JAN 3 2016 | Proverbs 9

Sea Change Church · "Proverbs 9" · Dr. James Smith III · January 3, 2016
Proverbs 9
Automated transcript. Not reviewed for accuracy.

Applause You play baseball, right? I do. There you go, buddy. Laughter I was doing just fine with the fact that the only reason I was asked to preach was because it was the day after the holidays. I was okay with that. And I was warmed by that beautiful prayer. Then came the slap. Laughter This morning, we're opening God's Word and we're looking at wisdom.

Wisdom is something that's valued in this church. If you're a Spanish speaker, it's sabiduria. If you're a Latin speaker, you're a thousand years too late. No, it's sapiencia. So there is this sense of wisdom that we're going to be focusing on this morning. Let me enter it this way. You see that the notes are in your worship folder. And again, I give, as Pastor Adam does, full permission. Anytime you want to just look at the notes and let the Lord lead you that way, do it.

All right? Because this is not primarily about what I'm going to say. It's primarily about what the Lord wants to do. In offering an insight, in offering a word for you. A word, an insight, a motivation, a path of life for you as we go into this new year. So the notes are there and we'll follow those largely and we'll move around a little bit as well.

This church values wisdom. And wisdom is, in a vest pocket definition, knowing what best to do with what you got. There are all kinds of people. I'm a veteran of high school reunions. I'm the unofficial chaplain for Helix High School, my graduating class. And in that situation, we get together various reunions. We are up into the 40s now. And with that, there is a sense of deep feeling and sometimes deep poignancy.

In situations where some of the brightest people in our graduating class made some felony stupid decisions. You know what I'm saying? There are people who are really bright, so intelligent, so knowledgeable, so with it. But there's a difference when we come to wisdom. What do you do with what you've got? And sometimes we need courage to know what to do, how to be, how to think, when somebody says no.

And a door closes. But we need just as much wisdom to know what to do and who to be when someone says yes. And the door opens. So it's that sense of how to proceed well and wisely that we're committed to here. And that's why, periodically, as I preach, privileged to open to the book of Proverbs, which is the classic wisdom book in the Old Testament.

We could ask this morning, what did you get for Christmas? And it would be fun to hop around the sanctuary and find out what you got. I got a t-shirt. It is a Junipero Serra t-shirt. I love it. We were up at Mission San Juan Capistrano. Anybody else besides me like Capistrano? Isn't it beautiful? Right? And San Juan Capistrano, the chapel there, is really the last place standing in which Father Junipero Serra led a worship service.

It's the last place standing. A long story to that in terms of what happened to some of the missions in the early to mid-1800s when they were secularized. They became government property, were seized, and then went into all kinds of disrepair and all. But Capistrano, through a story I'm glad to tell after the service, if you like, Capistrano, beautiful place.

So I came away with a t-shirt. What did you get for Christmas? Whatever that might be. God's word says to us in Proverbs 4-7, In all you're getting, get what? Wisdom. Whatever you're going to get. Whatever's on your wish list. Whatever you're seeking. Whatever you're hoping other people will offer or cultivate. In you, in all you're getting, get wisdom.

Knowing what best to do with what you have. And so that's why, on this particular morning, we want to go into Proverbs 9. And I want to tell a very brief story, if I may. Brief it is. And it's a very painful one in some ways. It's not a personal event in my own life, although some of you know, who prayed for us this time last year. I'm wearing the tie that my brother had.

This is one year since his passing. And so thank you again, church family. Those of you who knew us then and prayed for us richly. He got to visit here exactly once, my brother. And I'm so glad that he made connection here at La Jolla Fellowship. And wonderful, wonderful spot. So it's not painful for me. It's a story that really was up in the newspapers.

And that is, on Christmas Day, there was a guy visiting from Indiana. He's 33 years old. His name's Joshua. What's a great place to go in San Diego to see the scenery? What's a great place to see? Well, he made a decision. And he decided he'd go to Sunset Cliffs. And Joshua, from Indiana, our son's out visiting us from Minnesota. And this is his thaw out time, right?

Before he goes back to the tundra. But Joshua from Indiana is at Sunset Cliffs. And the view is beautiful. The moment is magic. And gets out of his car. And there he is. And then something happens. There's an electronic device in his hand. Now, they never found the device. You know where this is going. They never found the device. But people who were witnesses.

First celebrating with him. And then concern for him. And then grieving. For the fact that this, to me, young man, with this electronic device in his hand, became more preoccupied with the device than he did with the fact that the last name of Sunset Cliffs is what? Cliffs. That young man, Joshua, fell 40 feet to his death on Christmas Day. Because he was more concerned with the electronic device in his hand.

Whether it was a cell phone, we don't know. Camera, we don't know. But became fixated on that. That became the action in the moment. That took over his range of vision, his range of understanding, his planning, his responsiveness, and he went over the edge and fell to his death. They tried to revive him. Some people did heroics. And I thought to myself, you know, isn't there a life lesson for me?

God helped me sometimes, instead of the wisdom of being attentive to where I am and what's best now, to live out in this situation, I get fixated on this thing in my hands. I get fixated on an idea. I get fixated on a concern. Fixated even the beauty. Some person said, they were guessing, some person said maybe he just loved the view so much, and that combined with the thing in his hand made him oblivious to the fact that there was a precipice there.

I don't know. But the reason I mention that is so that we might all think to ourselves, God, will you please in the new year, wisdom, deliver me from those things that tend to tantalize me, that tend to tease me, that tend to distract me, that tend to preoccupy me, that tend to take center screen, and instead of you being center screen, God, will you deliver me?

I don't think I'm alone in being like that. I learned the beginnings of that lesson when my other brother piled up his car on Christmas morning in 1958 because he was fighting a moth. While driving the car, and he lost his Chevy Biscayne. Nice car. Lost it at a telephone pole in Palo Alto. He was a student at Stanford. But he was fighting a moth.

That's the beginning this morning. Dear friends, first things first. Dear friends, the center of what we seek is God's wisdom. And that's why in Proverbs 9, the transition. If there's a verse you'd like to remember for the new year, if one of your resolutions is to say, you know what, this year I think I'm going to memorize a little bit of God's word.

I think I might even say, like the psalmist said in Psalm 119, your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not mess up in my relationship with you. I have put your word in my heart so that it might deeply be there. And that's where, in Proverbs 9, we find the passage, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy.

The holy one is understanding. So we're going to look at Proverbs 9. We're not going to read the whole proverb through this morning. But we're going to land in a few select places. We're going to do a little Hebrew. That was the original language. To break out some of the meaning for us today. And if you'd like to open to Proverbs 9 and read through, God bless you.

Attention to the screen. We're going to ask if we can scroll through that gradually at different points during this message. All right? That would be wonderful. Thank you. And Proverbs is a significant, significant signpost to us as we begin. What a great word to memorize. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the holy one is understanding.

Proverbs 9, 10. We want to do three definitions from God's word this morning. Definitions aren't there to trap meaning or to, you know, get some kind of a right or a corner, only possible interpretation. But it opens God's word. So a little Hebrew. Number one, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Have preachers ever used that to scare the stuffing out of people?

Yes. Have people used not only in church situations, have people used in life? Fear. That's one of the tactics of those people for whom we pray and whom we pray against overseas in some cases. The tactic of fear. Can that be utilized in a lot of ways? Yeah. Fear is a fearsome word in some ways. So what does this word mean? We're going to unpack that today.

Look at your sermon notes, if you would. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What are we talking about there? Well, the word, the Hebrew word, yare. You see it in your text. Yare appears over 400 times in the Old Testament. That's the Hebrew word. And about 80-some percent of the times, it refers distinctly to the fear of the Lord. In that, there is a sense in which there's a story.

And here's the story. It's a biblical story. God created all of creation. Called it good. God, through whatever means God chose, is our creator and gave those first human beings the gift of life and gives us the gift of life. He called them good. There was a great opportunity, but Adam and Eve in the garden fell. They sinned. They rebelled. They went the other way.

They said yes when they should have said no to the serpent. They said no when they should have said yes to God's command. You have chosen poorly, Adam and Eve. So, at that point, the righteous God is entirely just in exercising a justice that says, you've fallen. You've sinned. You stink. You're going out in the baggie. Bye-bye. He could have wiped everything out.

He could have, in fact, doomed them with no opportunity for any further redemption. He said, human beings are losers, and so I'm not interested in them or in giving them free will. But God, in his great love, God persisted. God, in fact, gave opportunities for humanity to come back to him. Why? Because God has revealed to us in Scripture most deeply.

As judge, yes, but more deeply still, as Abba. As Papa. As the one who loves us. And so, ultimately, we celebrate God so loved the world that he gave. He gave the law as gracious boundaries to Moses. He gave promises to Adam. He gave opportunities to men and women throughout Scripture. Gave us supremely Jesus Christ. And invites us back to him. So, the fear of the Lord could be dread.

And, in fact, I stand before you today saying, I deserve separation from God. Because I'm a mess-up. This is a church of recovering sinners. Isn't that right? Next week, we're going to celebrate the Lord's table. Next week, we're going to have the elements that represent his body and blood right center stage in this place. And we, as recovering sinners, are going to be invited to come and celebrate the goodness of our Lord's.

Because his steadfast love never changes. His mercies never come to an end. That door is open for us to turn and return to our Lord's. So, fear then. May I say very simply this morning, The fear of the Lord of the beginning of wisdom. This is about, can you see it there, reverent awe. Not some sort of terror or dread. Might it begin with being afraid of judgment?

Yes. If I say there is heaven to gain and hell to shun, Yes. We might say, I have a choice by grace in front of me. But the goal of God's word is to say, That reverent awe that you should have of God is the beginning of wisdom. While tempted to play, may I say it, To play with your device. To be distracted by this or that. To put something else in life as an idol.

Because idols aren't just figurines carved out of materials. Idol is anything that jockeys and tries to hold first place in our life ahead of the Lord's. That's an idol. That's idolatry. It's not just over there. It's in here. So, the fear of the Lord means a reverent awe. And that supplants, that renders obsolete the fear which is a terror or a dread of God.

We have that wonderful sense of the awe of God. Now, the word awe, it comes from an old Norse word. Ready for the Norse word? Awe! That's so much fun. That's what it comes from. It is what they call, if you listen to your English teacher, Anamana Poetic. That means it sounds like what it means. Like when a dog says, Arf! That's because many dogs, when they bark, sound like they're saying what?

Arf. Good. So, any case. It's an old Norse word. Arf! What does that mean? Anybody taking a good punch in the stomach? I have. Anybody here? Nobody's confessing it. Joe, I knew I could count on you. I knew it. All right. Praise God. Not for the punch, but for our solidarity as brothers in Christ. All right. That was a tight one. So, in any case, I've taken a punch or two in the stomach over time.

And I went, oh! That's a Norse word. It means something has impacted me. Okay? That's what it meant. Basically. Conceptually. Something has impacted me. Language is dynamic. So, out of that, the English picked up on that. Those people over in the British Isles picked up on it and they said, that's a word we're going to carry over. And then we're going to put something after it.

Which means that when something impacts us, it can be awesome or awful. Right? Our God is an awesome God. Things get awful when we choose idolatry. Things get awful when we just play with stuff. But our God is an awesome God. The fear of the Lord. Not dread. Not terror. Might begin there. If we're aware of what it means to go in a direction that is without God.

Might begin there. But it doesn't live there. It lives with the invitation of God to turn and to return to him. Once and again and again. As we live life into this new year. And that means there's reverent awe. I look at the ocean down there. There's reverent awe. I look at the wonder of somebody who looks back at me as a friend. A number of you here.

This is a neat moment. There's awe at the fact that we can be friends. Not competitors. Not jockeying. Not fighting. Not scolding. Not, you know, litmus testing. But just saying there's an abrazo. There's an embrace. For the opportunity of being together. So, with that, there's wonder at many things. But ultimately, our God is an awesome God. Back in the 80s.

Some of us were alive in the 80s. A guy named Rich Mullins wrote a song. I can't remember all the lyrics. But it goes something like this. Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above. With wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God. I'm going to step out. Sing it. Will you join me? Very, very simple. Very quietly. It is a thank you to God for his wondrous character that leads us into the new year.

The fear, the reverent awe of the Lord. That's the beginning of us knowing what to do with what we got. Our God is an awesome God. He reigns in heaven above. With wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above. With wisdom, power, and love. Our God is an awesome God. Will you join me in prayer?

Will you join me in prayer? And pray that God may be the center of our lives, the screensaver, the ultimate good, the highest goal. And if there are things that need to be pushed aside or rebuked or moved to a proper place in our lives, let's lift those up to the Lord right now. The fear, the reverent awe of the Lord. His wisdom, power, and love.

Beginning of wisdom. And if you think of it, gentlemen, we mentioned Joshua down by Sunset Cliffs. That's not just a sermon illustration. Will you pray for his loved ones? They're grieving right now. We're not cheesy sermon illustration people. We care. Let's pray. Guide us, Lord, Holy Spirit of God. And Lord, if we feel distracted this morning, help us to pray our distractions.

Because you're the Lord of all. You're already there. Thank you. As we continue just for a moment more. Lord, we declare back to you that we believe your word is true. We believe that the reverent awe of you, your truth, your beauty, your goodness, those will be life-giving to us and through us to those around us in this year to come. We declare we want that to be the centerpiece of our lives.

Whatever table we're setting, may you be the centerpiece. May your character be there. May your character be there. May your character be there. Be evidence. And Lord, may you defeat any strange spirits and old stuff that would try and wrestle away that first place in our lives. For us individually and as families and as circles of relationships and as a church family.

May your kingdom come even further still. Lord, the reverent awe of you is the beginning of this wisdom. We look for it this year so we are not afraid of 2016. Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Now, some of you are going to tune me out right now. God bless you. Because you have a better offer. I mean this. And Pastor Adam and I, one of the things I like, we have such similar values.

We express them in somewhat different ways. And he's really tall. But in any case, but La Mesa. But you've bad-mouthed La Mesa a few times. Yeah, ni modo. Yeah, okay. I understand. So, yeah, okay. So, in any case, the value that we have is we both agree that if, again, I'm saying it again, beginning of a new year, if the Lord's leading you into prayer, into reflection, into meditation, into other places in his word, go there.

Because this is worship of the Lord. All right? Everybody understand what we're saying? Right. It's just very simple, but we need to say it once in a while. Meanwhile, I'm on to part two. And part two is an interesting part, it seems to me, because as you see in your outline, there is in chapter 9, verses 4 through 6, the particular statement that says, Let all who are simple ones come here.

Wisdom's calling out. Wisdom calls out to the simple ones. Now, what does simple mean? Well, simple can mean, for example, may I say it this way, the way that my wife and I try and live. We downsized a few years ago, and we're in a two-bedroom condo on the edge of Lake Murray, and we try and keep it down to the essentials and to the basics and so forth.

There's people that have written about this. If you're taking notes this morning and you like to read, a guy named David Shee, S-H-I, has written books on the simple life as a concept in American history. David Shee, S-H-I. It's on the simple life. One's a book of readings. One's a reflection on the story of that area, and much of it is decidedly in the Christian tradition.

That's one meaning, but that's not primarily what the Hebrew word that you see here, which is peti. It's listed there in your notes. That's not primarily what that means. Let me put it differently as we track the sheet. The wisdom of God calls out, those who are simple, peti, come here. Leave your simple ways. The English paraphrase would be, don't be a what?

Simpleton. And walking and making simplistic decisions. Okay? So how would we understand this? Simple means that we should be, we're meant to be in God's wisdom, people who are concerned about the essentials, and we are humble in our approach to life. But there is also, in the Hebrew, an overtone here, in which simple basically means clueless. Simple means naive.

Simple means unskilled and undeveloped. So, the emphasis here is that God gives us a loving instruction by grace to choose a transformed life from naive and random and clueless and unskilled toward humble and sustainable and deft and uncluttered. Does that make sense this morning? In other words, if in fact I wind up, Proverbs 9, if I wind up concerned with other kinds of things, if other things jockey in moments when they jockey into the number one position in my life, if I get so upset with not being able to find my car keys, anybody know about that?

Let me ask you a no-fault question this morning. I don't work for Allstate. It's no fault. All right? Have any of you, when you've lost your car keys, gotten angry? Have any of you who have lost your car keys, gotten angry, and said naughty things? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. When we get preoccupied with something else, and it takes over the position the Lord should have as our ultimate friend, our ultimate master, ultimate savior, ultimate wisdom and power and love.

When I get all caught up in other stuff, I get all fussed up, right? Then I become a person who is naive. I become a person that's easy manipulated. I become a person that's jerked around by my emotions or by somebody else's program for me or by somebody else's game they're trying to play. Simple. Wisdom calls out to those who are preoccupied. Wisdom calls out to those who are, duh.

Wisdom calls out, with all due respect to Keanu Reeves and Alicia Silverstone in their movies, wisdom calls out to people like that, that are clueless, that are Bill and Ted. Wisdom calls out. And so with that, I want to ask the question, what is wisdom calling you to this year? What is God's wisdom calling you to? Not simplistic. It may be complex.

It may be a great challenge to live in a way that focuses on essentials. It may be there's one relationship and you hear wisdom calling you to help restore that relationship. And that may be a heck of a deal. But God's grace is sufficient. I had a visit with my other brother. Long story. Let me say very simply that the reason I have a relationship with my middle brother is because for about seven years I would call him periodically and say, want to talk?

Or I'm going to be in town. There were old hurts in the family, old this's and that's, and it took a discipline and so forth. It would have been much simpler in the duh sense to just let the relationship go, swirl around and go down. But God has rewarded the wisdom that he's given to stay in touch, to try and be a person of love and invitation and reconciliation.

God has blessed that. And when we met up in Sacramento over the holidays, when the time came for us to separate and get going, neither of us wanted to leave. I love that. I praise God for that. This is not simple as in wipe out the person who annoys you or wipe out a person who thinks at least for this moment they're your enemy. It is simple as in I want to keep my eyes on the Lord and the movements of the Lord in this relationship.

and the movements of the Lord in this situation. It might be interpersonal. It might be business. It might be educational. It might be intellectual. Heart, soul, mind, strength. All those dimensions are there. God will lead us by his wisdom. So no longer clueless or unskilled. Don't you love the word sustainable? In many ways. It means that this can give life over an extended period of time if we're just focused on the essential here.

I love that in the environment. I love that in the environment of our lives. So simple ones. Let's find the essential meaning of who God is and focus on the simplicity of just following him. That's not easy. But it's the only way to fullness of life. Proverbs says it in those early verses. There's one more. This whole passage begins with Proverbs 9, verses 1 through 3.

Can we be there just for the moment? It starts with these words that may sound mysterious to us. Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn out seven pillars. She has prepared her meat, mixed her wine, set her table. And she is sent out and she calls from the highest point in the city, the highest point in the land. Wisdom has built her house. Now, let me go sideways for a moment, if I may.

Fill in the blank as it comes to your mind. There are all kinds of places and enterprises that are called the house of something or other. Aren't there? So if you're kind of from the Mississippi Delta and you love that kind of music, it used to be that way. Now they've kind of diversified. But the place is called, where they do that music, the house of what?

House of Blues, all right? If you're somebody who has built up some kind of clever argument, but it's all going to fall down around your head when the next wind comes up, then there's 52 of them in a deck. Then it's called the house of what? It's a house of cards, right? Do you realize in San Diego, I actually kept a copy of the 2011 white pages. I don't even know if they put out white pages anymore.

But I thought I'd hang on to it, right? I use the computer most of the time for this. But there are 30-some listings that begin house of. There's a house of naugahyde. Yeah. Some of you are saying, no, that's great. I didn't even know it existed. What is a naugah? Well, anyway, so with that in mind, there's all kinds of places. There's the house of this and that and something else.

Well, this passage here in Proverbs says, wisdom has built her house. What could that mean? Let me suggest there are two great meanings in the history of the church wrestling with this passage. The first one, it's in your notes. And it is exemplified by a gentleman named Hippolytus, who was a Christian writer around the year 200. I'm sorry, I teach church history.

This is just part of what I do, all right? But a number of you say you'll like it. So praise God if we keep learning, all right? Hippolytus of Rome declares, Solomon, writer of the book of Proverbs, many of them, Solomon means the wisdom and power of God the Father has built his house, that is what? In his nature in the flesh, delivered through the virgin.

As John said before time, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. He assumed the temple of his body. What does that say? That's one of the great interpretations of this in the tradition. Because, 1 Corinthians 1.18, Jesus is seen as being the personification of the wisdom of God, the word made flesh dwelling among us. Where do we look for wisdom?

We look to whom? Jesus. We look to Jesus. And also as the body of Christ, the incarnation. That's why it's wonderful these Christmas decorations are up here. Still, this is not sloth. This is planning ahead so we can enjoy the beauty of this season, which moves from Christmas into a new year of promise. Jesus. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

If we want to see a clear, expressed, concrete example of what it means to live a life of wisdom, let's look again in this new year at Jesus. How long has it been since you read through a gospel? Dear friend, how long has it been since you read through a gospel? How about it in the new year? How about it to fall in love with this Jesus? The Jesus of history.

The Christ of faith. To fall in love with him in this new year. The body of Christ. Jesus himself. But what else is called the body of Christ? Carol, you haven't said anything. What's the body of Christ? Right. The church. We are called 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12. The body of Christ. We are the tangible, visible presence of Jesus himself, meant to be so in this needy world of ours in this new year.

So here's the proposition as we draw toward a close. The proposition is that as we look at this issue of a dwelling place, as the notes suggest, the body of Christ is to be chosen as a focus over abstraction or isolation. What does that mean? It means we can talk about abstract virtues all we want. Oh, look how loving. How smart. How caring. How everything else.

But those are abstractions until we see an actual example. Isn't that true? I mean, with kids and grandkids, we can talk and talk and talk and talk and talk and talk about ideals and ideas and all the rest of it, but until they see an example of it, it's not very convincing. Right? God willing, that example's in us. We're all helping raise somebody's kids.

Right? Maybe you will be blessed as an example, a good example from other people too. Jesus saves us from abstraction. From, oh, that sounds like a good idea. Oh, that sounds like a virtue. Oh, that sounds like it's good. We look at the life of Jesus and we find a concrete, clear representation that embodies, literally, the wisdom of God and the truth, beauty, and goodness of God.

But also the church is meant to do that. The church is meant to be instrumental not only in keeping us from abstraction because we see good examples. Friends, I don't know if you're a long-timer or a newcomer in this church, but I look around this sanctuary and I see people who are an absolute inspiration to me. Some of you know who you are. Some of you, I'd be glad if you'd like to become more so in this coming year, to me or to others, but I see that.

It saves me from abstraction. I see the concrete expression and I'm encouraged and I say, God can do this in me too, but it also saves me from isolation. Because in the body of Christ, in a community, in a community, there is strength. There is power. There is solidarity. There is teamwork. There is a mutual, aha! There's a mutual praying and cheering for each other.

And isn't that a wonderful thing after all these bowl games to think you don't have to be playing football to have somebody cheering for you? Isn't that nice? So, with that, wisdom has built a house. The human house is Jesus himself. The community, the house of wisdom, is meant to be his church. We have a great opportunity. That's a little bit of Proverbs 9 this morning.

And what else do we know? Well, we know that wisdom has prepared a meal. Where shall we look for the meal of wisdom in the life of this church? How about next week? How about the Lord's table? Early Christians saw that too. When Jesus, the very wisdom of God, personified, laid out a table and he said, I welcome you here. Take and eat. May this week be a preparation so that we might return and rightly receive the elements of the meal next Sunday.

And may this opening week, whether we're planning on Daniel Fast, whether we're planning on Audio Bible, whether we're praying for our elephants, whether we're finding small groups, whether we're discovering for the first time on the 19th, more information about this church, whatever it might be, may this week be the springboard to an awesome year.

Because our God is who? An awesome God. We got it. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let's pray. Let's pray. Lord, how gracious you are to give us your word and to give us your spirit. In our own strength, Lord, we can make a good move. We can make a start. But it is your grace that advances and perfects every good thing in our lives. So as we sing to you, Lord, another year is dawning.

A fresh new year untouched ahead of us. Savior, let it be an awesome year lived by your grace and truth. Thank you. Confirm that, we pray. For your kingdom's sake, Lord. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Let's all stand. We're going to...