MPC 25th February 2007.
February 25 - Proverbs 19 - "A Framework for Wisdom"
Derek Hanna MPC 25th February 2007.
I remember in the very early days of wooing my wife Jacqueline, taking her out to a restaurant called Death by Chocolate. The restaurant was about an hour's drive from where we lived, at Bondi beach in Sydney, so a pretty nice spot, and everything they served was served with, or made of, chocolate.
Now I had planned this whole night out so things would go smoothly. I'd worked out how to get there, where I needed to go when I parked, how long it would take - all the details. I was sure of making a big impression.
But there were a few problems that night that I didn't foresee, and that somewhat dampened my mood. The first is that we got locked in the fire exit of the car park, and had to get passers by to let us out after about 20 minutes of yelling.
The second problem was a bit more significant. Death by Chocolate had closed in Bondi the previous year, so our chances of eating there were particularly slim. We were actually a year and a half too late.
Now hindsight is 20-20, so if I had my time again, I wouldn't have made the decision to go into the fire-well, and I certainly wouldn't have gone all the way out to Bondi to be disappointed by a restaurant that wasn't even there. I would have taken Jacqueline down to the local Macca's.
But the problem is, we don't have that advantage. We can plan ahead, which I should have done, and we can learn by our experiences, but we can't know exactly how the decisions we make will turn out.
And it becomes more complicated when you deal with people, and jobs and marriage and kids.
Because it would be nice to know exactly how someone will react to something you say or do.
It would be nice to take a sneak peek into the future to see whether you'll enjoy that job you're accepting, or whether it will be a disaster.
It would be nice to know whether the person you say "I do" to will be the person you're happy to wake up with after 40 years of marriage.
Or it would be nice to know that the way in which you try to guide and love your kids, and help them to become mature, loving people is actually doing the job, and not the opposite.
The problem is, you can't take a sneak peak into the future to see how a decision will turn out, and then choose the one that ends the best.
There are 2 options then:
The first is that you can act on trial and error, and hope that you learn from your experience.
But I want to suggest that that's a little bit like sitting in a bath cooking toast. It's nice, you'll enjoy it - but every now and then the toaster is going to fall in and you'll regret it.
The second way is the way that Proverbs suggest - implement God's framework for life. He doesn't expect us to know the future, in fact that's his domain. What he does expect is for us to make wise decisions. And hopefully today you'll go away understanding the framework that God provides in Proverbs to help you to make wise decisions in life.
And the foundation, or undergirding, of the framework, the thing that everything builds upon, is what we saw last week - it is the fear of the Lord.
Prov 1:7 and 9:10 say this exactly. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The starting point for living life as it should be lived, for making wise decisions in this life, is with the fear of the Lord.
And so every decision you make, no matter where it falls on the spectrum of mundane to life-changing - every decision matters to God, and therefore must be built on the fact that you fear God.
Now you don't have to look very hard to find people where fearing God is not their default position. Great minds and leaders of the last century - scientists, philosophers, politicians.
These men understand the mechanics of the universe, they discovered technologies that changed the face of the earth, they defined and shaped the way in which the modern world thinks, they have led the world into war and peace, reorganised the way in which people live and trade with each other.
These men have brains the size of small planets, and drive and canniness and insight beyond what most of us will ever have - but God says that they are fools, because they have not understood the simplest and most fundamental principle there is: that he is God, and that he alone should be feared.
Every bit of their knowledge which has been built on some foundation other than God is false hope. It is the foundation of independence, of making your own way in the world, of carving out your own destiny, or being a free-spirit.
Don't be fooled by people's intelligence. Don't be fooled by their position within society. Don't be fooled by their glib tongue, their charisma and their confidence.
Being smart and influential is not the same as being wise. Being wise is aligning yourself with God's reality, the true reality, and fearing him.
Every pillar of life is affected by the foundation.
And when your foundation is one of fearing God, that he is the author and sustainer of life, then every decision you make will be built on this foundation.
You need to get the foundation right.
So the first step in constructing a framework for understanding all the stuff you're bombarded with in life, is that you must begin with the fear of the Lord.
And from this foundation, the second step is to build back into place the blocks and structures that tell us what our God is like. What he loves and hates, and how life is meant to be lived.
And so chapter 19 we read of Proverbs today is a typical example of the structure of Proverbs from Chapter 10 up to around Chapter 30 and 31. Short, catchy sayings, that seem to have little connection when you look at them on the page.
Yet the more you read Proverbs, the more you can see themes emerging. And the more you immerse yourself in the Proverbs, the more clearly you see the character of the God behind the Proverbs.
But the way in which it does it is not in that kind of systematic, ordered way that we westerners are used to having things packaged for us - like a McDonalds order board. With the burgers here, the fries over there, the healthy stuff squashed taking up one line in the upper left corner. Everything compartmentalised for our convenience.
No, Proverbs doesn't do it like this, because that's not what life is like. You see, I didn't wake on Monday and have a problem with gossip and slander, but when I woke up on Tuesday that seemed to have been dealt with and I now had a problem with dishonesty... that's not the way life works, and it's not the way Proverbs works.
You're lying in bed in the morning and you think - "Gee it'd be easier just to call in sick today". And you remember Prov 6:10-11:
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.
Or you get to work and overhear someone gossiping about you on the other side of the partition. And you remember Prov 19:11:
A man's (or woman's) wisdom gives them patience; it is his glory to overlook an offense.
Or you are speaking to someone, and the mention a new car, or a new kitchen, or a holiday, or a new job. And a discontent and desire wells up in you for the things they are speaking about, and you remember Prov 14:30:
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
You see, the Proverbs may seem chaotic, but they reflect the chaos of life. They reflect the situation, problems and decisions we deal with on a daily basis.
But the important thing to note is that in doing so, it gives God's take on the ordinary and seemingly mundane, day to day affairs.
And as you read through Proverbs you build up this rich tapestry of the kinds of things God loves and hates.
Prov 12:22 - He hates those who use their mouth for their own gain, but he delights in those who are truthful.
Prov 14:16 - He hates those who fly off the handle and are reckless with their words and actions, but he loves those who turn their back on evil.
Prov 15:9 - He hates those whose thoughts are evil, and who pursue their own gain, but he loves those who love to be pure of heart and who seek after being right with their God.
Prov 14:31 - He hates those who oppress the poor for their own gain, or ignore them, but delights in those who are advocates for those who can't help themselves.
Prov 20:10 - He hates those who jig the scales in their favour to profit, but loves those who deal honestly with others.
It doesn't leave much to the imagination does it? There's not much room to be able to say that God is hard to get to know, or that it's hard to understand what he's like, or that he's so out there that he has little or no understanding of what life is like.
No, God's character, his likes and dislikes are plain to see, and they impact on day to day stuff, seemingly very ordinary things.
But Proverbs isn't written as helpful little reminders, or as sayings to keep you on track in life, and it's not written purely to teach and remind you of the character of God - although it does all of those things.
The Proverbs are written to teach you how to make the connection between the character of the one you should fear, and day to day living in his world.
And in doing this to make you wise, disciplined and prudent in the life you live in the fear of God.
And so each Proverb functions in a different way. Some make an explicit link from God's character to day to day life, some are observations about what a wise life might look like, and some seem just plain confusing - but that should only make you work harder and teach you to think and learn.
So Prov 11:1 that we looked at in the study this week is an obvious one.
The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.
Why shouldn't you rip someone else off in a business transaction? Because God hates dishonesty, but delights in fair and honest trading.
But what about something like Prov 18:19.
An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.
It doesn't say anything about God, and it doesn't make any kind of moral judgements, so what's the point? Well that is exactly what Proverbs wants you to think about. What aspects of God's character comes to bear on this situation?
Well, God hates disunity. Therefore, do everything you can not to offend your brother or sister, because once offended they're like a fortified city.
The key to understanding the Proverbs is understanding the character of the God behind them.
Not in some kind of intellectual and abstract way, but because you are living out and practising the character of God in everyday life.
You see the problem in the Bible is never that people don't know what God's will in a situation is - it's that people refuse to listen to him, or don't bother attempting to find out his will.
And as an example of that, we have the whole of the Old Testament testifying that this is exactly the problem with the nation of Israel. It's not as if they were in any doubt that there was a God - he had led them out of Egypt with a huge pillar of fire, and a gigantic cloud. That's a pretty obvious sign.
And it's not as if they had to guess from these obscure signs what he was like - he told them exactly what he was like.
He is a God who loves what is right and good and just.
He is a God who is the advocate for those who cannot defend themselves.
He is a God who loves it when people deal with each other openly and honestly.
He is a God who will bring those who oppose him low, but those who bow before him, he will lift up.
And yet while Israel had the truth, while Solomon himself was the inspiration for many of the Proverbs that we read - they chose folly over Wisdom. They chose themselves over God.
The problem in Israel is not that God did not make himself clear, it was that it's easier in the short term to ignore God and make it up themselves.
Saying you know God and what he's like, is completely different to actually reflecting his character from day to day.
Which is precisely what Jesus picks up on in the Sermon on the Mount. Have a look at this little snippet from his Sermon. Matt. 5:43:
You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus takes the character of the one whom the Israelites called their father and shows them what it means to live as God's children in everyday situations.
They might have heard that it was said "Love your neighbour and hate your enemy", but Jesus is saying that if you want to reflect your father in heaven, then love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
They thought that being in the family of God meant you could just get away with doing the bare minimum.
And so God says don't murder, so I won't murder. But he doesn't say anything about holding a grudge.
But it misses the point. It is not about rules and boundaries, it is about God, his character and his people reflecting his character.
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus doesn't introduce a different God in the Gospels to the one we see in Proverbs. All he does is bring the character of God to bear on life.
All of the characteristics that you will find Jesus talking about in the Sermon on the Mount, you will be able to find in the Proverbs. And this is because of the simple fact that they are derived from the character of God.
And the unique thing about Jesus is that not only does this kind of talk come from his lips, but he is Wisdom in the flesh. It's not just the good life he lives, but the perfect life. The life in perfect harmony with the will and the character of God.
If you're finding it hard to know what the Proverbs lived out would look like - turn up the pages of the Gospels.
So do you want to be wise? Then implement the framework that Proverbs provides:
Begin by fearing the Lord.
Immerse yourself in learning and understanding the character of your God.
Reflect his character in every decision you make.
Being wise is not about being sure of the outcomes of your decisions.
As Proverbs will say again and again - (Prov 19:21) "Many are the plans in a man's heart; but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
You are not responsible for the outcome, but you are responsible for the way in which you act here and now. And each and every action and decision we make should reflect the character of the God you say you fear, serve and love.
Hindsight may be 20-20, but it is God alone who controls the future. You're business is making wise choices in the present, and letting God take care of the outcome.
So while life is not simple, and there are many, many situations where we won't know what will bring the best outcome - life really boils down to a series of little choices.
Some of these choices have big consequences, and some have little - but they all reflect whether or not you fear the Lord.
The way in which you serve your husband and wife. The way in which you do business. The way in which you raise your kids. The way in which you approach any kind of work that you do. The way in which you treat your parents. The way in which you control your temper. The way in which you talk about people... I could go on, but Proverbs does that for me.
It all boils down to whether or not, in the decision that I'm going to make next, nor matter how big or small, whether in this decision I will honour God. Whether I will seek to be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect, or whether I will seek to be my own person.
The framework is simple: Fear God, understand his character, live as his children.
The framework is simple, the living it out may not be, but if you are one of God's people, then you have the Spirit of God. Not a Spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power.
So be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.