Wise Tongue – Proverbs on blessing, cursing, and the flavor of words: a sermon summary

Proverbs 18:20-21  From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied; he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.  Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Creative language is a unique human faculty. Speech is part of how we bear the image of God who spoke the world into existence (Gen 1:3). To name and to praise, to converse and to instruct, to bless and to curse, is to be human.

We teach kids to repeat the old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me!” But the Bible does not affirm this.

While Proverbs does acknowledge that a baseless curse will not stick.

26:2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.

Yet the majority of the proverbs emphasize that words are both powerful and sticky.

25:18  A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. 27:3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.

25:15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone.

10:11  The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 

Is your mouth a fountain of blessing and wisdom or a trap and a snare to others?

To assess why you speak the way you do, consider the kind of speech you are drawn to. What do you get excited to talk about? What draws you to certain conversations or media programs or blogs?

10:32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.

18:8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.

Gossip goes down sweet; we love it. We are bent to speculative slander and find easy pleasure in others’ pain. By contrast the righteous have a taste for healthy words. They know what satisfies and builds up.

16:24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

15:30 The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones.

10:23 Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.

A diet of junk food cannot sustain a healthy body. We need real nutrients to live well. Likewise, words can nourish or destroy your soul. If you feed your heart on daily media streams of gossip, snarky humor, and political take-downs, you will spout forth the same kind of garbage. Garbage in = garbage out. The most nourishing words available are the words of scripture and gospel testimony.

13:13   Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

16:20  Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

Do you find yourself delighted to discuss the word of God? Love for God’s word is tied to love for God himself – gained, not first by effort but by encounter – as God’s love is spoken over us by others. In our living witness God’s word becomes embodied testimony, more powerful than text. God’s best word is Christ – not a text, but a person – the Word made flesh! In Jesus, God’s blessing overrides his curse so that those who trust Christ become walking testimonials of his love and mercy.

2 Corinthians 3:2-3   You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all.  ³ And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

At his crucifixion Jesus accepted the death curse which belongs to all humanity, a curse which does not flit away like a sparrow but sticks because the curse is warranted. All the false charges of humanity and even the true curse of God in judgment for human sin could not stick on Jesus, because he did not deserve it. He chose to bear it out of love for us. He chose to bear it, but he did not deserve it.

Mark 10:33-34  …”See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.  ³⁴ And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

In Jesus’ resurrection God’s death curse was swallowed up by his own Living Word. Jesus Christ became the final appeal which enables us to stand in the court of God’s mercy. By accepting the Word of Christ spoken over us and in us we are endowed with God’s power to speak life unto others as well.

People should recognize this strange boundary breaking love by how we speak to one another within the body of Christ’s church – and to others outside.

James 3:17-18  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Only as we abide in the Word of Life himself are we empowered, by his Spirit, to speak as he does. Otherwise we slip into hypocrisy.

Matthew 12:33  “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 

Thankfully, Jesus has taken the initiative to speak God’s empowering love into our lives.

John 15:3  Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 

Christ’s Word of Love toward us is not something to be conjured or construed as our own achievement. It must be received as vital gift. And it must be obeyed.

James 1:21  Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.  

The gospel leads us from the word of life (creation) to the word of death (fall and curse) to the word of redemptive love beyond death (the cross of Christ) to the word of life renewed (resurrection and promised blessing).  Death and curse are not the final word with God. And when God speaks, whether curse or blessing, his word sticks.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…

Wise Words – Sorting More Proverbs on the Tongue

Affirming that God has placed his own Word in us, received by faith, and knowing that pure speech comes from God alone (see post: “Wise Tongue”), not of us, we can now fruitfully explore parameters for wise speech in Proverbs.

The following is intended as a representative list, not an exhaustive taxonomy.

Wise words are true; they provide a firm foundation:

12:19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

Wise words are reflective, taking time for study and consideration.

15:28 The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

Wise words are gentle and peaceable; tone matters.

15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Wise words are patient.

12:16 The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.

Wise words are pure.

15:4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Wise words are timely. Saying what is good and right is not enough; your timing matters.

15:23 To make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is!

25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

27:14 Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.

Wise words are trustworthy to keep confidence; by keeping confidence we protect others from gossip and slander.

17:9 Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

Yet, wise words also keep others accountable; the wise use words to reprove when needed.

25:12 Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

27:5-6  Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Wise words heal; they serve as a balm against wicked and destructive speech.

12:18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Wise words are few; silence makes room for listening; we should not speak at every opportunity:

10:19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

17:27-28  Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

The wise listen first; they lead with ears, not with tongue.

18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.

18:13 If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.

The wise confess sin; by confession fools may become wise and the wise remain so.

28:13  Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

The wise are prayerful; godly speech arises from ongoing conversation with God.

15:7-8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.

Critically, the wise understand words are not enough; they always walk their talk.

14:23  In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

26:7 Like a lame man’s legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Lastly, wise words submit to God; they have no confidence in themselves.

21:30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.

Wise Correction – Proverbs on discipline, humility, and confronting fools: a sermon summary

(Peter Paul Rubens, Flagellation of Christ, Antwerp, Church of St. Paul.)

Children need disciplined direction and correction in order to walk in the right way – but correction is for adults as well. A fool without correction is left in his folly.

**15:31 – 33  The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Mountain climbers know that map is not territory. It is one thing to trace a route on paper; it is yet another to hike the trail. Maps provide vital orientation but require no strenuous exertion. The force of the warnings and wonders depicted on a map can only be experienced by hiking the trail.

Wisdom begins by heeding the map but deepens by hiking the trail.

Proverbs is a map; life experience is territory. It’s one thing to read the text, another to apply it.

If we didn’t have the revealed text, we wouldn’t know very well which way to turn. But knowing the text itself neither determines our choices nor ensures our capacity to stay on course.

God’s written word is not the only means God uses to call and shape and empower us.

God also works through life experience as we confront the realities of his created order – both physical and spiritual. Sometimes we learn the hard way.

Moral and spiritual realities have the same force as physical realty, but it typically takes us longer to acknowledge things that are less tangible. Gravity is more easily measured than greed.

Still, wickedness and folly, righteousness and wisdom tend to make themselves known over time.

Often we don’t see ourselves as clearly as others do – which is why one man is said to sharpen another (Prov 27:17; see also Ephesians 4:25, Colossians 3:16).

A loving father takes care to correct his children. Our Heavenly Father corrects and guides us by his written word but also through provision of parents, friends, elders, and fellow-saints along the journey.

1. Love corrects.

13:24   Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

This is a personal proverb that speaks of the active character of love itself.

The rod is not here depicted as a mere utilitarian means to avoid spoilage; it is described as an instrument of parental love.

There is a crucial distinction between beating and spanking, between hitting in anger and striking a calm corrective stroke. Both may be unpleasant. But one is harmful, the other restorative; one destroys relationship, the other builds up. A beating intends to crush and marginalize, while a spanking intends to correct and to empower. Discipline is not oppression.

It is easy to get that wrong – sadly, parents often do – but abuse is not an argument against proper use. If, as a parent, you cannot control your own anger then you should not spank. Self-discipline comes before discipline of others. The discipline of children is not a vehicle for venting anger. Wise correction must be loving correction.

But it is hard to read Proverbs and conclude against spanking in principle.

22:15   Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

Love does not always entail pleasant feelings and pleasant interactions. In fact, it is love that should compel us to confront behavior problems openly.  

27:5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Whatever you may think about spanking, Proverbs makes clear that to excuse ourselves from firm discipline of our children is to neglect to love them well.

29:15  The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

Corrective discipline is the hard work of parenting. But it’s also the hard work of life in the body of Christ. Wise friendship and discipleship includes rebuke and reproof and firm correction.

27:6   Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

28:23   Whoever rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than he who flatters with his tongue.

Love is not always fun. It is often uncomfortable. People often resent God’s correction until they realize it was necessary.

Hebrews 12:4-14   In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

 “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  ⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 

(Here the author of Hebrews quotes Proverbs 3:11-12.)

 ⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  ⁸ If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 

¹² Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.  ¹⁴ Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

It’s impossible to reach summit with no strain in the legs. Lack of discipline is lack of care.

Are you currently experiencing hardship in your life? Do you face frustration and pain? This is a good sign God has not given up on developing you as a beloved member of his family.

You cannot earn membership in this family, that comes freely by faith in Jesus. But part of the gift involves striving to become like the giver.

We might think of Christian discipleship as a full scholarship into the greatest school of personal transformation in the universe – application accepted and tuition paid by the blood of Christ, campus endowed by the Holy Spirit, and the school chaired by God the Father.

But such a scholarship is not attractive if you don’t want to go to school.

2. Correction must be timely.

22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

This proverb emphasizes the timeliness of discipline in shaping desire. There are windows of opportunity that close over time. A healthy tree requires good soil. Like most proverbs, this verse should not be taken as a guarantee but as a general principle.

Children are not really innocent, but they are tender – thus more easily shaped.

As Frederick Douglass once put it:

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

If folly is not corrected when young, it tends to harden over time.

29:1   He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

27:22  Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart from him.

Mature folly ossifies like a badly set bone. To try to correct a fool full grown is typically to waste one’s breath.

29:9   If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.

There comes a time to set aside efforts at correction and allow a fool to walk into his folly. There comes a time to leave discipline to God – however much it hurts (cf. 17:21).

And yet one’s approach to confronting folly must be determined by the context. Determining when to speak up in correction is not always easy.

26:4-5   Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.  ⁵Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Fools are usually grateful to be left to themselves. But if you are content in isolation it is not a good sign.

18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

28:26 Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

Discipline must be timely. The window for correction closes over the life cycle. Sometimes we must leave dear ones to the discipline of God.

And yet God can open closed windows. And Christ came to save fools.

3. Forgiveness enables re-correction.

28:13-14 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity. 

This is the highest wisdom found among the proverbs. This is the heart of the good news Christians believe about God’s mercy. If you’re already malformed and broken in your folly – there is still a balm and palliative for the foolish heart. God rejoices over the repentant heart.

If you didn’t grow up in good soil, God wants to bring you up anew. In fact, Jesus insisted we must become like spiritual babies, like tender children – in order to enter the kingdom of God.

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  (Matthew 18:3-4) 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Some of the best moments I experience in pastoral counsel are when people say, “Yea, I was wrong, I’ve been wrong for a long time now, and I don’t know what to do about it. Maybe God can help me.”

Yes! That is the beginning of wisdom.

We avoid correction because we are proud. We want to correct ourselves because we want the credit. We don’t even want God to get the credit.

But when pride is broken; when we confess our sins and stop seeking credit, it’s a sure sign God has begun to transform the foolish heart.

If you are a crooked tree, God can prune you.

If you need a new life, God can re-birth you.

If you are wise in your own eyes, God can remove those blinders.

If you need to turn from folly, God offers wise correction.

God is the Father who runs out to kiss and embrace the returning prodigal fool (Luke 15:22-24).

But if you think you need no correction your pride will refuse God’s fatherly embrace (Luke 15:28, cf. Mark 2:17).

Even Jesus Christ learned obedience through what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

Jesus was crucified like a fool in order to show forth God’s correction of human folly. In order to expose the false wisdom of men, God himself appeared foolish. And in his death and resurrection Christ reset the bones of humanity for those humble enough to accept this correction by faith.

Christ prevailed against human folly, not by argument, but by love – not by applying the rod to our backs, but by accepting a flogging on our behalf (John 19:1ff).

1 Corinthians 1:20 – 25  Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,  23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,  24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

God reverses the suppositions of human wisdom.

29:23 One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Remember that in heaven the last shall be first and the first shall be last (Matthew 19:30). With God it is never too late to accept correction – but we must do so by becoming fools for Jesus in the eyes of the world.

(**Verse citations are from Proverbs unless otherwise indicated. All Bible quotations are from the ESV.)

Wise Choice – Proverbs on decision and planning: a sermon summary (see esp. Proverbs 16)

Proverbs aims to inspire submission to the will of God in order to cultivate better decision-making in our daily lives.

**16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.

The Bible is full of stories about people who thought they knew the right way, but ended up in the wrong.

Think of Pharaoh who led his army after the Hebrews only to drown in the Red Sea (Exodus 4-15), or Eve who was so convinced the forbidden fruit would make her wise (Gen 3:6), or Cain who thought life would be better if he just did away with his brother (Gen 4:3 ff.).

16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Think of the chief priests and the crowds who demanded the crucifixion of Jesus (Luke 23:21), or Paul who tried to eliminate the Christian church by force before he was himself converted and called by Christ to become an apostle (Acts 26:14).

21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. 

The paths of life run differently than we expect, and God’s ways are higher than our own.

1)      We’re not in control.

16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. 

Proverbs 16:1 calls us to look for the interplay of the will of God in human conversation, especially in our own words. The Lord is at work in the bridge between meditation and articulation.

This proverb contrasts human will with God’s will, while at the same time it asserts that God’s own will is worked out in our words.

As Allen Ross observes:

“The proverb then is actually giving the reader a glimpse of how God confounds even the wise.”  (Allen P. Ross, Proverbs, 1002)

While this is mysterious to consider, yet it’s quite practical.

If you’re turned down for a job – you need not wrestle any further about whether to take that position. The answer, at least for now, is clearly “no”.

We will make our plans, but God rules the outcomes. We can take comfort in his sovereignty. Maybe that consistent “No” is protecting you from something which you cannot imagine. Perhaps your own inability to find the right words is a confirmation that your time to speak has not yet come.

But there is something foreboding in this proverb as well.

You might answer “yes” to a wicked path. Sometimes God’s judgment is manifest in allowing us to have exactly what we want.

16:4  The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. 

God is sovereign; we are not. Watch out for the answers of others and watch the words of your own mouth, but trust that God will work his will through us one way or another – whether we speak with him or against him.

19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. (also see Acts 4:24-30)

If we would align our plans and our words with God, then we must study God’s own words and plans. 

16:20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

2)      We shouldn’t trust ourselves.

 16:2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. 

With Proverbs 16:2 the foreboding is increased. There is a clear warning in this proverb. What you consider pure and right may or may not be what God counts pure. Either way, you will tend to think of yourself as in the right (cf. 21:2 above).

The pattern is consistent throughout humanity – we really want to be right. We like to think of ourselves as right all the time. We’re not inclined to be teachable or to change our minds.

Proverbs warns us that we are not so right or pure as we suppose.

Key insight: you are not the most reliable narrator of your own story.

You need to know what other people think. You need to know what God thinks. And God is not you. We need perspective in order to get a better idea of what is right and wrong.

20:24  A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?

One thing is sure – if you insist on always making your own way and relying upon your own judgment, then you are proud. And pride is not pure.

16:5 Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.  16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Ellen Davis concludes that,

 “Self- suspicion is the only effective antidote to arrogance. In matters of speech, it expresses itself as the willingness to explore the feelings that lie behind a remark that “didn’t come out right,” to discover our own malice and confess it as a sin. Healthy self-suspicion derives from the recognition that our knowledge of ourselves is always woefully incomplete…” (Ellen Davis, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, 102)

There is tremendous stubbornness in the human spirit. We don’t like to second guess ourselves because we don’t want to admit we’re not in control. We hide insecurity by assuming a posture of self-assurance.

21:29-31  A wicked man puts on a bold face, but the upright gives thought to his ways.

Sometimes we know there is danger; we have been clearly warned – but we keep going.

27:12  The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

We celebrate this stubbornness as a culture whenever we say with admiration: “He is his own man.” Or  “She has made her own way.”

Consider these chilling lines from the song “My Way” written by Paul Anka and popularized by Frank Sinatra:

“For what is a man, what has he got?  If not himself, then he has naught  To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels  The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!”

(see full lyrics here: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/franksinatra/myway.html)

The good news is you don’t have to walk that lonely path. You don’t have to live a brash and proud life, you don’t have to choose the path of folly. By the grace of God, you can choose the way of wisdom.

3)      We still have to decide.

 16:3 Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established

Despite all these warnings about the folly of human plans, yet the Bible is still in favor of making plans. Despite the fact we’re not in control and we shouldn’t trust ourselves, yet we still have to decide. God is sovereign, but he is not a puppeteer.

As Paul Koptak observes:

“Human choices are not made less important by considering the sovereignty of God; rather, their true importance is shown.”  (Paul Kaptak, Proverbs, 426)

It seems to me Proverbs calls us to make our plans with vigor – but to submit our plans and commit our ways to God. We should plan and pray before we act, but we should act decidedly – while humbly allowing for redirection from the Lord.

Proverbs endorses careful planning. Don’t take the various warnings about human folly as an excuse to piously relieve yourself of the responsibility to plan or to decide.

11:14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

We Americans live in a time and place that presents us with seemingly endless choices – and encourages us to keep our options open.

But as Barry Cooper puts it:

“The god of open options is…a liar. He promises you that by keeping your options open, you can have everything and everyone. But in the end you get nothing and no one.” (Barry Cooper, “Imprisoned by Choice”, Christianity Today, Jan/Feb 2013, p. 54)

Part of our problem in decision paralysis is that even when we see the right path clearly we still want to know all the reasons why that way is best and we want to know all outcomes ahead of time.

 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

There’s nothing wrong with decision trees and forecasting. These are helpful tools. But the freedom of faith comes in accepting that you don’t have to understand in order to choose well and you don’t have to know outcomes in order to walk in the Fear of the Lord. Often it’s only once we step forward in faith that we may begin to see more clearly.

As Thomas Merton once observed:

“Faith brings together the known and the unknown so that they overlap: or rather, so that we are aware of their overlapping. …when we accept only what we can consciously rationalize, our life is actually reduced to the most pitiful limitations…” (Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, 135-36, italics his)

For the person of genuine faith, discerning the will of God should not be especially difficult – at least not most of the time. Walking the righteous path may prove difficult, but the way forward is straight and narrow. Finding the way involves turning to God and to his Word; you don’t have to make it up as you go along.

3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

If we study God’s law, we will find it plainly forbids a plethora of bad options. If we stop playing God we may find joy in faith and the simple peace that comes with acknowledging our limitations.

There are more good things to be done in the world than bad, more than one way to please God. But we should choose something to put our hand to that aligns with God’s favor.

17:24 The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

As Christians we must remember that we find our salvation, not in every story, but in a particular story. The best news for us is that God is not keeping his options open. God has chosen to act and God has chosen to love. In the man Jesus Christ, God chose to suffer for your forgiveness, to die for your redemption. Christ himself traded his own life for yours.

Barry Cooper observes:

“Nothing narrows your options more than allowing your hands and feet to be nailed to a wooden cross.” (Ibid., p. 55)

Where humanity has lost the will to love, God remains committed. And by Christ’s atonement God enables us, by faith, to choose the good again and to choose to love again without fear. Jesus once said to his disciples:

John 15:16a You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…

God chooses first, but still we must choose decidedly for God.

Luke 9:62  Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” 

(**Verse citations are from Proverbs unless otherwise indicated. All Bible quotations are from the ESV.)

Wise Poor – Proverbs on poverty and injustice: a sermon summary

 

Some sayings in Proverbs were written especially for the ruling class. They insist kings stand accountable to God and must exercise their power in stewardship for the wellbeing of others.

**29:13-14  The poor man and the oppressor meet together; the LORD gives light to the eyes of both. ¹⁴ If a king faithfully judges the poor, his throne will be established forever.

Derek Kidner comments:

“The test of a man in power, and his hidden strength, is the extent to which he keeps faith with those who can put least pressure on him.” (Derek Kidner, Proverbs, 175, commenting on 29:14)

Thomas Jefferson famously opened the American Declaration of Independence by appealing to unalienable human rights:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their  Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” (In Congress, July 4, 1776.)

While scripture does not endorse a right of political revolution per se, yet Jefferson does align with the Bible in asserting universal human dignity grounded in our common origin as creatures of God.

14:31 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him. 22:2 The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all. 28:5  Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the LORD understand it completely.

And yet most current appeals to human rights do not ground their substance in the glory of God.

It was Jefferson’s appeal to the court of Heaven which carried the force of his argument against King George. George III could scarcely defend the injustices carried out in his colonies as divinely ordered – esp. as a Christian king.

Ellen Davis observes:

“It is because biblical faith affirms that we have political rights precisely as the creatures of God that totalitarian governments must always suppress it. They can only be effective and secure as long as they perpetuate the myth that no one and nothing is more than a creature of the state, its tool and hopeful beneficiary.”  (Ellen Davis, Proverbs…, 96, italics hers)

This is why it is next to impossible to find a Bible in a place like North Korea.

But, sadly, even among those with convictions about universal human dignity we find that by force of custom or desire for profit our personal convictions are easily set aside in practical matters.

Thomas Jefferson himself described the wicked irony of his own custom of slave holding:

“The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. …And with what execration should the statesman be loaded, who permitting one half the citizens thus to trample on the rights of the other, transforms those into despots, and these into enemies, destroys the morals of the one part, and the amor patriae of the other.”  (Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, chapter 18)

Despite these convictions, Jefferson never released his slaves – not even at his death (as Washington did). Often we see injustice clearly, but we don’t know what to do about it and so we look the other way. We leave it to the next generation to redress the balance. (I say this not to villainize Jefferson, but because his story dramatizes the kind of intense ironies and inconsistencies which permeate the human condition. Jefferson did more than most to put slaves on a trajectory toward emancipation by writing about freedom and equality as he did. Yet he failed to align his actions with his words.)

21:13   Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. 28:27 Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse. 

We are skilled at selective attention. We may or may not know the death tolls in current areas of political conflict like Syria, Egypt, and the Central African Republic. But most of us will be sure to hear the outcome of the first UGA football game this weekend (at least those of us here in Athens). I am all for sporting diversions, but we can easily fill our lives with pleasant distractions to the neglect of greater matters.

To find justice, we must seek it.  It’s not fun to look upon things that are unpleasant, and in this way it seems the poor often get in the way of the rich.

17:5 Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

Why would anyone be glad at calamity? Because calamity sweeps some of the wretched poor out of the way so that we can get on with our lives and business – we suppose they are probably better off dead – and our collective conscience is relieved.

Poverty is not simply about not having money.  An orphan with money still has no parents; a widow with money still has no husband. The wealthy fool still lacks wisdom. And the unbelieving sinner in a hearty economy still lives in bondage to his own flesh and alienation from God. The dead with money…are still dead (they don’t really have the money anymore either).

As Flannery O’Conner once put it in the voice of her character Francis Tarwater:

“’The dead are poor. …You can’t be any poorer than dead. He’ll have to take what he gets.’” (The Violent Bear it Away, chapter 1 – originally a short story entitled, You Can’t Be Any Poorer Than Dead.)

Part of poverty is lacking a voice. The poor are easily ignored. Few in America are destitute, but many are poor. The poor are those from whom we turn our faces.

22:22-23  Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, ²³ for the LORD will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.

Why would you rob the poor? Because it’s easier than exploiting the rich! The poor are not well defended; they have few advocates. Hence King Lemuel’s mother exhorts him to speak up:

31:8-9 Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. ⁹ Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. 

The best advocate for the poor is one who lives among them and identifies with their plight – even if he is truly wealthy. That’s what Jesus did for all of us. Christ completely identified with human poverty – even the poverty of death, the poverty of abandonment, the poverty of betrayal, the poverty of our sin and folly he made his own.

Luke 6:20   “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

And in his lowest place, stripped of all but love, he spoke for us:

Luke 23:34  And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

The Holy One was counted as nothing by the ruling classes of his day.

Another reason the poor have few faithful advocates is that there are pressures from power interests not to speak against the status quo. Bribes and threats and violence are effective and ancient tools for silencing dissent.

13:23  The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice. 17:23 The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice. 18:23 The poor use entreaties, but the rich answer roughly.

There are massive efforts in the world today which aim to bring an end to poverty and oppression. And any serious effort to alleviate injustice is to be commended – even when it fails. But we must recognize that many such efforts are doomed for disappointment in that they do not seek to redress the spiritual poverty of the human heart. Our problems are more than economic. Material wealth does not heal pride or covetousness – in fact, it tends to fuel it. The rich are often most distant from God.

16:8  Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. 29:26  Many seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.

The good news today is that we cannot save the world from oppression and injustice – not in our own strength – but that God can; God has done so, and God is doing so. God has the resources to accomplish his goals and he wants us to be part of it. Jesus died so that we might live – he chose to.

2 Corinthians 8:9  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

In Christ, God came not only to die, but to live – to overcome our sins with sacrificial forgiveness, to swallow up death with the victory of resurrection life. And you can’t be any richer than that!

John 10:10 …I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Do you know yourself to be poor enough to need the charity of God? Are you wealthy in terms of material capital, but poor in terms of spiritual capital? Or are you materially poor and tired of being pushed to the margins of society? Are you willing to accept the bounty of God today? Are you willing to become an instrument in sharing the wealth of God? If so, hear the words of the prophet Isaiah – words which Jesus claimed were about himself (cf. Luke 4:16-21):

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8, 11 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; ² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; ³ to grant to those who mourn in Zion- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. ⁴ They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

We cannot redress injustice by our own strength – we are too poor. But by faith in Christ we can participate in God’s own justice and mercy – God’s own strength to fulfill his promises. Indeed, by faith in Jesus we become members of the royal household of God – with all the responsibilities thereto appertaining. The proverbs written to kings are therefore also written to us. And this is not a call to drudgery but to great joy!

Isaiah 61:8, 11 For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense…   ¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.

(**Verse citations are from Proverbs unless otherwise indicated. All Bible quotations are from the ESV.)

Wise Food – Proverbs on food and drink: a sermon summary

In the Bible food is more than a matter of survival and enjoyment; it is an instrument of divine wisdom. Just as Adam and Eve were confronted with food choices at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen 2:16-17) – so Wisdom and Folly implore the readers of Proverbs to dine at their respective tables.

Lady Wisdom (cf. God’s voice, Gen 1:29): 9:5 “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.”

Woman Folly (cf. Serpent’s voice, Gen 3:5): 9:17 “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

Proverbs endorses the enjoyment of food and drink, and yet the sages warn that, like all good gifts, when used wrongly food and drink may serve to our destruction.

23:20-21 Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, ²¹ for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and its beautiful fruit would have served as a constant reminder that God reigns and provides, God is in control, and God sets the boundaries.

“If you love me”, says Jesus (John 14:15), “you will keep my commandments.” Eden was a garden of bounty, but also of boundaries. There was plenty to eat, but the provision of food and its enjoyment came in context with relationship to God – of joyful creaturely gratitude and dependence and obedience – not of rivalry.

The issue of whether we should enjoy food is not a question – the test of wisdom comes in knowing what and when and where, how much and with whom we should eat or not eat. There is consistent advice in Proverbs: 1) Tame your appetite. 2) Satisfy your appetite. 3) Share your appetite.

1. Tame your appetite.

25:27-28  It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.  ²⁸A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

City walls protected against invasion by hostile enemies. Eugene Peterson translates for our context: A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.  (Eugene Peterson, The Message, Prov 25:28)

The great thing about doors and windows is that you can open and close them. You can walk in and out. You can let the fresh air in or shut out the cold. Windows are not that great if they’re just an opening in the side of the house – where weather and mosquitos come in and out at all times. Is your mouth an open aperture on the front of your head – or a functioning door, which opens and shuts on command?

Indulgence is great – but overindulgence is not. Temperance (self-control) is not about repression of all desire, but about the right alignment of healthy desire.  As Ellen Davis puts it:

“…temperance forbids any form of self-degradation…it demands that we use our passions wisely rather than being tyrannized by them. Above all, temperance aims at keeping us free for God’s service.”  (Ellen Davis, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs; 107-08)

The self-controlled person understands that earthly pleasures are not ultimate – that we are made for more and greater enjoyment. We eat to live. We don’t live to eat. The addict and the glutton are controlled by their desires rather than taming them. They are tossed about on the waves of appetite. They see no higher vocation.  23:35b “When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”

The secret of self-control comes in the recognition of God’s control and the acceptance of God’s call.

John 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

When you live for a clearly higher purpose, food and drink are placed in perspective (Matt 6:25-33). And taming physical hunger and thirst often proves the beginning of taming other appetites. Many a spiritual battle has been first won at the dinner table (cf. Daniel 1:12ff., Matthew 4:2-4).

2. Satisfy your appetite.

^NIV 13:25 The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.

Life is more than food and drink, and yet life is not less than enjoyment of these good gifts. Remember that Jesus Christ was accused of gluttony because he enjoyed feasting with other people (Luke 7:34) – yet he always gave thanks (Matt 15:36; Matt 26:27)!

Ecclesiastes 3:12-13  I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; ¹³ also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil- this is God’s gift to man.

Fasting can prove a vital discipline, but mortification of the flesh does not require perpetual deprivation. And spiritual self-control is not about personal pride in exerting your own will power. It has more to do with cultivating gratitude and knowing when enough is enough. There is an element of our culture which is extremely preoccupied with body image and prides itself on highly limited food consumption. This is a different kind of trap.

 “The problem is that what seems like a “good thing” and appears to be mere “self-discipline” is actually a ritual that begins to deny life and crush our spirits. Instead of being healthy, we are an object that retains value from being “perfect” or without mark. Our preciousness is no longer defined by the beauty of our soul or the standing of our spirit. We are the looks we draw.”

(Leanne Spencer, as quoted by Constance Rhodes, Life Inside the Thin Cage, 20)

It is said that lack of self-acceptance is at the core of disordered eating. We feel insecure because we desperately seek the approval of other people, rather than rejoicing in God’s approval and acceptance. God loves you spiritually, mentally, socially, emotionally, and physically, whether you count yourself fat or thin. He gave us food as a blessing to enjoy, not as a bondage to self-absorption.

3. Share your appetite.

23:6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, 22:9 Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.

Food is intended for more than personal pleasure (not less); our relation to food corresponds to our relation with neighbors. Food enables hospitality as a boon to friendship, while hoarding prohibits relationship. Our meals should become a means of reconciliation and daily renewal of fellowship with one another – in our families, our church, with neighbors and friends and even enemies (Psalm 23:5).

Don’t make the mistake of thinking gluttony is always shared with others. In fact, it can be very isolating.  As the old rat Templeton told Wilbur the pig in Charlotte’s Web, upon being invited to play with the young pig:  “I’m a glutton but not a merry-maker.”  (E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web, ch. 4)

Perhaps for some of you overindulgence has become that place where you hide from your troubles and isolate yourself from engagement with others. Today, God’s inviting you back out into the open – to a better way of life and a greater enjoyment of life in relationship with others. We assume gluttony is a private sin which harms no one else, but we are wrong – it really affects everybody around us. We will not understand what it is to truly tame and satisfy our appetite until we learn how to share it.

The peace offering (a.k.a. fellowship offering) in Israel holds close similarities to the Passover and thus to the Lord’s Supper – we partake as a bodily participation in the significance of the death of Christ. The peace offering required that the sacrificial animal be eaten by the family who brought the offering that very day. A portion was burned on the altar unto the LORD, a portion was eaten by the priest, and the rest was to be eaten by the family (Leviticus 7:13-18). This holy table fellowship was a sign of the reconciliation of God and humanity – hostile parties renewed in friendship through the forgiveness of sins.

“Eating together before Yhwh brings into being or cements their relationship. …The priest offers the animal to Yhwh, and it thus belongs to Yhwh, so that what the offerers then eat is the food of God. …Making the animal an offering to Yhwh (even if the worshipers then eat most of it) turns a barbecue into a worship event.”  (John Goldingay, Old Testament Theology v. 3, Israel’s Life, 141-42)

Likewise, Jesus’ invitation to eat bread as his body and drink wine as his blood is an invitation to surrender our lives to God and allow Christ to set new boundaries of love and significance. All are welcome, but all must come as passive receivers of the holy food of God.

(Full sermon audio available here: theuniversitychurch.org)

Wise Friends – Proverbs on friendship: a sermon summary

According to Proverbs we need wise friends to help us find the wisdom of God. There is no spiritual maturity without each other. Our companions shape our character more than we imagine.

Proverbs 13:20  Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Cultures cultivate and people imitate; we draw on the words and actions of people around us.

“[This is like] one who enters a perfumer’s shop – even if the owner sells him nothing, nor does he buy anything from the owner, after he leaves his person and his clothing are scented, nor does the scent leave him all day long.

…[Or] one who enters a tanner’s shop – even if the owner sells him nothing, nor does he buy anything from the owner, after he leaves his person and his clothing are evil-smelling. Nor does the stench leave him all day long.” (Visotzky, Midrash, 68. As quoted in Ellen Davis, Proverbs…, 86.)

Part of the reason for this is that friendship is always grounded in some common interest.

“Those who have nothing can share nothing; those who are going nowhere can have no fellow-travelers.”  (C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves, 98).

“[And]…weaknesses induce companionship just as easily, in fact more easily, than do virtues. (William Bennett, The Book of Virtues, 269)

We should never think: “I’m not really like these people, they just happen to be my friends.” We need encounters with outside social circles to realize that not everyone behaves like us and our friends.

There’s always potential to develop one way or another depending on our associations. But if you want to be pleasing in the eyes of everyone, you will end up seeking to please fools (cf. Luke 6:26). You don’t have to be the best friend of a fool in order to get into trouble, all that’s required is that you become a fool’s companion. The sages see deadly danger here:

17:12 Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly. (cf. Proverbs 4:14-19)

I used to struggle with abandoning my bad associations because I wanted to be a faithful friend. But to depart from a path which is already headed for destruction does not hurt your former companions – it invites them to consider a better way. In order to truly help some friends we must first get some distance.

“Remember, then, that whoever does not mean good is always in danger of harm. …[And] There are a great many more good things than bad things to do.” (George MacDonald, The Princess and Curdie, chapter 3)

But where do we find wise friends in a world full of fools? We like to think ourselves wise even when we are not. 20:6 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find? If you’re thinking, “I’m glad I got all this figured out already”, then you are wise in your own estimation. As Christians we need not pretend to be more righteous or more wise than we really are. We can confess our folly openly and then seek the counsel of God. This is why the fear of the LORD is said to be the beginning of wisdom.

12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

It is one of the first requirements of Christian discipleship is that we acknowledge our own folly. In order to benefit from God’s wisdom we must first recognize that we need it.

1 John 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (cf. Prov. 28:13)

The original sin of Eden looks more like folly than malice (Genesis 3:4-7). Most sin is like that. We must become truly wise in the same way we become truly righteous – through friendship with Jesus Christ – our repentance and his forgiveness.

 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

True friendship is more than companionship and more than being allied in a cause. It is the deep joy of sharing one’s soul with another in a kind of reciprocity that expands our entire appreciation of life itself. It is not just about doing favors for one another, but about finding in one another a greater joy in life and in God than we could ever attain alone.

18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.

“We are who we are not because we are separate from the others who are next to us, but because we are both separate and connected, both distinct and related…” (Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace, 66, emphasis his.)

Some of you have been frustrated in finding wise friends and have concluded it’s better to walk alone – but the Bible calls us together. Philippians 2:4-5 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus… In Christ the quest to find wise friends should give way to the process of becoming a wise friend for others.

Part of the unique glory of friendship is that it is a relationship which may be openly shared with others. C. S. Lewis has observed that it is the least jealous and least biological of human loves. By contrast with familial affections and with Eros, friendship is more purely spiritual – in such a way that the beauty of friendship expands by welcoming others into fellowship.

“Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others.” (Lewis, Four Loves, 126)

Here Lewis speaks especially of friendship forged through mutual association with Jesus Christ. It is God who empowers us to truly love one another sacrificially, without envy and without manipulation.

John 15:13-17 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

 It may well be that friendship is the closest human analogue to divine and trinitarian fellowship. Lewis wonders if other analogies are more common in scripture – father/son, husband/wife, master/ servant – simply because few people have experienced true friendship in such a way as to relate.

But the theme does arise at key junctures in redemptive history:

Exodus 33:11a   Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. 

Isaiah 41:8  But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; 

Matthew 11:19  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!‘ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

One of the joys of friendship is mutual sincerity in conversation. Friends enjoy talking to one another.

27:9-10 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. 

If you want to grow in fellowship with God, try talking with him more! Read his word and speak your heart in prayerful response. The good news of the gospel is that God has freely chosen to befriend fools like us! Jesus died and rose again because God wants to enjoy relationship with you, and he wants you to discover the joys of fellowship with himself.                Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise…

(Full sermon audio available here: /theuniversitychurch.org/)

Consider the words of the hymn “No Not One” as a worshipful response to God’s friendship. Here is a joyful rendition:

St. Patrick’s Breastplate

Below I’ve posted Bob Hostetler’s version of St. Patrick’s Breastplate (his famous prayer) nicely adapted as a prayer for children and grandchildren.

I prayed through it this morning. I’m still a long way from grandkids yet, but God knows them before conceived. Those without biological children can fruitfully pray for spiritual offspring and for our collective interest in all children of faith adopted by God as one family in Jesus Christ. Patrick’s original is crafted as an invocation binding God’s name to oneself. But I like the way Hostetler reorients this toward others by pleading for the next generation.

Prayer is a powerful way to reach into the future.

(From Bob Hostetlers Prayer Blog.)

St. Patrick’s Breastplate for My Children and Grandchildren

I bind to my children and grandchildren today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
Invoking the same
The Three in One
and One in Three.

I plead for them forever
The power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spiced tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I plead all for them today.

I invoke for my children and grandchildren the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I ask for them today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun’s lifegiving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I beseech for them today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to their need.
The wisdom of their God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give them speech,
His heavenly host to be their guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar their course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I ask, in Jesus’ name, these powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect them, Christ, till your returning.

Christ be with them, Christ within them,
Christ behind them, Christ before them,
Christ beside them, Christ to win them,
Christ to comfort and restore them.
Christ beneath them, Christ above them,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love them,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I ask all this in the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord. Amen.

Christ’s Birth and Birth of Church – An Epiphany Reflection

(Song of Solomon 6:4)  You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners. 

Traditionally, the Feast of Epiphany (January 6th in the western calendar) follows the Twelfth Night of Christmastide (January 5th) ending the season which celebrates Christ’s entering the world as God in the flesh. The name comes from the Greek epiphania – “manifestation”. Epiphany seems to have originated in the Eastern Church as a holiday especially commemorating Jesus’ baptism (see photos at end of post) but also closely associated with Christ’s nativity, the miracle at Cana, and the visit of the Magi.  All these events emphasize the revelation of the Son of God as a human being. Christ’s baptism by John was an important way of his identifying himself entirely with the plight of his people – though sinless he accepted the baptism of repentance. The Eastern Orthodox commemorate this by leaping into icy waters every year at Epiphany (January 19th on their calendar).

In Western settings the Magi visit gets primary emphasis on Epiphany – those Gentile sages who followed a stellar sign to pay homage to Jesus some time after his birth (Matthew 2). Those foreigners recognized baby Jesus as Jewish royalty while the Jews themselves were largely oblivious that anything significant had happened. (The Magi are the ones who told Herod, not realizing he would seek to kill the child as a rival.)

The obscurity of Ephiphany provides me an opportunity to feature another quote from Eugene Peterson’s recently published memoir, The Pastor. As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been reading Peterson in an effort to seek guidance from a much more experienced pastor, and he does not disappoint. (See my Nov. 4 post, The Congregation as Sanctuary, below for more on the book and Peterson’s background.)

What follows is an extended quote from the conclusion of chapter 16 of The Pastor in which Peterson explores the close correlation between Christ’s obscure birth and the original obscurity of the Christian church, in its historical origin and within Peterson’s own experience in starting a new congregation.

Throughout this chapter Peterson explores the spiritual benefit of meeting for worship in an unconventional setting, namely Peterson’s large windowless basement, for two and a half years. This was a new church plant which Peterson had initiated just north of Baltimore, MD in the early 1960s. As they persisted in meeting underground, some of the youth dubbed the new congregation “Catacombs Presbyterian”. Peterson welcomed that designation as it emphasized God’s work in hidden places – like the womb of Mary.

 How did God bring our Savior into our history? We have the story of what he could have done but didn’t. God could have sent his son into the world to turn all the stones into bread and solve the hunger problem worldwide. He didn’t do it. He could have sent Jesus on tour through Palestine, filling in turn the seven grand amphitheaters and hippodromes built by Herod and amazing everyone with supernatural circus performances, impressing the crowds with Super-God in action. He didn’t do it. He could have set Jesus up to take over governing the world – no more war, no more injustice, no more crime. He didn’t do it.

We also have the story of what he, in fact, did do. He gave us the miracle of Jesus, but a miracle in the form of a helpless infant born in poverty in a dangerous place with neither understanding nor support from the political, religious, or cultural surroundings. Jesus never left that world he had been born into, that world of vulnerability, marginality, and poverty.

And then the parallel question: how did he bring our salvation community into our history? … Pretty much the same way he brought our Savior into the world – by a miracle, every bit as miraculous as the birth of Jesus, but also under the same conditions as the birth of Jesus. Celebrities were conspicuously absent. Governments were oblivious.

…The Holy Spirit descended into the womb of Mary in the Galilean village of Nazareth. Thirty or so years later the same Holy Spirit descended into the collective womb of men and women, which included Mary, who had been followers of Jesus. The first conception gave us Jesus, the second conception gave us church.

It was a miracle that didn’t look like a miracle – a miracle using the powerless, the vulnerable, the unimportant. Not so very different from any random congregation we might look up in the yellow pages of our telephone directories. When Paul described his first-generation new-church development in Corinth – “ not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many of noble birth, but…the low and despised in the world” – he could have been writing about us.

Some people have a hard time believing that Jesus was conceived in the virgin womb of Mary. We were having a hard time believing that the church was being conceived in that catacomb [Peterson’s basement] womb which was us. But we stayed with the story. It would have been a lot easier to imagine a church formed from an elite group of talented men and women who hungered for the “beauty of holiness,” congregations as stunning as the curvaceous Tirzah and as terrifying to the forces of evil as the army with banners. But then where would we be? We wouldn’t have had a chance of being part of it.

The story had its way with us. It became more and more clear that when God forms a church, he starts with the nobodies. That’s the way the Holy Spirit works. Those are the people he started with – Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, Anna and Simeon – to bring our Savior into the world. Why would he change strategies in bringing the salvation community, church, this congregation into formation?

…Those old romantic illusions of sweet Tirzah and the terrible army were hard to give up. And the deceptive rush of adrenaline and the ego satisfaction that would put me in control of a religious business were continually seductive. Spiritual consumerism, the sin “crouching at the door” that did Cain in, was always there. But Luke’s storytelling had its way with all of us. We began to understand ourselves on Luke’s terms. Emily Dickinson has a wonderful line in which she says that “the truth must dazzle gradually or every man go blind.”

We were acquiring a church identity as the truth that dazzles gradually. We were learning how to submit ourselves to the Spirit’s formation of congregation out of this mixed bag of humanity that was us – broken, hobbling, crippled, sexually abused and spiritually abused, emotionally unstable, passive and passive-aggressive, neurotic men and women. Chuck at fifty who has failed a dozen times and knows that he will never amount to anything. Mary who had been ignored and scorned and abused in a marriage in which she remained faithful. Phyllis living with children and a spouse deep in addictions. Lepers and blind and deaf-and-dumb sinners. Also fresh converts, excited to be in on this new life. Spirited young people, energetic and eager to be guided into a life of love and compassion, mission and evangelism. A few seasoned saints who know how to pray and listen and endure. And a considerable number of people who pretty much just showed up. I sometimes wonder why they bothered. There they are: the hot, the cold, the lukewarm; Christians, half-Christians, almost-Christians; New Agers, angry ex-Catholics, sweet new converts. I didn’t choose them. I didn’t get to choose them.

…we didn’t get a church formed to our expectations. But once we understood that the Holy Spirit brings church into being this way, not ours, we saw something very different, a Spirit-created community that forms Christ in this place – not in some rarefied “spiritual” sense – precious souls for whom Christ died. They are that, too, but it takes a while to see it, see the various parts of Christ’s body here and now: a toe here, a finger there, sagging buttocks and breasts, skinned knees and elbows. Paul’s metaphor of the church as members of Christ’s body is not a mere metaphor. Metaphors have teeth. They keep us grounded to what is right before our eyes. At the same time they keep us connected to all those operations of the Trinity that we can’t see.

…Those months in the catacombs were exactly what we needed to free us from the lingering romantic, crusader, and consumer images of church that in various configurations all of us brought with us. We had been given sufficient time and a congenial place to have our imaginations cleansed of church-that-looks-like-a-church illusions and to have the Holy Spirit paradigm shift established. Not totally, of course. It would always be an ongoing work in progress. But without this substantial “cleansing” and “shift” that took place in the catacombs [Peterson’s basement], we would not have been able to recognize and participate in the actual church that was being formed among us. Without that, the church that most of us expected and wanted would have become the enemy of the church we were being given.

Eugene Peterson, The Pastor (New York: HarperCollins, 2011), pp. 126-29.

Peterson’s thoughts on this remind me very much of my own church which has been meeting in unconventional settings for over 40 years, most consistently in Dan Orme’s old Victorian house for almost 30 years (www.theuniversitychurch.org). Our setting is much better lighted and more beautiful than a suburban basement. Dr. Orme (our founding pastor) built a large room on the back with worship in mind; it’s lined with windows. Still, despite the aesthetic appeal, there are constant reminders that we meet in a home and not in a conventional church. I think the quirks and the constraints of meeting in a non-conventional setting have guarded our congregation against some of the temptations Peterson describes – not least, spiritual consumerism.

This is not to suggest that meeting in an alternative setting is some kind of a spiritual panacea, nor to deny that it may bring its own set of temptations. Conventional church buildings often make for wonderful places of worship, which do elevate the imagination. The key insight here is not really about the building but about the people. The church itself, as the people of God, does not conform to any conventional architecture. We are deformed. We are unfinished. Our lines are not straight, and our corners are not clean. As disciples of Christ we do not originate in such beauty and boldness as is typically manifest in Christian buildings – we are rarely as attractive as Tirzah. Medieval cathedral builders seem to show an awareness of this by including the gargoyles which scowl down or laugh grotesquely amid all the grandeur and elegance.

We can become so enamored with noble visions of church that we start to see ourselves as those who will accomplish great feats for God, instead of accepting that it is really God who has done great things for us. On the other hand we can begin to focus so myopically on our own frailties and sins and handicaps and inadequacies that we begin disbelieving God is capable of working through us at all. Both are delusions.

Peterson rightly calls us to a full faith acceptance that God has worked for us and God will work through us, despite appearances – not because of our original greatness but because of God’s own greatness. If we look for personal greatness among God’s people in order to find hope, then we are looking in the wrong direction. This will lead either to frustration and stagnation or to selective denial while keeping up appearances of success.

Instead, the New Testament consistently calls us to find strength in the acceptance of personal weakness – our own weakness and the weakness of others. We are to boast in personal weakness (2 Cor 12:9-10). And we should show special honor to our weaker members (1 Cor 12:22-25). God’s strength arises when we are willing to be weak. This is another way of saying that God’s strength arises when we accept who we really are.

…Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

(1 Peter 5:5b-7)

Humility entails an acceptance that I am not God. Only God is God. It is my part to remain low; it is God’s part to exalt. It is my part to entrust my anxieties to the Lord; only God can answer my anxiety. Only God can heal the inward place. Only God can align what is broken and rebuild the ancient ruin of humanity. In other words, only God can birth the church. God can do it and He has done it. But he did it through the weakness and obscurity of Jesus.

Once we realize that even the Christ was poor and unknown and despised and rejected – that weakness and obscurity was key to God’s strategic plan from the beginning – then we can begin to cobble together some confidence in Christ’s church. Only then can we, as God’s people, begin to learn strength in weakness, finding God’s strength in one another. Only then may we begin to rejoice in suffering and to embrace trials. Only in Christ’s person will we find the freedom to stop trying to conform ourselves to the world’s standards. And, most importantly, it is only in Christ that we really begin to apprehend God’s glory in one another.

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. (2 Corinthians 5:14-16)

Sacrificial love, love that sheds its blood for the beloved, when received, has a way of transforming perspective. The cross of Christ insists we are loved despite our depravity. His resurrection displays the power of an indestructible life – love prevailing even over death. It is this grace that enables God’s people to lift our heads without fear and beyond shame – to no longer live for ourselves but for Christ, and through Christ to live for others.

In Christ I can find strength in your weakness as well as mine. In Christ I can look beyond your failures. In Christ I can forgive your offenses. In Christ I can hope for your personal renewal even when you do not. In Christ I can discern purpose in your affliction. In Christ I can fight together with you to shed light in an evil age.  In Christ we can rise together again tomorrow on a wave of new mercies. In Christ the old man has died. In Christ you are not yet perfect, but you are made holy. In Christ the God-man I rediscover the dignity and humility of being fully human again. In Christ I can see you with new eyes.

(Song of Solomon 6:4)  You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.

[These Serbian Christians, celebrating Epiphany, seem to be taking the “army with banners” imagery quite literally.]

[These Ukrainian celebrants are more like my church, and apparently Peterson’s. Not quite Tirzah, but beautiful and beloved none the less.]

Listening for Kerygma

What do you listen for in a sermon? What is the practice of Christian preaching really intended for?

In answering this question we should be wary of at least two common errors. Both of these errors have to do with shifting what is secondary and peripheral to the center. (I’ll address one error now and the second in a later post.)

1.Moralism

Probably the most common misconception about Christian preaching, often purveyed by preachers as well as parishioners, is that we preachers are supposed to be telling people what to do all the time. We have all heard sermons which simply offer a laundry list of good things to do and say and think. But this is not the primary purpose of Christian proclamation.

Of course we do want people to come away with a sense of purpose and direction and even some specific applications in mind. But if all we do is feed instructions for good-living, then our message will be sub-Christian.

The problem with moralizing is that it draws more attention to ourselves than to God. We come away thinking mostly about how we might remake ourselves as better people. Bryan Chapell* calls this “sola bootstrapsa” preaching because you’re basically asking people to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. It is the antithesis of sola gratia and sola fide and solus Christus.

(*see http://worldwidefreeresources.com/upload/49776585727ca.pdf)

Eugene Peterson (in video above) is right to insist that Christian preaching must, instead, focus on God. This is what makes our message good news, i.e. gospel. We openly declare the works of God before men. We want people to know that God has done something and is doing things which we could never accomplish for ourselves. “Sola bootstrapsa” messages are non-redemptive because they leave us to rely upon our own power.

There is nothing distinctively Christian about trying to live a moral life. There is no substantial power in mere morals. Most people have some sense of right and wrong. Most people desire to live by some kind of positive standard. Most people also fail to meet their own standards, and, what is worse, readily betray them.

However much our own morals may deviate from the commands of God, however much we may desperately need moral correction, however much we may delude ourselves in calling what is evil, good, and what is good, evil, and however new habits may help us to get along better in life, yet what we really need runs deeper than moral correction. We need new hearts.

We can find power for this kind of transformation only in connection to the One who has already died and been raised, the only truly Righteous One who is ascended and now reigns. The love of God leads us beyond moral transformation. And it is sacrificial love that remains the motivating factor for Christian witness and Christian living and Christian proclamation. God’s sacrificial love, not ours. The gospel of Jesus Christ does not simply call us to repent. Instead, the biblical gospel insists God loves us so much that he sent Jesus to suffer and die, to accept judgement on our behalf, and thereby to enable our repentance. God has come to rescue us. God makes a way for new life. So that we might learn to love again as he does.

 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.         (1 John 4:9-12; ESV)

Our morals do need redirection, but we need motivation that runs deeper than our own energies. This is why we need the gospel proclamation, the kerygma, in Christian preaching. Humanity needs a Savior, and we have One. It is far better news than mere moral instruction.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,  and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations- “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)- according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.    (Colossians 2:6 – 23; ESV, emphasis mine)

Paul goes on to sharply challenge his readers in the next chapter to “put to death therefore” (3:5) all sorts of wicked vices and to “put on” (3:12) an assortment of Christian virtues instead. Of course the church wants to see moral transformation; we just don’t believe we can get there on our own, and we don’t believe morality is an end in itself. That’s the difference between kerygma and moral instruction.

by: Parker Scott James