Text: Proverbs 22:1-8
Theme: Debt free Life
Text:
Proverbs 22:1. “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favour is better than silver or gold. … 4. The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honour and life. … 6. Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 7. The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”
Greetings: The Lord is good and His love endures forever.
Today I would like to talk about debts free life: a good name, a good fame and a good game.
Introduction to the Sermon:
The Jewish Tradition assigns authorship of three biblical books to Solomon. The rabbis said that Solomon wrote the ‘Song of Solomon’ as an amorous youth, the ‘Proverbs’ as a middle-aged man, and the ‘Ecclesiastes’ as a disillusioned old man. The book of Proverbs is the preeminent book of “Wisdom” in the Old Testament, and so is understandably associated with Solomon, the epitome of wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-34).
?A good name (v.1-3)
In Hebrew thought, a name was usually regarded as expressing a vital truth about a person's inner character. The Hebrew “good favor” meaning a good reputation or high esteem. This is not about celebrity or fame with which our culture is so fanatical. It is neither physical beauty nor other ephemeral qualities.
A good name, a good reputation, is something earned over many years. It implies integrity, honesty, and responsibility. It cannot be bought and worth more than all the riches in the world. A good name makes a man easy and safe, supposes a man wise and honest, and redounds to the glory of God.
We should be more careful to do that by which we may get and keep a good name, than to raise or add unto a great estate. A good name among good men, a name in the house of God, which is better than sons and daughters; a new name, the name of the children of God, which no man knows but he that receives it.
Enduring word: we can earn Wealth through many means but the wealth of respect and recognised excellence in character is valuable beyond great riches that is the good name. The man or woman who appreciates the value of a good name recognises that it is worth more than silver and gold.
This good name proceeding from a good conscience, this honour from virtue (Isaiah 43:4). “The perfume of faith and obedience, the splendour and sparkle of the ‘white stone,’ which only shines upon heavenly hearts – is far more desirable than great riches.” (Trapp).
Given the choice between a good reputation and a million dollars, many people would prefer the money. However, Solomon notes that it's better to be known for integrity and morality than to be wealthy and associated with sin (Proverbs3:1-5, 19:1 but read 2 Peter 1:5-8,11).
Money cannot directly buy happiness, peace, security, or eternal life. It has many advantages, but those are all temporary. The real life is found in Christ. The spiritual maturity which leads to a good reputation leads to trust and honor. Proverbs chapter 31 describes the woman whose reputation is blameless. Money cannot buy the admiration and love of others, but a noble character that creates a good reputation can earn the admiration and love of many people.
Riches are greatly esteemed in the world. But they do not contribute to happiness of life. Dr. Constable says: ‘A good name is an asset whose currency is unaffected by the boom or bust of the material world.’
A good name is better than precious ointment (Ecclesiastes 7:1). The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot (Proverbs 10:7). Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone (3 John 12). He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium (Acts 6:2). “As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honour” (Ecclesiastes 10:1).
“When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” (Billy Graham).
?A good fame (v. 2-4).
The people of babel wanted to establish a name to keep their fame.
God called Abraham and told him to establish his name great name.
Absalom wanted to establish pillar in his name to make his name great and remembered by people.
Nebuchadnezzar built a palace to establish his name famous in history.
Where the fear of God is, there will be humility. And much is to be enjoyed by it; spiritual riches, and eternal life at last. These two qualities are connected. Humility is a proper view of self; fear of the LORD is a proper view of God. The person who has these two qualities is well on their way on the path to wisdom. The most humble Christian is the most triumphant Christian. He may be depressed, discouraged and go through losses and failures but he is highly exalted. He has the wealth of grace and of glory. Nobody can deprive him of these.
C.S Lewis “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”
EM Bounds an attorney turned Methodist Clergy, spent many years in Prison for his conviction and ministry, he wrote many books. In his book titled “Essentials of Prayer”. He defines the Humility: “Humility is not abstraction from self, nor does it ignore thought about self. It is a many-phased principle. Humility is born by looking at God, and His holiness, and then looking at self and man’s unholiest. Humility loves obscurity (insignificance) and silence, dreads applause, esteems the virtues of others, excuses their faults with mildness, easily pardons injuries, fears contempt less and less, and sees baseness and falsehood in pride”.
Pope Francis “The world tells us to seek success, power and money; God tells us to seek humility, service and love.” Rabindranath Tagore “We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.”
Illustration: Beauty contest of Butterfly and Cockroach:
Butterfly was winning all the beauty contest between the butterfly and the Cockroach. Cockroach ridiculed in front of everyone that she wasn't really that beautiful, butterfly won contests because the juries had been bribed.
In reality, the cockroach was the most beautiful. The butterfly was furious, and with laughter and contempt told the cockroach, "I'll beat you in a beauty contest, with whichever jury you yourself choose."
On the given day butterfly entered into the auditorium was shocked to the juris cockroaches, worms, insects, and bugs and lost the confident of winning. Self-realisation helped butterfly even to win the Humility contest. ‘
Mother Theresa: “If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.”
Christ made himself nothing (Philippians 2:7), humbled himself (2:8), and made himself of no reputation. The concept of empty is “KENOSIS” in Greek. Paul uses the word Morphe instead of schema. Morphe is “an essential form it never altars, expression of the reality”. Schema is an outward, temporary, changes from time to time, circumstance to circumstance, person to person and situation to situation. Jesus never gave place for violence, grasping, exploiting but completely existed with MORPHE. Christ became Jesus not an avatar but incarnation. It’s not temporary but permanent form.
?A good game (v. 5-8)
Life is a good game, play within the rules. A good planning in the life leads to a greater success. ‘The debt trap is a death trap. Borrowed funds lead to even more borrowing, creating a never-ending spiral that seems impossible to break. It affects individuals, families, and even businesses. But it is possible to break free from this with determination, discipline, and strategic planning.’
A child needs proper training. Training to live a disciplined life, training to walk on the right path. Training to be honest, and integrity. Trading to be content, training to be simple, humble, and gentle.
The job of the parent is to train up the child that in the way he should go. The sense of the Hebrew the way he should go speaks of the child’s individual way and inclination. It speaks of discerning a child’s strengths and weaknesses and parenting in a way that takes those into account. Dedicate the child according to the physical and mental abilities of the developing youth. Respect for his individuality and vocation, though not for his self-will. In every child there are special and peculiar powers. The true training is that of discovering what those powers are, and developing them.
The Rich rules over the poor: "The rich man (singular) will rule over the poor" (plural)”. There are many poor for one rich with rigour and tyranny, taking advantage of his necessities.
So, the borrower becomes a servant to the lender, lives at his mercy, and therefore forced to comply with his pleasure, to his wit. It’s understood that the rich people have more authority and voice in the community than the poor. Those who borrow money are in a lower strata of the society than the lender. Those who borrow will fall into the power of the lenders, and this can lead to unjust treatment of the poor by the rich.
Is it possible in the modern society, to live without debts, loans, and borrowing? Of course, this verse refers to the common practice of Israelites selling themselves into slavery to pay off debts (Exodus 21:2-7). It is not appreciably different from the modern debtor who is working to pay off bills. The wise man and woman will walk in the path of godly prosperity. They to lend and never borrow. There is a saying, "He that goes a-borrowing goes a-sorrowing." “A penny saved is a penny earned.” “God helps those who help themselves.”
Conclusion: do we work for great name or surrender to God? The fame, the name and the game of life is a gift from God.
