Two nights this week the children at Vacation Bible School heard the story of the apostle Paul who near the end of his life was shipwrecked at sea. Since the whole theme of VBS this year was a High Seas Expedition and since we are currently sitting in this sailing ship, it seemed appropriate for us hear and reflect on this story of Paul (it is found in Acts 27). Even though Paul was a devout Jewish leader, he was called by God to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the Gentiles. As Paul does this through the Roman Empire, the opposition grows. At times Paul is chased out of villages and even thrown in jail, and at this point in Paul’s life he is actually under arrest and being transported to Rome to stand trail before Caesar.
The quickest way for the roman officials to get Paul to Rome was to put him on a boat and sail across the Mediterranean Sea, and after two short voyages, Paul and his companions as well as his captors are transported to a larger ship that will carry them to Rome, but that journey was slow going due to prevailing winds and storms. Paul advised the ships captain and crew that to continue their voyage would be dangerous, but they didn’t listen to Paul, and why would they – Paul was a prisoner and beside that Paul had never been a sailor so what did he know about storms and boats. So they continue their voyage and just as Paul had said their ship was caught in the middle of a fierce storm. We now pick up the story in Acts 27:15-20.
Now I want us to stop here and think about something. Paul had been called by God to preach and teach about Jesus and up until this point Paul doing his best to be faithful to God’s will for his life, but nothing seems to be going well. Paul has been arrested, thrown into prison, and here he is trying to warn people about the dangers they face and no one listens to him so they get caught up fierce storms that threaten to destroy them all. Paul is doing the right thing and trying to be faithful and yet nothing seems to be going well. There is an important truth we need to learn from Paul’s experience here; following Jesus doesn’t mean that everything will always go well for us. Being faithful and obedient to God doesn’t mean we won’t face problems and obstacles in life because we will.
I’m not sure where the idea came from that if we love God and if God loves us then nothing bad will ever happen to us. Bad things do happen. We will experience obstacles and problems in life but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us. There are lots of problems people face today; job loss, financial problems, home foreclosures, broken families, health problems, disease, accidents even death – we face all kinds of obstacles in life and we face these problems even as we strive to be faithful to God, but none of these problems means that God has abandoned us, and none of these problems means that God doesn’t love us. God loved Paul and God called Paul for a special purpose and plan , but that love and plan didn’t mean that everything was going to be smooth sailing. If we are going through a difficult time right now, if things aren’t turning out the way we planned or if we are going through a fierce and turbulent storm, the first thing we need to remember is that the storm doesn’t mean that God has given up on us, or that God doesn’t care for us, as it says in Romans 8:31-39, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our problems can not keep God away and so as we face any kind of storm in life, we need to remember that God is with us.
That the presence and power of God is with us in the storms of life is the first truth that Paul shares with the people, look at Acts 27:23 - for last night there stood by me and angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship. God had not forgotten them and God had not abandoned them, the angel that came and stood by Paul reminded him that God was still there. In the mist of the storm - God was still with them and Paul shares this with the people on the ship to give them encouragement. So in the midst of the storms and problems we face today, that same truth applies, God is by our side. The truth we need to hold on to is that God is present with us. Sometimes it is hard to feel God’s presence and power in our lives, but just because we can’t feel it doesn’t mean God is not there. Jesus said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age and as the children learned this week, God’s word is true, so we can go forward into the storm with confidence.
God is not just present with us, but God is faithful to his promises and that is the second truth we learn from Paul. Not only is God with them on the ship but God promises to help them. God says to Paul, do not be afraid, you and all who travel with you will be saved. God promises safety to Paul and all the people of the ship and that promise brings comfort. God’s word is comforting. When we face problems in life we can turn to God’s word to find promises which really can bring comfort and hope and strength when we need it. God’s word not only promises that God is with us, but it promises that God will forgive us. Psalm 103:12 says, as far as the east is from the west, so far will God remove our sin from us, and 1 John 1:7 says, the blood of Jesus God’s son cleanses us from all sin.
God also promises to love us no matter what. In Zephaniah 3:17 it says, the Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with singing. And just as God promised to rescue Paul on the ship, God also promises to rescue us, see Psalm 18:4-6, 16-19. Now we need to be clear that the rescue may not come the way we want it or in the time frame we want, do you know that Paul remained on the ship and in the storm for two more weeks until the ship broke to pieces and people had to swim for shore. I’m sure that was not the kind of rescue Paul may have been hoping for, but God rescued them, and God rescues us as well. God will lift us up out of the storms and set us solid ground and God does this because he loves and has a plan for our lives.
And that is the last truth Paul shares with the people on the ship, that no matter what storm we may be going through, God has a purpose and plan for his life. God says to Paul, you must stand before the emperor, which means that Paul will get to Rome which means he will be rescued. God has purpose and plan for Paul’s life and God has a purpose and plan for our lives as well. One of the greatest promises in scripture comes from God in Jeremiah 29:11. God does have a plan for our lives and if we are willing to ask God what that plan is and if we are willing to give ourselves to God and the purpose God has for us, God will not only share that plan with us, but like Paul, God will lead us through the storms of life to that place where God’s purpose and plan will be fulfilled.
As we look at the world today we may see a lot of uncertainty and even in our lives we may be facing storms and trials that threaten to destroy us, but we can learn from Paul to find strength in God’s presence, and assurance in God’s promises and hope for the future because God does have a purpose and plan for all of our lives. This is God’s word for us and God’s word is true. Yes, lets go and face the storms and trials of life with faith and trust in the God who will see us through.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Proverbs on Character
As we close our series on Proverbs we are going to look and see what the proverbs have to say about character. According to the dictionary, character is defined as the features and traits that form a person. Character is seen in the core values that define our attitudes, thoughts, words and actions. It’s important for us to remember that God is concerned about our character. Having been created in the image of God, there is a Godly character we are to have and to understand this is we are going to look at a Hebrew word that is found more than 100 times in the book of Proverbs – it is the word tzedakah. This Hebrew word and the Greek form of the word are found 680 times in the Bible which is more than the word love and the word reveals to us the kind of character God wants us to have. The word tzedakah is most often translated as righteous and so righteousness is to be the goal of the Christian life, righteousness is the character of God and so it is the character God wants us to have.
Now living a righteous life does not mean following a specific set of rules – it’s bout living in a right relationship with God and those around us. Tzedakah is a relational term which says that righteousness comes from always do the right thing in relationship with others. Now the other we are talking about can be God, or it can be our family and friends, it can be our neighbor or coworkers or the strangers in our community, it can even be the physical creation around us. As we look at what walking in righteousness is all about, we are going to start by looking at our relationship with God.
Doing the right thing in our relationship with God starts by living in fear of the Lord. We began our study of proverbs looking at Proverbs 1:7 - the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now remember that the kind of fear we are talking about is not being afraid, it we were constantly afraid of God, there would be no relationship, no fear is living in awe of God’s strength and power and glory and having profound reverence for God. Living in righteousness before God means acknowledging that God is God and we are not. Living in righteousness with God means worshipping God with all that we have and all that we are, but this kind of worship doesn’t just take place in one hour on Sunday morning. The kind of worship that comes with a healthy fear of the Lord means living a life where we continually yield our hearts, minds and hands fully to God. John Wesley captured this kind of character and righteousness, in his covenant prayer which says,
I am no longer my own, but thine. God, put me to what thou wilt,
Rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
Let me be exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
This prayer shows us that the right response toward God is to give Him all that we have and allow God to direct all that we do, all that we think, literally all that we are. When our fear of the Lord moves us to live this way – what we find is strength and power and purpose in life. It is only when we give God all we have and all we are that we actually find life. Proverbs 14:26 – He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress: or has strong confidence. So living in righteousness, or in a right relationship with God brings us an inner strength, and our right relationship with God brings life. Look at Proverbs 14:27, the fear of the Lord is the fountain of life. All of life springs forth from our walking with God. Jesus said this same thing when he said that whoever loses his life for my sake will find life. Real life is only found when we give ourselves fully to God and giving ourselves to God is a life of righteousness.
So walking in righteousness begins with a right relationship with God, but it then has to move out into all our other relationships because righteousness means doing the right thing in all our relationships. As we have already seen, the wisdom of proverbs has shown us many of the right things we are to do in our relationship with others. We have been called to be faithful to our spouses, wise with our children, kind to our neighbors, generous to those in need, helpful in our words, hopeful in our attitudes, and honest in our dealings with others. Not only are we to do the right thing in the relationships with people we know but we also called to do the right thing for people we may not know and people we may never know. Look at Proverbs 31:8-9. As we have seen throughout the book God calls us to do the right thing in helping those who are in need – and they may be people we will never even meet – but God still expects us to care for them. So our righteousness needs to encompass all people.
Going back to the definition of righteousness, it means always doing the right thing in all of our relationships. So all of our relationships means reaching out to all people, but again, it is always doing the right thing, always, not just in the big things in life, but maybe more importantly in all the little things. One of the things I found most interesting in reading thru the book of proverbs, and maybe you noticed it as well, is how often we are called to use honest weights and measures, look at Proverbs 11:1.
This is just one of many proverbs on using honest weights and measures and in some ways it seems like such a little thing to keep focusing on, but maybe the whole point of focusing on this little things is to remind us that God wants us to focus on and be faithful in the little things because it is all those little things, all those simple decisions that really defines our character. There are some people who define character has as who are we when no one else is looking. So doing the right thing at all times means cleaning up after ourselves even if no one knows we made the mess and even if there is someone else around who is paid to do it. It’s treating those who serve us throughout society with dignity and respect. It’s not wasting the resources of the world when we have the opportunity to conserve. It’s making simple decisions everyday that may not benefit us, but will be a blessing to someone else. It may be a simple thank you to someone at the grocery store, or picking up trash in the park that someone else left behind, or using a few less resources to conserve our natural resources, you see, not only do the Proverbs call us to do the right thing in our relationship with people, but we are also called to do the right thing in our relationship to the creation around us.
Proverb 12:10 the righteous know the needs of their animals. Now this seems like a small detail maybe, that we are called to care for our pets and livestock, but it is obviously important to God. This week one of the jobs we did on our mission trip was to clean out 3 water troughs for horses, and one for a pen of goats. I have to tell you, this was not a pleasant job. Scrubbing out dirt and algae, and dunking our hands in green and black water to scrub and scrape for a couple hours wasn’t fun, but I have to say it was rewarding to see clean water put into the pen for horses o drink on a hot day. If you go back to the beginning of Genesis we see that one of our first jobs given to us by God was to be stewards of all of creation. Did you know there were provisions written into the law which called people to not plant any crops in their fields every 7th year in order to give the land a chance to rest. God wanted the creation to have a Sabbath rest just as God wants us to have that Sabbath rest. We are the ones called to take care of plants, animals and the world around us. Are we willing to do all the little things we need to do to be good stewards? We are just one part of God’s creation and so righteousness not only means doing the right thing in our relationship with God and with all the people around us, but we are also called to live in a right relationship with the world around us and be good stewards of all God has given us.
While there is a lot of debate these days about what the right things is in the use of our natural resources, let me say that at the very least maybe we can all agree to live by the 3R’s that I learned growing up: reduce – reuse – recycle. Are there better choices we can make in the large and small areas of our life? How many little habits could we change that might help save resources? I am always convicted of this is when I brush my teeth. Growing up, my mom used to be on me all the time to turn the water off when I brush my teeth and I can hear her voice every time I let the water run. It may not seem like a lot, but it is one of those little details that can make a big difference and the choice we make when there is no one else around, reveals our character.
So righteousness means doing the right thing in all or our relationships, our relationship with God, with all the people around us and with the creation in which we live, but there is one more relationship for us to consider and that is with ourselves, but there is also an inner righteousness that we need to consider. You see, character isn’t just revealed in what we do and how we act with others, it is also revealed in our attitude about ourselves and others. Look at Proverbs 6:16-17a
Notice that the first item on the list is haughty eyes and haughty means prideful or arrogant. Are we filled with pride when we look at ourselves? Do we see ourselves as better than others? Do we think more highly of ourselves than we should? God isn’t just concerned with what we do or what we say, he is also considered, maybe more concerned, about what we think and who we are on the inside. To God our attitudes are just as important as our actions. This is the underlying message of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which, like Proverbs, is a call to righteous living. In that sermon Jesus says: Matthew 5:21-22a and Matthew 5:27-28. Jesus is talking here about an inner righteousness – thinking the right thing and having the right spirit in our selves and he shows us that it is who we are on the inside that ultimately matters.
Now when we stop to evaluate our character – our righteous living – I don’t know about you, but I don’t measure up very well. Even if I could do all the right things, which I can’t, I never seem to be able to think all the right things. In this struggle to have all the right thoughts, feelings and actions, to go alone with all the right actions, how do we grow an improve? How do we develop character and righteousness? The primary way is through prayer. Prayer can change our desires. Over time prayer can change our attitudes which will then lead to right actions. To help us grow in character we not only can we use the covenant prayer of John Wesley, but we can also use the prayer of David found in Psalm 51. (51:10). What David is asking for here righteousness, a right spirit inside of him. David’s problem was that he didn’t always think the right thing and that caused him to not always do the right things. David first lusted after Bathsheba, and then those thoughts led him to committed adultery and that action led him to conspired to murder, and the reason it all happened was because David thought of himself more than others – he had haughty or prideful eyes. In thought, word and deed there were major character flaws in David, so what he asks for is not only forgiveness, but a right spirit – he prays for righteousness and so can we. If we want to grow in righteousness, if we want to develop a godly character - the journey begins with prayer.
We need to ask God for His help, but then we need to do our part. The entire book of proverbs is a series of sayings whose sole purpose is to help us make wise choices and guide us in right living. What we find here e the guiding principles of life that if we follow will cause us to grow in righteousness and character. This book teaches us the right thing to think and do in many situations an in all relationships, so we need to keep our lives centered on this wisdom.
I want us to close our study of Proverbs by looking at 4:20-27.
Did you notice a common theme here? Listen to these 19 words:
Pay attention. Listen closely. Keep watch. Guard your heart
Fix your gaze. Keep from evil. Listen well. Maintain direction.
These words all call us do one thing – persevere. They call us to stay focused on the path of wisdom and righteousness that God has laid in front of us and they call us to keep walking in it. May the wisdom of proverbs guide our hearts and our lives and may it lead us into paths of righteousness so that we might find life.
Now living a righteous life does not mean following a specific set of rules – it’s bout living in a right relationship with God and those around us. Tzedakah is a relational term which says that righteousness comes from always do the right thing in relationship with others. Now the other we are talking about can be God, or it can be our family and friends, it can be our neighbor or coworkers or the strangers in our community, it can even be the physical creation around us. As we look at what walking in righteousness is all about, we are going to start by looking at our relationship with God.
Doing the right thing in our relationship with God starts by living in fear of the Lord. We began our study of proverbs looking at Proverbs 1:7 - the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now remember that the kind of fear we are talking about is not being afraid, it we were constantly afraid of God, there would be no relationship, no fear is living in awe of God’s strength and power and glory and having profound reverence for God. Living in righteousness before God means acknowledging that God is God and we are not. Living in righteousness with God means worshipping God with all that we have and all that we are, but this kind of worship doesn’t just take place in one hour on Sunday morning. The kind of worship that comes with a healthy fear of the Lord means living a life where we continually yield our hearts, minds and hands fully to God. John Wesley captured this kind of character and righteousness, in his covenant prayer which says,
I am no longer my own, but thine. God, put me to what thou wilt,
Rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
Let me be exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
This prayer shows us that the right response toward God is to give Him all that we have and allow God to direct all that we do, all that we think, literally all that we are. When our fear of the Lord moves us to live this way – what we find is strength and power and purpose in life. It is only when we give God all we have and all we are that we actually find life. Proverbs 14:26 – He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress: or has strong confidence. So living in righteousness, or in a right relationship with God brings us an inner strength, and our right relationship with God brings life. Look at Proverbs 14:27, the fear of the Lord is the fountain of life. All of life springs forth from our walking with God. Jesus said this same thing when he said that whoever loses his life for my sake will find life. Real life is only found when we give ourselves fully to God and giving ourselves to God is a life of righteousness.
So walking in righteousness begins with a right relationship with God, but it then has to move out into all our other relationships because righteousness means doing the right thing in all our relationships. As we have already seen, the wisdom of proverbs has shown us many of the right things we are to do in our relationship with others. We have been called to be faithful to our spouses, wise with our children, kind to our neighbors, generous to those in need, helpful in our words, hopeful in our attitudes, and honest in our dealings with others. Not only are we to do the right thing in the relationships with people we know but we also called to do the right thing for people we may not know and people we may never know. Look at Proverbs 31:8-9. As we have seen throughout the book God calls us to do the right thing in helping those who are in need – and they may be people we will never even meet – but God still expects us to care for them. So our righteousness needs to encompass all people.
Going back to the definition of righteousness, it means always doing the right thing in all of our relationships. So all of our relationships means reaching out to all people, but again, it is always doing the right thing, always, not just in the big things in life, but maybe more importantly in all the little things. One of the things I found most interesting in reading thru the book of proverbs, and maybe you noticed it as well, is how often we are called to use honest weights and measures, look at Proverbs 11:1.
This is just one of many proverbs on using honest weights and measures and in some ways it seems like such a little thing to keep focusing on, but maybe the whole point of focusing on this little things is to remind us that God wants us to focus on and be faithful in the little things because it is all those little things, all those simple decisions that really defines our character. There are some people who define character has as who are we when no one else is looking. So doing the right thing at all times means cleaning up after ourselves even if no one knows we made the mess and even if there is someone else around who is paid to do it. It’s treating those who serve us throughout society with dignity and respect. It’s not wasting the resources of the world when we have the opportunity to conserve. It’s making simple decisions everyday that may not benefit us, but will be a blessing to someone else. It may be a simple thank you to someone at the grocery store, or picking up trash in the park that someone else left behind, or using a few less resources to conserve our natural resources, you see, not only do the Proverbs call us to do the right thing in our relationship with people, but we are also called to do the right thing in our relationship to the creation around us.
Proverb 12:10 the righteous know the needs of their animals. Now this seems like a small detail maybe, that we are called to care for our pets and livestock, but it is obviously important to God. This week one of the jobs we did on our mission trip was to clean out 3 water troughs for horses, and one for a pen of goats. I have to tell you, this was not a pleasant job. Scrubbing out dirt and algae, and dunking our hands in green and black water to scrub and scrape for a couple hours wasn’t fun, but I have to say it was rewarding to see clean water put into the pen for horses o drink on a hot day. If you go back to the beginning of Genesis we see that one of our first jobs given to us by God was to be stewards of all of creation. Did you know there were provisions written into the law which called people to not plant any crops in their fields every 7th year in order to give the land a chance to rest. God wanted the creation to have a Sabbath rest just as God wants us to have that Sabbath rest. We are the ones called to take care of plants, animals and the world around us. Are we willing to do all the little things we need to do to be good stewards? We are just one part of God’s creation and so righteousness not only means doing the right thing in our relationship with God and with all the people around us, but we are also called to live in a right relationship with the world around us and be good stewards of all God has given us.
While there is a lot of debate these days about what the right things is in the use of our natural resources, let me say that at the very least maybe we can all agree to live by the 3R’s that I learned growing up: reduce – reuse – recycle. Are there better choices we can make in the large and small areas of our life? How many little habits could we change that might help save resources? I am always convicted of this is when I brush my teeth. Growing up, my mom used to be on me all the time to turn the water off when I brush my teeth and I can hear her voice every time I let the water run. It may not seem like a lot, but it is one of those little details that can make a big difference and the choice we make when there is no one else around, reveals our character.
So righteousness means doing the right thing in all or our relationships, our relationship with God, with all the people around us and with the creation in which we live, but there is one more relationship for us to consider and that is with ourselves, but there is also an inner righteousness that we need to consider. You see, character isn’t just revealed in what we do and how we act with others, it is also revealed in our attitude about ourselves and others. Look at Proverbs 6:16-17a
Notice that the first item on the list is haughty eyes and haughty means prideful or arrogant. Are we filled with pride when we look at ourselves? Do we see ourselves as better than others? Do we think more highly of ourselves than we should? God isn’t just concerned with what we do or what we say, he is also considered, maybe more concerned, about what we think and who we are on the inside. To God our attitudes are just as important as our actions. This is the underlying message of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which, like Proverbs, is a call to righteous living. In that sermon Jesus says: Matthew 5:21-22a and Matthew 5:27-28. Jesus is talking here about an inner righteousness – thinking the right thing and having the right spirit in our selves and he shows us that it is who we are on the inside that ultimately matters.
Now when we stop to evaluate our character – our righteous living – I don’t know about you, but I don’t measure up very well. Even if I could do all the right things, which I can’t, I never seem to be able to think all the right things. In this struggle to have all the right thoughts, feelings and actions, to go alone with all the right actions, how do we grow an improve? How do we develop character and righteousness? The primary way is through prayer. Prayer can change our desires. Over time prayer can change our attitudes which will then lead to right actions. To help us grow in character we not only can we use the covenant prayer of John Wesley, but we can also use the prayer of David found in Psalm 51. (51:10). What David is asking for here righteousness, a right spirit inside of him. David’s problem was that he didn’t always think the right thing and that caused him to not always do the right things. David first lusted after Bathsheba, and then those thoughts led him to committed adultery and that action led him to conspired to murder, and the reason it all happened was because David thought of himself more than others – he had haughty or prideful eyes. In thought, word and deed there were major character flaws in David, so what he asks for is not only forgiveness, but a right spirit – he prays for righteousness and so can we. If we want to grow in righteousness, if we want to develop a godly character - the journey begins with prayer.
We need to ask God for His help, but then we need to do our part. The entire book of proverbs is a series of sayings whose sole purpose is to help us make wise choices and guide us in right living. What we find here e the guiding principles of life that if we follow will cause us to grow in righteousness and character. This book teaches us the right thing to think and do in many situations an in all relationships, so we need to keep our lives centered on this wisdom.
I want us to close our study of Proverbs by looking at 4:20-27.
Did you notice a common theme here? Listen to these 19 words:
Pay attention. Listen closely. Keep watch. Guard your heart
Fix your gaze. Keep from evil. Listen well. Maintain direction.
These words all call us do one thing – persevere. They call us to stay focused on the path of wisdom and righteousness that God has laid in front of us and they call us to keep walking in it. May the wisdom of proverbs guide our hearts and our lives and may it lead us into paths of righteousness so that we might find life.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Proverbs on Work
Today we are going to look at what the proverbs have to say about wisdom for the work place. Now I know some of you may not work outside the home, but the work place can be many different places. The work place can be your home where you manage resources and care of your family. If you are a student then the work place is school where you interact with other students and teachers, and if you are retired then you might want to think of your work place as those places where you serve and volunteer. Both my parents retired a number of years ago but they work almost as much now as they did when they were employed. The work place for my Mom is the church or the Senior Center where she volunteers and for my Dad it is the construction sites of Habitat for Humanity and the homes he visits with meals on wheels. So work can actually be many different place, but for those who are employed outside the home, the work place is were we go and spend the bulk of our time each day and each week. During our lifetime many of us will spend more time in the work place than we will at home with family, so it is not surprising that Proverbs has some wisdom for the work place. What we find in the proverbs is that it doesn’t tell us what job to do and they don’t instruct us on how to do our jobs, instead they tell us the kind of people we should be as we work. What Proverbs is most concerned about is core values and it is our core values that are reflected in our attitudes and actions while we work
One of the major themes we find in Proverbs when it comes to work is that we are to work hard. Proverbs 10:4-5. While work is not to consume us and we are not called to work simply to make a lot of money, hard work is consistently called for thru the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 6:6-11. Here we are called to consider the ant that doesn’t need a boss or constant supervision but simply does its job. All of creation works diligently without being told what to do, and the wisdom we find here is that we should also work hard, and when we see something that needs to be done, we need to step up and be the one to do it. The closing saying in verse 10-11 is used again in Prov. 24:30-34
Again & again Proverbs points out the problems of those who are lazy and at times it even pokes fun at the sluggard in some graphic & humorous ways: Proverbs 26:14 and Proverbs 26:15
The real problem with being lazy is found in Proverbs 20:4 When we are lazy - we will have nothing.
So we are called to work hard, to be diligent and productive and like the ant be able to work efficiently and effectively on our own. One of my first jobs was as a dish washer for a small family run Italian restaurant called Fatone’s. Mama & Papa Fatone were an old Italian couple who did most of the cooking in their restaurant and they loved me because I could always find something to do. If there weren’t any dishes to wash I would take all of Mama Fatone’s pots and pans and scrub the copper bottoms until they shined. Now one of the reasons I found things to keep me busy at work was because the Fatone’s were a very emotional and loud Italian family and after seeing them all yell and argue with each other, I decided it was better to keep busy than to be yelled at in Italian.
I remember one night at Fatone’s when the 2 sons, who each thought they knew how to run the restaurant better than the other, got into a shouting match on the restaurant floor. I’ve often thought that this family restaurant would have been a good reality show because it was always so full of drama, and on this one night everyone was shouting at each other in Italian, Mama Fatone was in tears, Papa Fatone was beside himself and I just tried to make myself disappear in the sink as I washed the same pot over and over again because I never want to look up. Now this all leads me to 2nd principles we find in the book of proverbs when it comes to work, we need to watch our tongue. While this is good principle for all of life, it is important for us to think about it in the context of our work, Proverbs 18:21 says the tongue has the power of life & death. Our words matter & what we say and how we say it makes a difference in the lives of others.
In the workplace, one of the important ways we need to watch our tongue is to speak honestly. Proverbs 20:17 In the workplace it can be very tempting for us to lie and deceive others because we think it will help us get ahead. In a Forbes magazine article a few years ago it was reported that nearly 40% of all people lie on their resume just to get a job. People lie about dates of employment, salary, titles, and degrees that they have earned. In the news recently there have been stories about two politicians who have lied about their military service in an effort to make themselves look better to the voters. (One was a democrat and one was a republican, so lying crosses all party lies – it is a human failing) While lying might actually help get us a job, those lies often come back to hurt us in the end. When we are unable to do the job we were hired for because we overestimated our skills, knowledge and ability – that’s gravel in the mouth. And if we lied to get our job, then we have to keep that lie going and that just leads to deeper and deeper deception. That’s the problem with lies – they don’t stop. We have to keep lying in order to cover up the very first one.
It’s not just our deceitful words that are a problem; it is also harsh and critical words because they can crush the spirit of others. Proverbs 15:4. Unfair or overly harsh criticism of others can crush their spirit. Most of us have probably faced unfair criticism that has called us to question our gifts and abilities and my guess is that we have all experienced gossip and lies that have caused us pain and while I’d like to say that none of this happens in the church –unfortunately it does.
One of the hardest times I faced as a pastor was after my first year in Altoona when changes I made and the direction I believed God was moving us as a church were not understood or accepted by a small group of people. It was a painful time when letters were circulated in the congregation, lies were told and I received hate mail telling me that I was doing the work of the devil. We have all heard the saying that sticks & stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me & we all know that this saying just isn’t true. Names do hurt, words can wound and those wounds can be deep and long lasting. Our words can bring life or destruction. We can bring healing or crush the spirit and the life of others. I especially hope that those whose workplace is the school hear this. Junior and Senior High Schools can be vicious places of name calling and since our self image and self esteem is so often shaped by the words of others we need to make sure that our words are uplifting and encouraging. James addresses this issue so clearly in James 3:9-10. I can’t say it any better – this should not be.
Our words in the workplace need to be filled with life and healing and hope. We need to encourage others, lift them up, and praise people for what they do and who they are. This doesn’t mean we don’t challenge or hold people accountable, but we need to understand the power of our words & make sure we are using them for life - not destruction.
To give you a sense of how important our speech is, I’ve listed 12 more proverbs on speech and as you read thru book you’ll realize, this is only the beginning! 4:12, 10:8,10,14,18-21, 12:23, 15:1-2, 17:14, 19, 28, 18:4-9, 21:23
Another principle for us to look at has to do with being teachable. Look at Proverbs 15:31-33 and Proverbs 12:1. Now I don’t know anyone who really loves discipline and I don’t know anyone who enjoys being rebuked or corrected. Most of the time when we are being critiqued we get defensive, but instead of being defensive and closed off to what others are saying, we need to be open and willing to learn. If we are not teachable then we are proud and pride is dangerous because it not only closes us off from others but it closes us off from God. Proverbs 16:18 says Pride goes before destruction and a haughty (proud & arrogant) spirit before a fall.
One of the keys to taking criticism and discipline well from others comes from not taking ourselves too seriously but taking others very seriously. When we begin to think of others as being better than we are, then we are anxious to hear their words of wisdom. Let’s be honest, they may not always be right, but then again, maybe they are and we won’t know until we take the time to listen and consider their words carefully. There is never anything to lose in listening to others, there is never anything to lose in taking into consideration the perspective and input of others – but there is everything to lose if we shut them out in pride. Proverbs 22:4 says humility & the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.
There is one last work place issue that I wanted to see if the proverbs addressed and that is when we are in a difficult working environment with a boss or supervisor. What do we do when our boss is unreasonable, or a supervisor is unfair? While I couldn’t find anything that specifically addressed this, it says this in Proverbs 16:3, commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established. The truth is that sometimes we simply have to endure the unfair criticism of others, but other times we may need to make a stand against it, knowing the right time to do the right things takes wisdom and prayer. If we are in a period of enduring the hardships of an unfair situation, we can take heart because Proverbs 16:4-5 says that the unjust and unfair will not go unpunished, but if we are to make stand, we need to commit those plans to the Lord and seek God’s wisdom and guidance. Look back to Proverbs 16:2. Our plans and our ways may seem right, but only the Lord really knows and so we need to seek God’s counsel and wisdom, so we need to commit our ways to the Lord and allow God to establish our plans.
When it comes to the work place proverbs calls us to hard work, to speak honest encouraging words and have humble hearts – if these things are at the core of who we are – we will be a success, maybe not in business, but certainly in life and faith. God cares about us in the workplace. God cares what we do, but more importantly God cares about who we are as we work, so whether it is at home, school, the community or a place of business, let us be the workers that God wants us to be.
One of the major themes we find in Proverbs when it comes to work is that we are to work hard. Proverbs 10:4-5. While work is not to consume us and we are not called to work simply to make a lot of money, hard work is consistently called for thru the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 6:6-11. Here we are called to consider the ant that doesn’t need a boss or constant supervision but simply does its job. All of creation works diligently without being told what to do, and the wisdom we find here is that we should also work hard, and when we see something that needs to be done, we need to step up and be the one to do it. The closing saying in verse 10-11 is used again in Prov. 24:30-34
Again & again Proverbs points out the problems of those who are lazy and at times it even pokes fun at the sluggard in some graphic & humorous ways: Proverbs 26:14 and Proverbs 26:15
The real problem with being lazy is found in Proverbs 20:4 When we are lazy - we will have nothing.
So we are called to work hard, to be diligent and productive and like the ant be able to work efficiently and effectively on our own. One of my first jobs was as a dish washer for a small family run Italian restaurant called Fatone’s. Mama & Papa Fatone were an old Italian couple who did most of the cooking in their restaurant and they loved me because I could always find something to do. If there weren’t any dishes to wash I would take all of Mama Fatone’s pots and pans and scrub the copper bottoms until they shined. Now one of the reasons I found things to keep me busy at work was because the Fatone’s were a very emotional and loud Italian family and after seeing them all yell and argue with each other, I decided it was better to keep busy than to be yelled at in Italian.
I remember one night at Fatone’s when the 2 sons, who each thought they knew how to run the restaurant better than the other, got into a shouting match on the restaurant floor. I’ve often thought that this family restaurant would have been a good reality show because it was always so full of drama, and on this one night everyone was shouting at each other in Italian, Mama Fatone was in tears, Papa Fatone was beside himself and I just tried to make myself disappear in the sink as I washed the same pot over and over again because I never want to look up. Now this all leads me to 2nd principles we find in the book of proverbs when it comes to work, we need to watch our tongue. While this is good principle for all of life, it is important for us to think about it in the context of our work, Proverbs 18:21 says the tongue has the power of life & death. Our words matter & what we say and how we say it makes a difference in the lives of others.
In the workplace, one of the important ways we need to watch our tongue is to speak honestly. Proverbs 20:17 In the workplace it can be very tempting for us to lie and deceive others because we think it will help us get ahead. In a Forbes magazine article a few years ago it was reported that nearly 40% of all people lie on their resume just to get a job. People lie about dates of employment, salary, titles, and degrees that they have earned. In the news recently there have been stories about two politicians who have lied about their military service in an effort to make themselves look better to the voters. (One was a democrat and one was a republican, so lying crosses all party lies – it is a human failing) While lying might actually help get us a job, those lies often come back to hurt us in the end. When we are unable to do the job we were hired for because we overestimated our skills, knowledge and ability – that’s gravel in the mouth. And if we lied to get our job, then we have to keep that lie going and that just leads to deeper and deeper deception. That’s the problem with lies – they don’t stop. We have to keep lying in order to cover up the very first one.
It’s not just our deceitful words that are a problem; it is also harsh and critical words because they can crush the spirit of others. Proverbs 15:4. Unfair or overly harsh criticism of others can crush their spirit. Most of us have probably faced unfair criticism that has called us to question our gifts and abilities and my guess is that we have all experienced gossip and lies that have caused us pain and while I’d like to say that none of this happens in the church –unfortunately it does.
One of the hardest times I faced as a pastor was after my first year in Altoona when changes I made and the direction I believed God was moving us as a church were not understood or accepted by a small group of people. It was a painful time when letters were circulated in the congregation, lies were told and I received hate mail telling me that I was doing the work of the devil. We have all heard the saying that sticks & stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me & we all know that this saying just isn’t true. Names do hurt, words can wound and those wounds can be deep and long lasting. Our words can bring life or destruction. We can bring healing or crush the spirit and the life of others. I especially hope that those whose workplace is the school hear this. Junior and Senior High Schools can be vicious places of name calling and since our self image and self esteem is so often shaped by the words of others we need to make sure that our words are uplifting and encouraging. James addresses this issue so clearly in James 3:9-10. I can’t say it any better – this should not be.
Our words in the workplace need to be filled with life and healing and hope. We need to encourage others, lift them up, and praise people for what they do and who they are. This doesn’t mean we don’t challenge or hold people accountable, but we need to understand the power of our words & make sure we are using them for life - not destruction.
To give you a sense of how important our speech is, I’ve listed 12 more proverbs on speech and as you read thru book you’ll realize, this is only the beginning! 4:12, 10:8,10,14,18-21, 12:23, 15:1-2, 17:14, 19, 28, 18:4-9, 21:23
Another principle for us to look at has to do with being teachable. Look at Proverbs 15:31-33 and Proverbs 12:1. Now I don’t know anyone who really loves discipline and I don’t know anyone who enjoys being rebuked or corrected. Most of the time when we are being critiqued we get defensive, but instead of being defensive and closed off to what others are saying, we need to be open and willing to learn. If we are not teachable then we are proud and pride is dangerous because it not only closes us off from others but it closes us off from God. Proverbs 16:18 says Pride goes before destruction and a haughty (proud & arrogant) spirit before a fall.
One of the keys to taking criticism and discipline well from others comes from not taking ourselves too seriously but taking others very seriously. When we begin to think of others as being better than we are, then we are anxious to hear their words of wisdom. Let’s be honest, they may not always be right, but then again, maybe they are and we won’t know until we take the time to listen and consider their words carefully. There is never anything to lose in listening to others, there is never anything to lose in taking into consideration the perspective and input of others – but there is everything to lose if we shut them out in pride. Proverbs 22:4 says humility & the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.
There is one last work place issue that I wanted to see if the proverbs addressed and that is when we are in a difficult working environment with a boss or supervisor. What do we do when our boss is unreasonable, or a supervisor is unfair? While I couldn’t find anything that specifically addressed this, it says this in Proverbs 16:3, commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established. The truth is that sometimes we simply have to endure the unfair criticism of others, but other times we may need to make a stand against it, knowing the right time to do the right things takes wisdom and prayer. If we are in a period of enduring the hardships of an unfair situation, we can take heart because Proverbs 16:4-5 says that the unjust and unfair will not go unpunished, but if we are to make stand, we need to commit those plans to the Lord and seek God’s wisdom and guidance. Look back to Proverbs 16:2. Our plans and our ways may seem right, but only the Lord really knows and so we need to seek God’s counsel and wisdom, so we need to commit our ways to the Lord and allow God to establish our plans.
When it comes to the work place proverbs calls us to hard work, to speak honest encouraging words and have humble hearts – if these things are at the core of who we are – we will be a success, maybe not in business, but certainly in life and faith. God cares about us in the workplace. God cares what we do, but more importantly God cares about who we are as we work, so whether it is at home, school, the community or a place of business, let us be the workers that God wants us to be.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Proverbs on Our Finances
One of the most complete teachings on money is found in Prov. 30:8b-9. What these verses show is that money itself is really neutral. Money is neither good nor bad; it is our attitude toward money that is the problem. If we have too much money we might begin to think that we have all we need and therefore we don’t need to trust God for anything. With too much money we run the risk of turning away from God and simply trust in our wealth, or in our ability to create wealth, but there is also a danger when we have too little money.
Proverbs 30 also says if we don’t have enough to live on we might become so desperate that we would steal. Let’s broaden that out and understand that having too little money could also lead us to cheat or lie or engage in other unethical dealings to get more money, but it is not just our actions that can get compromised, our attitudes can as well. With too little money we have to watch our heart and make sure we don’t become bitter toward God or jealous of others. Poverty can cause us to compromise our honesty and integrity in thought and deed as much as greed can, so there is a danger in having too much money and a danger in having too little, which really means that we need to watch our attitude towards money at all times.
Whether we have too much money, or too little, when money becomes the focus of our lives – we actually being to lose our lives, that’s what we see in Proverbs 1:19. The principle here is that if our focus and pursuit in life is simply to get more money and more stuff, then we will lose the things that are most important to us like our family and friends. Maybe you have seen people who have sacrificed relationships and even their health in their pursuit of riches and here’s what’s really sad, even if we were to gain it all, even if we were to amass great wealth in this world, the proverbs remind us that all this wealth is fleeting, it simply doesn’t last. Proverbs 23:4-5. The economy of the last few years has certainly taught us this. What we have one day can all be gone the next, so we can’t place our security in our money, stocks, IRA’s and pension programs – while it is important to plan for the future, we also need to make sure our faith and trust is in God alone. So the underlying truth we need to remember about money is that it can never be the focus of our lives because the love of money will lead us to wanting more and it is that kind of greed that will rob of us of life and relationships.
Instead of always wanting more, the attitude that the proverbs encourage us to have is contentment; look again at Proverb 30:8-9. Are we content with what God has given us? There are signs all around us that we are not content and the clearest sign of this is the amount of debt that the average American carries today. When you look at credit card statistics, there is mixed news. The good news is that 40% of credit card holders carry less that $5,000 in debt, but the bad news is that 37 % of credit card holders carry more than $10,000 in debt. Anyway you look at, one of the things we begin to see about ourselves is that we seem to want more and we want it now. In other words we aren’t content with what we have so we buy things today whether we can afford them or not. This burden of debt creates its own financial stress, job stress and family stress which can cause us to either work more or buy more, but the cycle just continues.
So what the proverbs clearly tells us is that we need to make sure that money is not the focus of our lives and that we learn to be content with what we have at this moment and not become consumed with wanting more and more. We need to see our money and wealth and resources as a gift from God and we need to give thanks to God for all we have and we need to trust God for all that we will need in the future. Getting our hearts right toward money is an issue of faith not finances, and it is this faith issue that we need to have in place before we can turn to any financial principles.
Once our heart is right toward money, we can turn to the proverbs and find 3 basic principles on how to use our money. Now let me be clear that these are broad financial principles that have to do with how God wants us to use our money, but I am convinced that if we will follow them, it will lay the groundwork for other financial steps that can help us no matter where we are in our financial life. The first principle is this: give to God.
Proverbs 3:9-10. We are to honor God with our wealth by giving God the first-fruit of our crops. We are to give God the first and the best portion of our wealth – not what is unused and left over. Now we give to God not because He demands it but because it should be a natural response of a thankful and faithful heart. If you go back to Genesis 4:2 it says that in time Cain and Able offered the first and best portions of their harvest to God. Cain brought forth fruit from the soil and Able brought forth part of the fat from the first born of his flocks. God had not called Cain or Able to do this, he didn’t demand they make an offering and there was no law given at this point directing them to do this, they simply did it as a response to God’s goodness and grace. They did it to say thank you.
In many ways it is this offering of Cain and Able that is the foundation for the worship of God. There were no worship services at this point, no organized devotion of God, no hymns to sing, or scriptures to read, or prayers to pray, so worship was really just one thing – offering. So the most ancient ritual of our worship service today and maybe the most important part of worship isn’t the prayers, or scripture, or hymns or even the sermon – it’s the offering. The offering is the heart of worship and every time we give a portion of our lives to God we are taking part in an ancient practice of worship that literally goes back to the beginning of creation. It is my hope that we can see the offering that way and learn how to make giving ourselves to God the true heart of worship.
Now over time, God has given more direction on how to give and how much to give and the principle that God established is called a tithe. The tithe is first mentioned with Abraham, who after being victorious in a battle gave a tenth of the spoils of the war to the priest Melchezidak as a way to honor God. Later on Jacob gave a tithe to God and then God set the tithe into law as part of the offerings that were to be made at different times of year. Now in the New Testament we are set free from the law, so the tithe is not a commandment, but it continues today to be a sound guiding principle for us to consider. Giving 10% to God is a biblical and intentional and consistent way for us to give ourselves to God as a way of saying thank you, and it shows God that we are willing to trust him more than we trust ourselves. The tithe says, God all I have has come from you, so I give this offering back to you in faith, and I trust that you will continue to provide for all my needs
I know many of you do tithe and you can testify to how God has always provided for you as you have done this. I knew that when I started as a pastor in Altoona that there would be no way I could stand here and hold it up tithing as a biblical principle for others to follow unless I did it, so for 17 years I have tithed to the church and then given beyond that to local missions, ministries, charities and friends who serve as missionaries. During these 17 years I can say that I have never been in need financially, in fact I have always had more than enough to live on and instead of stopping at 10%, God challenges me to even move beyond the tithe to give more. As I have given to God, God has always been more than faithful and returned more to me.
The second guiding principle to biblical money management that Proverbs gives us is hat we are to give to the poor. Proverbs is full of saying calling us to care for and give to the poor. I’ve listed several of them for you, but let’s just look at 19:17. Kindness here isn’t a smile or a helpful word, it is an action and it is giving. Over and over again God calls us to care for the poor, and there are many ways we can do this. We can give to the poor in our own community through support of the FaithCentre, and the food bank. We can help working families by supporting child sponsorship programs at our own Daycare and Playschool. We can help the working poor around the world by buying fair trade coffee and chocolate, we can support world hunger agencies or any number of missions through the church. There are people in need all around us and all around the world and God calls us to reach out in ways that will help them and even during tight financial times, this kind of giving needs to be part of our money management program.
The third guiding principle we see in proverbs is the call to give generously. Proverbs 11:24-25. When we are generous in our giving to God and others, we will prosper and it won’t just be in the area of finances that we will prosper, we will prosper in all of life. When we are generous we will feel good about ourselves and the reason we will feel good is because when we give generously we are reflecting the heart of God. Our God is a generous God. Just look at Communion – God gives his all everything he has here. In communion God gives us his love; he gives us grace and forgiveness, and even the gift of eternal life. God gives all he has here in the gift of his son Jesus and when we are generous, when we are giving all we can - we are following in the footsteps of God and God will bless us in many different ways.
When it comes to being generous, the example set for me came from my Grandmother who when it came to leaving a tip in a restaurant soften aid, I have never felt bad for leaving too much, but I have often felt bad for leaving too little. Being generous means never feeling bad because we gave too little of our money, or our time, or our service, or our love.
I am convinced that if we get our heart right toward money and then follow these 3 basic principles of giving to God, giving to the poor and those in need and giving generously, then may of the other financial issues we deal with will begin to fall into place. Things may not turn around over night – but we will be moving in the right direction, and when we move in God’s direction, God will bless us and fill us with life.
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