Without Vision, the People Perish...

Welcome

I want to begin by thanking the search committee and you, the congregation for inviting me to be here today to bring the word of the Lord. It is a great privilege to stand in this pulpit and speak to you today. Please pray with me as we prepare to look to God’s Word this morning.

Pray

Father in heaven, thank you for this beautiful day. We thank you for this opportunity to gather together here in this place to worship you and to open up your Word together. Lord, I pray that you would open our minds and hearts to hear what it is that you have for us this morning, and I pray that your spirit would fill me and that I would speak the words that you would have me speak.

“Oh Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.”

My First Visit to Stanton

A couple of weeks ago, I came and visited with the search committee for a day, and we had some excellent conversations about a wide range of topics. One of those topics that we talked about at length was vision and the importance of a church having a clear vision, a clear understanding of where they were headed and what God had called them to do.

One verse that was brought up in that discussion was from Proverbs, “Without vision, the people perish.” In planning for this morning and praying about what God might want me to share with you, I felt led back to this scripture and the importance of vision.

Let’s look at our scripture for this morning, from the book of Proverbs, chapter 29, verses 12 through 18:

Proverbs 29:12–18 NRSV

If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked. The poor and the oppressor have this in common: the Lord gives light to the eyes of both. If a king judges the poor with equity, his throne will be established forever. The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by a neglected child. When the wicked are in authority, transgression increases, but the righteous will look upon their downfall. Discipline your children, and they will give you rest; they will give delight to your heart. Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint, but happy are those who keep the law.

This is the word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God!

The Bible is God’s Word

I believe that the Bible is God’s Word, written by men, but inspired by the Holy Spirit. Because of that belief, I always ask my self this question when preparing a sermon: Why did God, the Holy Spirit, see fit to include this story or section in the Bible? What is important here for us to learn about who God is and who he is calling us to become? That is the question that I hope to answer today.

This section of Proverbs, from the beginning of chapter 25 to the end of chapter 29 has a heading. In verse one of chapter 25, we read:

Proverbs 25:1 NRSV

These are other proverbs of Solomon that the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah copied.

We know that Solomon was the ruler of Israel from 970-930 BC. Hezekiah was the ruler of Judah (after the kingdom was divided) from 715-686 BC. So, just over 200 years after Solomon’s death, Hezekiah found these writings of the king and had them copied down. This section is similar in style to most of the book of Proverbs in that it is a listing of aphorisms.

Aphorisms — (OT) Succinct statements, each explaining a principle of conventional wisdom.

In some ways, you can read this portion of Proverbs and argue that each verse, or each aphorism, is separate, with a unique message and purpose. I believe that you can also see some similarities in these verses as well. There is certainly a theme of law, or instruction, and the dangers of NOT following said instruction versus the benefits of observing the law and instruction. This theme and this series of verses all lead up to the last verse, verse eighteen.

Translations...

If you noticed, the title of my message today, and the quote from Proverbs that I stated earlier was, “without vision, the people perish.” But we did not see those words in today’s Scripture reading. That is because the common phrase that is remembered by many people and often quoted is from the King James version of Proverbs 29:18.

It is not uncommon to find differences between Bible translations, but I did find it interesting the range of differences found in this particular verse.

Proverbs 29:18 NRSV

Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint, but happy are those who keep the law.

Proverbs 29:18 KJV 1900

Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 29:18 NIV

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

Proverbs 29:18 ESV

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Proverbs 29:18 NASB95

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.

So the question that we must ask ourselves when we look at a passage like this and the variations in the translations, what is the common thread, what can we learn from looking at these various translations? Let’s look at the common thread:

When there is no Vision, no Prophecy, no Revelation, that is when the people get into trouble, they cast off restraint and they run wild.

This is what the Bible Knowledge Commentary has to say about this verse:

“29:18. The familiar KJV “where there is no vision” is misleading. The word “vision” is the revelation (ḥāzôn) a prophet receives. Also the KJV translation “the people perish” does not refer to unsaved people dying in sin. The verb pāra‘ means to cast off restraint. So the verse is stating that without God’s Word people abandon themselves to their own sinful ways. On the other hand keeping (obeying) God’s Law (cf. 28:4, 7) brings happiness.”

The Israelite Example

We have the perfect example of this casting off restraint in Exodus 32. The people of Israel are wandering in the wilderness and they find themselves at Mount Sinai. Moses is up on the mountain talking to God and receiving the Ten Commandments. Down at the foot of the mountain, the Israelites are growing impatient.

Exodus 32:1 NRSV

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Aaron caves to the pressure of the Israelites and gathers gold jewelry from the Israelites and makes a golden calf. God tells Moses to head back down the mountain because the Israelites are out of control. In verse 25 we read:

Exodus 32:25 NRSV

When Moses saw that the people were running wild (for Aaron had let them run wild, to the derision of their enemies),

This is exactly the picture that is described in our verse from the book of Proverbs. The Israelites here have ‘cast off restraint,’ they have let their hair down and are literally going wild. This is what happens when their prophet goes away.

See the Big Picture

But we have to remember, when we look at scripture and attempt to learn from it, we have to look at the bigger picture. We have to look at not just what we find in our immediate scripture passage, but what the larger arc of scripture has to say. In my opinion, this is one of the major struggles facing Christians today - that we have people taking scriptures out of context and not understanding how they fit into the larger arc of the scriptures.

So, as we look at this story of the Israelites and their failure at the foot of Mount Sinai, we have to go back - way back to understand what is happening here. This vision that the Israelites are following is not simply the vision of Moses. This vision was first given to Abraham many years prior. This vision of a promised land and a great nation was the vision that God - I AM - spoke to Abraham, and carried on through Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and now Moses. This was God’s vision for the Israelites carried out through generations.

What does this mean for US?

Now that we are beginning to have an understanding of what the author of Proverbs is saying in the context of Old Testament Israel, the next question that we have to begin to unpack what these verses mean for us in our context. What do these verses mean for us as Christians in America in the twenty-first century? What do these verses have to say to us as a local church - as THIS local church?

Mission and Vision

Twenty to thirty years ago, mission and vision statements were all the rage. Almost every business, organization, and church was writing mission and vision statements. There were multiple schools of thought on how to write your mission and vision statement and many books were written about the importance of these statements and how to go about writing them for your organization.

The problem was, most organizations wrote a mission and vision statement, made a cool poster with those statements on it, posted it on the wall in their lobby, and never did anything else with it. They didn’t really have VISION, they just had a cool new poster on the wall.

There is a difference between Mission and Vision. For us a church, the Mission part is easy. I would argue that every church should have the same mission statement, as it was given by Jesus to his disciples two thousand years ago. Our Mission is to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Vision is where it gets interesting. Vision is HOW you’re going to live out that Mission. Every church might be working at the same mission of making disciples, but each church is going to figure out their own way of going about that and living that out.

The Jesus Example

Jesus gave us examples of this when he sent out his disciples.

Matthew 10:5–15 NRSV

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

So, this is early in his ministry, he has just called his disciples; in fact, the verses just preceding this is the listing of the names of the disciples for the first time in the book of Matthew. He gives them very specific instructions here. They are new at this, this is their first mission. He knows their skills and their limitations. And he sends them out with a specific task, a specific vision.

There is a point later in Jesus’ ministry where Jesus delivers a very difficult teaching and it says that many leave him at that time. He looks to his disciples and asks, “Will you leave, too?” And they respond, “Where would we go?” He has the vision that they have bought into. Without the vision that Jesus provides for them, they are lost, they are unrestrained, they are off the rails.

Where is God leading US?

So the question for us is, “Where is God leading us? Where does God want us to go? How does he want us to live out this mission to make disciples?”

“Vision: the capacity to create a compelling picture of the desired state of affairs that inspires people to respond; that which is desirable, which could be, should be; that which is attainable.  A godly vision is right for the times, right for the church, and right for the people. A godly vision promotes faith rather than fear. A godly vision motivates people to action. A godly vision requires risk-taking. A godly vision glorifies God, not people.”

Bob Logan.

In order to answer that question, we need to ask a few more questions, some we have to ask ourselves, and some we have to ask God.

We have to look at where God has placed us?

What needs are here?

Where have we been as a church?

There have been times in the past when we have had vision and been successful in living that out, what did that look like? Remember earlier, when we were talking about the Israelites. They were following Moses and the vision that God had given to Moses. But that vision was not just for Moses, that vision had been a part of the Israelite vision for many generations all the way back through Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. This church has been a part of this community since 1874, close to one hundred fifty years. What generational vision has been a part of the DNA of this church and how can we continue to carry on that vision?

What are the talents and gifts that he has given us as a church? It doesn’t do us any good to try to do something that we saw another church doing - especially if we don’t have the gifting and the resources to do that thing.

Paul talks about the body of Christ and the many members. We can see that in our own church, and how God has gifted us each individually to carry out different tasks within the church. We can also see that in the greater Church that we have gifts and resources that other churches do not have and we can accomplish things that other churches cannot.

Once we start to understand where we are at and how God has gifted us and resourced us, we need to ask Him for guidance. We need to ask God, “What would you have us do in this place, in this community? How would you have us use our gifts and resources to make disciples?”

And then we need to be ready to follow where he leads and that is where the fun starts!!

I believe that a church that has Vision is a church that is making an Impact on the community, and a church that is making an Impact on the community is a church that people WANT to be a part of!