A Bit of Perspective
Notes
Transcript
The first funeral I remember was for my mother’s mom. I was five years old. My grandfather chartered a bus so that we that the family could ride together from Illinois to the funeral and burial in Minnesota. I knew that she had died, but I didn’t fully know what it meant until a few years later, when I discovered what death meant and I started to grieve.
Since that time, I have buried all my birth grandparents and great grandparents. I’ve buried my closest cousin and my closest uncle and one of my best friends in college. Compared to some, that’s not a lot of death. Compared to others, that’s a lot.
Every funeral I perform brings me back to the phone call I got about my friend had died out of the blue or the conversation when I heard my cousin had committed suicide.
Every casket I see lying over a grave reminds me that heaven has gotten that much sweeter.
Because this world is not my home, I’m just a passing through, my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
I need those reminders. We all do. Because sometimes, we like this life. We get tugged into politics and entertainment, agriculture and sports. And we start living for those things and not our home. We talk about those things, and not what really matters.
Solomon brings us to the grave in order that we might remember a lesson that carries us through this life and into the next.
A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
Frustration is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.
Some theologians study this passage and say that it is just a random assortment of proverbs. In fact, some go so far as to say that most of them were added by someone other than Solomon. I disagree on both accounts. I believe that through individuals Proverbs, Solomon is bringing a unifying theme.
Before we dive in, will you pray with me?
1. Perspective
1. Perspective
Solomon starts with a bit of perspective:
A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
Frustration is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
I should say a little bit about Hebrew imagery. A good name speaks of one’s reputation reputation. Perfume speaks of wealth and luxury. So Solomon is bringing up a parallel contrast.
A good reputation is better than wealth and luxury. Also, the day of death is better than the day of birth.
In his mind, he doesn’t want his readers to separate those concepts. He wants them squished together.
We should desire more to have a good reputation at the day of our death than to throw everything aside for pleasure. Sure, celebrations, like births, starting our life out living well, in wealth, luxury, and parties, can seem to be great. But, those things do not last.
Instead of pleasure, we should be thinking about reputation.
Solomon started out his life well. He asked God for wisdom, instead of everything else he could have asked. However, he squandered it all, giving it all up for pleasure.
He died an empty man, knowing that his nation would fall apart.
Death is the destiny of everyone. Solomon pleads with his readers to remember this, and to seek to remind themselves of it, even to the point of frequenting funerals.
So, that we can live our lives with the end in mind. What will people say of me when I die?
What will they say of you? What is the legacy that will be left?
Have you ever walked through a cemetery and looked at the inscriptions on the tombstones? There are some fun ones. LIke “silent at last.” Or: here lies an honest lawyer, and that is strange.”
“In memory of Beza Wood. Here lies one Wood enclosed in wood. One Wood within another. The outer wood is very good: We cannot praise the other.”
What will our reputation be when we breath our last breath?
Instead of living for what we can get today, Solomon tells us to have some perspective: live with our end in mind.
2. Avenue
2. Avenue
To that end, Solomon gives us an avenue.
It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person
than to listen to the song of fools.
Like the crackling of thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
Every day, we have a decision on who we will allow to influence us. We basically have two choices: the wise or the fool.
Unfortunately, most people don’t think through the decision carefully, so they allow their passions to choose for them. And when the rubber meets the road, no one wants to choose the stuffy wise person. We all would love to spend time with the fun-loving person.
As Paul notes:
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
And Solomon says:
Do not envy the wicked,
do not desire their company;
for their hearts plot violence,
and their lips talk about making trouble.
If we care about our reputation, we will care about who we are spending time with.
The fool corrupts us.
Solomon likens him to crackling thorns under the pot. These are nettles. They light very quickly, but they don’t give off much heat and they don’t last very long.
So, no self-respecting cook would use them to warm up their soup. The soup wouldn’t get warm and the fire would be dead.
In the same way, no self-respecting person would seek to fill their life with the fun loving song and laughter of fools. It does not actually provide what we are longing for, and the pleasure that they offer never lasts.
We, instead, should be like Moses:
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
In the same way, not wanting the passing pleasures of the fools, we turn to the wise. And we heed their rebuke.
The thing about wise people, sometimes they are so caught up in their wisdom that they have stopped caring about what people think, because they are caught up in truth. And so, when they say something that is true, it comes out like a rebuke. They don’t have time for feelings.
I remember my pastor in high school. I was scared of him. He was a godly man. So wise. Cared about calling those around him to live for the glory of God. And I was not living for the glory of God. And so, I was scared of him.
Seems like so many men in my life who were incredibly wise and now I look back on as mentors, I was scared of, because I was afraid of the time that they would rebuke me. They would see me for who I was and rebuke me.
But, that rebuke, that exhortation, that call to change, is the only way that we can stop our own foolishness and start living with the end in mind.
3. Focus
3. Focus
To that end, we are to have a focus.
Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
He presents two perspectives which are the wrong focus.
First, he speaks of those who get caught up with what is happening right now.
The wise person sees extortion. Solomon is vague as to whether the wise person sees the temptation of money and is the one who is extorting money, or whether the wise person sees the corruption around him and becomes disgusted and disillusioned.
Either way, the wise person is focusing on what is happening now.
He also presents the one who quickly becomes angry
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,
for anger resides in the lap of fools.
They see what is happening right now and they react to it, becoming the fool.
Others, the second perspective which Solomon points to, is not those who focus on the right now, but those who focus on the past.
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not wise to ask such questions.
I’m sure you’ve been there. You’ve either had conversations with someone and they have made such comments, or you have been the one who made those comments.
The good old days! Back when I was young people didn’t do that. Back when I was young politics were different. Back when I was young….
Solomon says, it is not wise to ask such questions or to have such a perspective.
Our hope is not in the past. Our hope is not in the present. Therefore we should not exult the past nor allow the present to tear us down.
Our hope is in the future.
The end of a matter is better than its beginning,
and patience is better than pride.
We have a focus: struggling through the hardship and chaos that we are in, we look to the end result.
Paul wrote it this way:
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
We live with the end in mind, learning from the wise, looking to the end result.
4. Result
4. Result
With that perspective, we will see a result in our lives right now.
What is that result?
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing
and benefits those who see the sun.
Wisdom is a shelter
as money is a shelter,
but the advantage of knowledge is this:
Wisdom preserves those who have it.
We gain wisdom.
Having the perspective, walking the avenue which God has laid out to us, with the focus, we cannot help but gain wisdom.
And it is a good thing.
So many seasoned adults which I talk to are concerned about leaving an inheritance for their kids. They want to set up their grandkids successfully in the face of an uncertain future. That’s a good thing.
But, wisdom is good as well. As Solomon says: it benefits those who see the sun, who are alive. Both the one who gains wisdom and the one who is influenced by that wisdom is benefited.
Just in case anyone wondered how wisdom benefits, he lets us know.
He says that wisdom is a shelter, as money is a shelter.
I enjoy listening to Dave Ramsey from time to time. He talks about how women have an extra nerve in their body called the security nerve. When life is chaotic, when money is tight, that nerve starts going crazy. Spazzing out.
Money can be a shelter, in that someone feels secure. The ground shouldn’t open up underneath them. They will have someplace to live. They will have food on the table and clothes on their bodies. A shelter against the storms of life.
In the same way, wisdom is a shelter. When life is chaotic, and most people don’t know what to do, don’t know what decision to make, the wise one does. At least, the wise one can figure it out. The wise one is like someone standing underneath an overpass while the rain is coming down in sheets. He is dry while everyone else is wet to the core.
Not only is wisdom a shelter, but unlike money, wisdom preserves those who have it.
Money doesn’t add anything to us. We can be happy with nothing and miserable with riches. Whether rich or poor, we all can get sick and die.
In fact, during hard times, if we had money, that money could very well disappear.
Wisdom, however, stays with us, even when our money, our livelihood, our house, our everything go away. Wisdom is still there, holding us by the hand and guiding us through the chaos.
Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
those who hold her fast will be blessed.
We live with the end in mind, learning from the wise, looking to the end result, and we gain wisdom to carry us through this life.
5. Lesson
5. Lesson
When we finally gain the wisdom that our perspective will teach us, we gain a lesson that we can cherish.
Consider what God has done:
Who can straighten
what he has made crooked?
When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.
We gain faith in the God who has control.
Without wisdom, without the focus on the end result, without the mentoring of the wise, without the perspective of the end of our life, we could look at the world that we are living in and shake our fist at God. We could try to straighten the crookedness of our lives, forgetting that God is the one who is ultimately in control and what is happening is in his hands.
When joining Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, instead of saying: Take this cup from me, yet not my will, thine be done. We say: take this cup from me for I know what is best and you don’t.
I’m grateful that Jesus didn’t do that. He strode to the cross and stretched out his hands for the soldiers to nail. Of all the non-sensical things that happen on this earth, it was Jesus’ crucifixion. The sinless Son of God, dying for the sins of the world. He was able to do it because he knew the end result. He lived with the end in mind, so that when the end came, he held onto the hand of his father and struggled through the hardship.
We don’t know our future. We don’t know the twists and turns of our life. There are two things that we know: we will die one day and God is in control.
Therefore we can live in balance. When things are happy, we can praise God. And when things are bad, we can praise God because God has made the one as well as the other.
What does a funeral remind you of?
May it give us the perspective we desperately need to walk the path of the wise with the focus of the end result, so that we might gain wisdom and remember God.
