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The Simple, the Young and the Wise
6-27-10
Text: Proverbs 1:1-7
● Proverbs presents wisdom (literary style) to us in such a way that it is
easily accessible and recollected; like a commercial jingle (i.e. “And like
a good neighbor ..” or, “Give me a break, give me a break, break me off a
piece of that …”) They are structured to be remembered.
Proverbs is “Wisdom for Dummies”.
Don’t co-sign for a loan, don’t be a slug, get a job, quit gossiping,
stay away from promiscuous women, tell the truth, pick good friends, …
Wisdom literature offers us a glimpse of who we were meant to be and the
kind of life that we were meant to experience.
They are extremely practical, feet-on-the-ground type of truths. For
some, they are often almost too practical to be ‘spiritual’.
We keep desiring the ethereal (other-worldly) and the mysterious,
while God keeps holding out wisdom.
● Wisdom, life centered in God, sees our choices- the way we actually order
and conduct our lives, as the most real thing about us; the most ‘spiritual’
thing we can do.
It means that all of the things that we consider “spiritual” are
futile if they are not producing the right kind of life.
● In fact, Jesus said that, “Wisdom
is proven right by her actions” (Matthew 11:19).
So, life is, for all of us, about this progressive transformation from
‘folly’ (foolishness) to ‘wisdom’.
That is a wonderfully hopeful statement. It means that the life that we long
for is available to us now. It doesn’t mean that we will somehow be
delivered from the painful consequences of our self-destructive,
self-defeating past choices, but it does mean that those choices no longer
need to define us or limit who we are becoming.
1:2 :
The word for
wisdom most often used in the
OT is Chokmah (‘hōk-mah’) and it
is used to describe someone who is
skilled or proficient in
their area of expertise. They know how to use the tools in order to realize
an expected outcome.
Skillful-living is not like
rhythm—you either have it or you don’t. Skill is something we are able
to attain with rightful practice.
If wisdom is the skill, then discipline is the ‘order’ or ‘training’ which
informs and forms our lives and pre-determines who we are becoming.
Proverbs 10:17 “The road to life is a disciplined life; ignore correction
and you’re lost for good.”
● Discipline or the
“ordered-life” (less of a
negative connotation) is the necessary companion of wisdom.
To ignore discipline (ordered life) is to simply let life happen to you.
It’s the declaration that you are content with the way things are (stretchy
pants: declaring to the world, “I give up”) or, you’re convinced that there
is very little you can do to alter your situation.
Wisdom allows you the capacity to carefully distinguish between your options
and make the best possible choice.
The really interesting thing about choices… they seem insignificant enough
to ignore, but big enough to alter your life forever.
I have discovered that God values an “orderly approach” to life.
Not one that is rigid and inflexible, but one that is intentional and
purposeful. It is that order
that prevents our desires from becoming merely good intentions. It’s what
causes you to set the alarm, or make the time to develop the relationship,
etc. In essence, it is
pre-determined obedience.
1:3:
Proceeds to describe how the orderly-life will manifest itself…
“it will help them do what is right,
just and fair.”
Right-
means,
‘conforming to a standard’
(Deut.25:15 uses the word to describe scales that are honest). So, living
wisely means developing an approach to life which is being formed around the
desires of God.
Just-
that which is determined to set
things in order. In all of
our lives, in every situation, we are either helping to establish order (set
things right) or we are contributing to the chaos.
Fair-
‘equitable’, ‘pleasing’, ‘straight’,
‘level’, ‘a peaceful arrangement’.
We may not exactly know how to define wisdom, but we all know it
when we see it.
● Notice, these are all relational terms. They are not merely about some
arbitrary rules or expectations, but they concern themselves with how we
relate to God and how that affects the way we are with each other.
Wisdom is depicted as being available and necessary no matter where you are
in the developmental process.
1:4
“simple”- naïve; one who is
gullible (believes anything) or easily enticed.
● Naiveté (inability to make the
connection) is what allows you to play ‘peek-a-boo’ with your baby for
hours on end because they can’t understand how you keep disappearing behind
your hands (or blanket). If you are still able to play that game with your
(14) year-old, and they still don’t get it, something’s wrong!
● Solomon addresses the “young”,
or the “immature”; those who are
learning and growing in their capacity to make the connection and even
suggests that at no point in our lives will we have accumulated all of the
wisdom that we need. There’s even something more to learn for the
“wise”.
The imagery involved is knowing how to “steer” (guidance) your life. The
word “guidance”- literally
means, “to bind” (rope, cord).
It depicts the rope-pulling that sailors do to guide, or steer a ship; it’s
keeping it on a predetermined course.
Proverbs 22:3 “A prudent person
foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and
suffers the consequences.”
● James, the NT wisdom book, reminds us that at the
center of foolishness is deception
and deception involves ‘not seeing’
what’s really there!
● James 1:12-18:
“enticed”- lit. means
‘to bait a hook’. We often
refer to them as ‘lures’. In order to draw us out (lure us), the bait must:
appear
real and we must be convinced
that it will be safe to take it.
My assumption is that no fish grabs the lure thinking that it’s just some
tasteless, rubbery mass with a jagged piece of metal woven through it. No
animal deliberately walks into a trap.
Wisdom lets you see past the façade to what’s really there.
Proverbs 1:17 “If a bird sees a trap
being set, it knows to stay away.”
We become most vulnerable when we disconnect our current circumstances from
our own foolish choices.
When you disconnect your
circumstances from your choices, you essentially forfeit the ability to live
well and destine yourself to a cycle of foolishness.
● It begins with being willing to admit that, in most cases, somewhere along
the line, it was our own foolish decisions that are responsible for our
predicament.
● If you don’t know
“how this happened to you”,
how will you ever prevent it from happening again?
When we fail to make the connection, (2) things are inevitable:
1) we abdicate all sense of personal
responsibility, 2) we will need
to find someone to blame.
Wisdom suggests that you don’t have to learn everything the hard way.
“Experience is the best teacher.”
While it is true that it is possible to gain wisdom through experience, it’s
not inevitable. But, here’s what is:
“pain”.
Anyone ever made the same mistake or done the same stupid thing over and
over again?
● I guess such an approach is based on some defective assumptions:
First,
that simply having made a mess of your life previously ensures both that you
learned something from it and it will never happen again. Solomon’s wisdom
in one season of his life was no guarantee of living well in the future.
Secondly, believing that we can only learn from our own
experience seemingly invalidates a host of historical instruction.
Thirdly, is the assumption that we will live to tell about it!
Wisdom is not just about learning the hard way, but about actually affecting
the quality of our future choices so that we might avoid the damage.
Proverbs 15:10 “It’s a school of hard
knocks for those who leave God’s path, a dead-end street for those who hate
God’s rules”
● It means helping you extract wisdom from some experiences and
gaining wisdom by avoiding some experiences all-together.
Wisdom doesn’t just tell us what to do, but helps us see the connection
between our heart, our choices and the outcome of our lives. |
