Proverbs of the Day:
“All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2
““Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
Proverbs 26:21-22
“Answer a fool according to his folly or he will be wise in his own eyes.” Prov. 26:5
“An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” Proverbs 24:26
Meditation: A Startling Application
Just when I start to think that the Bible speaks only to people long dead, that it has nothing to say to me in my life, BAM! something happens! A verse here, another verse there, and suddenly the Bible is speaking to ME in MY situation. Like a teacher God suddenly appears sitting in the room with the wisdom of the centuries to show me how best to proceed.
It all started with one simple verse.
“All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2
I started thinking about the many conversations I’ve had with people. Conversations around their lives and how they live. The priorities they’ve set and the habits they’ve acquired. I started thinking about the people I’ve spoken to about worship, their attitudes and their opinions. And I realized something I hadn’t ever realized before.
No matter what I said, nothing I said or did would ever change their minds!
One woman told me she didn’t need church. She could pray and worship all by herself in her own home. When I tried to tell her what the community of believers meant, she calmly dismissed it. Another woman told me she was taking a break from church and, despite my pleas to the contrary, she hasn’t returned for months. There are others like them. And that’s not all. Even in my own family, my pleas for change have fallen on deaf ears. Like many families, certain unhealthy habits have crept into my family, poisoning the very air they breathe. Do I mention these habits to them, despite all that I have tried? I’ve tried to point it out...but nothing seems to change.
Scripture didn’t seem to help me out of my distress...
“Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Proverbs 26:21-22
More hope for a fool than for them? Really? Though I knew that what I told them fell on deaf ears I thought there must be a way to change them. Maybe with a little more convincing or a better argument. Or maybe they just need to hear, one more time, how much I care? Surely there is hope for them in that, right? Right? I was a Philosophy major in college and the thought that a good argument can’t fix things cuts me to the core! Maybe it’s the reason why I just can’t give up on them! Though my arguments fall on deaf ears, I think maybe the next argument or the next Sunday we’ll see some change.
So should I shut up about it? Should I go on and not say a word about it? Should I forget that it even bothers me?
No, the Bible says, you need to speak...
“Answer a fool according to his folly or he will be wise in his own eyes.” Prov. 26:5
Despite being reminded of their inability to change, I still have an obligation to speak. Or they will remain wise in their own eyes. But what do I say? And how do I say it? Do I try to argue with them as I have before? Do I confront them with their mistake? Do I lord it over them, act as though I have wisdom and they don’t?
I didn’t do any of this before...but I could try...
Still, God speaks to me through the Scripture.
“An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.” Proverbs 24:26
So this is what I will say. I will speak the truth in love.
I will answer them as they present themselves. You see, the mistake I make is in the answer I give. In the course of conversations, I tend to shy away from conflict. I do not speak what is on my heart. I fail to tell the woman who thinks she can make it on her own that the church offers the means of grace, Holy Communion and Holy Baptism, that cannot be taken for ourselves apart from the community of believers. I fail to speak words of grace to those burned out at the church, offering them the free grace of God that comes without any work on our part.
To my own family, I turn away when they go out for a cigarette. I ignore the beer bottles littering their room. I fail to tell them just how much they mean to me and how it kills me that they’re doing this to themselves.
But an honest answer, that’s what I can give. A word of truth spoken in love. To confront those who don’t see a need for church with the means of grace. To quietly remind those who have wandered astray that we still care. To tell my family members how much they mean to me. And to pray.
That’s what I can do.
It might not change things right away. I may not see them in worship next Sunday. My family may still suffer from addiction. But I trust. I trust in God whose Word Incarnate transforms lives each and every day. I trust in the God who created the world out of nothing, who split the Red Sea and caused the wind and the waves to calm down. I trust in God who makes all things new...even us! Amen!
Questions to Answer
1) Do these verses: Proverbs 24:26; Proverbs 26:21-22; Proverbs 26:5; Proverbs 21:2. Do they apply to you in your life? Can you think of an application for YOU?
2) When have you read the Bible and had the words JUMP out off the page at you? Were they words of comfort or of instruction? Did they remind you what God was doing or show you what to do yourself?
3) Do you have anyone who could use an honest answer from you? What is stopping you from sharing what you truly feel with them?
End with Prayer
Gracious God, you call us into community with others. Give us the words to say that we might speak the Truth in love and that your Son might be known through everything we say and do. Amen.
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