The Word of Wisdom Directs Us in the Way :: Proverbs 4:10-23
Hear a Word of Wisdom on this Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity ...
Don’t go in the path of the wicked. Don’t be guided in the way of evil. Avoid it. Don’t pass over onto it. Turn aside from it. Pass by it. [The wicked] won’t sleep if they don’t cause evil. They’ll be robbed of sleep until they [make someone] fall. They eat the bread of wickedness; they drink the wine of violence (vv 14-17).
[Prayer]
Merciful God, we humbly implore you to cast the bright beams of Your light upon our church, that we, being instructed by the doctrine of your blessed Word, may walk in the light of your truth, and finally, attain the light of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[Introduction]
Let’s be honest with each other: We need God to remind us more often not to do evil.
We need him, as we just sang, to break the darkness with a liberating light ... to free the pris’ners, turning blindness into sight (LSB 849:1ab). We need him ... because let’s face it ... We don’t like the Law. It hurts our pride, doesn’t it? It tells us who God is, and who we are in his light ... sinners who keep on sinning, not doing what we want to do, but doing the very thing we hate (Rm 7:19).
Meanwhile you try to soften your sin by calling it a simple mistake, don’t you ... saying, I’m not so bad. It’s not like I’ve murdered anyone. ... It’s not like I bow to an idol in my living room. You tell yourself that you will love the Lord your God with your whole heart, but then you prioritize your feelings over the needs of others, don’t you? You say you will remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, but then you say your land, your cattle, and your wife is more important (Lk 14:15-24) ... don’t you? You say you will not give false witness, but you love the he-said-she-said-she-said-he-said Word of the Day? ... And you think that by doing so you aren’t assassinating each other’s character?
When God’s Word says go ... you stop ... don’t you?
When God’s Word says stop ... you go ... don’t you?
1. [Hear the Word of Wisdom]
Brothers and sisters in Christ, hear again the Word of Wisdom from Proverbs 4. Don’t go in the path of the wicked. Don’t be guided in the way of evil. Don’t pass over onto it. Turn aside from it. Pass by it. Take firm hold of discipline. Do not let go. Treasure [Wisdom] because she is your life.
Solomon must have been meditating on Deuteronomy when the Holy Spirit inspired him to write this ... Perhaps a passage like this one from Deuteronomy 28:[15-18]. If you will not obey the voice of YHWH your God or carefully do all his commandments and his statutes ... then all these curses will overtake you. [You’ll be cursed in the city and field. Your basket and kneading bowl will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed. Confusion and frustration will overtake you.] Solomon’s father David was a man after God’s own heart, teaching his family the way of Wisdom.
Don’t go that way, Solomon says. The road paved with good intentions makes sexual immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousies, wrath, selfishness, dissensions, heresies, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these (Gal 5:19-20) look good and pleasing to our eyes and everyday life. But the infallible, inerrant Wisdom of God reminds you that ... It is NOT ok to live this way. ... It is NOT ok to defend sin. ... It’s written, Paul writes in Galatians 3, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them (3:10). ... It’s written in James: Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it (2:10). You may overcome one sin, but you don’t overcome ’em all. Don’t be a lukewarm Christian (Rv 3:16).
Instead, mourn the fact that you prefer the desires of your flesh enumerated in our epistle reading from Galatians 5, and turn away from them. Listen to Wisdom and repent every one of you. Then rest in the faith, knowing Wisdom shows us a better way.
THE WORD OF WISDOM DIRECTS US IN THE WAY OF LIFE.
Solomon writes: Hear, my son, and receive my words, and your years of life will be multiplied (v 10). God’s instruction is delightful to the eyes ... It is life for those who find and keep it. It teaches you to love your parents ... To love your neighbor as yourself ... To cherish your wife ... To speak well of one another ... To be honest. This is all really GOOD. It teaches you in a simple way to hold God’s Word as sacred and to gladly hear and learn it. You get to actually love Jesus, because as Jesus said in John 14[:15], by keeping [his] commandments. This is really good.
[Catechism]
Please now open your [Lutheran Service Book] to page 322, and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine on the Close of the Commandments. As the head of the family should teach it in a simple way to his household ... What does God say about all these commandments? ... What does this mean?
2. [Too many reject the Word of Wisdom]
It is shocking how many people turn away from the Wisdom of God. It is baffling why so many people not only don’t want to receive the good things of God but refuse them.
Why do we allow ourselves to be like Israelites in the wilderness, grumbling and complaining even as we are continually reminded that God is Good ... always providing for his people (Ex 16) ... always protecting his own (Dt 11:2-7) ... rescuing us from slavery and the bondage to sin.
He said, I have directed you in the way of wisdom (v 11). He did this by drawing near to you ... in the flesh. Jesus, who is the Wisdom of God, illuminated our darkness like no other. He opened our eyes to his Way, calling you by the Gospel, enlightening you. This is why he says in John 8[:12], I am the light of the world. The one following me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
Like the lepers in our Gospel reading from Luke 19, we couldn’t go to God on account of our disease called sin. We couldn’t see him or hear him. We were isolated, blind, and deaf. We were voiceless. So God came to us as the Light into the World ... to be seen and heard in the flesh. Jesus was born without sin for you. Jesus lived without sin for you. Jesus took your sin from you. Jesus ensured your sin was crucified on the cross for you. Then because Jesus was innocent of sin himself and God is Just ... He is now risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah! ... He enables you to see the light of eternal life waiting for you. This is your inheritance from Wisdom.
He saved us ... not because you came to church.
He saved us ... not because you say you have faith.
He saved us ... not because you gave a general confession of sins 20 minutes ago and heard me declare that I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, forgive your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
He saved us ... not because you submitted yourself to baptism one time long ago.
He saved us ... not because you come to receive the Lord’s Supper.
3. [The Word of Wisdom shows us the Way He saves]
Instead, Wisdom declares ... Be attentive to my words (v 20). Jesus saved us because of the blood he shed. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Hb 9:22). When the goodness of loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works we did, but according to his mercy (Titus 3:4-5). We are justified freely in his grace by means of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood (Rm 3:24-25).
Stretch out your ear to [these] words. Don’t let [this] be lost from your eyes. Treasure [this Word] in the midst of your heart (vv 20-21).
This is how the Samaritan Leper’s faith saved him. He apprehended the Wisdom of God ... that Jesus ... the Word made flesh, who created all things ... did not stumble or fall when he led us on the Way. He apprehended that Jesus made smooth the path of righteousness for us so that the years of our lives will be multiplied ... so that in our walk ... our step will not be hindered ... so that when you run, you will not stumble (vv 10-12) over the stumbling block of doubt and unbelief of who Jesus is. [His Words are] life to those finding them, and health to all flesh (vv 22).
You can therefore, now walk in the Spirit too, enjoying the fruit of his life ... love, joy, peace, ultimate patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law (Gal 5:22-23).
[Conclusion]
So what are you waiting for?
Enjoy the life that God has called you into. Treasure your heart with all vigilance (v 23). Give thanks to the Lord. Sing praises to his name, declaring his covenantal love everyday and his faithfulness every night (Ps 92:1-2). He will lead you to receive all things profitable to our salvation (Collect) ... the forgiveness of sins ... in Jesus’ name.