How many of you know how to play basketball? Not how many are good at it, but know more or less how it works: one ball, five players on a team, two nets, one at either end of the field. When you go out there to play, you have a rough idea of what’s going on, right?
How would you feel if you went out on the court to play basketball - but instead of one ball there were ten - each one a different color, with a number on it, except for one blank white one which is “IT.” Somehow, instead of playing by basketball rules, you’re playing pool. Except you don’t know how it works. Kind of disorienting, don’t you think? Imagine thinking you were going to play baseball and picking up the bat only to find out that the goal isn’t to just to hit the ball, but to get it to land in a hole at the far end of the field, you know, the one with a flag sticking up out of it. Golf. Sort of. But the bat isn’t designed for that purpose, and anyway you’ve never practiced it, and you’re about to make an absolute idiot of yourself in front of absolutely everybody.
That’s pretty much the way I felt about life, back in the dark ages when I was a kid, and even later on as I grew up and went out into the world. The rules kept changing on me. In the first game, the way to win was to guess what the rules were before anybody got mad. In the second game, the way to win was to get all the answers right. In the next game, getting all the answers right cost you points because the boys didn’t like girls who got all the answers right. In one world, dressing right was the key; in another one, being entertaining and outrageous worked better. But every time I turned around it seemed the rules changed.
There’s a psych experiment that measures how dogs respond to punishment and rewards: if you praise a dog consistently, for the same things, she’ll learn and be a responsive, reliable pet. If you punish a dog consistently, she’ll learn and be a dependable, vicious fighter. But if you punish him on one day and reward him on the next, eventually the dog will stop responding at all and will just sit in a corner and shiver and whine. By the time I was in my mid-30's, that’s how I was beginning to feel.
I wasn’t a rebel; I wanted to be good. I wanted to be approved of, and to earn a place. But how could I do that, I wondered, when the rules kept changing? I finally thought I had it right - I had a well-paying, professional level job, all the yuppie paraphernalia from power suits to sports car to condo. I was clearly playing that game right. But there was still something wrong.
So when I finally got up the courage to enter a church, on a cold January Sunday over 16 years ago, my burning question wasn’t, “Who is God?” or “Who is Jesus Christ?” it was “How am I supposed to live? How do I go about ‘being good’?”
The first sermon I heard hit another question - one I never expected to have answered - but that’s a topic for another Sunday. Maybe. But on the second Sunday the pastor started a sermon series on the book of Proverbs, and it was all right there. “Trust in YHWH with all your heart,” said Pastor John, “do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” [3:5-6]
Now, I’m not expecting you to be where I was that long-ago winter - although some of you might be - but have you ever heard the proverb “a stitch in time saves nine”? Or maybe, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? If you wise up early, you’ll never mess up as badly as I did. And it’s never too late, either. God’s mercy gives us a new start at any point in our lives when we decide to start trusting him. And listening. And obeying.
And even for you lucky ones who’ve known God since babyhood and made pretty good choices most of the time, this is also for you. This book is “For learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight, for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity; to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young - Let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill...” [1:2-5]
I have a pastor friend who reads one chapter of Proverbs every day. That way he reads through the whole book once a month, and he has never yet gotten tired of it. The sermon series John Vawter started 16 years ago lasted about 20 weeks. I have 20 minutes, so I can only hit the high spots.
There are over 75 verses in the book of proverbs containing the word “wise” or “wisdom.” If you slice them in one direction, they’re divided between (1) the benefits of wisdom and (2) the characteristics of wisdom. That is, why should you - we - bother with wisdom in the first place, and, in the second place, what is it, anyway?
I’ll start with the second set. What is wisdom?
It’s not information. It’s not book-learning. It’s not the ability to out-smart other people. Wisdom basically means “skill in living.” It’s the ability to make choices in life that enhance not only your own long-term well-being, but also that of the people around you, and your world. The word “understanding” appears right along with wisdom. That means the ability to distinguish between true and false, good and bad, between the things that matter and the things that don’t. Another word, “instruction,” is also there. That refers to moral discipline: that is, the practice of obeying God as we go about making decisions.
And they all start with God. “The fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge.” [1:2-5] Mind you, this isn’t a run-away-and-hide sort of fear, it’s a pay-attention and do-what-you’re-told sort of fear. “For YHWH gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright.“ [2:6-7] Note: God’s wisdom is for the “upright.” That is, it doesn’t matter how much you know about God and what he has to say, if you don’t do it, you won’t benefit from it. Wisdom is for the doers, not the hearers - and doesn’t that sound familiar? The apostle James said something similar: "But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves." [Jas 1:22]
There are three kinds of people in this book... there are the wise, of course, whom we’ll talk about more later, but the not-wise, the fools, are divided into two categories. There are the simple, and there are the scoffers, or the scornful. Proverbs 14:15 says that “The simple believe everything...” Such people are often described as being “open-minded." The problem with being too open-minded, though, is that you have a hard time discerning between good and evil, and can be talked into just about anything. The simple are drifters.
Scoffers, on the other hand, actively reject God’s wisdom. “Fools mock at sin....” [Pr 14:9] “Doing wrong is like sport to a fool....” [Pr 10:23] In other words, they make a joke out of sin. Sin for them is a laughing matter. But guess what? A person who laughs at sin is also laughing at God. And I have to confess to you that there was a time when I was a scoffer. Remember Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority? I wore a button in those days saying, “Immoral Minority.” I thought I was clever. God, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, knew that I was actually crying out to know him, and he finally got me straightened out. Some scoffers do secretly yearn to know God, and their rebellion is the kind of acting out that you often see in poorly-disciplined children. They want someone to care enough to set them straight. But not all of them.
The worst sort of fool is the one who says in his heart, “There is no God.” Or, in this do-it-yourself age, is the one who makes up a God in his own image, to justify whatever choices she makes.
Let’s take a look at some of the characteristics of wisdom.
First, the wise listen. Fools, mostly, don’t. And I don’t want to hear one word - not a peep, do you hear? - from any of you about how hard it is to get a word in edgewise when your pastor gets on a roll. "Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent." [17:28] Not only do they listen, they listen to advice. "Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to advice." [12:15] They also listen to correction. They can take criticism, and learn from it. "A scoffer who is rebuked will only hate you; the wise, when rebuked, will love you." [9:8] "The ear that heeds wholesome admonition will lodge among the wise." [15:31]
Second, when the wise do speak, others benefit. "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm." [13:20] "The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the minds of fools." [15:7] "Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." [12:18]
And third, the wise look before they leap. They make major choices with care. "The wise are cautious and turn away from evil." [14:16] "For the wise the path of life leads upward, in order to avoid Sheol below." [15:24] In fact, the best thing you can do for yourself is to seek wisdom, because “To get wisdom is to love oneself; to keep understanding is to prosper.” [19:8]
Which leads us into the other main category: Why bother with wisdom? There are two main reasons. Wisdom protects, and wisdom directs.
First, God’s wisdom protects. “YHWH stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly, guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his faithful ones." [2:7-8] Did you know that a truly honest person can’t be conned? Almost everyone who gets taken in a shell game is trying to get something for nothing, which is a basically dishonest approach to life. "Those who listen to [YHWH] will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster." [1:33] One of the things you are protected from when you follow God’s leading is shame. "The wise will inherit honor, but stubborn fools, disgrace." [3:35] So if you don’t want to wind up standing in the middle of a football field wearing a tutu and carrying a tennis racket, wondering what went wrong this time, stop trying to please people and start following God.
Now, what you need to understand here is that these are not promises that nothing bad will ever happen to you. We live in a broken and dangerous world, and sometimes things get can pretty rough. What God is promising here is that if you listen to his Word, and do your best to make God-honoring choices at every step of the way, he guarantees that (1) he will be with you and (2) you will get out on the other side without having lost your soul, your sanity, or your self-respect.
Second, God’s wisdom directs. "It is the wisdom of the clever to understand where they go." [14:8] You’ve heard of people who know the price of everything but the value of nothing? We all know people who have every possible material advantage but are miserably unhappy. God’s wisdom can keep you from wasting your life on trivia, or throwing away what is most valuable in vain pursuit of things that don’t last. The wise know what’s valuable and what isn’t, and they spend their time on what has lasting value. "Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist." [23:4] Or, as Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal." [Mt 6:19-20]
There’s a cartoon that I love showing an automobile balancing precariously over the edge of a cliff, with an embarrassed husband at the wheel and his disgusted wife sitting next to him. Meekly, he says to his wife, “Honey, there’s got to be a lesson here somewhere.” There’s a lesson there all right, and it’s this: The only way to end up at the right destination is to choose the right road. If you’ve ever made a wrong turn in a strange place and found yourself lost, then you know how important that lesson is.
If you want to start on the right road, and stay on the right road, and wind up at the right destination, you have to take getting wisdom seriously. You can’t view it as a casual pursuit, or a hobby. It’s the most important occupation you will ever have. And if you want it, you must listen to God attentively [Mt 13:9], obey Him humbly [Jn 7:17], ask Him sincerely [Jas 1:5], and seek Him diligently [Is. 55:6-7), the way a prospector searches for silver or gold. “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!” [16:16]
Most people are willing to work hard at their jobs because they know they’ll earn a paycheck. Ask yourself if you are as serious about applying yourselves as diligently to God’s Word. That is how to gain spiritual riches that are more valuable than stocks or bonds or even real estate.
The contemporary world thinks there are “many ways to God” and any path you sincerely follow will eventually take you there. But that’s not true. Jesus made it clear that there are only two ways, and they lead to different destinations. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” [Mt 7:13 14] Everybody has to choose either the crowded road that leads to destruction or the narrow road that leads to life. There’s no middle way. And you can’t muddle your way accidentally into the right path. You have to choose, and then you have to follow through. But it’s worth it. "Eat honey, for it is good," says Proverbs 24:13-14, "and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, you will find a future, and your hope will not be cut off."
