stand by and watch, or you can be part of it.

God’s kingdom, however, is coming with you or without you. Wouldn’t you prefer that he do it with you?

What a privilege it is to be part of the great kingdom of God that is coming to transform the world and make all things new.

·        Imagine, knowing that the way you live today.

·        Imagine, the way you treat others today.

·        Imagine, the way you confront pain and disappointment today.

·         Imagine, the way you speak today.

·        Imagine, the way you serve today Just might be part of God’s kingdom work right here and now.

On second thought you don’t have to imagine. Because it is. Cross my heart.

AMEN

The way of life RUMC 2-16-14

Better late than never…

A watched pot never boils…

You break it, you buy it…

Wake up and smell the coffee…

Get your ducks in a row…

It isn't whether you win or lose that counts, it's how you play the game…

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen…

There are no small parts, only small actors…

A rising tide lifts all boats…

 Then there’s my favorite. ‘Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and erase all doubt.

We are all brought up with proverbs. Maybe your parents used them, maybe your grandparents … I suspect each of us has SOMEONE who was the source of our proverbs.

I even ran across a modern proverbist-   Randy Hasper regularly prints original proverbs on his blog called modernproverbs.net.

•             Insecurity laughs in the face of safety.

•             A great skill is borne out of a determined incompetence.

•             The present is the illusion that time is standing still.

•             Love is a risk; hate is a sure thing.

•             To eat tomorrow, throw seed today.

•             Life is risky, death a sure thing.

 Most of the proverbs we learn have a grain of truth in them. They teach us about life and living. They teach us about relationships and roles. They teach us about priorities and proper living.

Then there are proverbs that are just plain wrong

•             Like In a marriage “Look out for number one” is a sure recipe for disaster.

•             “If it feels good do it” is a leads to hedonistic anarchy

Today we are going to look at the book of proverbs because we have been talking about Solomon and Solomon is the primary author of the book of proverbs, as well as Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

These three books along with the book of Job, and parts of the Psalms form what we call The Old Testament Wisdom literature. Wisdom literature is more about the lesson than the story. In fact, if you read it, you noticed that there is no story in proverbs. The lesson of wisdom literature is teaching us a way of life.

Wisdom is defined in the dictionary as “the ability to discern what is true or right. Therefore, our English word "wisdom" has both moral implications--discerning what’s right--and intellectual implications--discerning what’s true.

The Hebrew word for wisdom is a little more interesting. It is usually associated with a skill or ability. It might be skill in a craft like woodworking or stone dressing, or it might be skill in leadership or teaching.

Biblical wisdom, then, is the skill of living. Timothy Peck says, “It is the art of Living with the grain” of life. Like the grain of wood. It is much easier to work with the grain than against it. Wisdom is discerning the “grain” or the direction of life that God has created and, rather than fighting it and living against the grain, it is living in that direction. It is understanding that God is the creator of life and discerning the basic building blocks of that life. Therefore, some of the great themes in Proverbs are humility, honesty, righteousness, friendship, hard work, and wealth or lack of wealth. Understanding current of creation and swimming with the current rather than fighting against it is the essence of the wisdom message.

Now a proverb is a short memorable saying that points out this grain or current. It teaches about living with God and our neighbor. One of the most famous modern proverbs is “Life is like a box of <<__________>>,” Forest Gump. There is also, "sticks and stones<< ____________>> but words <<________________>>. “ See these proverbs get into our collective consciousness to shape who we are and the way we live. The goal of the book of proverbs is to get into our consciousness, or under our skin, or on the tip of our tongue so that we will live, not the Forest Gump way, or the world’s way, but God’s way.

There is truth in the proverbs. Is every single proverb true in every single circumstance? NO. I was telling Dian this week that you shouldn’t dissect the proverbs. You have to let them sit in your consciousness and let the meaning soak in without dissecting them. 

She was complaining about Proverbs 1:17, “How useless it is to spread a net

    while all the birds are watching!” She was saying birds aren’t that smart enough to understand what a net is. That is the kind of proverb that you might say is not true, but isn’t there a grain of truth in it. Perhaps don’t do in full public view the things that ought to be done in private?

Or someone else was commenting on proverbs 10:27 which says,” The years of the wicked will be short.” Is that true? Often it is, but not always for instance, how old is Fidel Castro now?

No, we can’t take the proverbs too literally, but we use them as sign posts to point us to the truth of how God’s world usually works, and how we should be living in it.

There are three things I want to point out this morning about proverbs. You might call them fountains of wisdom.

 The first fountain is what proverbs calls “Fear of the Lord.” Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

 Now, we hear the word “fear” and think “afraid.” I don’t usually preach that we should be afraid of God though, looking at our culture and the news, a little more afraidness might not hurt us.

 In Hebrew the sense of fear of the Lord, however,  is not being afraid of the Lord, but respecting the Lord, honoring the Lord,  showing reverence to the Lord.

It makes me think of CS Lewis the chronicles of Narnia.’

Lucy and Susan are just about to meet Aslon the lion that represents Christ. When Susan asks if it is safe to meet a lion Mr. Beaver says, “Who said anything about safe? Of course, he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the king, I tell you!"

That’s just like living before God. Should we be afraid of God? Probably! Except, we know that God is good. He is our savior.

It is the same kind of fear I feel every time I stand before you to preach. Do you scare me? No. Does God scare me? No, but I hold so great respect the act of preaching that I do it with fear and trembling.

That is the first fountain of wisdom, knowing enough to stand with respect and fear and trembling when we come before the Lord

 The second fountain is in the proverbs 6 passage I selected. “There are 6 things that the lord hates, 7 that bring an abomination on him.” First of all the 6 and 7 formulation are poetic instruments. There are 7 things on this list.

•             Pride

•             Lying

•             Murder

•             Planning wickedness

•             Eagerly Doing evil

•             False accusations

•             And breaking up a family.

My point, however, is not the 7 things themselves. The second fountain is to know that there are things God won’t tolerate. Knowing that there are clear boundaries in life. There are lines we are not intended to cross.

•             We are not intended to cross the line between feeling good about ourselves and pride.

•             We are not intended to cross the line between truth and lying.

•             We are not intended to cross the line that leads to murder etc.

•             We are not intended to cross the line of planning of doing evil

•             We are not intended to cross the line of false accusations

•             We are not intended to cross the line of breaking up a family.

You get the idea. The important thing is knowing that what we do matters. It not only matters to those around us, it matters to God. 

We live in a culture where many people consider everything relative. Something is only wrong for me if it feels wrong to me. The world tries to convince us that there is no absolute right or absolute wrong. It is all relative to who perceives it.

That is not God’s perspective though. God’s perspective is that there is right and wrong. There are things God hates. There is a line that God draws across which we are not supposed to go.

Wisdom is knowing that there is a right and a wrong, and always seeking to know the difference.

So the first fountain is fear of the lord. The second is knowing right from wrong. The third is from the proverbs 13 passage. It ends with the sentence “Those who despise the word bring destruction on themselves, but those who respect the commandment will be rewarded.” In other words knowing right, it is doing it.

 It is one thing to know in theory how to fix my car. However, in reality I can no more fix my car than my mechanic could write a sermon.

It is one thing to design a building, it is completely another to build it.

It is one thing to know right from wrong… it is an entirely different thing to do right and avoid wrong. That is what the proverbs are all about giving us hundreds of concrete examples of the contrast between right and wrong.

•             Those who guard their mouths preserve their lives; those who open wide their lips come to ruin.

•             The appetite of the lazy craves and gets nothing; while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied.

•             Wealth hastily gained will dwindle, but those who gather it little by little will increase it.

The proverbs give us hundreds of concrete examples of the contrast between right and wrong.

•             Can they cover every situation we would ever encounter… no

•             Can they be universalized to meet every need we could ever have…no

There is, however, truth- real truth- God given truth in each one. That truth teaches us to do right, and avoid wrong.

 When you picture success in your life what do you see? 

•             A big house several cars, a boat, a dog and 2.5 kids?

•             Do you picture traveling at will?

•             Do you picture early retirement or working as long as you are able?

There’s nothing wrong with any of those pictures of success, but God has a different picture drawn in the book of proverbs.

•             God pictures people who respect and worship him

•             People who know their right hand from their left, in other words right from wrong.

•             And people who seek with all their hearts to live the way God wants them to live doing the right thing or the righteous thing

To live wisely we need to redefine success. We need to abandon the search for meaning within ourselves or within the world. We need to give up the desire for self-fulfillment. We need to give up the quest to do things our way. And start seeking the God who deserves our respect and worship. Start seeking the knowledge of right and wrong, and start choosing right over wrong, God over bad, God over all else.

AMEN