VOICES AND CHOICES
Text: Proverbs 1:20 – 33
Matthew Henry once made the point that the book of Proverbs gives us a “…. necessary caution against bad company”. Matthew Henry’s comment reminds me of something I always heard when I was growing up which was “If you lie down with dogs, then you will get up with fleas.” It is interesting to mention the setting of where we must be cautious. We have to be cautious because much like the original audience of Proverbs, we are in a marketplace of voices that compete for our time, attention and even our allegiance. Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God wants our time, attention and allegiance. We should give God our time, attention and allegiance and be obedient to His will. We have only to look at the Garden of Eden to see what happens when we disobey and do not follow God’s will. We are the epitome of both Adam and Eve in that picture. They listened to the voice of bad company where the serpent deceived Eve. Their disobedience had consequences. Our disobedience also has consequences. Proverbs reminds us that we cannot escape reaping what we sow.
What voices do we hear in the marketplace? What choices do we make?
THE VOICE OF WISDOM
How does the voice of wisdom speak to us? 1) Wisdom in the book of Proverbs is always personified as woman’s voice. 2) Notice how Proverbs 1:8, mentions the input of both the father and the mother. Proverbs 1:20 describe wisdom’s voice as that of a female. 3) Have you ever wondered why that is? Someone (Raymond C. Van Leeuwen) makes the point that perhaps the author of Proverbs gave wisdom a woman’s voice “… to alter the errant male perception of women” who were perceived as the weaker sex. (Leander E. Keck. ed. The New Interpreter’s Bible. Volume V. Raymond C. Van Leeuwen. The Book Of Proverbs. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1997, p. 264). 4) Now take it a step further and think about how Proverbs starts off speaking of both wisdom and discipline (NIV), or instruction (TNIV, NRSV, RSV, NKJV & KJV) or good advice (TEV) depending on which translation of the Bible you use for Proverbs 1:2. 5) If you take the two terms (wisdom and instruction) and put them together, it would seem that “wisdom” could be thought of as the destination and “instruction” as the routes to take in order to stay on course. Navigating one’s own course without both wisdom and instruction is an invitation for disasters and calamities.
Who is the audience of wisdom’s voice? The voice of wisdom is addressing three different types of people in the audience. The voice of Wisdom is addressing the simple, the scornful and the foolish. 1) According to Psalms 14:1, “Fools says in their hearts, “There is no God” ”. Proverbs 1:7 reminds us that “fools despise wisdom and discipline”. Proverbs 1:21 tells us how fools hate knowledge. The foolish are obviously atheists. They seem to believe that they can be their own masters when they are in fact nothing more than slaves to sin. 2) The scornful mock those who believe. They reject God’s law. We might say they are agnostic because they could not reject God’s law if they did not have some knowledge about God and God’s law. 3) The simple are those who are naïve, lacking in judgement. They are often easily persuaded.
What is wisdom’s goal? It seems that wisdom’s goal is to help us to avoid bad company. Wisdom’s goal is also to help us live a godly life. Wisdom seems to be speaking primarily to the youth of every generation. At the same time, it seems that the voice of wisdom is reminding those who are more mature in her audience to remember her instruction because we are still on the journey of life. As someone (Dr. Waights G. Henry, Jr.) put it: “The past remain with us. For good or ill what we are is a result of what we have done.” To illustrate this point let us consider an example from the life of the Duke of Windsor. Someone asked him if they could show film taken from various segments of his life on film for continuous and public showing. He agreed to allow them to show continuous footage from his life so long as he could censor the film. The film that he had before censoring was 60,000 feet long. When he get through with his censoring, only 12,000 feet remained in the film. (Dr. Waights G. Henry, Jr. Begin Where You Are. Atlanta: Joint Radio Committee: The Methodist Church, 1960, p. 5). Now if you do the math you can conclude that he cut out four-fifths of the film. If someone were to approach those of us in the adult bracket of the audience and make us the same offer, how much film would we censor?
WISDOM’S VOICE AND OUR CHOICES
Why does wisdom speak in the midst of other voices? 1) Wisdom speaks in the midst of other voices to help those who will listen to avoid “bad company” and “bad decisions”. 2) We live in a world where there is a barrage of voices. 3) Each voice in the marketplace has a motive. 4) Is the motive of each voice to seek your time, attention and allegiance in a way that goes against the grain of wisdom’s instruction for godly living? 5) Who is the source of every lie in the barrage of voices?
What do the voices of the world say to us? 1) The world teaches us to seek the praise of others. 2) A second thing that the world teaches us is to watch out for ourselves and forget about others because it is every man for himself. 3) A third thing that the world teaches us is the rule of instant gratification. The rule of instant gratification teaches us to seek our own fulfillment, pleasure and delight. We call the pursuit of these things hedonism. The rule of hedonism is “if it feels good, do it”. The one thing that hedonism does not address is the consequences of our actions. 4) How many make choices today that they will regret later? 5) How many make choices and refuse to think about the consequences of their choices beyond themselves?
Why does the voice of wisdom speak with such urgency to the youth of every age? 1) The voice of wisdom speaks to the youth of every age with a strong sense of urgency to avoid bad company and the bad choices that they might influence the youth to make. 2) We could say Wisdom urges the youth to listen so that they “will not lose their standard, purpose or worship”. (Max Lucado. In The Grip Of Grace. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996, p. 27). 3) The voice of wisdom speaks with great urgency to the youth because the youth are impressionable and easily influenced. 4) The voice of wisdom speaks with great urgency to the youth because they are not always concerned about the consequences of their actions. 5) “God doesn’t get angry because [H]e doesn’t get [H]is way. He gets angry because disobedience always results in self-destruction”. (Lucado, p. 21).
The voice of wisdom does not discriminate. Wisdom does not discriminate about who she calls. “She does not call the chosen, the holy or the privileged, but invites anyone who will hear her”. (David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. eds. Feasting On The Word. Volume 4. Kenneth H. Carter. “Pastoral Perspective”. Louisville: Westminster: John Knox Press, 2008, p. 74). Wisdom calls twice asking “how long?” because those who delay are setting themselves up for disaster that could be avoided if they would but heed wisdom’s call.
The voice of wisdom reminds us that that we reap what we sow.
We can never escape the reaping what we have sown. If we sow bad seeds and deeds then we will reap what we have sown. If we sow good seeds then we will also reap good things. Like Jesus told us, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. “Fools do not become wise through persuasion, let alone sympathy, but through the gift of a new mind”. (David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. eds. Feasting On The Word. Volume 4. Kenneth H. Carter. “Pastoral Perspective”. Louisville: Westminster: John Knox Press, 2008, p. 74). God can transform those who repent giving them a “new mind”.
Where does our witness fit into this picture? Do we avoid those who refuse to listen to wisdom’s voice? What would God have us to do with those people? We love them, pray for them, invite them into our fellowship and welcome them we they join us. Maybe they will join us and maybe they won’t. We are called to plant seeds and perhaps water the seeds that others have planted. God will bring the increase (I Corinthians 5:5 – 8). It might seem hopeless, but God can work in and through our love and witness to them. According to what one person (Royal Speidel) says, it can take as many as twenty-five people to lead someone to Christ. (Royal Speidel. Evangelism In The Small Membership Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007, p. 38). What if we are the twenty-fifth person and we drop the ball rather than run toward goal? We may never know if we are that twenty-fifth person. That is why we are called to as the hymn says “make friends of God’s children and help those who are weak” (Take Time To Be Holy).
