Genuine and Urgent

 Read Proverbs 29

Think on this proverb that begins chapter 29.

Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes

    will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

We do our best to live God’s way.  Sometimes we mess it up.  Sometimes we miss the mark.  Often, we confess and give it another try.  We love mercy and grace and forgiveness that we just never deserved.

What about those who are just so stubborn that they won’t take any counsel, including God’s. What about those who know better and don’t even give it an effort?  What about them?

We forgive, not just seven times but seven times seventy.  That’s some big-time forgiveness right there, but when is enough finally enough?

That’s not for us to say, but wisdom does say there will come a point when those who have hardened their hearts against the Lord have reached a point of no return.  God is constantly calling for sinners to repent and receive his mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  He desires none to perish.

But the choice to remain stiff necked, obstinate, hard-hearted or hard-headed at some point voids the chance for redemption and it’s gone in an instant.  He may have had a million opportunities—opportunities that he thought would always be there—but now they are gone.

They don’t’ gradually slip away.  At whatever the tipping point is—and that ball is squarely in God’s court—it will seem as if the chance for redemption was gone in an instant. It seems that destruction came suddenly.

In reality, many warnings were given.  The assumption that many more will always follow is flawed.  That mindset is called presumptive sin. It’s the thought that I will always have one more chance. At some point, it’s game over.

For the saved, this is a moot point.  We believe.  We profess Jesus is Lord! Our knees have already bowed before him.  We are trying to be known as his disciples by our love.  We believe!

But what about those who don’t believe and continue to resist despite our best efforts?  What happens when the song goes from softly and tenderly Jesus is calling to I never knew you?

What happens?  More precisely, what are we to do?

As long as it is called today, we deliver a genuine message of salvation, knowing that one day, we will not be here to deliver that message.  One day, the lost person’s life will end.  One day some will hear I never knew you.

We must never quit being known by our love.

We must let our light shine every day so people may see the glory of God.

We must be the salt of the earth all the time so people may taste the goodness of God.

We must proclaim the good news—fulfill our commission until the end of the age or our time in these bodies expires.

There is an urgency to our message.  We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know our message must be delivered today.

So long as we are genuine in our love and our message and our urgency, the hard-headedness of those who will not hear is not our burden to bear.  Our hearts may hurt for them, but their stiff-necked rejection of the truth is not our burden to bear.

Speaking the truth in a spirit of love is our burden to bear.  We must not be shy in delivering the message that there is God’s way and there is everything else.  Life lies in God’s way.  Destruction is the destination of those who persist to live in the everything else.

Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes

    will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

When you wonder about the urgency of your message—of the good news, consider the last two words in this proverb—without remedy.  Some say with no hope of healing.

God’s invitation to return to him seems to have no end, but one day the invitation will cease and judgment will be delivered.  God is not slow in bringing about this day.  He is patient desiring that none perish, but the day will come.

We will not know his wrath, but we do know his heart.  His heart desires none to perish.  Our part is to be genuine and urgent in our message of life.

The rejection of our message is not our burden.  We do all that we can and then we rest in the Lord’s peace.

We are to be genuine and urgent.

We must be genuine and urgent.

Genuine and Urgent!

Amen.

Blessed is the One who heeds Wisdom's Instruction

 Read Proverbs 29

As we draw near the end of Proverbs, we come again to where we began.  There is God’s way and there is everything else.  Consider my governing framework for this book of wisdom in the context of verse 18.

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;

    but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

That was from the NIV. Some of you my age may have learned this in the King James Version.

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

The English Standard Version puts it this way.

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,

    but blessed is he who keeps the law.

When we do not receive the vision sent to us by God—in whatever form that takes for us who live in this age—we depart from the blessings of living God’s way into the minefields of the everything else.

When we don’t listen to and abide in what Dad, Abba, Father has been telling us, we are surely headed out of the land of blessings into the wasteland of peril.

I’ll take one more crack at this.  There is God’s way and there is everything else.

God’s way – Everything else

Blessings – Minefields

Wisdom – Foolishness

Righteous – Wicked

Industrious – Lazy

Obedient - Rebellious

Life – Death

God’s way – Everything else

For all of the parallel construction, positives and negatives, A-B structures, provocations that require some deep thought, metaphors and other comparative tools, Solomon brings us to the ultimate dichotomy.

There is living God’s way and there is everything else.

If we don’t look to God’s way and are blind to his revelations, we live without restraint.  We live lawlessly.  We perish.  In modern rural vernacular, that dog don’t hunt.

If we go back to the original language, we find that God’s way was delivered most often in what we call the law—the Torah.

There is much discussion whenever we use the word law or Torah, so much so that many Christians lose sight of the command to be known as disciples of Jesus by our love and substitute being known by our interpretations and self-righteousness.

Too often we strain out gnats and swallow camels in wanting people to agree with our way, instead of being known as disciples of our Lord by practicing God’s way, by living a life governed by love.

The problem is that we too often place what some would consider negative or confining attributes on the words Torah and law.  We should consider these terms in a fuller meaning, hopefully, closer to their original intent.

What is Torah?  It is direction.  It is instruction.  It is law, but it is also customs, rulings, teachings, but most of all it is God’s way.  Whether we frame it as a command, a directive, an instruction, a ruling, or guidance—it is God’s way. Commands, directives, instructions, and the like can all mean the exact same thing or vary in significant ways.  That variance is often our language mixed with our perspectives and sorted by our bias.  It is also our vulnerability to being lured into the everything else.

Understand that God revealed his way to us for our own good. We should receive, understand, and live out the instructions that God gave us.

Blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

He that keeps the law is happy

Blessed is he who keeps the law.

But I thought we were free from the law?  I thought Jesus was the way to heaven?  I thought the ultimate sacrifice for our sins had been made?

I thought we were saved by grace through faith?  You are!

But how will you respond to this wonderful gift?  Will you live to bring glory to God?  Will you enjoy your relationship with God?

God has revealed his way to us.  He has also revealed the everything else.  Much of this revelation came in those first 5 books of the Bible.  Much came through the prophets. Much came in the wisdom books of the Bible.  Much came in the life and teachings of Christ Jesus—the Word made flesh, and much comes from the Spirit of God that lives within us.

When we dismiss or devalue one part of God’s revelations to us, we discount his sovereignty in favor of our own and are not heeding wisdom’s instructions. 

Our atonement came in the blood of Christ Jesus—the only one to ever fulfill the law, but our response to this great love is left to us.  Will we stop resisting when God is directing our steps?

God is moving us forward to a better relationship with him.  One obstacle to that is our interpretation of this statement:  Love fulfills the Law.

Too many think that those who live by love are getting off easy.  God’s laws must be rigid and strict and compliance must be lock-step, and to some degree difficult.  Consider, instead, that God has raised—not lowered—the bar for us, at least for those who will follow him and be known as his disciples by our love.

Love fulfills the law does not abandon obedience.  It embraces it.  I know several people who can do tasks over and over again and do them well.  They are obedient and compliant and do exactly what the specifications require. The specification may be difficult, but skill comes with repetition.

Others note the specifications for individual tasks and have been given eyes to see a house or a ship or a space station.  We do not denounce those who can only see the step-by-step directions.  They are living their lives as fully as they are equipped to do.

We should also embrace those who can see the house or the ship when they read the directions.  They do not see less.  They are not less obedient. They see the designer’s passion and embrace it. They live by love and in so doing fulfill the law.

They—in many cases that is we—didn’t get off easy.  We accepted the challenge to live completely in God’s way.

If you think you are getting off easy when you say, love fulfills the law; you have not understood God’s ways.  Living by love is not joining the French Foreign Legion never to be heard of again. It’s living to the glory of God, growing in his grace, and enjoying the relationship knowing that the life you have called your own truly belongs to the one you proclaim as Lord.

The old standard for us was to love God with everything we had and love each other as much as we love ourselves.  While difficult, we sometimes obtain that second part.  Loving someone as much as we love ourselves is possible.

Now consider that Jesus gave his disciples—that includes us in this age—a new command.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

We don’t just love others as much as we love ourselves.  That would be easy in comparison to what he called us—commanded us—to do.  Love one another as much as he loved us.  He loved us to the point of giving his life for us.  Yep, that raised the bar.

Remember, all of the points of the law hang upon, rest upon, come together in the commands to love God and love one another.  Loving God and loving one another are the supporting uprights and beams of the law.

Let’s get back to the proverb.

Blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

He that keeps the law is happy

Blessed is he who keeps the law.

Why follow the law?  Why live a life governed by love.  Why seek to live God’s way?

As with so much that has been revealed to us in our studies, God does things that are for our own good and instructs us to do things that bless us.  They are the directions that give us hope and a future.

We do not live God’s way to obtain salvation.  God has done all that is required to save us from our sins and from death.  Jesus paid it all!

In response to this unfathomable love, we want to please God.  We want to live in his ways.  We want to do the things that bless God. We want to bring glory to his name and enjoy the relationship he has in store for us. We want to live as he designed us to live.

When we do, he blesses us even more.  We are happy.  Sin and death are no longer hanging over us.  So, what will we do?  Will we go on sinning so grace can abound even more?

BY NO MEANS!

We will live God’s way.  We will live as he instructed us, not so much in lock-step compliance—though some may find this to be the limits of their God-given abilities—but fully governed by love.  In so doing, we will be happy and blessed.

There is God’s way and there is everything else, and God’s way is love.

God’s way is love!

Blessed is he who lives by Love. To live this life given to us in the blood of Jesus, and to live it without love, is lawlessness.  It is rebellion.

God is love.  God’s way is love. His law, his prophets, his wisdom, his Word made flesh, and his Spirit that lives within us bring us to love.  Love directs our steps.

There is God’s way and there is everything else, and God’s way is love.

We can live in God’s way.  Remember that he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.  You are equipped to live God’s way.  You are equipped to live by love.

Amen.

Just a short rabbit trail...

 When one door closes, another door opens.  Other than that, it’s a pretty good car.

It’s not how many times you fall down.  It’s how many times you get up.

No sir.  That’s not the way a field sobriety test works.

I was reading an online post by a Christian that said her favorite verse was This too shall pass.  I kept scrolling knowing that there was no such verse.  There are many scriptures and pericopes that would support the general notion, but people sometimes just accept what sounds good as biblical.

It could be that the phrase this too shall pass might be attributed to Solomon’s court, but as an inscription on a ring or so says the Hebrew folklore.

We can understand the sentiment.  Sorrow may last for the night but joy comes in the morning would surely support that sentiment, but the problem is that we often not only attribute general sayings to the Bible, but we don’t even consider their full context.

This too shall pass gives us comfort in the storm, but it should also give us eyes to see that the joy of this day or this hour will soon be history. It’s not just the trial but the satisfaction of the moment that passes as well.

Or as Abraham Lincoln once said,” How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!”

Why is Tom rambling this morning?

When we conclude Proverbs here in a few weeks, we will do a one-week wrap-up. I will ask everyone to read a verse that we have heard read aloud for twenty-something Sundays so far. It’s Ephesians 5:15-16.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

When you think of the Bible verse that is not actually a Bible verse, think on how many opportunities to be God’s love, share his word, and help others to know life have just passed us by.

How many opportunities have we missed in an age that does not know God?

When one door closes, another door opens.  Other than that, it’s a pretty good car.

As we get closer to the end of our study in Proverbs, consider how fleeting our opportunities are to be God’s love and show love and mercy through our wisdom.  For now: Let’s get to Proverbs 26.

Walking in Wisdom

 Read Proverbs 28

Here we are 28 chapters into the Proverbs and Proverbs 3:5-6 keeps making an appearance.  The wording is a little different, but the messages are congruent.

Those who trust in themselves are fools,

    but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

How many times must we try to build a tower to heaven before we realize that our own understanding will always fall short of God’s plans for us?

God’s ways are higher than our ways could ever be, but how often do we retreat to living by our own understanding.  It’s understandable.  We think we understand our own understanding.

Let’s return to chapter 1 briefly.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

    but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Fools don’t want knowledge, wisdom, instruction, or discipline.  They believe in only what their finite minds can conceive.  They trust in their own wisdom.  A fool’s wisdom should be an oxymoron.

They do not want to even conceive of a Being whose thoughts and ways are higher than our own.  The fool wants everyone brought down to his level.  The very idea of God is repulsive to him.

We often want to believe in our own understanding—our own wisdom if you will, but we recognize that God’s wisdom far exceeds what we can comprehend.  The wisest thing we can do is to trust him—completely.

We want to believe what we understand over what God tells us is best, but we know that to be foolish.  God knows more than we can comprehend and the wisest thing that we can do is to trust him.

When we make a habit of trusting our own understanding over God’s, then we have become fools. We have been given eyes to see when this happens and we who desire to be wise, slam on the breaks as far as trusting our own understanding goes.  We trust God with everything that we have.

It is an ongoing wrestling match with our flesh.  Our own understanding always seems to be right, but we must trust that God is always right and is always looking out for us.  We must trust him.

The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

The circumstances were different, but the struggle is the same.  Our human nature naturally thinks it’s always right.  We must embrace our new nature—the new creature that we have become in Christ Jesus.  Then trusting God becomes our first nature.

Those who trust in themselves are fools,

    but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.

How do we trust God more?  Walk in his wisdom.  Put his words into practice.  We have to walk the walk.  Doing helps our believing and our trust.

The more that we practice living God’s way, the more it moves from theoretical to actual in our hearts and minds.  Walking in God’s way is not only right, it keeps us safe.

Remember, that all of the minefields lie in the everything else.  Safety lies in God’s way—in walking in his wisdom.

There is God’s way and there is everything else.  Live God’s way.

Amen.

The Wicked Flee Though No One Pursues

 Read Proverbs 28

Here’s one that speaks of the attributes of living God’s way or in the everything else.

The wicked flee though no one pursues,

    but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

If you know that you are not living right, you are always looking over your shoulder.  Somebody is going to catch you sometimes.  You feel like you are always on the run. 

You know that you have it coming, but you don’t know when justice will arrive and pounce on you.  You are always on the run.

Our movies romanticize outlaws.  They are always on the run.  There is a mystery about them.  Their love affairs are breathtaking and then they are over as the outlaw is always being pursued.

In reality, the outlaw is just scared.  He is always scared.  He is always on the run even if nobody is chasing him.  He knows that he will be caught someday, but for now, he runs.

The person striving to live rightly has no such fears.  They make mistakes and seek forgiveness but do not run away in fear. They face life head-on.  Courage is their constant companion.

I love the picture of the bicycle rider going uphill as fast as he can.  There is a bear chasing him.  The caption reads, “Somedays, you find your motivation.  Somedays, your motivation finds you.”

People use fear as a motivator all the time.  Governments use it.  Corporations use it. Anyone that wants to manipulate people has used it at some point.  Some are better at using fear to manipulate than others, but it happens all the time.

Now consider the person who manipulates himself out of fear.  He knows he is not living right and he knows that it will catch up with him someday, but every day he must be on the run. It doesn’t matter if someone is after him or not.  He knows someone should be.

Solutions lie in confession, forgiveness, and true repentance, but the easier choice is just to keep running. It’s not the better choice.  It’s just easier to stay with the fear you know.

The wicked flee though no one pursues,

    but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Those who seek to live God’s way sleep at night, don’t have to look over their shoulders, and if a fight comes their way, they have God-given courage to stand their ground.

Shakespeare and later Hemmingway said something along these lines.

The coward dies a thousand deaths.  A brave man dies but once.

Even Solomon proffered a solution for the wicked who are fleeing.

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,

    but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

Instead of living your life on the run, confess.  Seek the mercy of the Lord and live.  Your mistakes do not have to direct your life.  Even the wicked can confess and seek God’s mercy.

Chances are that few who have committed their lives to the everything else in this world will muster the courage to repent and be saved, but love and mercy are qualities that humankind has always known in God.

Why try to hide your sins and be on the run for all of your life knowing full well that nothing is hidden from God?

God sees the heart!  The only solution to wickedness is complete repentance.  Everything else is just a futile attempt to postpone the inevitable.  All will account to God.

It’s better from all perspectives to live God’s way and stay out of the everything else.

The wicked flee though no one pursues,

    but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Just do it.  Live God’s way.

Amen.

What a Day may Bring

 Read Proverbs 27

This chapter starts off with a zinger.  It’s about making plans, boasting, and the fact that while God claimed you for eternity, you don’t know what is in store for you tomorrow while you live in these bodies of flesh.

Do not boast about tomorrow,

    for you do not know what a day may bring.

Let’s start with boasting.  Any attitude that brings your hubris to the surface is surely not rooted in humility.  It’s the attitude that tries to build a Tower to Heaven.  The only boasting we should do is in the Lord.

We have plenty of counsel on humility.  Boasting of ourselves and our designs ignores the counsel.

But what about tomorrow.  Should we not have some inclination about what we might do?  Of course, you should, but it is always subordinate to the direction of God, his holy word, and his Spirit.

Plan to your heart’s content, but don’t get married to your plan.  Don’t covet the things of your plan.  God always has the best plans for you.

Make the words, thy will be done, a part of every plan you make and every step you take.

Consider now the fact that we don’t know what will happen in the course of this day, much less the next.

On 6 December 1941, most Americans thought that the wars raging in the world were far away.

On 10 December 2001, most Americans thought that terrorism took place in faraway places they would never visit.

On any given day, someone somewhere lost a loved one suddenly.  This was not the cancer that had gone on for years.  This was not the result of years of smoking.  This was not the last straw from PTSD.

This was the truck that came out of nowhere to blindside a loved one’s vehicle.

This was the previously undetected condition that cause a heart to stop that was otherwise thought healthy.

This was the one in the one in a million chance of getting struck by lightning.  Somebody had to be that one case for there to be a one-in-a-million chance.  You didn’t see that coming.

Those all seem bad.  What about the fact that out of seemingly nowhere you meet the love of your life?

What about that job offer for the thing you like to do best at a great salary and a great location?

What about that inspiration for a song or a poem or a novel that wasn’t there yesterday?

You do not know what a day may bring.  We make plans but don’t boast in them.  We seek the best of each day and the best that we can do with each day.  Paul told us to make the most of every opportunity for we live in a time not given over to loving God.

Often, those opportunities arrived unannounced.

We look forward to the day ahead celebrating it as the day that the Lord has made, but our plans must always be secondary to God’s plans.  In this willingness to yield to his sovereignty we find peace and strength and comfort.

The chapter has several stand-alone pieces of counsel, but let’s consider two proverbs that are mutually supporting. Let’s start with Proverbs 27:6.

Wounds from a friend can be trusted,

    but an enemy multiplies kisses.

Let’s also consider Proverbs 27:9.

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,

    and the pleasantness of a friend

    springs from their heartfelt advice.

We have seen proverbs about how some people appear to be generous but are actually expecting something in return.  There is no gift, only investment in something to be recouped later.

But a true friend does not attempt bribery.  In fact, the best of friends speaks candidly with you, not to hurt you but out of love.  A true friend can speak the truth in love.

Just as perfume is pleasing to us, so too is advice that comes from the heart and is rooted in love.  You need a true friend who can reach you at your innermost levels and know you well enough as to how to do it.

A friend sticks with you when the going gets tough and won’t sugar coat anything. A friend will speak the truth in love to you even when it’s difficult for both of you to hear the truth.

Let’s wrap up with verse 21.

The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,

    but people are tested by their praise.

There is a process to purify fine metals so that what you have left is pure.  How do you test a person’s heart?  God sees the heart, but what about us?

How do we test others to know if they seek the Lord or are just trying to lure us in?

How are we tested by others?

Wisdom says, look at whom they praise and how they react when they are praised.  Are they playing a game of working their way up the hierarchy of the world?  OK, in common parlance, are they sucking up?  Absent gold and silver to bribe someone up the ladder, do they try to do it with praise?

Or do they just praise what is praiseworthy, noting that the effort—whatever it was—would bring glory to God.  That doesn’t advance you up the ladder when you declare God’s glory to someone seeking their own glory.

Now, how do we handle praise?  We should be able to accept praise.  Sometimes we do a great job and someone wants to point it out.  That’s ok.  It’s nice to be noticed but never lose sight of the fact that whatever you did that was noteworthy, you did working for the Lord and not for men.  It was and is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

A humble person can receive compliments and praise and not let it go to their head.  It should only be an affirmation that their light shines before others and brings glory to God.

There is much more in this chapter.  Some you have heard before and some perhaps for the first time.  It’s worth another read.

Amen.

As Iron Sharpens Iron

 Read Proverbs 27

This chapter has counsel old and new, and some that require concentration and meditation.  One of these proverbs should hit paydirt for every Christian.  Consider verse 17.

As iron sharpens iron,

    so one person sharpens another.

We who have been saved by the mercy and grace of God have been given considerable liberty in how we respond to that grace.

Should we go on sinning so that grace can abound even more? No.

Should we go back to strict obedience to the law of Moses?  And forsake the One who fulfilled the law?

We are told that love fulfills the law.  That sounds like a cop-out, but it is truly a challenge like none other.

Understand that when Jesus commanded his disciples—today that includes us—to love one another as he loved them—he raised the bar.

What was the command prior to this?  Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.  That’s a tall order.  It’s tough.  It’s part of two commands that Jesus said supported every other directive and communication from God.  The first part being to love God with everything that we had.

Then Jesus came and fulfilled the law.  He gave us another command—a new command. We are to love others as much as Jesus loved us.  If we consider what is asked of us, every jaw should hit the ground.  It is as if he commanded us to charge those machine gun nests armed with only a .45 caliber pistol.  He is commanding us to do the impossible—to love with everything we have even to death.

That’s a lot more than loving someone as much as I love myself.  That’s more than is humanly possible.  That’s the point.  We are to live as people who have God living within us.  We are not worried that we will comply with a written rule.  We are motivated fully by the desire to please Holy God, and when we live governed by love we can’t help but satisfy the law.

Love takes us far beyond the law.  It takes us to bringing glory to God, to being the light of the world, and to being the salt of the earth.  People should see and taste the goodness of God when they encounter us.

But the world stands in opposition. The world tries to confound us at every turn.  The world will persecute you for following Jesus.

We need help and we have it.  We have God’s holy word that judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  We have God’s Holy Spirit—the Helper—living within us. We have the body of Christ to encourage each other and to challenge each other.

It is the last one that would seem to embody the proverb.

As iron sharpens iron,

    so one person sharpens another.

We who have professed Jesus as Lord and have given our lives to follow him as Lord are to help each other.  Surely encouragement is helpful, but we also need to be challenged by one another.

We need to help each other bring out the best in ourselves.  Sometimes it’s a pat on the back.  Sometimes it’s an attaboy.  Sometimes it’s a helping hand.

Sometimes it’s a challenge, just as your lifting partner challenges you to get one more repetition. He is there to spot you if you have nothing left so the weight of everything doesn’t come crashing down, but he is challenging you to finish that last rep.  He will grab the bar when you do and put it in its resting place, but for now, he wants you to give this last repetition everything you have and just a bit more.

As iron sharpens iron,

    so one person sharpens another.

Should we not help each other be the best disciple that we can be?  Should we accept not only encouragement but counsel as well?  Can we accept criticism that helps us get better?  Can we do the same for our brothers and sisters?

Can we speak the truth in a spirit of love, not to prove ourselves right, but because we are mature enough to communicate deeply with another believer?

We have been counseled sufficiently that the fool will not receive our counsel, but our fellow believers should.  We should receive the corrections of our brothers and sisters in Christ as well.

Few know the experience of iron sharpening iron as it applies to humans.  We are too easily offended.  We are too easily distracted.  We are still too self-centered.  Too often we insist on our own way.  We have to be right.

Sometimes we are not distinguishable from the fool.  That should motivate us somewhat to seek the counsel of others and covet the correction of other believers.

We have the advantage that God will not kick us to the curb.  He loves us with an everlasting love.  We can make mistakes, receive correction, and get back in our race of faith.

Some of our mistakes call for confession, but God is faithful and just to forgive.  God always sets us up to move forward—to grow in his grace.

The grace comes from God but we can help each other with the growth.

As iron sharpens iron,

    so one person sharpens another.

Amen.

The Sluggard

    Read Proverbs 26

Solomon doesn’t hold back on his terminology.  A fool, a sluggard, a gossip—all are labeled according to their mindset and conduct.  Let’s spend a little time on the sluggard.  What a name!

A sluggard says, “There’s a lion in the road,

    a fierce lion roaming the streets!”

What do lions have to do with sluggards?  They can be the excuse of the day or the week or the month depending upon how long people buy into the nonsense.

The sluggard is most likely responding to someone telling him to get off of his butt and find a job.

But there’s a wild lion out there.  Who knows what might happen if I venture from my bed, much less my house.

This brings us to the guy in my neighborhood that is always wanting to borrow my lawnmower.  I have told him no a dozen times.  The last time he asked, he also asked why.  Why wouldn’t I loan him my lawnmower?

I told him it was because the train doesn’t run between Mangum and Dallas anymore.

He gave me a crazy look and said, “What does that have to do with loaning me your mower?”

I said, “Nothing, but if I am not going to give you what you want, one excuse is as good as another.”

And so it is with the sluggard.  One excuse is as good as another.  In the current century, the sluggard might say, “There are murder hornets out there.”  He might be right, but the fact that somewhere out there are mean insects with a powerful sting is no reason to put your life on hold.

Just for clarification, I don’t even own a lawnmower.  I usually get someone who needs work to cut my grass.

The sluggard has likely convinced himself in his own mind that the prospect of stepping outside of the house is too dangerous.  We know it’s malarky, but to the sluggard, it’s gospel.

As a door turns on its hinges,

    so a sluggard turns on his bed.

This leaves plenty of room for creative interpretation, but I will go with the obvious.  The sluggard is attached to his bed, as is a door to its hingers.  His movements are restricted to his point of lest exertion.  Get too far out of bed, and you may have to address the truth.

What truth?

That getting out of bed didn’t kill you.  That there is life out there.  That work might even be possible.  Better to just stay in bed than confront the truth.

Try this one on for size.

A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;

    he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

Someone has brought this pitiful creature his food but it’s just too much work to lift his spoon to his mouth.  Surely, there is some hyperbole here.  Surely, this is exaggerated just a bit? Or not.

I have talked with many people who are without work and in need of food and money to pay bills and won’t come to my office.  I tell them that if they will get here, I will give them a ride home with their food.

I’m often told that they are too busy.  Too busy doing what?  They have no job.  They are not out looking for a job.  There are five adults in the house, and of course, none have a job.  The kids are in school, so it’s not like mom has to be there to watch them or one of the other five adults couldn’t watch the kids or come to my office. They are too busy.

A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;

    he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.

Maybe this isn’t hyperbole.

I have helped many people with food and bills and they are actively looking for a job, do all of the implied tasks in something I tell them to do, don’t quit at the first obstacle.

Those folks are a joy to help.  I pray with them and hope they come to better circumstances and often talk to them about what God says about work and money and tithing and blessings.

I can only shake my head at the modern-day sluggard. I think these quips of wisdom are as much for me as they are for anyone.  Don’t make it your burden when the people are too lazy to help themselves.

It’s never just that easy as often the sluggards have children and the children need water—hot water would be nice—so they can stay clean.  Sometimes I am amazed that the modern-day sluggards had the energy to make babies.

I will wrap up with verse 16.

A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes

    than seven people who answer discreetly.

Here the sluggard’s mindset puts him in league with the fool and even the gossip.  I am the only one who knows what’s going on here.

You have no job, except to beg for food and money.

You have no motivation to improve yourself, yet you discount the efforts of others.

You have disdain for the help you receive because someone always could have done more.

You are a pitiful creature, but none of your circumstances are due to your own decisions.

You will not take responsibility for your life for therein lies the truth and solutions to your circumstances and you don’t want to let go of your delusions.

I used the second person here, but I am likely not talking to you.  You, however, need to be on the lookout for not only the fool and the gossip, but for the sluggard as well.

The sluggard won’t put out much effort to help himself but will exert some energy to con you into helping him.

Solomon’s counsel is for us. The fool, the sluggard, and the gossip don’t want anything to do with wise counsel.  This counsel is for us. What do we do?

Much like with the fool, you just don’t play the game.  When the sluggard is singing poor, poor pitiful me, you don’t join in the next chorus.  Leave them to their delusions, except to challenge them to leave them behind for the truth.

Leave the ball in their court.  Come see me at 2 tomorrow afternoon and we will see if there is not a better way to handle things.

Bring all of your documentation on your income and expense, and let’s make a budget.

Go get a job, then come see me about how to keep it and get promoted.

There is a military adage that says reinforce success.  The sluggard knows this.  He wants you to commit to doing things that he can do himself.  Don’t do it. Getting you to do what the sluggard can do for himself is success in his eyes.

Always leave the ball in his court.  Require productive effort on his part to engage your participation.  Don’t be manipulated.

Solomon talks harshly about fools, sluggards, and gossips.  His counsel is don’t play their games.  Don’t be manipulated.  His counsel is for you.

The fool, the sluggard, and the gossip are not looking for instruction or discipline.  You who are seeking God’s wisdom are.

Stick to your purpose.  Ignore and rebuke in most circumstances.  Don’t be manipulated.

But what about love?

Love is providing only positive avenues—positive alternatives—for the fool, the sluggard, or the gossip to turn to if they really want to change the way they live.

Reinforcing existing bad behavior is not love.  In fact, it gets in the way of real love.

You have purposeful things to do.  The Spirit that lives inside you will tell you when someone is trying to make genuine change.  Until then, stay the course.  Live out the purpose God gave you.

As difficult as it sounds, you will be known by your love even when it is to remain on course and not be distracted by those who have forsaken their God-given purpose.  We don’t give up on them but we don’t help them stay in their ridiculous predicaments by reinforcing absurd behavior.

There is some good news here.  Most of the people that we are called to minister to are not fools, sluggards, or gossips.  They are just lost.  Share the truth with them.  Let them see God’s light shine within you.  Be known by your love.

The lost are much more fertile soil than the fool, gossip, or sluggard. You may have to deal with apathy and ambivalence, but most are not fools, gossips, or sluggards. Share the good news with all but watch out for attempts to manipulate you by some.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.

Be known by your love.

Do not be distracted by those who would lure you into their games.

Do not be manipulated.

Press on towards the goal that God has given you.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.

 

Amen.