Roots, Ripples and Reference Points
Lessons from the Lake, Part 2
TCF Sermon
July 23, 2006
One of the things Laura and I like to do, when we’re at her grandparents’ lake house on Beaver Lake in NW Arkansas, is skip stones on the lake.
There are a lot of stones on the shoreline – in fact, it’s a rocky shore, and that’s pretty much all there is. So we look for flat rocks on the shore, better for skipping, and generally Laura finds them, and I skip them, because Laura doesn’t have the sidearm motion down that you need to skim stones across the top of the water.
What Laura does do often is heave bigger stones to make a splash. I do that, too. Especially when the water’s still. When it’s still, is the best kind of water for skipping, and the best for splashing, because the splash is more noticeable, and the ripples go on and on.
One time when we were there recently, I watched the ripples from a splash, and noticed how far they went. Even when it wasn’t even a particularly big splash, the ripples, though they got less pronounced, further from the splash point, went on for quite a while. They continued long after the splash was no longer visible at all.
I began to think about this idea of ripples, and how the individual choices we make in our lives, are like the splash, which only lasts for a moment. But the ripples, or the consequences, of that splash, or choice, sometimes last for days, weeks, months, even years, depending on the context of the splash, or choice.
So, this morning, those of you who were here two weeks ago will remember that I promised you part 2 of the Lessons from the Lake. Part 1 was about roots – we won’t review that this morning, you’ll have to wait until the movie comes out.
This morning is part 2 of Roots, Ripples and Reference Points, Lessons from the Lake. Really, you don’t have to have heard part 1 for this to make sense, as the only thing tying these messages together is the fact that I got the idea for these messages at my in-laws’ lake house. I’m hoping by showing the elders how inspired I am at the lake house, they’ll encourage me to go there more often.
Tom Buck told me after the last one that he thinks this is just my spiritual excuse for going to the lake. Anyway, as I thought about this idea, and began to study the idea of the consequences of the choices we make in life, I found that scripture is literally chock full of this idea of ripple effects. Especially in Proverbs, but even well beyond that book, there’s a clear connection between the things we do, the choices we make…..and what happens in our lives, for good or ill, because of, or in part as a result of, those choices.
When we make good choices, good consequences generally follow. When we make bad choices, bad consequences generally follow. I say generally, because it’s clear that bad things happen to good people, and good things sometimes happen to bad people, at least in this life.
It’s also clear that God’s in charge, and He can divert ripples, or create a bigger ripple that overcomes the ripple of our bad choices – we’ll examine that idea later as well.
So this is a principle, not a hard and fast rule. But it’s spoken of enough in scripture to pay attention to it, to make it worth examining here this morning, and we ignore it at our peril.
Now, the word ripple is never used in any version of scripture I could find. Neither is consequence, except in paraphrases. So we have to look for other words that express the same basic idea. But when we do that, and think of words like fruit, wages, effect, reward, we find, again, that this is a pervasive theme in scripture. We’re going to take a quick look at many of these passages this morning. Here’s a passage that clearly expresses this idea, but you have to be thinking in these terms to see it.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Let’s look at this through the lens of this idea of ripples:
Prov 3:6 – in all your ways (in every choice, in every splash you make), acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (your ripples positive).
Many Proverbs speak of the wisdom to make good choices and obey God, which is followed by blessings, rewards, and prosperity. Many Proverbs also speak of the folly of ignoring the wisdom of God, making poor choices and disobeying His commands, which is followed by disaster.
We’ll look at a representative sample of these in a moment, but let’s start with Proverbs 1:29-33:
Proverbs 1:29-33 (NIV) 29 Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, 30 since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. 32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
Here we see both the positive and negative ripple effect, depending on the kinds of choices we make. Not choosing to fear the Lord is a choice. Not accepting his advice or counsel, or spurning, ignoring, His rebuke is a choice. Those choices are splashes in the lake of life.
Choices lead to specific kinds of fruit, or results, depending on the choice. The writer of this Proverb tells us that those who choose not to fear the Lord, who choose not to accept His counsel, embodied in the Proverbs as wisdom, who choose not to respond to His correction or rebuke, these people would eat the fruit of their ways, or their choices, and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
This is a clear ripple effect – and the consequences go on and on – and they’re not good consequences, are they? But, thanks be to God, the opposite is just as true. Whoever listens to me, the Proverb says, listens to wisdom, listens to God, that person will live in safety, be at ease, without fear of harm.
In Proverbs, whoever listens to wisdom listens to the Lord. The word for fruit here can also be translated reward, earnings, product, result.
Life Application Bible says of this passage:
Many proverbs point out that the "fruit of their ways" will be the consequences people will experience in this life. Faced with either choosing God’s wisdom or persisting in rebellious independence, many decide to go it alone. The problems such people create for themselves will destroy them
Another commentary says: Now they must pay the staggering price of their willfulness, and be glutted with the bad fruit of their own schemes. It is their own fault, not Wisdom’s. They simply would not listen. Believer’s Bible Commentary
Again, it’s the consequences, or ripple effect, of the splashes we make, or the individual choices. Let’s focus a bit more on the ripple effect of bad choices.
Proverbs 5:21-23 (NIV) 21 For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths. 22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him; the cords of his sin hold him fast. 23 He will die for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
Again, let’s paraphrase into words that relate to our theme this morning. A man’s ways, his choices, the splash he makes with each individual choice, are in full view of the Lord. The evil deeds, again his choices, ensnare him, they trap him and hold him tight. That illustrates this ripple effect, too. The word deeds is plural, which implies that perhaps one or two choices might not literally ensnare or trap us, to the point where we’re tied up by sin. But we will indeed be led astray by our own folly as we continually make choices against the will of God, ignoring His wisdom, His perfect plans and purposes for our lives. The idea here is that we cannot sin and get away with it.
Now, it’s just as true that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from unrighteousness. But the kind of person this Proverb is speaking of is clearly not one who confesses His sin, who feels remorse leading to true repentance. There may be a sense of guilt, but not enough to forsake the sin and repent. This leads to more and more choices to sin, with the resulting ripple effect, seen so clearly in these sobering words:
His evil deeds ensnare him…the cords of his sin hold him fast…He will die… led astray by his own folly, or foolishness.
What’s foolish? Ignoring God. Or not acknowledging God, as we saw in Proverbs 3 … acknowledging God doesn’t just mean believing there is a God. It means acknowledging His authority in your life. We might call it giving Him Lordship…granting that He’s in charge, He knows best, and living like we really believe that…. making choices that reflect that belief.
When we don’t do that, we’re led astray. When we don’t do that, there are ripple effects that lead to death. People cannot sin and get away with it. Sin’s built-in consequences are inescapable.
As Jay Adams writes: Sinful habits are hard to break, but if they are not broken, they will bind the client ever more tightly. He is held fast by these ropes of his own sin. He finds that sin spirals in a downward cycle, pulling him along. He is captured and tied up by sin’s ever-tightening cords. At length he becomes sin’s slave.
This is the ripple effect of our poor choices. How’s this for a good visual image:
Proverbs 6:27-28 (NIV) 27 Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? 28 Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?
Now, the context of these verses is adultery – but I believe it can be applied across the board to the sinful choices we make. One ripple effect of scooping fire into your lap is your burning clothes. The ripple effect might continue to burn you. A ripple effect of walking on hot coals is that your feet will be scorched. We don’t see these ripple effects of our poor choices illustrated only in Proverbs.
Isaiah 48:22 (NIV) 22 "There is no peace," says the LORD, "for the wicked."
Why is that? Because the ripple effects of their wicked choices go on and on,
making peace in their lives impossible.
Ecclesiastes 8:13 (NIV) 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
Romans 2:8-9 (NIV) 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
2 Peter 2:13 (NIV) 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.
There are many passages that show the clear contrast between the results or rewards of good choices, and the consequences of bad choices, all within a single verse:
Proverbs 10:4 (NIV) 4 Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Proverbs 10:16 (NIV) 16 The wages of the righteous bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment.
Proverbs 13:3 (NIV) 3 He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
Proverbs 13:13 (NIV) 13 He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded.
Proverbs 13:21 (NIV) 21 Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.
Proverbs 14:14 (NIV) 14 The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good man rewarded for his.
Isaiah 3:10-11 (NIV)10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. 11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.
2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV) 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Then, of course, there are those verses which just as clearly describe the positive ripples that result from our godly choices:
Psalms 62:12 (NIV) 12 … you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.
Psalms 128:1-2 (NIV) 1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.
Hebrews 6:10 (NIV) 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
Isaiah 32:17 (NIV) 17 The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
Let’s take a practical look at what this means in real life. Think of the things in our daily life that have ripple effects, depending on the choices we make.
You don’t brush your teeth, and maybe the first ripple is that your breath smells. The next ripple is that people start avoiding you. The ripples will continue until you have dental problems, and then bad teeth, and then, maybe lose your teeth.
Just a simple, but practical example we can all understand. How about another example we can all relate to? Gas prices. As gas prices go up, there are additional ripple effects. Of course, gas prices are high to begin with, because of ripple effects of the situation in the middle East, because of environmental regulations, and a host of other issues that cause the prices to rise.
But the ripple effect goes on. The ripple effect is that the prices get passed on to us, the consumers of all kinds of products and services. That’s true with a lot of things related to gas prices. How about the independent lawn care business? If you run a gas mower, and gas costs twice as much, and you do several lawns a day, there are only two possible ripple effects. One is that you’ll make less money for the same amount of work. The other is that you must charge more to make the same amount you were making.
What the cost of this one commodity means is that, ultimately, nearly everything else will cost more. A very clear ripple from one event – the raising of gas prices. We can look at ripple effects on an even larger scale. Did you ever think about the ripple effect of the attack on our nation on 9/11?
You used to be able to bring scissors on planes. You could get through airport security fairly quickly. That’s a relatively little ripple in the scheme of things. How about the cost of all this extra security? Who do you think pays for that? How about the impact on airlines’ ability to make a profit? How about the war in Iraq? How about our national politics? Think about this: would the debate over immigration policy be the same if 9/11 had never happened?
This is just a small sampling of the ripples from the choice several individuals made collectively, to fly airplanes into these buildings on 9/11.
We haven’t even begun to see the ripple effects on the world from the choice that Hezbollah terrorists made a few weeks ago, to kill three Israeli soldiers and take two hostages. Terry Ligon’s delayed return to Lebanon will probably seem like a very small ripple in the scheme of things by the time the ripples from this choice have played out.
Sometimes our individual choices have significant ripples well beyond us. Sometimes they have significant ripples that impact us, and those immediately around us. Any discussion of this would be incomplete if we didn’t make a genuine attempt to bring it home. It’s easy to look at national and international affairs and see how actions can have a significant ripple, affecting millions, or even billions of people, in ways big and small.
But what about the smaller, daily choices we make, you and I? I’m thinking now more of choices that can impact others beyond ourselves…. beyond things like the toothbrushing example we spoke of a minute ago.
I, for example, can choose to ignore my health by not exercising, by smoking,
by doing drugs, by eating poorly all the time, by any of dozens of examples we could cite.
You might think – well, that only affects me. But it doesn’t. If my health deteriorates, or if I become sick as a result of my choices, or I die, it affects my wife. It affects my children. It affects my immediate family, It affects my church family. And the ripples can go on from there.
How I choose to treat my wife can have an impact on her, on my children, on her co-workers, on our church, on her friends, on her family, and on and on. So, our choices do matter. We don’t make choices in a vacuum. Our choices ripple beyond ourselves, even when it’s not so obvious how that happens. Our seemingly little splashes can make a difference, intentionally, or unintentionally.
Of course, as we’ve noted, this can be a good thing, too. I can show love or compassion to an individual, and that can have a ripple effect. I can help someone through a difficult time, and that can have a ripple effect.
What you say or do here this morning could have a ripple effect. A careless comment might ripple beyond the echo of those words, or an affirming remark to a brother or sister in Christ might do the same, but in a positive way.
Our choices can ripple beyond the moment of the splash in small, everyday choices. Sometimes a seemingly insignificant choice can ripple for years. Sometimes a choice has completely unintended consequences.
Ripples can be cumulative, too. Dozens of good choices join to ripple longer and more fruitfully, beyond what we can see, or more devastatingly, if we make poor choices.
Even the cumulative choices of how we spend our time, what we do with ourselves, can have a ripple effect. If we choose, for example, to consume mass quantities of our culture, without discernment or discretion…in the form of movies, television, books, magazines, music, it’s inevitable that there will be a ripple effect….we’re naïve if we think it doesn’t. It will affect our attitudes, it will shape our worldview, it will conform our minds to this world.
But if we’re careful what we consume, if we exercise discernment, and we balance these choices with regular consumption of the Word of God, fellowship with the saints, the spiritual disciplines, there’s a cumulative ripple effect to those choices, too. We grow in Him. We bear fruit for Him. To hearken back to part I of Lessons from the Lake, over time, our roots go deeper in Him, as we make good choices, creating good ripples.
It doesn’t happen overnight. Just like watching one bad TV show, one bad movie, might not have a disastrous ripple effect, although it could…it’s more likely that the ripples will wear down your resistance.
Did you ever notice how just the long-term action of water can reshape rock? We see that at Beaver Lake, too. Jagged rocks made smooth by the ripples of water over years, holes or hollows in solid rock, made by the cumulative effect of ripples of water.
Our spirit is subject to the cumulative effect of ripples like this, too. So that makes every choice important. The little, everyday choices, and the bigger, more significant choices.
Galatians 6:7-8 (NIV) 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
These are ripples. Ripples come from every choice we make… good or bad. If we make a big splash, there are ripples that might go on for quite a while, long after the splash is no longer visible. If we make a little splash, the ripple can still go well beyond the little splash, and have consequences long past the time we threw the rock into the pond of life. Dozens of poor choices do the same, except negatively.
Ripples resulting from our choices - this is the normal course of human events. But, thinking about this, it occurred to me that the ripple effect is not something that must happen. Only God determines what must happen, and He is able, and sometimes does, intervene in time and space to interrupt, or redeem, the consequences of the ripple effects of our choices, ultimately to accomplish His purposes in our lives, and in history.
I guess the lesson is that in His wisdom, the ripples of our choices is what He uses to accomplish His purposes, but He is not bound by those effects, as He is able to accomplish His purposes in history and in our lives with or without the effects of those choices.
What’s more, God Himself created the biggest ripple of history, one that still ripples through time, and will for eternity.
Think of it this way: He threw the biggest rock into the pond of history by sending Jesus to die for our sins. The ripple effect of that act is still seen today, and will be in eternity. That ripple can overwhelm the ripples of our poor choices, and it can enhance the ripples of our good choices.
There’s one choice you make that has an eternal ripple effect. In this life, ripples may go on for years, but what we do with Jesus ripples throughout eternity, for good or ill, depending on our choice.
If we can say we have decided to follow Jesus, we have decided to grant Him Lordship of our lives, then that choice will have a ripple effect on every choice we make during the rest of our lives, and into eternity.
It will enable us, and help us, to make good choices, and convict us, when we make bad ones. And when we make bad ones, as a follower of Christ, the ripple of His blood is capable of overwhelming the ripple of our bad choice, if not in this lifetime – because the reality is God doesn’t always lift the consequences of our sinful choices from us in this lifetime – we can be confident if we confess our sinful choice to Him, the ripple of that bad choice is erased in eternity.
If you’re a follower of Christ, you know that to be true even this morning. You know that the wages of sin, or the ripple of sin, is death, but that the free gift of God through Jesus is eternal life.
This morning, let’s determine to allow the ripple of the blood of Jesus in time and in eternity to make a difference in the choices we make, so that the ripple effect of our choices in this life will ripple for good and not for evil.
