Plymothian

Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,
    and do not claim a place among his great men;
⁷ it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,”
    than for him to humiliate you before his nobles.

What Jesus Said

Jesus told his followers that they should take the lowest seat at the banquet table.  He pointed out that it is embarrassing to take the grandest seat and then be asked to move down.  It is better to take a lower seat and be asked to move up (Luke 14).

As I am reading through the Book of Proverbs I am seeing that Jesus said a lot of the same things.  This does not paint a picture of Jesus that is unoriginal, it paints one that is firmly rooted.  Jesus understood the writings of the Old Testament and applied them correctly.  Others did not understand the principles of the Old Testament even though it was their job to be fully versed in them.

Today we see those who use the Old Testament, and the Proverbs as self-help or as a means to affirming their own righteousness.  It is not about lifting ourselves up, but it is about lifting up God and allowing him to lift us up as he wishes.

Questions

1. What should one not do?
2. What should one do?
3. Why would someone in ancient Israel do this?
4. Who do people try to impress?
5. How do we go about ceasing to try and impress people?

Remove the dross from the silver,
    and a silversmith can produce a vessel;
⁵ remove wicked officials from the king’s presence,
    and his throne will be established   through righteousness.

Removing Corrupt Officials

Many governments today turn a blind eye to government corruption.  Countries like Pkistan actually have quite developed cultures of corruption.  Chicago, as a city, has a history of corruption, but over time the city has arrested corrupt officials and they have done jail time.  We should support those who weed out corruption.  We should also advocate that candidates pursue the corrupt.

There are those who do illegal transactions.  Perhaps more importantly processes should be challenged which are unjust or corrupt, but that are part of the permitted structure.

Questions

1. With what is corruption compared?
2. How is this a powerful comparison?
3. How might a king go about removing corruption?
4. How does your culture view corruption in government?
5. When do you have to address corruption?

These are more proverbs   of Solomon, compiled by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah:

² It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;     to search out a matter is the glory of kings. ³ As the heavens are high and the earth is deep,     so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

Hidden God

Part of wsidom is not only finding hidden things, but concealing them.  There is something mysterious that connects all things.  Although there is a diversity in all that there is, there is one ultimate reality that we observe.  That unity and diversity is a reflection of the principle of Trinity.  God is one and yet he is three.  Creation is one but yet it is diverse.

I sometimes wish that God hadn’t hidden himself and made us use wisdom to find him.  Kings have the time to think it all out, but do the rest of us.  Our society has little value in rest.  The culture pushes us to work and play hard, but not really to think hard about ultimate questions.  When we think beyond the comfortable one-liners and slogans we find a relationship with God who reveals himself and hides himself like most people do.  Deeper relationship comes through an active pursuit of the hidden face of God.

Questions

1. Who wrote the Proverbs of ch. 25 and who compiled them?
2. Why would a king be interested in finding a hidden God?
3. What does God hiding himself have to do with wisdom?
4. Why don’t we see everyting about another person in our first meeting?
5. How are you sincerely getting to know God better?

²³ These also are sayings of the wise:

³⁰ I went past the field of a sluggard,     past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; ³¹ thorns had come up everywhere,     the ground was covered with weeds,     and the stone wall was in ruins. ³² I applied my heart to what I observed     and learned a lesson from what I saw: ³³ A little sleep, a little slumber,     a little folding of the hands to rest — ³⁴ and poverty will come on you like a thief     and scarcity like an armed man.

Sayings of the Wise

Wise people tend to say similar things because the basic principles of wisdom are universal.  This universal foundation of wisdom is the person of God.  Wisdom reflects his character.  It is surprising, though, how determined to be stupid some Christians are.  This is all attributed to faith.  Some Christian schools spend beyond their means, believing for the money that they don’t have.  According to Proverbial principles of wisdom, founded in God, this is stupid.  Some people believe their faith has given them insight that causes them to be arrogant – they lack the basic insight of wisdom.  Some people believe that preachers who prepare and study  lack faith, the leading of the Spirit must be spontaneous.  According to the godly principles of hard work and preparation, this is foolishness.

Wise people, godly people, uphold honesty, they relax after hard work, they don’t look for power over others, they are not lazy.

Questions

1. What characteristics of the wise are stated in the passage?
2. What do foolish people do?
3. Why would God be central to living wisely in these ways?
4. How do some today use talk of the Holy Spirit to forego hard work and preparation?
5. Where would God have you work harder or rest wisely?

²¹ Fear the Lord and the king,   my son,
    and do not join with rebellious officials,
²² for those two will send sudden destruction   on them,
    and who knows what calamities they can bring?

Submit to Authority

“Question Authority” was part of a poster of slogans posted in McHenry High School West.  It is understood that human authority is flawed and must be held accountable.  However, although authority is flawed and might be questioned it must also be respected and obeyed.  An army can not function if those in that army will not submit but demand that their own agenda be followed.  An organisation does not function without an authority structure.  There may be more than one leader but there are those who cast the vision and those who follow it.

Questions

1. With whom should one refrain from siding?
2. What happens to those who choose the wrong side?
3. In the Bible, does God condone rebellion against a tyrant?
4. How does one live in a country where leaders make decisions with which one doesn’t agree?
5. How does one question authority but submit to it?

¹⁹ Do not fret   because of evildoers
    or be envious of the wicked,
²⁰ for the evildoer has no future hope,
    and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. 

Proverbs 24:19, 20  It Will End

A godless perspective has every reason for anxiety.  If you are an atheist, there is no future hope.  There is no real reason to believe that anything terrible in our present circumstances will come to an end.  There is no real ‘good and evil’ for the atheist.  Some things can feel bad, others can be unwanted, but wrong and right are ultimately matters of cultural or individual perspective and are just emotional words to express preferences.  If there is no ‘evil’ for the true atheist, it can not be brought to an end by a moral agent like Gandhi, MLK, or Jesus.

For the agnostic, even if God exists, he or she is no ‘friend’.  At best they are unknown or hidden by doubt or God’s own intent.  There is uncertainty as to whether terrible things will happen.  For the person who believes God exists, like demons do, but have no relationship with God, there is no real reason to hope that present suffering will end.  For the Buddhist agnostic (Buddhism does not, in its nascent form, deal with the question of God), one can detach oneself from suffering emotionally but there is no freedom from real suffering.  One changes one’s perception of reality, but psychologically this might be close to ‘denial’.

In classic theism (the belief in God through the ages), there is reason to believe in ‘evil’.  Evil is that which twists things from God’s intent.  Evil in marriage is when marriage is used for selfish or manipulative reasons.  Evil in business is when transactions exploit people.  These examples do not do marriage or business as God intended.

If God is essential in defining ‘evil’, God is also essential in its ending.  In the end, all things will be made right.  God has the ability and the will to end evil.  He will end the hardships for Christians.  It may come in a second life, but justice will be assured.

Questions

1. What should not cause a person to fret?
2. How do those who do evil cause anxiety?
3. Why do people deny that evil exists?
4. What evils do you have to endure?
5. What evils do you long to see God take away?

17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls;
    when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice,
18 or the Lord will see and disapprove
    and turn his wrath away from them.

Talking Smack

As long as it’s fun, we can get away with talking al kinds of smack, even in Christian circles.  Based on today’s verses, I would urge some caution.  It is good to be victorious in life, board-games, and sports.  It is good to have the affirmation that we are not one of life’s losers.  However, when we talk smack we are talking as though God does not exist, which is foolish.  We should be grateful to God for our talents and victories.  We should also not delight so much to see the creations of God lose.  Our skills and abilities are gifts from God.  We should use them well without a superior, “Yeah!  Bring it!  You’re going down!”  Maybe God will then take pleasure in letting you triumph a second time.

Questions

1. What doesn’t a wise person do when their enemy falls?
2. What might God do if we gloat?
3. Over what kinds of situations might an ancient Israelite gloat?
4. When do people around you or on TV gloat?
5. What would be a better approach than gloating?  What stands in the way of us getting there?

15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous,
    do not plunder their dwelling place;
16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again,
    but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.

You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down

Although God sometimes allows the righteous to go through hell for his own purposes, the laws at work in the world frequently turn on those who perpetrate evil.  It is not good to throw in your lot with those who are making the most profit by exploiting their workforce, destroying the planet, or weaving a web of lies.  In act it is good to be part of the process that exposes such things rather than trying to hide them under the rug.

In North America people often take a pragmatic approach.  They try and calculate risk and reward and will do that which gives them what they want.  This is the measure of what ‘works’.  A damning response in America is, ‘that didn’t work’ rather than ‘that wasn’t right.’  Ultimately in the eternal scheme of things choosing to do what is right truly ‘works’.  It does not work in ways that we can measure in our finite lives, but it works in the grand scheme of God’s story.

Questions

1. What should a person avoid doing?
2. What will happen to those who throw in their lot with an attack on the righteous?
3. How do we explain those times when evil schemes sem to prevail?
4. When have you been tempted to do something unethical to get the result that you wanted?
5. How might you change your behaviour or decision making based on these verses?

13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
    honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.
14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you:
    If you find it, there is a future hope for you,
    and your hope will not be cut off.

Written In Honey

In the Jewish schools of antiquity, the students would write their first lessons in honey so that they could lick their slate clean and taste how sweet their words were.  This taught them the sweetness of wisdom and knowledge.  Well before the reams of modern text that talk about the importance of exciting the senses in learning, Jewish people were implementing multi-sensory instruction.

Questions

1. What is meant by ‘eating honey’?
2. How would a young man pursue wisdom?
3. How do young men and women pursue wisdom today?
4. In your opinion does public education actually make young people wise?
5. How does a young person become wise these days?

10 If you falter in a time of trouble,
    how small is your strength!
11 Rescue those being led away to death;
    hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,”
    does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
    Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?

Not My Problem?

The plight of other people can lead us to pray, “Thank God!  That is not me!”  However, wisdom highlights that the plight of others is ours also.  We are all related or connected in some way.  We are all part of the human race and the race was meant to live in community.  In Nazi Germany many were tempted to bury their heads in the sand as their neighbours were led away and tortured or killed.  Niemoller’s famous response sums up a biblical wisdom:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak out for me.

(Note Niemoller delivered this statement orally and later in life could not remember his exact words.  It was probably delivered in variant forms)

Questions:

1. Who should be rescued?
2. How is the one who knows the plight of the suffering described?
3. How does Niemoller reflect the sentiments of the biblical writer?
4. Whose issues do you tend to ignore?
5. What is your opinion about the plight of blacks in North America?