Yearnin' for some learnin': a Tour of the Mind & Heart of Proverbs ~ Proverbs 1:1-7; 3:1-8 (Poets Series)

So the sermon today is to be a tour of the book of Proverbs, specifically wisdom. What is it? Why does it matter? How do we acquire it? So stick together. This is a big place. Don't get lost, we've got a lot of ground to cover. And we’re walking, we’re walking, and we’re stopping.

          1.    Be fully formed in a loving sort of way

Wisdom [khokhmah] in the Old Testament refers to skill or applied knowledge. For example, in Exodus 31:1-3 it was the craftsman who were said to have been given khokhmah. It generally means “masterful understanding.” It’s the

possession of a set of knowledge, skills and dispositions which aim to help us be skillful at life, to be wise with things like economics, friends, family, work, sex, politics, etc..  By the way, the mastery is often for yourself and not for others. Wisdom relates to a kaleidoscopic set of terms: knowledge, insight, prudence, cunning, discretion, learning, guidance, counsel, and competence. But these terms also connect to a set of virtues. In our texts, our wisdom writer couples knowledge and love, instruction and faithfulness, that we should “bind around” our neck. The task of all wisdom literature is character formation and proper social relationships. Sometimes I make the spiritual life so complicated. When that happens, read Proverbs. On a basic level, wisdom literature is “instruction in . . . doing what is right and just and fair” (vs. 3). It holds matter-of-factly to the idea that to have “the good life” one should exhibit the virtues of honesty, hard work, self-control, and above all, the fear of the LORD.
So wisdom hearkens to the features of a habit, of self-discipline, of learning to live well in God’s world. It involves often ordinary work of practicing something so that it becomes second nature: controlling one’s tongue, mastering one’s anger, gaining knowledge, helping the poor, working hard, etc. Ellen Davis says, “The proverbs are spiritual guides for ordinary people, on an ordinary day, when water does not pour forth from rocks and angels do not come to lunch. Which is to say, most days.” The writer Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours of practice to truly master a skill. Are you willing to put in the time? The question here is, “Why would you work 10,000 hours at something?” I think that you would only do that if you have passion. Wisdom is fueled by passion – “with all our heart” (3:3-5). When we discover a wise person, we must realize that we have discovered a lover.

Before I began climbing outside I built a fake rock wall in my garage, called a “woody.” And every day I would go out and practice knots related to anchor building, to belaying, for repelling so that when the time came I could do them seemingly effortlessly. I had sheets on the wall to help me remember and practiced, practiced, practiced so that I wouldn’t be in danger when standing over 100 feet on a mountainside. Why? Why did I give myself so thoroughly to the task? Why did I spend frustrating hours learning knots and tying then over and over again? I did it out of reverence for the mountain and love for the climb. Why pray? Love. Why read the Scriptures? Love. Why work hard to learn the Proverbs and live them? Love.

2.    Use your head & revel in the world

Proverbs states that God has made knowledge of some things available to anyone who is curious about the natural world, to any who will set their minds to learning – believers and non-believers alike. The book also bears witness to the godly virtues of “righteousness, justice and equity” as qualities that can be accessed -- at least to some degree -- through human reason without some grand heavenly revelation. There are

many Proverbs that are kind of common-sense wisdom based on experience and observation. We don’t need angels to confirm that correcting a fool is often a waste time. We don’t need the Bible to recognize that working hard at anything often leads to success. 1 Kings 4:29-34 references Solomon’s wisdom as exemplified by his broad and vast knowledge of botany, zoology, and musicology. So using your head, being teachable, continuing to learn about not just the Bible but our world, remains critical components of wisdom. And such wisdom frees us to go out into the world with confidence, that we can have discussions even with non-Christians because they have access to wisdom as well. Lady Wisdom, in our text, doesn’t cry out in the temple but out in public (Proverbs 8). But Wisdom is more than us and human knowledge. It is available even to other creatures in God’s creation (30:24-28).

Wisdom is a teachability and curiosity that revels in the world as God’s playground, school, and laboratory.  It states that it is woven into the fabric of the universe (3:19-20). It revels in a world that is made both secure and enthralling by God, a world of delight and discovery, a world of wonder: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! ⁷ It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, ⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” (6:6-8). As any

child develops most fully by playfully exploring her environment, so Wisdom actively engages creation in her delight. Wisdom’s world is relational, joyful and surprising. Lady Wisdom is described as throwing a surprise party, we are told, in ch. 9. And wisdom aims to help you relate not by always telling you what to believe but by how to behave. What’s interesting is that Proverbs argue that one’s mind is to be engaged with righteousness and right living. A significant component of the book is the idea that a part of God’s arsenal against sin is in giving us a brain!

         3. Recognize the game you’re playing: a warning

Proverbs speaks strongly and matter-of-factly but that’s a question of genre more than actual outlook. There is a danger if we miss this fact. If you fail to understand the genre of Proverbs you might imagine that life functions like a vending machine – put your money, press the buttons, get what you want. And Proverbs isn’t the only wisdom book – so are

Ecclesiastes and Job and they will have their own things to say, their own experiences to communicate. So what do you need to know about the genre?

Proverbs are not promises; they are probabilities, e.g. Proverbs 10:4: Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich – good advice but obviously Solomon hadn’t met any reality t.v. stars. They don’t determine your future. Hard work generally will help you be successful. Controlling your tongue will probably keep you out of a stupid argument. They aren’t so much potentially wrong as most probably right.

Proverbs don’t focus on the exceptions. They speak from a feature of self-discipline not of outside forces which can alter, change or harm a person’s life. If you use Proverbs to ultimately and always determine your outcome that’s as silly as treating a slot machine like a vending machine. In fact, maybe it’s more true to say that Proverbs always working out ARE the exception. Job and Ecclesiastes are, sadly, more common.

Proverbs are like good advice for playing the odds, as in Blackjack. You have to recognize the game you are playing. There are very important ways in which you can increase the probability of your win that aren’t sure things. But not following that advice will almost always determine a losing hand. Proverbs teach you how to make good bets.

          4.    Fear the Lord but don’t terrorize yourself

We’ve already seen that some wisdom is available to everyone. That applied knowledge is a gift of God’s general revelation to any who would set their mind to it. Nevertheless, there are other elements of wisdom that are grounded in a right relationship with God: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7; 3:7; 9:10; 15:33). At the very least, Proverbs challenges the perspective that the Judeo-Christian heritage can be reduced simply to an ethic of doing good; that God is somehow unnecessary. So if “fear of the Lord” is necessary, what does it mean? This opened up a bit of a debate in my small group. It was wonderful.

Let’s listen to some helpful remarks from people in my group. Proverbs recommends it! “Fools think their own way is right but the wise listen to others” (12:15).
Fear of the Lord is not terror. When I asked my group what “fear of the Lord” meant, Christine remarked, “It’s like a roller coaster. When I’m on it I scream, want to throw up, and grip James’ arm like I’m going to die. But when it’s over I think, “Wow! That was fun.” At its most basic level, the fear of the LORD is the knowledge that God is God and we are not. But more than that – that God is so far beyond what we can even conceive or imagine. When we are faced with the power that called the universe into being, that scattered the stars in space, and that sustains the world every moment of every day, our proper response is awe, reverence, and yes, even (to some extent) fear.
“Don’t take the fear out of fear.” Jeff added that while “fear of the Lord” certainly fit with reverence and awe, we shouldn’t

take the fear out of fear. Jeff understood that the point was not to elicit terror but fear is still fear, to some extent. Tia, a therapist, agreed but also said, “It’s almost impossible to work with someone who is in total fight or flight mode” The group agreed that we needed to put fear in its rightful place and James said we need to "hold the tension" – we don’t fear God like a monster but neither is God kind, old man in the sky.

John pointed out that “fear of the LORD” helps set priorities. It helps reveal what’s important, what matters most because it helps us acknowledge that God is a judge and that we need to care about what God cares about, which can also free us from petty pursuits. Fearing the Lord is recognizing that God is good, too good to leave us to ourselves, and will shape us, form us, even chastise us, so that we can enjoy all that God is and has made. As Paul reminds us in Romans 12, Proverbs and “fear of the Lord” help us rest in the fact that God determines our end.
Remember, the wise one, wisdom itself, one who “feared the Lord” walked the earth in Jesus Christ. He’s what the “fear of the Lord” looks like. 

This reorients us toward wisdom as being an act of love and of loving the right one – Jesus. Jesus, we are told, is the wisdom of God, the Word of God. It is as simple and scary as that.