At the corner of wisdom and folly

I Introduction

The book of proverbs is all about wisdom, and in chapter 6, Solomon takes a break from The sin of adultery to touch on three aspects of things we are to avoid. These three things seem very obvious up front, but people still get entangled with them and sometimes before we even realize we are entangled. As we look at the three situation, they have one thing in common, we should not pick folly over wisdom.

II Folly of financial indiscretion

A. Proverbs 6:1-5 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber; save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

B. The premise of lending and borrowing is a class in itself. We as a church have a class on finances on occasion because every Christian needs to be in control of his and or her finances. This first verse is a step beyond borrowing, it is about surety. Being will to be responsible for someone else.

1. There is a wide variety in commentary thought about who is meant in these verses, but taken straight forward, the first is for a neighbor, in this case would mean friend , or stranger. Now surety can mean pledge, collateral, guarantee, bond, insurance, bail, deposit, indemnity, indemnification, assurance, but during the time of Solomon, the pledge was not for one item, it was for everything the neighbor/stranger wanted. Meaning they could borrow several times for different things.

2. Starbucks: I heard a story of a minister who was asked by a homeless man for money. The minister, since his kids were in the car, wanted to set an example, so he said not I am not going to give you money, but I will buy you a cup of coffee, it was winter and cold. They went into a Starbucks and the minister said the homeless person could pick what he wanted. Starbucks has the display cases with the $10 flavored water, the $5 cookies, and the $15 salads. The homeless man began to gather several of each of the items, and in the end the cost was about $70 dollars. The minister just thought okay, it is Christmas time and paid for it. In Albania we saw a lot of street kids. The parent would send out their 4-12+ year old kids to hustle money in the streets, while they sat in their homes watching TV. It was difficult to give to these kids, because everything went to the parents. Most missionaries would take the kids down and but them food and talk about Jesus.

3. We have to be wise in the aspect of surety. There is nothing wrong with helping a family member, friend or even a stranger, but be wise to not extend beyond what you can handle if they are to back out on their end of the bargain. It is better to give money or time. There are times when the person is continually looking for hand outs, then you can lend money, but do it without interest. The important thing is to use the situation to help the person not have the problem again. The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said “Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach him to fish he eats for a life time. “

C. Verses 2-5 talks about the point when your mouth has gotten you in a hole. Run like the Gazelle or the bird

1. There is an expediency of getting yourself out of the hole, but in a Christian manner. It talks about humbling yourself by pleading with the neighbor.

2. Matthew 6:24 states “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” When we are in debt, we are a slave to the debtor and if the debt is unmanageable, then we work for the debt which is in contrast of working for God. The debt becomes our master

III Folly of laziness

A. Proverbs 6:6-11 Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

B. Most everyone has heard the story of the ant and the grasshoppers. Ants work all summer to store up food for the winter, while the grasshopper plays, then come winter the grasshopper come to the ant for food.

1. After reading this the first thing I thought of was Matthew 6:25-34 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Why do I have to prepare when God will provide all I need? There is a difference between the two verses. It is the meaning of James 2: 26 faith without works is dead. Matthew says we are not to worry, it does not say we are not to prepare.

2. The sluggard will miss understand Matthew and sit around waiting on God, but the ant will do what needs to be done, 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us to do all things to the glory of God. What needs to be done? There is one thing we need to be prepared for, the second coming of Christ.

a. The world requires us to spend our childhood preparing for adulthood. Whether that is a job, college then a job, possibly a spouse, a family. We possibly get a house, prepare for retirement. We work in life in order to live life.

b. We look around today and things are not going in a very good direction, on the world, nation, state or local levels. We do not know the day or hour, but we do know 2 Timothy 3:1-7 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

c. We need to prepare for life, but we can not forget to prepare for the second coming. This time is different for everyone, some will be alive when Christ descends from heaven to sit on his throne, some of us will die and our time will be sooner. Either way as we go through life it is important for us to help in gathering Jesus’ harvest each and every day. We cannot forget the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’  But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

IV Folly of Evil

A. Proverbs 6:12-15 A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

B. This is the body language of a deceitful person. We need to be able to discern these people, they are those that consider themselves above the law, they mock justice, and undermine authority. They goal is to lead us astray from God. It may be that the acts are deliberately vague, for such a person often wreaks havoc by ambiguous and unclear signs that may not be self-evident at first. However, such a person—and the traits he embodies—should not be underestimated

C. We need to also keep from being this type of person. When we purposefully deceive, even in a small way, we begin to go down the road of becoming the person that is willing to climb the back of their coworkers to get the job. Not point out the mistake that left us with more money than we should have recieved. Being two faced toward strangers and then eventually toward friends and family.

V. Conclusion

Whether it is the Folly of financial indiscretion, the Folly of laziness, or the Folly of Evil it is all about a balance of God, family, church, and work. Our focus is God’s will, which is to love the Lord our God and love our neighbors as ourselves.

Matthew 6:19-21  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.