September 11, 2010

The Wise Person Fears the Lord!

16th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/12/10
Proverbs 9:8-12


The Wise Person Fears the Lord!
I. What that wisdom is
II. What that wisdom does


I’m sure that every day of your life you hear about or witness for yourself at least one act of utter foolishness. Some of my favorites are the person who cleaned the rust off the contacts of his home’s electrical breaker box with steel wool. Didn’t he realize that the steel wool would conduct 120 volts between the 2 contacts? How foolish! Another of my favorites is the shade tree mechanic that decided to remove his car’s rusting, leaking gas tank with a torch. Didn’t he realize that the torch would turn the tank into a bomb?

But there are less “explosive” acts of foolishness. I don’t understand how people can think they will evade the IRS when the IRS knows their address and social security number. Sooner or later they’ll come calling. It’s foolish to think you can evade them. It’s also foolish to ignore solid information on our health. But we all have problems with that to one degree or another. We just can’t seem to avoid unhealthy choices entirely.

We’d all agree that it’s always best to be wise rather than foolish. But there’s so much “wisdom” out there in our world that we can’t pay attention to all of it and get anything else accomplished. We need to pare that down. So what is real wisdom? What’s the best wisdom? What’s the most beneficial wisdom? Our text from Proverbs answers those questions. Real, lasting, true wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

The wise person fears the Lord. That’s solid, biblical truth. The wise person fears the Lord. So what does that mean? Let’s see as we study these proverbs on wisdom.

Part I.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” is the most prominent verse in our text. In fact, it’s the most prominent verse in all of the Book of Proverbs. It appears in this book more than once and it’s the theme of the entire book.

But that verse doesn’t make us all that comfortable, does it? When we consider our fears, we’re filled with anxiety, not comfort and hope. The fear of the Lord only seems to add to our anxiety.

That’s exactly the way Martin Luther, the Reformer of the Church, grew up. He was taught to believe that God was a cruel taskmaster who lurked around every corner just waiting to smite the sinner who does something wrong. As a young man Luther hated God because he only felt fear for him. He concluded that God demanded more of him than he could possible give and he hated God for it.

So how could the fear of the Lord be the beginning of wisdom? Isn’t wisdom supposed to alleviate our fears, not add to them? That’s not the definition of the word “fear” as it’s used in this context. Here, the word “fear” means a recognition of the greatness, vastness and awesome power of our God. It’s fully acknowledging who the true God is, what he’s all about.

And that involves the two great teachings of his word. The first of those is his law. God hates sin and all who do wrong. He condemns and punishes for sin. And no violation of his holy will escapes his notice. He sees all, hears all and knows all and he doesn’t forget. Knowing that is real wisdom. But there’s no comfort in knowing that about the Lord. It only strikes our hearts with terror.

But that’s not the only thing our God wants us to know about him. More importantly he wants us to know his gospel—the good news of our salvation. He is a gracious God who forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin. In his grace and mercy he punished his Son for our sins. He took the load of the world’s sin—each and every sinner—and placed it on Jesus and had Jesus suffer and die in our place. By God’s power and grace we believe that good news about Jesus. In doing so, we also recognize how awesome our God is to save the whole world full of sinners. That, too, is fearing the Lord.

And it is a wise person who trusts that saving truth about the Lord. In contrast to every other false god who demands that we make ourselves acceptable to him, the wise person—the Christian—trusts that God makes us acceptable to him through faith in Jesus. The opening verse of our text mentions a righteous man. What makes a person righteous, holy or acceptable to the holy God? We can’t do that for ourselves. Only our God can do that for us. He gives us the full forgiveness of sins through Jesus. He washes them all away and makes us clean or holy in his eyes. The truly wise person knows that.

Another way of stating that same thing is that the wise person trusts the Lord for their salvation. Scripture makes it abundantly clear that we have nothing to offer God as payment for a single sin, let alone a lifetime of sins. But God made that payment for us when he sent his Son to live a holy life for us and to win our forgiveness and eternal life by his death on the cross. Knowing and believing that is true wisdom. That’s what a wise person is.

The wise person fears the Lord. That means to trust in him as the God who forgives and saves us.

As foolish as we might feel at times, spiritually speaking we’re wise. We fear the Lord, meaning we know his law which condemns our sin but we also know and believe his gospel which announces our forgiveness through Jesus. In God’s way of thinking—and that’s the only thinking that really counts—we’re full of his wisdom. Thanks be to God that he has shared his wisdom with us!

But we often dabble with spiritual foolishness. We face trouble or tragedy and we ask, “Why me, Lord?” as if others might deserve this trouble but surely we don’t. We notice how carefree the lives of others are while our own seems to be a daily struggle that we can barely tolerate. And we conclude it isn’t fair. These are just a couple examples of ways in which we dabble in spiritual foolishness. If we want God to treat us as we think we deserve, we better get ready for an eternity of punishment, not blessing. The truth is, we deserve nothing good from him. But our God has been gracious and merciful to us. He sent us a Savior who took the punishment we deserve so that we can share eternal life with him. That’s God’s wisdom and we need to recall that wisdom and live in that wisdom every day of our lives. And when we do so, then we are truly wise because the wise person fears the Lord.

Part II.

When someone does something foolish, we always see the results or the “reward” for their foolishness. They bring trouble, hardship or injury to themselves and others.

But what’s the “reward” for being wise?

Well, we can often see the results of that, too. A person who is wise with their income makes prudent financial decisions and often the result is additional wealth. The person who makes a wise career choice finds that he or she not only receives the wage or salary they hoped for, but a fulfilling and rewarding experience as well. When you make a wise choice regarding your education, you find that you are well-positioned for attaining your goals in life. In other words, we mark a person who is wise in earthly matters by what they do.

But how do you recognize a spiritually wise person? Our text states, “If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you.” With what? Well, these verses from Proverbs help us understand that a spiritually wise person isn’t marked so much by what they do as by what they receive.

So, what does a spiritually wise person who fears the Lord receive? Listen again to the Proverbs. The Lord says, “For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.” He promises to lengthen our days. It’s the same promise that he attaches to the 4th Commandment. “Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” God promises to bless those who are spiritually wise with a long life. Now that’s a general promise. I’m sure you can point to exceptions. But think of how many interviews you’ve heard or read with people who have reached 90 or 100 years of age and they mention their Christian faith. They are spiritually wise. I have yet to hear an aged person credit his longevity to his atheism.

And we all realize that the Lord extends the life of the spiritually wise into eternity. No matter how long or short the spiritually wise person may live here on earth, they receive eternal life when they leave here. That’s a life of unending bliss and glory, a life lived without stress and frustration, sickness, sorrow or pain. No one would argue that it’s wise to receive such a life. And your God promises it to you through the life and death of Jesus.

The wise person fears the Lord. That wisdom gives us life here and hereafter.

Do you know the difference between knowledge and wisdom? It’s been said that knowledge is the possession of facts and information while wisdom puts knowledge into practice. An easier way of saying it is that you can be book smart and lack common sense. If you are wise, you’ll put the book smarts into daily practice in your life.

It’s a happy coincidence that this text falls on this Sunday in which we kicked off our Christian education programs of Sunday School and Adult Bible Class. In every one of those classes our God imparts his saving knowledge to us through his word. His holy word makes us wise for salvation through Jesus. What’s your attitude toward that wisdom? Sadly, it’s often not the grateful attitude it should be. What a privilege it is for sinners like us to hear and study God’s word together! What grace that God would continue to share with us the news of our forgiveness and salvation through Jesus! A wise person realizes that because the wisdom of God gives us what we truly need—life with him. Cherish that wisdom! That’s what a wise person does. Amen.