Month: October 2018

Ecclesiastes 4 is brief and speaks of the evil that occurs under the sun. The one bright spot in the chapter is the reminder that when we have a friend life is more bearable. After all, when we have a friend, if we fall down, the friend can pick us up. He also tells us “a cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Some have read into this that King Solomon meant Jesus as the third strand. That is possible, but not apparent from the context. It is true in any relationship, that when Jesus is at the center of it the relationship is not easily broken.

The first seven verses of Ecclesiastes 5 remind us how important it is to fear God, to follow through on our commitments and vows to Him. Once again, King Solomon has struck on the key, but moves immediately to focusing again on the vanity of wealth and honor. In the end, the conclusion is once again to enjoy one’s food and drink, and the labor God has given us to do.

Ecclesiastes 6 repeats the vanity of having wealth that will be left to one’s children without having the opportunity to enjoy it or to know how it will be used.  The wise and foolish will both die, and King Solomon tells us perhaps the stillborn child is better off than one who lives a long time, but never gets to enjoy life. The fatalistic nature of these words of Solomon tell us he was not focusing on the hope of an after life as he wrote these words. That hope makes all the difference in how we think and how we live each day.

As we return to Luke 24, we come to the amazing reality of Jesus’ resurrection once again. Jesus resurrection is the pivot point of history. The moment Jesus revealed Himself to the women, to the men on the road to Emmaus, to Peter, and then to the remaining disciples the world was forever changed. That small band of men and women, who had believed Jesus was the Messiah, now knew beyond any reasonable doubt He was and is the Messiah! While it would be ten days after Jesus returned to heaven, before the Holy Spirit to those same believers, empowering them to do the “greater things” He promised them they would do in His name (See John chapter 14), Jesus resurrection assured them of who He was and is: the Holy One of God. Many in our day doubt the resurrection of Jesus, but the transformed lives of those early believers is powerful evidence. They had run from the Jewish and Roman authorities the night Jesus was arrested. After His resurrection, they stood boldly and proclaimed Jesus’ resurrection before anyone who would listen. They stood their ground when threatened with imprisonment and death. They remembered Jesus admonition not to fear those who could destroy the body, but rather the One (that is the LORD!) who is able to throw both the soul and the body into hell.

One of the most important applications of Luke 24 in our lives today is to remember the centrality of Jesus’ resurrection in our lives. Because Jesus lives, we live also. Jesus promised to return when He returned to heaven. That means we must be ready. We don’t want to found unprepared when He comes.  Nor do we want to miss the opportunity to tell others about Him. This life is so short, and we must be sure we share Jesus and His salvation with those in our spheres of influence who will listen.

Today, we turn to the Book of Ecclesiastes, which was written by “the Preacher,” who is generally recognized to be King Solomon.  If we were to summarize the book in the vernacular of our day it would be, “Life sucks, and then you die.” Solomon tells us of all the different approaches he had taken to discovering the meaning of life “under the sun,” or “under the heavens.”  The phrases “under the sun” or “under the heavens” are instructive, because it helps us see Solomon’s frame of reference: the here and now, the physical world and the physical life we live. We do get glimpses that Solomon pictured something more. He talks about eternity being placed in our hearts. While the idea of heaven and eternity weren’t well-developed among most of the Jews in Solomon’s day, Solomon at least hoped in something more than the “vanity” or futility of this life.  As we read its 12 chapters over the next four days, let’s not make the mistake of reading into them our post-resurrection of Jesus perspective, but let’s remember many of the principles we find here push us to a deeper gratitude to God for sending Jesus to redeem us from sin and death, to give us meaning and purpose here and now, as well as to live with Him for eternity!

In Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, the preacher tells us all is vanity or futility. He writes of the circular nature of so much in nature. He writes of the futility of many human pursuits, because in the end we end up where we started. He devoted the remainder of the chapter to the vanity of pursuing wisdom. While he had pursued wisdom more diligently than anyone in Israel, he concluded the person with greatest wisdom experiences the most vexation and sorrow. Perhaps, that’s where we get the saying, “Ignorance is bliss,” but Solomon’s consideration of wisdom as vanity, came from his making wisdom the goal or the end of life. Wisdom is always a means to an end, a means to coming to know God, and to serve Him faithfully. James would eventually point out the demons believe or know the truth about God, and shudder, because their lives are not transformed by Jesus or committed to serving him.

As we move to Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon devotes the first eleven verses to the vanity of having fun, accumulating possessions, and pursuing pleasure in life. As we move to verses 12-17 Solomon compares wisdom and folly and tells us while wisdom is better than folly, in the end everyone dies and is forgotten, so once again it is all vanity. In the concluding verses Solomon considers the vanity of toil. The vanity here is after a lifetime of work, we must leave the return of our labor to someone else. We don’t know whether our heirs will be wise or foolish, so we could work all our lives only to see our legacy wasted. Solomon does conclude there is nothing better in life than to eat and drink and be satisfied with our work. If this life is all there is, then that makes sense. Thank God this life is not all there is!

Ecclesiastes 3 was made famous by  The Byrds, a rockbound from the 1960’s although Pete Seeger had “written” the song in the late 1950’s. It included a word-for-word transcription of the first eight verses of Ecclesiastes three. There King Solomon tells us there is a time for everything that happens and a season for every purpose under heaven. This is a powerful principle. Our lives are lived in moments and seasons. How important it is for us to understand which season we are in at the moment and live accordingly. Solomon drew a different conclusion. While he made this statement: ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ESV) Solomon touched on eternity, and that God had put it in our hearts, yet he concluded in the remainder of the chapter that no one knows whether human beings go to a different place at death than the animals.  He hoped we do, but wasn’t certain. Again, thank God we know we get to be with God forever, through the salvation purchased for us by Jesus.

As we return to Luke 23, we find that more than a third of the chapter is devoted to Luke telling us neither the Roman Governor Pilate nor King Herod found any reason to put Jesus to death. The religious leaders had somehow convinced the crowds to vote against Jesus, and because of the potential political consequences of a riot,  Pilate condemned Jesus to die. While the women cried and wailed at seeing Jesus walking to His death, carrying His cross, Jesus told them to mourn for themselves and their descendants, because this was only the beginning of much worse to come. When Jesus was crucified most of the people gathered mocked Him, and challenged Him to save Himself as He had saved others. Two criminals were crucified with Jesus and one of them also mocked Jesus, but the other asked Jesus to “remember” him when He came into His Kingdom. Jesus told the man he would be with Him that day in paradise. Jesus demonstrated who He was in so many ways that day. He called on His Father to forgive those who crucified them, because they didn’t know what they were doing. He didn’t respond to the crowds mocking with insults of His own. He surrendered His Spirit to His Father and died with dignity. The Roman centurion in charge of the crucifixion had undoubtedly seen many crucifixions, and as a result saw how Jesus died and proclaimed “Surely this man was innocent.” Jesus’ body was taken down by Joseph and Nicodemus and put in Joseph’s tomb. The woman watched as they did so, because they were going to finish the embalming process when the Passover Sabbath ended on Sunday morning.

As Andy Stanley has pointed out, at that moment “Nobody expected no body.” That is nobody expected Jesus to rise from the dead on Easter. Nobody believed what Jesus had told His followers over and over, “I will rise on the third day.” As “Good” Friday ended, it appeared the movement Jesus came to initiate was over. It wasn’t!

 

Proverbs 29 contains one of the most quoted verses in the entire book, verse 18. In the ESV we read: ¹⁸Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.  Proverbs 29:18 (ESV) The more often quoted translation for this verse is the KJV:  ¹⁸Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) The key point is we must have the LORD’s vision in our lives, or we will be led astray. The world offers us plenty of “visions” for our lives, and many of them are even noble visions. The difference between a noble worldly vision such as feeding the hungry, or drilling wells for all the people in the world who are without clean water, and a godly vision, is the end result will be more than a physical blessing. Jesus’ followers ought to feed the hungry and drill wells to provide clean water for people, and we ought to do it in Jesus’ name, so people will no it isn’t our vision. It is His! Jesus came to set the captives free. He came to heal the sick, cast demons out of the possessed, and to free each and all of us from bondage to sin and death. He calls us to do the same. While we are reading the Old Testament book of Proverbs, and King Solomon didn’t see any of that vision, he was right it proclaiming without a prophetic vision, a vision from the LORD, we will never make the kind of difference we were created to make.

Proverbs 30 introduces us to the sayings of “Agur.” This chapter is different in kind from the previous twenty chapters where we have read hundreds of sayings about the wise, the foolish, the wicked, and the righteous. Here Agur offers us lists of things that amazed him, typically in groupings of three or four, but let’s focus on one of the first groupings the two things he asked of the LORD. After admitting he wasn’t all that bright, and calling on the LORD for help, Agur asked the LORD to keep him from falsehood and lying, and to keep him from either poverty or riches. The first is self-explanatory: falsehood and lying lead us to places we don’t want to be: broken relationships, bad reputation, and in extreme cases prison and death.  Agur explained why he didn’t want to be rich or poor. He was afraid if he became too rich he would forget God, but if he was too poor he would curse God. The wisdom of that request can be lost on those of us who live in a culture where nearly all of us are wealthy by the world’s standards, but don’t consider ourselves to be rich. The point is vital, though. We can trust in our wealth instead of the LORD. That’s why Jesus told us money would be the chief rival god in our lives. Unless, we rely fully on God whether we are rich, poor, or somewhere in between, we risk forgetting or cursing God, too.

Proverbs 31 consists of two parts and comes to us from “King Lemuel.” The first part tells us of King Lemuel’s mother’s advice to him and for all kings. The focus is on living uprightly and avoiding the pitfalls that can come with women, and with drinking strong drink. She advised Lemuel that strong drink ought to be reserved for the dying. We can conclude she was meaning it in the same way the dying in our time often receive morphine to reduce their pain.  The major portion of chapter 31 is devoted to telling us what a virtuous woman is like. The detail is significant, and the characteristics are far beyond what we might expect of a woman in that day. She lives with integrity. She is industrious and not only at home, but in the marketplace as a business woman.  She provides for her family, and shows charity to others. She brings blessing to our children and to her husband. Such a woman stands out in any era of history, and brings honor to the LORD, herself, and others.

As we return to Luke 22, the longest chapter in the book of Luke, we find recorded all the events from before the last supper, through to Jesus being condemned to die. While we could invest a great deal of time here, let’s turn to the moment Peter denied knowing Jesus for the third time. Only Luke tells us when Peter offered the third denial, he as standing next to Jesus. Jesus looked at Peter as he offered the third denial. What kind of look was it? A look of condemnation? A look of sadness? A look of love? We can only guess, but it would be a good guess that Jesus looked at Peter with love. He already knew Peter was going to deny Him. He had predicted it hours before. He already told Peter he would return to Jesus, so Jesus must have looked at Peter with love, compassion, and understanding. Even so, Peter went out and wept bitterly. His crime was grave, and he had carried it out in the presence of Jesus. Remember this: every crime is grave, and each of us carries them out in the presence of Jesus. He is looking at us all the time. He doesn’t look with condemnation. After all, the Apostle Paul told us there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But those penetrating eyes, call us to repentance. The Holy Spirit convicts. The devil condemns. Always remember, Jesus is looking, and calling us to follow Him, and to live out our calling as His followers. When we fall or fail, He is looking. He looks to restore us, so we can move forward loving Him and loving one another as He first loved us!

 

Proverbs 27 sounds much like the other chapters we have been reading. The verse I want to highlight is vs. 17: As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.  The new English translations read: As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. That statement is true, but the original was sex exclusive. King Solomon lived in a day, when women were not considered equal to men. All we have to do is read of his 700 wives and 300 concubines and we know that. While, I fully endorse the truth that any person can sharpen another person, let’s consider the original: one man sharpens another. We live in a culture where men are often confused about what it even means to be a man. Many factors have contributed to that confusion, but sometimes in the name of equality, we have forgotten that God created human beings male and female. In His infinite wisdom, God created us as men and women. We have physical differences that are notable. They play a role in procreation, but they do so much more. As modern scientists have mapped our brains, we have come to understand we have neurological differences as an aspect of those physical differences that mean men and women think differently, respond differently at an emotional level, and so much more. At our core, we have the same ability to connect spiritually with God, but our connections are unique.

When Solomon said as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another, he was saying men are supposed to make each other better. We are to challenge, encourage, and correct one another. I remember growing up in a church were men were noticeably absent. It was nearly all women and children. The pastors I had in my early childhood either scared me or made me wonder whether I wanted to be a Christian. Thankfully, my Uncle Chuck was a Christian and a “real” man. I put the real in quotes, because I don’t mean he could drink more alcohol than other men. He didn’t drink alcohol. I don’t mean he could beat up more men than other men. I never saw him fight. I mean he had a strength that ran so deep my dad, an angry and difficult man, became respectful and kind in his presence. Uncle Chuck certainly sharpened my dad, even when my dad wasn’t following Jesus. I’m grateful I have men in my life who do that for me, and have had them all my adult life. If you are a man, I challenge and encourage you to develop such friendships among men, or at least with one other man. We were created to go through life together, and part of that if we are men is to have another man or men who holds us accountable to growing as men.

Proverbs 28 contains a number of verses that deal with wealth and poverty. One of them is a bit unexpected considering the people of King Solomon’s day considered wealth a blessing from the LORD, and poverty as a sign of His displeasure. Here it is:  ⁶Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. Proverbs 28:6 (ESV) Here King Solomon speaks not of whether a person is rich or poor, but whether the person has integrity or is “crooked in his ways.” While poverty is not a blessing, it is a blessing to live in poverty with integrity rather than living with wealth and being wicked.  This is an acknowledgement that being poor is not always a sign of the LORD’s displeasure, nor is wealth always a sign of the LORD’s blessing. Riches can be gained by dishonest means, and one can live in poverty simply because of the condition and location of one’s birth. Far better to look at the heart of a person than to the wealth or lack of it, if we want to know that person’s standing before the LORD.

As we return to Luke 21, Jesus foretells two futures: the near future and the end of time future. One of the surest proofs of Jesus lordship is how accurately he predicted the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. That took place only about forty years after His resurrection and return to heaven. He told the disciples when it happened “not one stone will be left on another.” That literally happened. In my preparation for my trip to Jerusalem, I have been reading some of the history of Jesus’ time, and when the Romans destroyed the Temple in 70 AD. they took every stone and threw it down from the Temple Mount precisely as Jesus said would happen. Jesus told us we must be ready for this future time. He told His disciples to be ready for an event that would happen in some of their lifetimes, and He told all of us to be ready when He, the Son of Man, returns. Many in our day, are not ready, and are not even concerned about the future return of Jesus. They are concerned about “more important matters.” Nothing is more important than being ready for Jesus’ return, because if we are we “live ready.” That means we awake each day with anticipation of Jesus’ return, and an understanding of the urgency with which we must live the day, not in a sense of agitation and restlessness, but in a sense of working, because we know the “night” is coming, and we won’t be able to work any longer.  Being ready for Jesus’ return is the surest way to live each moment with passion and compassion in His name!

Proverbs 25 starts by letting us know these proverbs were recorded by King Hezekiah. They were still proverbs of King Solomon, and they read as his proverbs. He continues to cover the gamut of topics, although the chapter has several references to the king. Let’s look at one of those: ¹⁵With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone. Proverbs 25:15 (ESV) Patience plays such a powerful role in our lives when we see the big picture and the long term, instead of living for only the hear and now. A ruler, or anyone else for that matter, may be persuaded over time, to come to our point of view. But if we think only of the moment, and practice impatience, we are far less likely to see any change. King Solomon used an image from everyday life to underline his point: a soft tongue will break a bone. Again, this is true if we are patient. Without patience the bone withstands the effort to break it, but over time the tongue will do its work.

Proverbs 26 focuses more than the typical chapter on fools and the outcomes of their actions, and ultimately of their lives. It’s helpful for us to remember as we read each of these proverbs that the words we’re reading, if followed will turn into actions. Those actions, if repeated, will become habits. The habits will ultimately forge our destinies. That is why it is so important not to let foolish words, or thoughts enter our minds in the first place. When we do, we must remember not to repeat the action. Otherwise it becomes a habit and that leads us down a slippery slope.

As we return to Luke 20, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders is intensifying. They ask Jesus question after question, starting with a challenge to His authority to say and do the things He has been saying and doing. It seems a reasonable question, but Jesus doesn’t fall for the trap. He uses His common response of answering a question with a question. He asks them whether John the Baptist’s authority was from heaven or man? The questions is a lose-lose for the religious leaders, because if they answered heaven, Jesus would ask them why they didn’t listen to him, but if they answered from man, the crowds would go after them, because they considered John a prophet. The religious leaders said they didn’t know, so Jesus responded He would not tell them the answer to their question either. Jesus then told a parable about a vineyard owner whose tenants were evil, and ultimately killed the vineyard owner’s son, the religious leaders realized the parable was about them. They wanted to arrest Jesus, but the crowds were on Jesus’ side. As the chapter continues, Jesus responds to what seemed like unanswerable questions, but Jesus had no difficulty answering them.  When the religious leaders asked their seemingly lose-lose question, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar?” Jesus asked for a coin, and when they gave it to Him, He asked whose inscription and likeness were on it? When they said it was caesar’s, Jesus told them to render to caesar the things that were his and to God the things that were God’s. When the Sadducees attempted to trick Jesus with a question about the resurrection, Jesus basically said, “You need to go home and read your Scriptures, because you don’t know what they say.” After these interactions Jesus went on the offensive. He knew the religious leaders were going to arrest Him, and He was going to be crucified, so He took the straight at them approach. While we are never called to be arrogant when dealing with those who stand against us as we stand for Jesus, we need to be sure we don’t back down from speaking the truth in love. It must be truth in love, but we can offer nothing less than that!

An interesting point about Proverbs 22 is in the middle of the chapter we’re told we are being offered “Thirty sayings of the wise.” We don’t get thirty sayings before the end of the chapter, which is because the verse and chapter notations were added centuries after the proverbs were written. Any time we read a book of the Bible, or a chapter or portion of a chapter from it, we need to remember the chapter breaks were assigned by folks who thought they made sense. Many of them do, but we find some strange ones as we read through the Bible from cover to cover.  (Probably the strangest chapter break of all is found between Acts 21 and Acts 22. Most of the modern English Translations have changed it, but the phrase “in Aramaic” was originally separated from the end of Acts 21, and was the beginning of Acts 22.)  One of the best-known verses in Proverbs is found in this chapter: ⁶Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 (ESV) The verse encourages us as we parent to teach our children the ways of the LORD, because they will live them when they grow up, or at least when they are “old.” We need to make an important distinction here: Proverbs 22:6 is a principle not a promise. A principle is generally true, while a promise is assured to all who receive it based on the integrity of the one who promises. If we train up our children in the way they should go, generally speaking, they won’t depart from it. The opposite is also true: if we train our children to be deceptive, or dishonest, generally speaking, they will continue that pattern into adulthood. But, and this is an important but: this is a principle not a promise. Because our children have the freedom to choose the direction of their lives, they might choose not to follow their upbringing, which would be good if it was bad, and bad if it was good! 

While Proverbs 23 starts out much as the previous dozen chapters, it ends with a focus on the ills of drunkenness. King Solomon devotes the final seven verses to telling and illustrating what it is like when a person walks down the road of drunkenness. He doesn’t use the world alcoholism, but we can imply Solomon was talking about a habitual pattern of drunkenness. He calls us to avoid it, because it is a path that leads to destruction. As Jesus’ followers, we know Jesus didn’t condemn the consumption of alcohol, and the Apostle Paul commended Timothy to drink a little wine for his stomach, or for medicinal purposes. Both Jesus and Paul stood with Solomon, though, when it comes to drunkenness: it is destructive. I have long abstained from the consumption of alcohol, because we live in a cultural that talks about social drinking, but means drunkenness. I have worked with so many folks who have suffered through the impact of alcoholism, and for them sobriety, not drinking is the only solution. When I have asked them, “How many people did you know growing up who didn’t drink alcohol?” The answer was always, “None.” I raise my hand, and say, “Now, you know one.”  I don’t do that to pat myself on the back. I do that to show them it is possible to live without alcohol. That life can be enjoyable without it.  Each of us needs to come to our own understanding of how our consumption of alcohol might impact those around us, particularly those whom the Apostle Paul referred to as “weaker brothers.” Solomon’s admonition is clear: drunkenness destroys lives.

Proverbs 24 is filled with wisdom we could consider here, but let’s pause where King Solomon did at the end of the chapter: sloth. Sloth, of course, is resting taken to an extreme. Rest is good. We’re called by God to live in rhythms of work and rest. But when rest becomes laziness, when it becomes an unwillingness to work, it ruins our lives. Just as drunkenness leads to destruction, so does sloth. We live in a culture that is often driven. The tendency seems to be to over do it, rather than not doing it, but in every era there are those who would rather sit back and watch than to engage in life. Solomon reminds us the end result of that approach is poverty. He was meaning financial poverty. The poverty that comes from sloth carries over throughout our lives, and impacts every area of it.

As we return to Luke 19, Jesus has set His face toward Jerusalem. We are moving to the last week of His life. Jesus tells the parable of the minas, which is a reminder to us all that everything we have is entrusted to us by God, and we are to use it to His glory. He also tells us of the impending suffering that will take place in Jerusalem not long after He dies, rises again and returns to heaven. He makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and cleanses the Temple of the moneychangers there. All this incites the anger of the religious leaders, because they see Jesus’ direct defiance of everything traditional. Jesus takes credit they see belonging only to the Messiah, and they have rejected Him as the Messiah. The religious leaders have determined to end Jesus’ life, and the only question for them is, “When?” The crowds were so enthralled with Jesus, the religious leaders were afraid of the reprisals from them, if they attempted to arrest Jesus during Passover week.

Proverbs 19 continues the theme of pithy sayings about the wise, the foolish, and the wicked. We also find sayings about the wealthy and the poor. One fo the statements that alludes to wealth reminds us of the LORD’s hand in one of life’s most pivotal relationships: marriage.  Here’s what we read: ¹⁴House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD. Proverbs 19:14 (ESV) We can assume a prudent husband is from the LORD as well, although in King Solomon’s time, women were not considered equal with men. In some cultures they were considered little more than property, although in the culture of Israel women were esteemed somewhat more highly, and the Law of Moses granted them protections not found in other cultures. In any case, the point of the proverb is the LORD’s hand is in providing a prudent wife. That has certainly been the case in my life. Nancy has been such a great blessing in every area of my life, but her prudence, which means “wise in practical matters,” has been so vital. I’m a “big picture” person, a visionary, what some would call a dreamer. While Nancy also sees the big picture, she has always been able to see the practical implications of the big picture or vision. She has provided much needed stability to me and our family over the years. King Solomon told us such a blessing comes from the LORD. Next week, those who are attending New Life will be introduced to a four-week series titled “The Four Wills of God,” and it we will see how God’s will works in our lives, what it means to follow the will of God, and what happens when we don’t. Part of the will of God is matters of practical importance such as the person we marry. While Solomon touched on it here in Proverbs 19:14, you’ll want to be with us starting next weekend, or watch on line for a richer and fuller understanding of God’s will.

Proverbs 20 continues to offer us correction, admonition, and encouragement. One detail about the chapter is it condemns the use of false weights and measures not once, but twice. Any time we emphasize something twice, it is important. Why the focus on condemning false weights and measures? First, the practice is dishonest. It involves both lying and stealing. In a Old Covenant world, breaking at least two of the Ten Commandments with one action is a condemnable action. (We could say it also breaks at least two more of the “big ten,” because it is an affront to God, and puts an idol before Him – money, because the outcome of using false weights is to put money before relationship.) Second, the ones who would be most impacted by the false weights would be those who were poor or less financially stable. While cheating anyone is sinful and worthy of condemnation, cheating those who have little in the first place is even more so.

Proverbs 21 offers the same approach we have been experiencing, so let’s look at one verse once again: ³To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:3 (ESV) I chose this verse, because King Solomon recognized the heart of the LORD emphasizes righteousness-right relationship with Him and others over the rituals of the Law. While the sacrificial system was important in the Old Covenant world, even then, the LORD was most interested in righteousness and justice. The LORD never needed our sacrifices. He is self-sufficient. We needed to offer them, because of our sin, but we always needed to live in relationship with Him and with each other in ways based on doing what was best for the other, whether the LORD or our neighbor. In this brief summary, King Solomon reminded us to put the matters of right relationship before religion or ritual.

As we return to Luke 18, we find it brimming with action and instruction. Jesus taught the disciples about persistence in prayer. He taught them about the importance of humility in prayer. He taught them the Kingdom of God belongs to the childlike, not the “mature.”  He taught them that worldly wealth, far from being an automatic blessing from God–which all of the would have assumed it was–can be the very thing that keeps us from God. Jesus healed a blind man, because of the man’s faith, which shows us sometimes our faith prompts the LORD’s healing in our lives. Sometimes He heals on the basis of other people’s faith. Sometimes He heals on His own initiative, and sometimes He doesn’t heal in the way we ask. Throughout the chapter we see Jesus as the one who is in charge, as the one who sees the bigger picture, who understands at the deepest level what it means to be godly. He also reminds the disciples the religious leaders are not learning these lessons. Indeed, they are going to put Him to death, because He came to usher in a new movement, a new covenant, and would eventually offer a new commandment that would sum up all of them: Love one another as I have first loved you. Jesus amazes us with His unswerving commitment to completing His mission on the earth, even when He knew it would lead to His death.

Proverbs 16 offers us numerous admonitions to honor the LORD, and to remember that while we make our plans, it is the LORD who determines the outcome, or who orders our steps. The majority of the chapter focuses on the positive, but toward the end we read a few admonitions against wickedness and foolishness.

Proverbs 17 offers more admonitions against wickedness and foolishness, along with encouragement to live wisely. Nestled in the middle of the chapter is this jewel:  ²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 (ESV) As we go about our daily lives, the supernatural presence of joy makes all the difference. Not only does it show others the LORD is in control of our hearts, but it also provides a medicinal impact. While the statement was written several thousand years, ago, modern medicine has shown us the benefits of living with joy. Some would call it a positive attitude, but as we considered in our message series “Inside Out,” a positive attitude, and happiness are natural, while joy comes from the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 18 continues the formula of speaking about the difference between wise, foolish and evil people. Let’s look at two proverbs that don’t focus on that so much as it helps us understand relationships. The first is:  ¹⁷The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. Proverbs 18:17 (ESV) It’s so important when we are in relationship with people, and there is a conflict to hear not just “both” sides of the story, but to listen through the Holy Spirit within us. Having been a pastor for more than three decades, I have had so many situations where a person has come and told me his or her side of a situation, and I thought, “Wow! He (or she) is being treated so unfairly.” Then comes the “offender,” and I hear his or her side of the story and think, “Wow! He (or she) is being treated so unfairly.” Then the question comes: How do I know who is right? It can be a matter of one telling the truth and the other lying, but it is rarely that. It can also be a matter of perspective, or each having only part of the information. Many years ago, a church secretary told me, “She’s going to tell you her husband is totally at fault, but remember: every board has two sides.” Over the years, I’ve found her statement to be so true, and I’ve also learned every board not only has two sides. It also has two edges!  The second proverb reminds us how important it is to have a truly close friend in our lives: ²⁴A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 (ESV)  In this Facebook age in which we live, many people have hundreds of “friends,” but no one who sticks closer than a brother.  King Solomon made it clear, each of us needs someone who will be there for us–period. I have been blessed to have one or more such friends all my life. The good thing in such situations, is the friend also has someone who is there for him or her–you. As we live our lives, we must always remember: Life is a team sport!

As we return to Luke 17, let’s focus on Jesus reminder to forgive our brother (or sister) repeatedly. He says to forgive seven times a day, but the implication is there is no limit on our need to forgive those who sin against us.  Jesus told us over and over again to forgive, because we have been forgiven. One of the clearest signs we are redeemed by Jesus’ blood is we demonstrate forgiveness to others. To be clear, forgiveness does not mean we endorse the other person’s sin. It means we let go of our right to hold the sin against the person. We don’t have to become close friends with those who sin against us repeatedly. We don’t even have to be friends with them. We do need to forgive them and release them to God.

Proverbs 13 shows us once again the differences between the wise and righteous, and the wicked and foolish. King Solomon also offers us a pointed instruction regarding the company we keep. He wrote: ²⁰Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. Proverbs 13:20 (ESV) We’ve all heard this instruction at some point, whether from this very proverb or from our moms when we were growing up. While we are called to share the good news of Jesus with everyone: wise, righteous, foolish and wicked, the company we keep regularly influences us dramatically. Charlie “Tremendous” Jones put it this way: We will be the same person five years from now that we are today, except for the company we keep and the books we read. Jones understood what we put into our minds and hearts influences who we become. If our friends are following Jesus, we will find it much easier to follow Him, too. If we are reading books (or listening to podcasts, watching videos, etc…) that feed our minds and hearts in the ways of wisdom and righteousness, we will become more like that. The opposite when it comes to friends, and the information we put into our minds and hears is also true. We get to choose who we become, by choosing the company we keep and the information we receive.

Once again in Proverbs 14 we read the benefits of wisdom and righteousness, and the consequences of folly and evil. King Solomon mentions the consequences of anger specifically, and because this is an area so many of us share as a struggle, let’s look at it a bit more intently: ²⁹Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.  Proverbs 14:29 (ESV) Notice, those who are slow to anger have “great understanding.” Remember, the man who wrote these words was the wisest man who ever lived before Jesus, and he was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The opposite of being slow to anger is the one with a “hasty temper.” This one exalts folly or foolishness. How much I can affirm that truth from personal experience. A volatile temper is not a blessing. The quicker we blow up, the more often we will find ourselves needing to apologize (if we are seeking the LORD and His righteousness) or to rationalize or justify our behavior. It is easy when we blow up to blame someone else for “causing” us to blow up.  The truth is no one can cause us to do anything. We are accountable for our own actions. We must learn, and in some cases have supernatural resources to live as those who are slow to anger.

Proverbs 15 includes a couple more admonitions against inappropriate anger, and continues to show us the difference between wise and righteous living, and foolish and wicked living. The chapter closes out with this statement:  ³³The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. Proverbs 15:33 (ESV) Here Solomon ties fear of the LORD and humility together. The tandem demonstrate wisdom and produce honor. We live in a fast-paced culture that doesn’t often lift up wisdom and humility, but the LORD has always done so. If we want our “path” to lead to the LORD, fearing the LORD and living in humility are vital.

As we return to Luke 16, Jesus offers some penetrating teaching, teaching that isn’t intuitively obvious to us, and would not have been to those who listened in His day. The first parable about a steward who cheated his master in order to buddy up to his masters debtors, so he would have a place to work after he was fired, doesn’t make sense at first. That’s especially true when we find the man’s master commended him for his shrewdness. But the “punchline” or explanation Jesus offers tells us something we might not have come to naturally in following Him: We can use the worldly “mammon” or money, which Jesus tells us will be the chief rival god in our lives, to bring glory to God, and to make friends of the Kingdom. The practical living out of that will come in many ways, but as we use the money we have earned, (hopefully from more honest means than the shrewd manager) let’s always remember we are stewards or manager of it, and as we use it in ways that advance Jesus’ Kingdom the more people will come to follow Him!

As we turn to Proverbs 10, we find the “true” format of the Book: a wise saying is offered in one verse, followed by another wise saying in the next verse. The two are typically not related. There is a commonality about all these proverbs, though. They lay out four types of people: 1) Wise; 2) Righteous; 3) Foolish; and 4) Wicked.  We could combine the wise and the righteous, because we’re told righteousness brings wisdom, and we could assume the wise are righteous in the way they live, but King Solomon uses these two categories as he offers us his wise sayings. We want to be found in the categories of the wise and the righteous as we read the proverbs and live the out in in Jesus’ name.  The third and fourth type of people are separate, but the can also be found together. A fool, or foolish person, is not necessarily evil. He or she might not mean to do others harm, but they live in such ways as to do harm to themselves and others. Foolishness causes us to do unwise things, and the consequences are typically negative. While the wise and righteous learn from instruction and change as a result, the fools don’t learn from instruction, and they continue in their patterns of foolishness. The only way to change a fool’s behavior is to give a tangible consequence. While the fool might not learn from the consequence, his behavior will change, at least for the duration of the consequence. The wicked are selfish and plot to do others harm. They care only about themselves and live for their own benefit. Wise people and righteous people avoid the wicked, because they understand the wicked don’t change, short of direct intervention from God.  We have an obligation to tell the wicked about Jesus, but we don’t have an obligation to let them hurt us in the process. As we read the proverbs and other sections of Scripture, as we go about daily life, it is wise for us to ask ourselves: Am I learning from the lessons the LORD is putting before me in His word, in His world, and through His people? If the answer is “Yes,” then praise the LORD! Keep it up. If the answer is, “No,” then it’s time to call on Him to move us from our foolish or wicked ways and back to Him.

Proverbs 11 moves back and forth between telling us what happens to those who pursue righteousness and the foolish and wicked. The contrasts are broad and the implications clear: the LORD rewards the righteous, and punishes the foolish and wicked. As we read these words, they are absolutely true. The wise and righteous will read them, learn from them, and live more fully in the LORD’s ways. At the same time, those of us who have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord, must always remember living with the Holy Spirit in control takes away the need for us to live according to the Law, to the ways of the Old Covenant. That doesn’t mean we ought to ignore the Old Testament, but as we read it, we read it through the lens of God’s grace demonstrated in Jesus, and His power extended to us through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit helps to bring truth and wisdom to our minds when we need it, as we live in Him and call on His name.

Proverbs 12 moves us once again back and forth between the way a righteous person acts and how the wicked act the opposite. We don’t see so much about the wise and the foolish in this chapter, but we continue to see King Solomon push us toward righteous and virtuous lives instead of wickedness. The final verse of the chapter shows us the ultimate “destination” for the wise and the righteous: ²⁸In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. Proverbs 12:28 (ESV)

As we return to Luke 15, we read again the parables of the three “lost” possessions: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. The context of the parables is so important: Jesus is speaking to a group of tax collectors and other “sinners,” along with a group of religious leaders. These two groups represented the opposite ends of Jewish society. the religious leader thought of themselves as the wise and righteous ones we read about in Proverbs 10-12. The tax collectors not so much. Jesus made it clear to the tax collectors and sinners that God was looking for them. He is represented by the shepherd, the woman who lost the coin, and the father of the two sons.  He was also making it clear to the religious leaders that God is gracious. Righteousness isn’t only about following the rules. Righteousness is also right relationship with God and others. This is seen most clearly in how the father in the final story goes out to the “good” son, and tells him how important it is to celebrate with his younger and prodigal brother, who has come home.  We can’t live in self-righteousness, or as rule followers and understand the true righteousness of God. As Andy Stanley put it in his new book Irresistible:  Jesus liked people who were nothing like Him, and people who were nothing like Him liked Jesus. As we go about our days, we must seek to live in wisdom and righteousness in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we do, we must also let the power of the Holy Spirit move us to compassion for those who are still lost and who need us to be participants in welcoming them home.