Download A Sermon on Proverbs 8

A Sermon on Proverbs 8
Who here doesn’t want to be wise? For sure, none of us wants be the opposite of
wise, i.e., foolish. The songwriter says that everybody plays the fool, especially in romance.
He may be correct, but none of us likes playing the fool. So whatever wisdom and
foolishness are, we prefer wisdom. But what is wisdom?
Some people might liken wisdom to common sense or practical know-how. For
others, it is more like cleverness, shrewdness, or even slyness. In other words, wisdom is
thought to be a secret for getting ahead in life. Biblical wisdom, however, is something
different. While it has to do with successfully navigating life’s challenges, wisdom is not
privileged information for an elite few. Proverbs 8 personifies wisdom and allows her to
speak for herself. We could say that Proverbs 8 offers wisdom’s autobiography. She tells us
about her origin, her friends, and her accomplishments. She also mentions the company that
she tries to avoid. Then she informs us of the advantages of getting to know her. Even so,
she issues an invitation that you have to accept or decline. In other words, she wants to have
a relationship with you.
Notice that Wisdom calls out to the simple and the foolish. These terms are related
but not synonymous. The simple person is raw youth—untutored and inexperienced. All of
us enter the world in need of education and formation. We need instruction to know how to
live in God’s world, but we don’t neutrally enter God’s world as a blank slate. Proverbs is
aware of original sin (14:18). Raw youth is predisposed to reject God’s instruction and go the
wrong way. It operates with the illusion that it knows what is best and can operate
autonomously without reference to God. We all enter the world programmed to be selfsufficient and self-indulgent. If we remain in this state, thinking that we can create our own
reality and thereby have the world revolve around us, we become fools. We live in God’s
world, and there is no other world in which to live. We have to take him into account.
Wisdom says that she hates arrogance and the harmful conduct that follows from it.
For this is what happens to raw youth. It soon discovers that the rest of the world is not
waiting to do its bidding. A selfish person can soon become unjust, oppressive, or violent.
He or she tries to manipulate or force others to do what he or she wants. Wisdom dissociates
herself from these effects of raw youth. They do not affirm God’s ownership and rule of the
world.
Instead, Wisdom is closely allied to the fear of the Lord, which is comprised of
knowing what God has revealed, submitting to it, and trusting God to make good on his
promises. Such an orientation then leads to humble prudence and discretion. Wisdom uses
reason, in the context of a commitment to God, to consider how to respond to a situation in a
God-honoring way. The wise person is not oriented toward self but toward God, and other
people are opportunities for ministry rather than manipulation. The problem, of course, is
that raw youth does not always act prudently. In 1:20 Wisdom cries out in the public square,
but the simple reject her. 8:36 is similarly aware that some people ignore Wisdom’s message.
So does Wisdom call out in vain? She may invite us to into a relationship with her.
She may want to prepare us to live successfully in God’s world, but who, because of original
sin, can respond favorably? Can Wisdom overcome not just our lack of understanding but
also our bent toward self-promoting, self-destructive patterns of thinking and behaving?
Verses 22-31 speak about Wisdom’s origin. In so doing, they recall Genesis 1. In
8:22 first is the same word as beginning in Genesis 1:1. Oceans in 8:24 is the same word as
waters in Genesis 1:2. 8:27-29 recall the second and third days of creation. Wisdom, though,
says that she was made before anything else. So wisdom has a beginning, but she was
involved in the creation. In verse 30 she even says that she was a craftsman at God’s side.
Keep in mind that Proverbs 8 is a poem, and Hebrew poetry makes extensive use of
figurative language, including metaphor. Wisdom is not a separate personal entity or the preincarnate Son of God. The language of birth, work, and rejoicing is metaphorical. Wisdom is
not an actual person.
The image of the craftsman connotes intention and design. Wisdom, then, is a
personification of God’s purpose for creating. The universe is not an accident or random
collection of atoms. At some point in eternity past, God decided to create. Wisdom gets at
the idea of meaning and purpose to God’s world. Humans do not create their own meaning in
a sorry chaos. Rather, the wisdom literature calls humans to affirm God’s sovereign plan.
God intentionally created this world, but Proverbs, while affirming this truth, does not tell us
why God created. At this point, the New Testament offers help. Colossians 1:13-20 and
Romans 8:29 explain God’s intention for creating. God has made the world in order to exalt
his Son. Like wisdom in Proverbs 8, Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. He is also the
agent or craftsman of creation. Colossians 2:3, 1 Corinthians 1:31, and Ephesians 1:9-10
associate Jesus with wisdom. Together, they tell us that we must get to know Jesus if we
want to be wise. As part of God’s creation, we exist to glorify him. Wisdom is understanding
how, in any situation, to make Jesus pre-eminent and then doing it.
To answer my earlier question, Wisdom does not call out in vain. Wisdom informs us
that Jesus is what creation, history, and life are about. Jesus came into this fallen world to
accomplish redemption, and the success of his ministry is never in question. As his name
asserts, he saves his people from their sins. He brings about a transformation of the heart and
writes the law of God on the heart—hence the close association of wisdom and ethics. Those
whom Jesus has transformed willingly and cheerfully do God’s will. They do so because
they understand and accept why they have been made. That’s wisdom.
All of Proverbs, including chapters 10-31, must be read in this Christological context.
Proverbs is not merely a book about social etiquette or getting ahead in life. The fear of
Yahweh is said to be the beginning, not the result, of wisdom. Proverbs assumes a covenantal
relationship made possible by divine grace. Its instruction has to do with living out that
relationship with a redeeming God, and such living takes place in the daily affairs of our
existence. We make Jesus pre-eminent in our work, relationships, money, speech, etc. All of
these areas of life are to be brought under his lordship. The wise person knows this and
orients his or her life accordingly.
Take, for example, money, which is one of the biggest topics in Proverbs. 8:10-11
and 8:19 set wisdom above money and material wealth. Money has a way of supplanting our
trust in God. We cling to our money thinking that it will give us security, but money is
merely a commodity of exchange. As such, it appreciably gives options. What it can’t do is
tell you which option to choose or guarantee that your choice will work out to your favor.
Wisdom, however, claims to yield better returns than gold. So then, more is involved with
the wise use of money than buying low and selling high. On the one hand, how we use our
money reveals our priorities, and the truth is that much of what we value and buy eventually
wears out or fades out. On the other hand, God has promised to care for us if we value what
he values. For this reason, the wise person invests in the kingdom of Jesus. Serving Jesus
brings provision for this life and a lasting return for the next. That’s wisdom’s promise in
verse 35. That’s Jesus’ promise in the New Testament.
What will wisdom, i.e., recognizing that your life is about honoring Jesus, look like
this week? Along with economic matters, you will have to deal with the other topics in
Proverbs. The teaching of Proverbs does not assume a neat, one-size-fits-all answer to life’s
complexity. The wise person, though, will see life in view of the lordship of Jesus Christ.
God is exalting his Son in human history, even your personal history. Wisdom is getting on
the same page with God and thinking intentionally about how to advance Christ’s kingdom
where you are.