A fool’s mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them. – Proverbs 14:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 7, 2013): Proverbs 14

I love to play poker. Part of it is just the strategy of the game. And I think I am a fairly patient player. But every once in a while I get involved in a hand that I know I really have no business playing. Sometimes I have won the hand - often by bluffing and blustering my way through it. But more often I have to admit to myself that I made a mistake and simply lay my cards down. In Poker and in life, there comes a time when then bluffing has to end – and your cards have to be laid on the table.

When I first started to do weddings and funerals, one of the best pieces of advice that was given to me was to simply be confidant in what I was doing. If it was wrong, no one was likely to know. It was good advice (maybe better advice for funerals – too many people seem to have their own often wrong opinions on how to conduct a wedding), but the time comes when the pretending has to end and we have to know what it is that we need to do next.

Some of the biggest arguments I have seen are, at the core, built around someone who is bluffing (and sometimes it is around two people that are bluffing.) And the fights always continue until someone finally has to lay down their cards. And often that is not a pretty moment. When two people are bluffing, often the blustering can go on for a long period of time. But when we bluff about something and then run into the real thing, then the bluffing quickly comes to an end – often with one party realizing that they have played the fool. Often we bluff in order to protect our own ego’s and establish ourselves as a somebody. But the actual result is often the reverse. Pride – and especially a false pride – becomes a lightening rod that often invites our own destruction.

A fool is often revealed by what he says – and usually after we get caught bluffing about something. A wise person is often revealed by what they refuse to let pass through their lips. They seldom pretend a knowledge that they do not possess. Personally, I hate even laying my cards down in Poker game, let along having to do the same thing in life knowing that I do not have the cards that I led you to believe that I had.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 15

One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth. – Proverbs 13:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 6, 2013): Proverbs 13

I used to love to read “Mad Magazine.” I loved the satire of the magazine – it was simply something that I could identify with. In one magazine the writers postulated what would happen if prestige was somehow linked with how much you paid in taxes. What if that Sports Car that you dreamt of owning was only available if you were in a certain tax bracket? Now, what if it was illegal to place yourself in a tax bracket that was higher than what the one that your income would have placed you? In the magazine the result was a number of people who paid more taxes than they really owed so that they could gain prestige and the sports car – and were subsequently arrested for their crimes. It postulated a reversal from the way that life really works. Stupid? Of course – after all it was “Mad Magazine.”  

So it is interesting to me when I find a connection between “Mad Magazine” and the book of Proverbs. It is amazing that three millennia before “Mad Magazine” was concerned with people who would pretend to be rich, so was the Biblical Proverbs - even if the reasons for the concern was very different. But the motivation may not be readily apparent, but pretending to be rich – or poor - is a problem. It is disturbing the number of people who walk into my office in need of financial counselling because they have tried to live a life that was economically above what they could really afford. It is the epidemic problem of our culture. But the reverse we do not often see as a problem. In fact, we are more apt to see someone who has great wealth but pretends to be poor as a person who exhibits a special biblical humility – and that has to be a good thing. They are the ones that are willing to go without in order to identify with the poor.

But the problem is that both are pretending to be something that they are not. Those who live beyond their means threaten their own financial future – and the financial future of our society, but on the other the hand the rich who pretend to be poor limit the good that they can do. The unfortunate reality is that the richer people are, the lower the percentage of their income that they are willing to commit to making this world a better place. The idea of the rich philanthropist is actually rarer than we might want to believe.

The biblical idea is that we should be real to ourselves and to others. Not that we should flaunt either our wealth or our poverty, but that we should recognize who it is that we are – and all the good that God has created inside of us that it is possible for us to do. Together we have the ability to make this world a better place – but that possibility starts with our willingness to understand who it is that we really are.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 14

The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them. – Proverbs 12:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 5, 2013): Proverbs 12

In the late 17^th Century, the Beaver Wars (a conflict between the Iroquois Nation and New France) was drawing to a close. The Iroquois had been winning and their nation had expanded its borders. But it was at this time that the French are rumored to have developed a new tactic. The North American Indians had been taught the meaning of the white flag of truce – and they had agreed not to attack when the white flag was flying. The new French tactic was to invite the Iroquois to a meeting to discuss peace under a white flag – and then attack. It is thought that it is this tactic that entrenched the idea on Native Americans that “White men spoke with a forked tongue” – it was the idea that the white man was a natural born liar.

The idea that what we say and what we do are not necessarily connected is not a new idea. We know how easy it is to say something that we really do not believe – and we do it more often than we probably want to admit. But this proverb does not attack the words themselves, but rather the reason behind the words. Evil words are simply defined as anything whose purpose is to cause harm to another person. It would definitely include the words of the White Man during the Beaver Wars – but it also would include the gossip that often leaps so easily off of our tongues in daily conversation. The idea is this – if the words are intended to hurt, then they are evil.  

On the other hand the Proverb also addresses good words. Upright Speech will always have as its end goal the restoration, healing or encouragement of someone. Upright speech is always used to strengthen the people around us. Its intention is to build up and never to tear down. Maybe one of the most unfortunate things about the Christian church is that we have become a very critical organization. We profess to be People of the Book (meaning the Bible) and yet we seem more intent on tearing people down than we are about being an encouragement and building them up. Jesus said that we are called to be salt and light, but the church seems more intent on becoming the sour of the earth. Somehow we need to understand that sour is outside of our job description.

If the rumored action of the army of New France during the final years of Beaver Wars is true, what is maybe one of the saddest commentaries on the situation is that the deception was carried out by a culture that professed to believe in the God of the Bible (and the God of Proverbs). And yet their words were better characterized as the words of the wicked – words that laid in wait and quite literally waited for blood. And that is something that we should never be.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 13 

Note: The VantagePoint Community Church message "The End" from the series "Blood, Sweat and Tears: Death on a Friday Afternoon" is now available on the VantagePoint Website. You can find it here.

Whoever derides their neighbor has no sense, but the one who has understanding holds their tongue. – Proverbs 11:12

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 4, 2013): Proverbs 11

Every day as he opened up his children’s show, Fred Rogers would walk into his house and take off his jacket and sing a simple song. The song was the theme of the show and it ended with a simple invitation – “Won’t you be my neighbor?” For decades this simple invitation was used to try to teach children about their neighbors and the people working in their neighborhood. And the idea behind the whole show was that neighbors were special people – and that community was important.

The story line behind one of the most famous sitcom neighbors is that Wilson W. Wilson, Jr. (Home Improvement) was, as a child, was never allowed by his parents to talk to his neighbors. So now, as an adult, he enjoys passing wisdom over to his neighbors Tim and Jill Taylor – of course, always with the lower part of his face hidden by the fence. And through their relationship we learn the same lesson that Fred Rogers had been trying to teach us – neighbors are important.

Our neighborhood is where we live. When we are away it is often the place that we long for. It is the symbol of home. It is a place where we are known and – hopefully – loved. The neighborhood is still the one place where we look out for each other, help each other, and the place where we get to simply share the joys and tribulations of life across a fence. It is also a place of protection and love. When I moved into the house I currently live in, my new next door neighbor introduced me to the neighborhood – and specifically to the neighbor that lives just across the street. Apparently, years earlier when he had just moved into his house, he had run off to the hardware store to get something. Because he was not going to be gone for long he had left his garage door open, and so our neighbor simply brought a lawn chair out onto his driveway and watched the open garage until the new owner of the house got home. After all, is that not what a neighbor does?

And there is probably nothing worse than having a feud with your neighbor. The feud changes a place that should be safe into a war zone. So the Proverbs warn us about how it is that we treat our neighbors. Only a fool would openly fight with a neighbor, but the problem is more likely to call them a fool through our own actions. The Proverbial instruction is that we should take our relationships with the Wilson W. Wilson’s living next door seriously – cultivating the relationships precisely because we recognize that the neighborhood is important.

Jesus would take Solomon’s instructions a step farther, teaching us that our reality is that everyone in the world, even those who are most unlike us, are really our neighbors. Everyone we meet is worthy of being valued by us – and that may be the only path to Peace on Earth.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 12

As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them. – Proverbs 10:26

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 3, 2013): Proverbs 10

My new credit card (I really only have one – and that one is for certain purchases that are impossible to make without credit card) is currently lost in the mail.  My old credit card expired at the end of March (three days ago). And now I am simply without. Actually, I have been without for just over a week already. Recognizing that the cards should have already come during the month of March, but hadn’t, I made the phone call to the bank to find out if something had happened, wondering if maybe they just did not like me anymore. And with that information the bank decided that my current card needed to be cancelled because the new ones had already been sent – and should have already been received. Now I would have to wait for a couple of weeks for the new cards to be delivered to me – incidentally, to be delivered to me by the same company that failed to deliver my renewal cards to me. And while the inconvenience is relatively minor, it is still an inconvenience. It seems that a contract or understanding has been broken.

Solomon (who is now more clearly identified as the author of this section of the book – although that identification does not mean that that fact is not debated) now talks about a lazy messenger. The idea is that when someone is sent on a mission, there is a purpose for the mission and there is often a need for a swift return. Almost every wife that I know of (including my own) has stories of sending the husband off on a mission, and the husband becoming somehow sidetracked and his return being delayed – and in the delay the mission had suffered. The Words of the Proverb are actually directed at the sluggard – and husbands everywhere. Recognize that when you are not punctual in your task you are responsible for the worried and angry response you will receive on your return. The response is not their problem, as we so often want to assert – it lays solely on the one who has not completed the task in a timely manner. This is simply the way that we are – and a delayed response causes very real discomfort to the one who commissioned the task.

But there is also a note toward what Jesus taught regarding our talents. Each of us needs to recognize that we are messengers. And God has gifted to each of us with abilities that are necessary for the accomplishment of the task. But in the parable of the talents, the question was what are you going to do with what has been entrusted to you. And in the story the response of the master to the lazy servant is understandable because the lazy servant had been the cause of actual discomfort in the life of the master.

I love the way that N. T. Wright speaks of virtue. For Wright, virtue is not just acting in a good way. He describes it as being able to do myriad of small actions in the right timing to obtain a good result. No virtuous deed is the result of a single good action – or intention. It is doing a number of things right to obtain a right result. He uses as an illustration from the life of the former South African golf professional Gary Player. He was once told by a journalist that he had to be the luckiest golfer on the planet, to which Player replied “Yes I am, and I have noticed that the more I practice, the luckier I get.”

Solomon’s instruction is that the more that we practice the idea punctuality and the active use of the gifts that we have been given - especially in the directions of the purposes of God – the greater the chance that we will exhibit godly virtue in our lives. The discomfort caused by the servant is anti-virtuous – and as much as many of us might want to say that a lack of punctuality is just the way that God has created us – the truth is that such discomfort is totally avoidable if we will just take care of the task that we have been presented with.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 11

Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. – Proverbs 9:9

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 2, 2013): Proverbs 9

In North America it seems that as we grow older we become more set in our ways. We accept that as the normal progression of life. But recently I was surprised to find out that that may not be the predominate world response to aging. In many cultures, the act of growing old brings with it an increase in flexibility. This flexibility is also one of the reasons for long life in certain cultures. The reason behind the flexibility is that as we age we have the privilege to see so much happen in our lives. And through these experiences – through all of our successes and failures – we begin to see all of the possibilities of this world. I remember a conversation I had with my grandfather a few years before he died in which he bemoaned his own lack of flexibility in his youth. He saw God as continually teaching him and drawing him into something new – something that he had never considered before. Age had softened his positions on a number of subjects as he watched God work throughout the length of his life.

So Proverbs has this thought – if we instruct the wise, they will become wiser. The idea of instruct is actually a neutral concept. In the Hebrew text this passage simple begins with the words “give to a wise man.” It does not necessarily mean a positive instruction. The idea is that the wise will profit through all of the experiences of life – whether or not what they receive is given with a positive intent. The wise will learn from their successes and their failure, they will learn through encouragement and chastisement. Whatever it is that is given to them will make them wiser.

On the other hand, those that are foolish run away from failure and chastisement, and the success and encouragement that they receive does nothing more than feed their own egos. Nothing is learned and they remain much the same as they were before whatever it was that they had obtained was given to them.

A number of years ago a mentor of mine made the comment that he had learned to say “I know” rather than “I believe” because “I know” was so much stronger. The comment has stuck with me, and whenever I speak it is this instruction that I remember. But, as I have grown a little older, I am convinced that the strongest words available to us are not “I know” – but rather “I don’t know.” The words “I don’t know” keep us open for our wisdom to increase, and for the movement of God in our lives. “I know” are the words of the fool who believes he has already received everything he can from life – and “I don’t know” are the words of the wise as they continually allow God to teach them about this life that they are journeying through.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 10

Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? – Proverbs 8:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 1, 2013): Proverbs 8

I keep on hearing the phrase that “common sense is just not that common” around me. It comes in so many different disguises. From the actions of our favorite sports teams to the decisions made by our politicians, common sense seems to have taken a holiday. We see it when we (or those around us) seem to place our own desires ahead of what is practical. In economic terms, common sense seems to be absent when we buy things because we want them rather than because we know that we can afford them. The financial crisis of a few years ago was built on the back of those who borrowed so that they could have things that they could not afford.  History is filled with examples of things that have been left unfinished because someone refused to count the cost and at some point simply ran out of money.

Common sense in its most ideal form is simply an extension of Occam’s Razor, an idea named after William of Ockham, a 13^th century philosopher, that says that “the simplest idea is usually the right one.” While the principle is named after William of Ockham, it definitely did not originate with him. Even in the works of the philosopher mathematician Ptolemy in the second century we find the idea placed front and center. Ptolemy wrote that “we consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible.” The term “Razor” is used because the principle instructs us to shave off the complexities until we are left with just the simplest of possible explanations.  

Plato and Aristotle both seemed to understand the principle well – as did the writer of Proverbs. While the argument rages over whether or not Proverbs 8 should be considered Messianic, the simplest answer for the beginning of the chapter is that the author of Proverbs was frustrated by the complex plans and the lack of common sense that surrounded him. And it is out of that frustration that we find the opening words of the chapter – Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? The proverbial exclamation is that we should be able to hear the words of wisdom, but instead we turn deaf ears to her and chase after the complex desires of our hearts.

In life, often it is the simplest things that are the most satisfying. Proverbs 8 may indeed be Messianic, but it should never be considered so at the expense of the simple message that wisdom is available to all of us if we will but listen. And wisdom always drives us toward the simple and not the complex. It reminds us that the simple things that we have are more valuable than all of the complex things that we might attain.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 9