Proverbs 26 outline
Proverbs 26:13-16 Sermon
Introduction
Seminary is a place where your sin will find you.
You can get away with lazyness in most life situations. As long as you show up for work on time and put in 8 hours you supposedly have earned your fill of leasure on your off time. You can be lazy and no one will notice.
Not so with seminary or the ministry. Were you lazy this week? Your dead next week.
-Story of the lazy seminarian I know.
Summer
Drop counseling
Extension
Extension
2 weeks left. disaster
Proverbs 1:7 (NASB95)
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 26:1-11
Don’t give them honor, beat them with a rod, don’t intertain their foolisheness, shut their foolish arguments down, don’t employee the fool.
26:12 Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
Transition from context
The section on the fool ends with a shocking assertion: there is even one kind of man who is worse off than this pitiful fool. He is the man who is wise in his own eyes. Do you want to meet that man? Meet the lazy deadbeat?
Proposition
We must understand the four shameful characteristics of the lazy deadbeat so that we will not become a lazy deadbeat ourselves.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road! A lion is in the open square!”
1) the deadbeat always has an excuse
The sluggard is mention numerous time in the book of proverds but he is only found speaking twice. Each time the lazy deadbeat speaks, he offers excuses for his laziness.
The author pictures the lazy man declaring his wild excuses as to why he cannot leave his home to work. The lazy man exclaims that he must stay home for safety sake because there is a dangerous lion on the way to work and that there is a lion also in the place of business.
The sluggard עָ֭צֵל
There is discussion whether this term is a noun or an adjective. I favor the modern term “deadbeat.”
The diffence between the terms “road” and “open square”
The first being the way to get to work the second being the actual place that commece takes place.
Illust: Uncle Steve got a job at Walmart, quit after a week. The drive to work was too long and it was killing him in gas. At work he had to be on his feet all day and the store was so big and they had him going from one end to the other. There was a lion in the street and on in the open place.
The imaginary sluggard’s claim here of killer lions is purposefully absurd. In reality the lazy deadbeat’s excuses are not usually so absurd. They are probably good enough for him to think that he is being reasonable and others should be convinced and sympathetic. Remember, the lazy man is wise in his own eyes. (v 12 and v 16) He doesn’t think he sound pathetic.
Our culture is one that nurtures the lazy deadbeats inclination to make excuses. We are not willing to put forth the effort to overcome our problems so we have diagnosed a long list of disorders and excuses for every imaginable indulgence.
Have you ever heard of Narcolepsy? Anyone here have it?
Alternative: Ben story
Signs of narcolepsy
-It is almost impossible to stay awake throughout the day
-Feel sleepy even after a full night's sleep
-Even after a nap you still feel sleepy
“Another sure sign of narcolepsy is if you experience cataplexy (a sudden loss of muscle tone). Narcolepsy typically requires a feeling of excessive daytime sleepiness for a period longer than three months. Narcolepsy may be associated increased body mass index (getting fat) and disturbed nighttime sleep (Seminary).”
I think my narcolepsy started when I was at the Master’s College. I had Dr. Boyd’s herbew class in the afternoon . We would eat a big lunch then come to our two hour lecture on hebrew grammar. I would strech out in the front row and put my feet up on the chair beside me. After about 20 minutes of lecture my narcolepsy would inevitably flare-up and I was out.
Dr. Boyd let me slide with my illness and all. Now days I can the voice of Pastor Montoya rousing me from my sleep, “wake up you lazy deadbeat!” “The world is run by tired men.” Stop making your excuses for not producing in life and ministry.
“You don’t call in sick, you crawl in sick”
“So your wife had a baby last night- that’s her excuse, whats yours?”
“your only excuse is if your dead”
illustration: Intro to beach games: michel is syptoms: sick with no sy
Transition
The deadbeat always has an excuse for his unwillingness to work
hard. But what is the really going on in the life of the unproductive deadbeat? Verse 14 tells us or rather shows us. Lets look inside the house of the lazy deadbeat.
26:14 As the door turns on its hinges, So does the sluggard on his bed.
2) the deadbeat incesenty loves leasure
The author then compares the lazy man turning over and over in his extended lazy slumber to the door swinging back and forth on its hinges but going nowhere.
It is as though the lazy deadbeat has no concern for what is going on in the real world. He is content to just turn over and indulge in a little more leasurely slumber.
Conversation with Lauren Sherman- I want to be a missionary. Are you going to get a real job too or just expect other people to support you all your life?
May I suggest that a love of leasure is grosly inconsistent with the christian life and misistry.
One of the prevailing metaphors for the work that we are ingaged in is a race.
Hebrews 12:1-3 (NASB95)
1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
May I suggest that one of those encomerances that maybe slowing us down might be the love of leasure.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NASB95)
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;
27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 15:31-34 (NASB95)
31 I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32 If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
-the love of leasure is the way people without eternal values live-
33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
34 Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.
Were not on vacation here. We are in a spiritual battle for the souls of men.
I speaking to my neigbor yearday about public speaking. She is a new age jewish woman who think christiaity in a farse. She supprised me when she told me that the most effective speaker that she ever heard was Billy Graham. When I asked he why, she responded that it was above all else it was Graham’s sincer urgency about the his message.
I ask you, do you live and ministrer with sincere urgency?
Have you become Spirtual sloths? Lazy deadbeats with a pathetic lack of sincerity and urgency?
Do you really believe that prayer changes the world? Do you pray with sincere urgency?
Do you really believe that unbelievers are going to hell? Do you evangelise with sincere urgency?
Do you really believe that Jesus is coming back? Do you repent with sincere urgency?
Do you really believe that unborn children are being sliced and mangled to death in LA county? Do you fight abortion with sincere urgency?
I do believe that many of us here have forgotton that we a running a race and, instead we are sitting on the sidelines, in love with leasure, playing poker and watching ESPN.
Keith green song “Asleep in the light” about urgency in evangelism
“Jesus rose from the dead, you cant even get out of bed. How can you be so numb not to care if they come. You close your eyes and pretend the jobs done”
Go pray, go preach, go evangelise, go get beat up for street preaching, go picket, go get your self arrested for trying to stop an abortion, go do something! … for God’s sake don’t go back to bed!
“you can rest when your dead.” Montoya
Transition:
The deadbeat loves leasure to the detrament of those around him. He sees pleasure as his goal and has forgotten that he is running a race. The deadbeat’s laziness not only harms those around him but he is so lazy that he even neglects his own needs.
26:15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; He is weary of bringing it to his mouth again.
3) the deadbeat is too lazy to even care for his own needs
Then the author paints an absurd picture of the lazy deadbeat at the dinner table immobilized with his hand in his food dish but not willing to exert the energy to put his food in his mouth.
His failure to take care of himself is not rooted in a lack of energy or ability but in a lack of willingness. He refuses to exert the energy.
Illustration- too lazy to fill out the paperwork to get on welfare
Earlier in Proverbs the sage exhorted the lazy deadbeat to imitate the ant.
Proverbs 6:6-11 (NASB95)
6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler,
8 Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest.
According to John Silling, a Purdue University entomologist, the ant is an exemplary worker. “Basically the ant’s entire life, which can range up to seven years, is spent working,” says Silling. “They gather food, bring it back to the nest, and use it for day-to-day meals as well as to store for the winter.”
In addition, the amazing insects can be adept horticulturalists, states the professor. Some species “gather bits of grass or leaves and take them back to their nest. On this organic matter, which is used much like fertilizer, they place tiny mushroom spores and grow them for food.” But ants as dairy-keepers? That’s right. “Some ants get the majority of their food by ‘milking’ aphids or plant lice which are often known as ‘ant cows,’ says the scientist. “The ants sometimes herd the aphids down into the ant nests at night or when it starts to get cool; then when it gets warm again, they herd them back up to the plants.”
Compare to the ant: The ant works hard and stores food for the future, the deadbeat is too lazy to lift the food from the bowl to his mouth.
So the picture that we get of the lazy deadbeat is of a man full of excuses, rolling over in his bed, in love with leasure. When he finally awakes, probably around noon, he flopps into the kitched chair to eat but isnt even willing to exert the energy needed to bring his food to his mouth. This is the scene inside the lazy deadbeats house.
May I imaganativly suggest that Proverbs 24 takes us out the door of the lazy mans house to see the state of the deadbeats life while he is leasuring.
Proverbs 24:30-34 (NASB95)
30 I passed by the field of the sluggard And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense,
31 And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; Its surface was covered with nettles, And its stone wall was broken down.
32 When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction.
33 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,”
34 Then your poverty will come as a robber And your want like an armed man.
Ecc 10:18 "Through indolence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks."
May I suggest that the way that you take care of your personal needs is seen and judged by those around you. It is judged by the church, it is judged by unbelievers.
Strange question: How does your yard look preacher?
Is your yard overgrown, your car dirty, your shirt wrinkled.
Harder yet, Are your finaces in order? Yesterday pastor Montoya said that the average saving ration in the USA is –2%. How? Credit cards. Are you living within your means or are you finacing your lifestyle of leasure? How about your kids? Are they undisciplined and unruly?
How does your yard look preacher?
Transition: why does the sluggard let his life remain in this state of shambles. His neglect is self-destructive but he strangely will not change. Why? He is that man that is worse off then a fool in verse 12. The deadbeat is a concited man, althought he is a mess, he seems wise in his own judgment.
26:16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can give a discreet answer.
4) the deadbeat is a concieted fool
Finally, the author exposes the most dangerous of the lazy deadbeat’s defects. He is conceited and does not take wise counsel. The lazy man values his uninformed opinion more then the reasoned judgments of a room full of wise men.
Could laziness be rooted in pride? Are you too lazy to search diligently for the truth but still convinced that you have all the answers?
Paul warns us Romans 12:16 (NASB95)
16 … do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
Galatians 6:1-10 (NASB95)
1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.
5 For each one will bear his own load.
6 The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
10 So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
One suggestion to cure the lazy deadbeat in your life or your mirror.
-Flogging
-Shame the lazy deadbeat
God says lazyness is shameful
Proverbs 10:4-5 (NASB95)
4 Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.
Jay Adams insists that the tone of Prov. 26:13-16 is sarcastic and mocking to shame the sluggard into change. Solomon uses ridicaule and sarcasm to motivate the sluggard. “you ought to learn from such methodology as is applies to these types of people. Reasonable approaches simply don’t work with the lazy deadbeat who is wise in his own eyes.
Shaming the lazy deadbeat is actually prescribed in the new testament.
2 Thessalonians 3:6-14 (NASB95)
6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you,
8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you;
9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.
10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.
12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.
13 But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.
14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he will be put to shame.”
Conclusion
Don’t be a lazy deadbeat!
Your only excuse for being unproductive is if your dead.
Rememeber that we are in the middle an intense race. Live and minister with sincere uregency.
Labor to keep your life in order for the glory of God. People are always watching.
Do not be wise in your own eyes. Do not resist rebuke but rather repent.
May God’s Word shame the lazyness out of us all. Amen