Tawa Baptist

The Right Way?

Scriptures: Proverbs 16:25; 14:12; 16:2; 16:7; 12:15; Jeremiah 27;

Matthew 7:13-14; 5:3-12

Video Link: https://youtu.be/iCizzefULtY

The Right Way?

Good morning everyone.

Today we continue our series in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs offers practical wisdom for this life.

The ancient world, in which Proverbs was composed, was largely an oral culture. Most information was passed on by word of mouth, rather than reading and writing.  

There was no internet, so you couldn’t google something to learn about it. And books, as we know them, hadn’t been invented yet. The ancients did write things on scrolls or on walls but reading and writing was an expensive exercise and access to writing materials was not common or widespread.

If you wanted to know something, you had to ask a person who knew what they were talking about and then listen carefully. Storytelling, poetry and song were often used to help people remember what they heard. Repetition was another strategy used to commit ideas to memory.

One thing you notice as you read through Proverbs is the repetition. Some Proverbs are repeated word for word in different chapters and other Proverbs are rephrased in a slightly different way.     

The focus of our message today is Proverbs 16, verse 25, which reads…

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Where it says man, it means human being, both men and women.

This verse is basically saying that things are not always as they appear at first. The way something begins is not always how it ends. Or, as Bob Dylan put it, ‘What looks large from a distance, up close is never that big.’

More than this though, Proverbs 16 verse 25, is saying that we human beings are limited in our knowledge and understanding. We cannot rely solely on our own inner compass, or our own judgement. We need an external point of reference to check we are on the right path.  

If you are building a house, then you don’t just use your eye to determine if something is straight. You use a plumb line, a tape measure and a spirit level. Because what looks straight to the naked eye may be off by inches.

Or if you are a guitarist or a violinist then you don’t just tune your instrument by ear. You tune your instrument to a piano that you know is in tune or you use an electronic tuner, as an external point of reference.

Or if you are travelling a great distance in the wilderness or on the open sea, you don’t just follow your gut or your instinct. You use a compass or a sextant or the stars or GPS.      

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death, is repeated, word for word, in Proverbs 14, verse 12.

We also find similar proverbs elsewhere. In chapter 16, verse 2, for example we read: All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord.

This gives a slightly different nuance of meaning. The idea here is that our mind has a way of fooling us. Our brain has this unfortunate tendency to be biased and filter out (or deny) the inconvenient truth about ourselves.

We might genuinely believe we are doing something with pure motives, when in fact we have mixed motives without being aware of it. Maybe we are compensating for the guilt we feel over something we did in our past. Or maybe we are really more interested in making ourselves look good in the eyes of others. Disinterested virtue is rare.

Each of us has what Carl Jung called a ‘shadow’. Your shadow is that part of yourself that you cannot see. Both good and bad lie hidden in your shadow. God sees what’s in your shadow, but you can’t. None of us is as good as we imagine ourselves to be.        

Proverbs 12, verse 15, gives another take on chapter 16, verse 25… 

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

This is almost the same as saying: There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death, except Proverbs 12:15 puts the accent on listening to good advice. Seeking the advice of others is one way of using an external point of reference to check whether we are on the right track or not.

The Bible is another external point of reference. When we read the Bible with an open mind, we are seeking the advice of wise men and women from ancient times. Of course, interpretation is key. We still need other believers to moderate our reading of Scripture, so we do not mislead ourselves. More importantly, we need the illumination of the Holy Spirit to discern God’s word.   

Jesus may have had Proverbs 16, verse 25 in mind when he said…

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

The broad road seems right to a person, but it leads to death. While the narrow road seems wrong, but it leads to life.

I don’t think Jesus is talking about being broad minded or narrow minded here. I think the broad road is a poetic way of talking about the easy or popular option, maybe even the cheat’s option. While the narrow road is a poetic way of talking about the more difficult but more honest option. 

When Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, the Devil offered Jesus the broad road, the easy road, to power and success. ‘Bow down in worship to me and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world’.

But Jesus refused. Jesus chose the narrow road, the more difficult but honest road, of remaining faithful to God. Jesus stayed loyal to his heavenly Father, even though the narrow road went via the cross. Ultimately though, after the cross, the narrow road led to resurrection and eternal life.

So, if there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death, how then do we know we are on the right path? How can we discern the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death?

We may listen to the advice of others but if their advice is bad, then where does that leave us? Likewise, we may read the Bible but if we misinterpret what we read then we end up on the wrong path anyway.

Well, I believe that if you are genuine in asking God to show you the right way and you are honest with yourself, the Lord will guide your steps.

 In Proverbs 16, verse 7, we read…

When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

So being at peace with your enemies is a sign that you are on the right path.  

We should note that Proverbs 16, verse 7, is not a promise. It’s not a guarantee. Rather, it is a general rule. When we live in a way that pleases God, we can normally expect to be at peace with those around us.

There are exceptions to this rule of course. But, for the most part, if you do justly, show mercy and walk humbly, then you are more likely to enjoy peace with your neighbours. Makes sense right.   

Scripture interprets Scripture. What examples do we find in the Bible to illustrate this idea that there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

One example that comes to mind is found in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was an Old Testament prophet who predicted the fall of Jerusalem. Jeremiah’s message from God was, don’t resist the might of the Babylonian empire.

Any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon will be punished with sword, famine and plague… But any nation that does bow its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, will live in its own land.

In other words, do not try to defend yourselves against the Babylonian army because you are not going to win.

To the Jews of his day, Jeremiah seemed unpatriotic. He seemed to lack faith in God. Other prophets (false ones) were telling the people that God would fight for them and Jerusalem would never fall.

And what these false prophets were saying seemed right to the people. Afterall, only a century earlier, during the time of king Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, God delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians.

Hardly anyone agreed with Jeremiah’s minority report and Jerusalem was destroyed with the survivors being taken into exile, just as Jeremiah predicted.

Jesus had a similar message for the Israelites of his day. Like Jeremiah, Jesus wept over Jerusalem.

Jesus’ message was, don’t resist the Romans. My kingdom is not of this world. Turn the other cheek. Walk the extra mile. This is the way of peace. If you fight against the Romans, you will cause yourself unimaginable suffering.

Tragically, the people ignored Jesus. Resisting the might of the Roman empire seemed right to most Jews at the time, but it led to death. Over a million people were killed in the siege of Jerusalem in AD70.

Jesus wept then and I imagine he still weeps now.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

God’s ways are not our ways.

The Pharisees of Jesus’ day believed strongly that their way was the right way. They genuinely thought all their rules, which acted like a fence around the Law, were pleasing to God. But their way led to death.

Throughout the gospels Jesus challenged the Pharisees and religious leaders. Jesus called them out on their self-righteousness and hypocrisy saying things like…

Woe to you Pharisees, because you give a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

Also, “… you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness…”

This tells us something about the way of life that pleases God. It tells us God is pleased with justice and generosity. It tells us God is pleased when religion is based on love for him and our neighbour. It tells us God does not like it when people use religion as a way to hide evil. True religion, true faith, true spirituality needs to come from the inside out. 

It wasn’t just the Pharisees who got it wrong. Even Jesus’ disciples, his closest friends, misunderstood God’s ways at times.  

In Matthew 16 we read what happened when Peter thought he knew best…

21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22 Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

Simon Peter meant well. It seemed right to him that Jesus should not suffer. But Peter was well off track.  

23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

This must have hurt. Imagine thinking you were doing something good, only to be told by Jesus himself that you are aligned with Satan, the one opposed to God’s purpose. The strength of Jesus’ response to Peter mirrors the seriousness of Peter’s error.

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their lifewill lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

We may have heard those words so many times they wash over us without penetrating our heart. But Jesus’ message here is shocking. This is a slap in the face, a reality check.

Picking up your cross is a metaphor for suffering in very real ways. To carry a cross in Roman times was to face pain, shame and death. No one wanted to be crucified. No one thought, ‘Oh, carrying a cross, that seems right and good to me. Let’s do that’.

Jesus’ words are counter intuitive, they turn our thinking upside down. Jesus inverts traditional wisdom. Traditional wisdom says, ‘choose the line of least resistance’. Picking up your cross and following Jesus, is the opposite of that.     

The apostle Paul put it in similar terms when he talked about offering your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God for this is your spiritual act of worship.  

The point is, serving God’s purpose, following Jesus’ way, is not an easy or glorious experience. It is difficult. It will cost you.

As a Christian you probably won’t have to literally carry a cross or be flogged or nailed to a tree, like Jesus was. But there will be times when obeying Jesus in faith makes you feel uncomfortable, frustrated, vulnerable and powerless. You will look foolish at times. You will be misunderstood. You will lose and you will wonder what the point is.  

Not that it’s all bad. There are also times when serving Jesus feels like a good fit and a privilege. But the values of God’s kingdom are so different from the values of this world that staying loyal to God’s values will inevitably result in personal suffering. The good news is, if you share in Christ’s sufferings, you will (one day) share in his glory.

Not that glory will matter to you by then. In the end you won’t be interested in glory. You won’t care what other people think. You will simply want Christ to hold you.

In Matthew 5, Jesus gives us the beatitudes. The beatitudes spell out what the right way looks like. What we notice about the beatitudes is the ‘right way’ does not always seem right at first. The beatitudes could be summarised like this: ‘There is a way that does not seem right to a man, but in the end it leads to life’.

For example: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To be poor in spirit is to be emotionally depleted, at the end of your rope, weak and vulnerable, like you have been emptied of your courage and motivation. No one chooses to be poor in spirit. No one says, ‘I think I will be poor in spirit today because that seems right to me’. Being poor in spirit is something that circumstance forces on you.

Jesus said you are blessed or lucky if you are poor in spirit because being poor in spirit is a pathway to the kingdom of heaven. Being poor in spirit means you are aware of your need for God and willing to depend on him because you have nothing else.

Another example from the beatitudes of what the right way looks like.

Jesus said: Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

In order to be merciful, you have to be in a position of power in relation to someone else. The merciful are those who use their power to save or help others, as opposed to ignoring or oppressing others. Mercy might mean forgiving a debt or lifting someone out of a hole (literally or metaphorically). 

Mercy, therefore, is a choice. Jesus is saying that the measure you use for others is the measure God will use for you. If you show mercy to others, God will show mercy to you.

Showing mercy usually feels like a sacrifice. Showing mercy will cost you and so it is not easy to show mercy. Forgiving someone may not seem right, when what you really want is revenge. But, as right as revenge might feel in the moment, it leads to death. Mercy, on the other hand, leads to life for you.   

We don’t have to time to go through all the beatitudes now. You can study them yourself later, if you want to know the way that does not seem right, but in the end leads to life.

Suffice to say that when it comes to discerning the right way, we need to look to Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is our best external point of reference when it comes to measuring decisions. Jesus’ example embodies the way we need to take.

May the Lord bless you and guide you by the light of his presence in all the decisions you make, large and small. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Discuss / reflect on the meaning of Proverbs 16:25. ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death’. 
  • Can you think of a time when you (or someone else) did what seemed right, but it ended badly? What happened?
  • What did Jesus mean by the broad road and the narrow road, in Matthew 7:13-14?
  • How can we know if we are on the right path? What are some external points of reference we can use to check if the way we are choosing is actually right? What do we know about the way that pleases God?
  • How do the beatitudes in Matthew 5 inform (and challenge) our understanding of the right way?
  • Why do we need to include Jesus in our decision making? How might we do this? 
Tawa Baptist

A Gentle Answer

Scripture: Proverbs 15:1; 1 Samuel 25; John 8:1-11

Video Link: https://youtu.be/_5yRXjKYZPU

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • A gentle answer
  • Abigail’s answer
  • Jesus’ answer
  • Sometimes wrath prevails
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Did you know that ‘words’ (w.o.r.d.s.) is an anagram for sword?

Putting the s at the front turns ‘words’ into a sword.

They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Words are powerful things.

Today we continue our series in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs contains wisdom for getting through this life. Proverbs has lots to say about words. Our message today focuses on chapter 15, verse 1, which reads…

A gentle answer:

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

This proverb is basically saying, words and the tone (or manner) in which we say them, have the power to calm a situation or make it worse.

We cannot control what other people might be feeling in the first instance, but we can control how we respond, and our response can have a profound effect on the outcome. 

A gentle answer may seem simple enough but it’s actually quite difficult to do, especially in the heat of the moment. Four things to keep in mind…

Firstly, gentleness requires backbone. A backbone lends strength and flexibility to the body. Being gentle does not mean being a push over or a jelly fish. Gentle is not weak. Gentleness requires the strength to stand your ground and the agility to adapt to change.

Secondly, a gentle answer requires logic. Gentle is not emotional. A gentle response involves keeping your composure and speaking sense. There is a time to express emotion but too much emotion tends to get in the way of a gentle answer.   

Some people are naturally empathic in the sense that they quite quickly and intuitively pick up on what other people are feeling. This is both a gift and a curse. On the one hand it helps you to read the situation and understand what you are dealing with.

But if the other person’s emotion bleeds into yours, then it becomes very difficult to keep yourself calm. If you are naturally sensitive to other people’s feelings, you can end up on the emotional roller coaster with them.

Giving a gentle answer requires you to hold on to yourself and not be overwhelmed. You need to read what the other person is feeling without getting sucked into the vortex of their emotion. You have to turn your own feelings off and think rationally in that moment.

You might say to yourself something like, ‘That person is angry and their anger belongs to them. It does not belong to me. I will stay calm and keep breathing. What is the outcome I want in this situation? And what are the logical steps to achieving that outcome?’       

A third thing to keep in mind, if you want to give a gentle answer, is finding common ground. You don’t have to agree with everything the other person is saying or doing but try and identify what you do agree on. Finding common ground enables you to build a connection.

One thing that gets in the way of finding common ground is the ego. You have to put your ego aside if you want to give a gentle answer. As long as you are focused on defending your ego, you won’t be able to find common ground.

A gentle answer requires backbone, logic, common ground and, fourthly, freedom. A gentle answer allows the person you are dealing with to make a free choice. By definition, gentleness does not threaten or coerce or manipulate in any way. A gentle answer presents the other party with a sensible option, not a blunt ultimatum.

There is a fifth thing required for a gentle answer and that is grace. Each of us has a certain amount of grace in the bank account of our soul. This balance of grace is like the currency we spend in dealing with the difficulties of life. Whenever something bad happens, like we become ill or we don’t get enough sleep or someone is unkind or unfair, or whatever, it costs us a little grace.

Likewise, when you are faced with an angry person, giving a gentle answer will require you to make a withdrawal from your grace account.

We need to keep an eye on how much grace we have left in our account. If you are running low, do something to take care of yourself so your balance of grace is topped up and you have the resources you need to manage yourself in a challenging situation.    

A gentle answer will cost you, but not as much as a harsh word. 

Abigail:

There’s a woman in the Bible who had the grace to give a gentle answer and turn away wrath. Her name is Abigail. In the book of First Samuel chapter 25, David (who is on the run from Saul) finds himself in the desert of Maon.

He and his men, as many as 600 soldiers, needed to eat. There was a rich man in that area by the name of Nabal. David sends some of his men to Nabal to ask if Nabal can help out with any supplies. Afterall, David’s men have provided security for Nabal by protecting his flocks.

But Nabal spoke harshly to David’s men, and he insulted David saying…

“Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers and give it to men from who knows where?”

Nabal’s response here shows a lack of grace and a large amount of ego. Nabal is no jelly fish; he is no push over. But he doesn’t have backbone either. A backbone combines strength with flexibility. Nabal is more like a brick wall, hard, brittle, inflexible. 

Nabal was not a wise man. Everyone in Israel knows who David is. David is the one who killed Goliath. David is a national hero, anointed by Samuel to be the next king. The smart thing to do was get on David’s good side.

When David’s men reported back to him, David told them to strap on their swords and he marched off with 400 soldiers to teach Nabal a lesson. David was angry and he did not intend to keep any prisoners.  

In the meantime, one of Nabal’s servants had a quiet word with Nabal’s wife, Abigail. The servant told Abigail how Nabal had hurled insults at David’s men even though David’s men had been good to them.

“Night and day they were a wall around us [protecting us] all the time we were herding sheep near them. 17 Please think this over and decide what to do. This could be disastrous for our master and all his family.” He is so mean that he won’t listen to anybody!”

Abigail didn’t need long to think about it. 18 She quickly gathered two hundred loaves of bread, two leather bags full of wine, five roasted sheep, two bushels of roasted grain, a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dried figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she said to the servants, “You go on ahead and I will follow you.” But she said nothing to her husband…

Abigail understood that a gentle answer was going to cost her, but not nearly as much as her husband’s harsh answer would cost them if she did not intervene.

20 Abigail was riding her donkey around a bend on a hillside when suddenly she met David and his men coming toward her. 23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted and threw herself on the ground 24 at David’s feet, and said to him, “Please, sir, listen to me! Let me take the blame. 25 Please, don’t pay any attention to Nabal, that good-for-nothing! He is exactly what his name means—a fool! I wasn’t there when your servants arrived, sir. 27 Please, sir, accept this present I have brought you, and give it to your men. 28 Please forgive me, sir, for any wrong I have done…

Nabal had reacted to David’s friendliness with arrogance and scorn. Now Abigail, responds wisely to David’s anger with humility and gentleness.

Notice though that a gentle response is not a weak response. There is real courage, real strength, real backbone in Abigail’s action here. Put yourself in her shoes for a moment. Abigail was facing 400 angry men and she was saying, ‘Let me take the blame’. 

Although Abigail has done nothing wrong, she offers to take the blame in order to save her household. This is a picture of grace. This reminds us of what Jesus did on the cross.

Notice too the way Abigail finds common ground with David. Abigail agrees with David that Nabal is a fool. She is wisely establishing a connection and acknowledging that David has every right to feel offended. At the same time, she is also putting distance between herself and Nabal.

To her credit, Abigail doesn’t burst into tears or allow herself to be overwhelmed by emotion. Rather, Abigail sets her gentle answer on the firm foundation of reason and logic. Abigail appeals to David’s conscience, his better nature. From verse 30 she says… 

30 And when the Lord has done all the good things he has promised you and has made you king of Israel, 31 then you will not have to feel regret or remorse, sir, for having killed without cause or for having taken your own revenge…”

This is wise. Abigail gently points out to David the logical outcome if he shows mercy. But she does it in such a way that David still has a choice. Abigail does not threaten David or try to force his hand in any way. She points out to David the benefit of showing mercy (you will be free from regret) and leaves the decision with him. Abigail gives David freedom.

Abigail’s gentle words turned David’s wrath away. The king accepted Abigail’s gift and did not carry out his revenge.

Jesus:

We are talking about how a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.  Jesus was a master at the art of the gentle answer. In the gospel of John, chapter 8, we read…

2 At dawn Jesus appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

The whole thing is a set up. We know the woman has been set up because it takes two people to commit adultery and the man isn’t there. The law said both the man and the woman should be stoned, not just the woman.

Primarily though, the Pharisees are trying to set Jesus up. If Jesus says, ‘Stone her’, then he gets in trouble with the Romans and if he says, ‘Don’t stone her’, he can be accused of breaking the law of Moses. 

Jesus is faced with a crowd, most of whom are either angry or confused. What does he do? Well, he holds onto himself. He does not let the anger or malice of his adversaries bleed into his soul or overwhelm his judgment. Jesus exercises the strength of self-control and says nothing at first. Instead…  

Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

Jesus’ response is gentle. It is not harsh or emotional. His response is courageous and rational. Jesus does not beg for mercy for the woman. Nor does he try to appease the Pharisees. Jesus doesn’t say, ‘Let me take the blame’, like we might expect.

No. Jesus finds common ground and he uses logic. The law is the common ground. Yes, the law does prescribe the death penalty for adultery. But, before you start throwing stones, think about the outcome for yourself if you do kill her. You will find it hard to live with yourself, knowing you also have sinned and deserve the same punishment. Jesus’ logic is clear. 

There is no coercion, no threat and no manipulation in Jesus’ gentle answer. Jesus leaves the decision with each individual and their conscience. The people are free to choose.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus was gentle but firm with the Pharisees who were trying to trap him and he was gentle but firm with the woman too. Gentle does not mean weak. Jesus does not condemn the woman but nor does he condone adultery. Jesus shows back bone. Strength with flexibility.

Jesus makes a withdrawal of grace from his own personal account and deposits it in the woman’s account, not so she can carry on as she has been. But rather so she can make a fresh start in right relationship with others.   

Backbone, logic, common ground, freedom and grace. All these are on display with Jesus’ gentle answer.

Sometimes wrath prevails:

That being said, it must also be acknowledged that a gentle answer does not always turn away wrath. It did for Jesus in John 8 and it did for Abigail in Samuel 25. But there are times when no amount of gentleness will do.

When Jesus was made to stand trial before the Jewish council, the Lord did nothing to provoke their anger. Jesus stood his ground and responded with gentleness and reason, grace and truth.  

When one of the guards struck Jesus on the face, the Lord answered not with emotion but with logic, saying, ‘If I said something wrong, testify to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?’ 

And, when Jesus stood before the Roman governor and Pilate said, ‘Don’t you realise I have the power either to free you or crucify you?’ Jesus answered with logic and grace, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’

Jesus’ gentle answer convinced Pilate that Jesus was innocent. From then on Pilate tried to set Jesus free but the anger of the Jews prevailed and Jesus went to the cross.  

Even while he was hanging on the cross, bleeding out, thirsty, exhausted, in agony, with insults ringing in his ears, Jesus still managed a gentle answer: ‘Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.’

A gentle answer turns away wrath, most of the time, but not always. This life is not necessarily fair.

Conclusion:  

We are not likely to find ourselves in an extreme, life-threatening situation like Abigail or Jesus, for which we can be thankful.

But we may still be ambushed by a petulant child or a surly teenager. We may have to deal with an unreasonable adult or a grumpy husband or wife. And there may be times when people who do not know us that well, dump their prejudice on us.

Those moments often come without warning when we are feeling tired and otherwise distracted. We may not always be well equipped with the grace or the strength or the presence of mind we need to give a gentle answer.

Sometimes we will manage to hold on to ourselves and not be overwhelmed by the weight of someone else’s emotion. Other times our ego might get the better of us so that we seek to justify ourselves and respond more harshly than we would have liked. 

Try to have the same grace for yourself that you do for others. It does no good to get stuck in a cycle of feeling guilty and beating yourself up whenever you fall short of your ideals.

We can be our own worst enemy. Sometimes we end up shadowboxing with ourselves. Sometimes we need to speak a gentle answer to our own inner critic. 

Remember too, there may be times when a gentle answer is not called for. There may be times when it is better to give no answer and simply walk away from an angry person, give them a chance to cool down.

This is particularly relevant when communicating on social media. Best not to engage a keyboard warrior.

Life is messy. Sometimes we get it right. Sometimes we make the mess worse. None of us is perfect. We look to Jesus to be our wisdom and our righteousness, knowing that …he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ our Lord. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Can you think of a time (in your own experience) when you observed a gentle answer turning away wrath? What happened?
  • Why is it necessary to keep emotion at arms’ length when giving a gentle answer? What can we do to hold onto ourselves and not be overwhelmed by emotion in the heat of the moment?
  • What is your ‘grace balance’ like at present? Are you running low on grace? What can you do, over the next few days or weeks, to top up your grace balance?
  • Discuss / reflect on Abigail’s gentle answer in 1st Samuel 25. How did Abigail find common ground with David? What logic did Abigail use to turn away David’s wrath?
  • Discuss / reflect on Jesus’ gentle answer in John 8:1-11. What common ground did Jesus find with his adversaries in this situation? How did Jesus use logic and freedom to turn away wrath?
  • What can we do when a gentle answer does not turn away wrath? What can we do when we fail to give a gentle answer? When is a gentle answer not appropriate?     
Tawa Baptist

Hope Deferred

Scriptures: Proverbs 13:12

Video Link: https://youtu.be/C-GvzmIqEsA

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Hope deferred
  • Longing fulfilled
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Today we continue our sermon series in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs offers practical down to earth wisdom based on how the world operates. Whenever we read Proverbs, or any Biblical text for that matter, we need to be thinking, ‘How does this point to Jesus?’ ‘How does Jesus fulfil this wisdom?’

The focus of our message this week is Proverbs 13, verse 12, which reads…

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

Hope deferred:

As with most of the proverbial sayings, there are two contrasting halves to this verse which give it a nice symmetry. Essentially though, this proverb is talking about one thing: the psychological effect of hope. ‘Longing’ is just another way of talking about hope in this context.

Deferred hope has a negative psychological impact on a person, but hope fulfilled has a positive psychological effect.

When hope is delayed by a long period of time or taken away altogether, it makes the heart sick.

You may remember from other sermons that the heart, in the Old Testament, usually refers to a person’s inner life. The heart is a metaphor for an individual’s mind, emotions and will.

When hope is deferred, a person’s thinking, feeling and motivation is negatively impacted, it is made sick. The greater the hope, the bigger the negative impact if that hope is not realized.

If you catch a bad flu, your body is made sick. You might experience aching joints and muscles. You might be shivering with cold one moment and sweating with fever the next. To say nothing of the headaches, sore throat, hacking cough, running nose and difficulty breathing.

The flu robs you of energy and impairs your physical functioning, so you cannot do all the things you are normally able to do.

It’s similar with hope. When hope is delayed for long periods of time, it impairs your psychological functioning, so you cannot handle daily life as well as you normally would. Even small difficulties, like being stuck in traffic, can seem overwhelming and put you in a spin.

Hope is the capacity to believe something good waits for you in the future. Hope sustains mental and emotional energy.  

Believing there is good in your future feeds your heart, your mind, your soul, your spirit so you have the psychological energy you need to get through and face the challenges that come with daily life.

The closer you come to realizing your hope, the greater the energy you feel. But, if someone moves the goal posts, if the finishing line is shifted and your hope is postponed, you become psychologically deflated.

All that emotional energy you were getting from hope drains away, like water in cupped hands. Take hope away and you take a person’s mental and emotional energy away.  

Let me give you an example to illustrate what we mean by the psychological impact of hope deferred…

Imagine you have been working away diligently for a whole year without taking a holiday. You have weekends off your regular job, but Saturdays and Sundays are pretty full doing household chores or running around after your family. Life is hectic and pressured.

After a hard year, carrying a heavy load at work and at home, you are tired and looking forward to some time away. In fact, you have had this holiday planned for months. A nice air b n b near the beach, just you and your family for ten whole days.      

Whenever the pressure comes on at work, whenever a client complains or the boss is unreasonable, you imagine swimming in the sea or building sandcastles with the kids. The very thought of the holiday gives you the energy to get through the daily grind with a smile on your face.

But then suddenly, just one week before you are due to go on leave, a cyclone passes over the country. There is flooding and slips and the access road to your air b n b by the beach is cut off. There is no way in or out for months.

Your dream of a relaxing holiday has been deferred. The hope you had been relying on to give you the emotional energy you needed to get through each day is gone. 

You are not even sure if you want to take your annual leave anymore. It’s too late to try and find another holiday place and if you stay home, you will end up painting the house or checking your work emails anyway. It feels like such a waste.      

Now, when a client complains about something, you reply with sarcasm. And when your boss asks you to stay late to get a project in on time, you drag your heels. What’s the point you think to yourself.

And when someone in your household doesn’t empty the dishwasher or leaves food on the bench to attract ants, you snap at each other. You just don’t have the energy to deal with minor irritations. Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

Typically, when we are young, our hopes tend to fly high. But as we grow through life, we face disappointment. Our heart is made sick when the people we trust let us down or when circumstance conspires against us. ‘The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’, as Shakespeare put it.  

With each disappointment we learn to lower our hope, to clip the wings of expectation and edit our dreams, so as to avoid the pain of more loss. The problem with this approach is that the less you hope for, the less mental and emotional energy you have. 

Secular wisdom would say, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Don’t commit all your hope to just one thing. Hedge your bets. Have a plan B in case plan A doesn’t work out. We can see the sense in that kind of reasoning, but how does this compare with the wisdom of Christ?

Part of Jesus’ message was: Don’t put all your hope in the temporary things of this world, put the larger portion of your hope in the eternal things of God’s kingdom.

The eternal things of God’s kingdom include righteousness, love, trust, generosity, kindness and so on. Jesus talked about storing up riches for yourself in heaven where rust and moth cannot destroy and thieves cannot break in and steal.

It’s not that you shouldn’t plan a nice holiday or save for a house or find a life partner. We live in this world and we still need things to look forward to in this life, even if they are temporary things.

The point is: Eternal hope lends perspective. Eternal hope helps us to cope better with the disappointments we experience in this world.

If someone you counted on in this life lets you down (a friend or family member maybe), then that sucks. That hurts. It’s painful. But if you also have Jesus as your friend, as your ultimate hope, it’s not the end of the world. You are not alone.      

Longing fulfilled:

Okay, so we have been talking about hope deferred. What about when hope is realized? The second half of Proverbs 13, verse 12, says: a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

We heard about the tree of life last week, so we don’t need to rehearse all that again now. Suffice to say the tree of life, in Proverbs, is used as a metaphor for wisdom and wellbeing.

In the context of Proverbs 13, to say a longing fulfilled is a tree of life, is like saying, ‘it is good for you, psychologically, when your hope is realized’.

A longing fulfilled restores your mental and emotional energy. It gives you confidence and strength to cope with the vicissitudes of life. In fact, a longing fulfilled enlarges your capacity for hope.  

Earlier, I asked you to imagine looking forward to a well-earned holiday only to have your hope deferred by a cyclone. Well, it wouldn’t be fair to leave you in limbo like that so let’s pick up the story again.

By this stage, three days have passed since you heard the disappointing news that you cannot gain access to your air b n b by the beach. It is now two days before your leave is due to start. You are still deciding whether you will take the leave or work through like a martyr and take it out on everyone around you.

Then the phone rings. It’s a friend you knew from youth group days. Your friend lives in a different town to you now. Tauranga, as it happens. They are going to be away for the next two weeks and wondered if you would be interested in house sitting for them. “I know it’s last minute, but you would be doing us a huge favour”, your friend says.

You can’t quite believe what you are hearing. You quickly gather your thoughts. “Let me just check my diary… Yes, we could make that work. Happy to help.”   

After putting the phone down, you take a moment to reflect on the providence of God. You thank him for his goodness.

In an instant your hope is restored and your emotional energy returns. You take your family on holiday to the sunny Bay of Plenty, have a wonderful time and come home refreshed and ready to carry on. 

There’s a true story, of hope deferred and longing fulfilled, in the gospel of Luke. Luke chapter 8 reads…

40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

Nothing threatens a parent’s hope like a seriously sick child. Jairus is longing for his little girl to live. All his eggs are in one basket. He has placed all his hope in Jesus.  

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years,but no one could heal her.

Talk about hope deferred. Here is a woman who has been on a roller coaster of disappointment for twelve long years. This woman has suffered terribly during this time. She may have experienced ongoing physical pain from her bleeding.

She would most likely have dangerously low iron levels, resulting in tiredness and diminished immunity. Which means doing daily tasks, like carrying water, cooking meals and so on would be much more demanding. Not only that but she would be more susceptible to illness and infection.

As if the physical trauma of her complaint was not bad enough, this woman would have been excluded from community life as well. If she wasn’t married, then she would have no chance of finding a husband and if she was married, she would not be able to get close to her husband or have children.

Under Old Testament law her bleeding made her ritually unclean so she would not be able to participate in worship. She was probably poor as well, having spent all her money on doctors who could not heal her.    

It was a pretty miserable existence for her. But despite twelve years of disappointment, the woman put what hope she had left in Jesus. 

44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

The healing comes at a price. It is free to the woman, but it costs Jesus. Here we have a picture of God’s grace. Grace may be free but it’s not cheap.  

47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched Jesus and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

We might wonder why Jesus calls this woman out so publicly. I mean, hasn’t she suffered enough humiliation and embarrassment. Wouldn’t it be more winsome for Jesus to use his discretion and say nothing.

Well, Jesus is not trying to embarrass her. To the contrary, Jesus wants to complete the woman’s healing. She has received physical healing by touching Jesus but what about the social and psychological healing she needs?

By inviting the woman to publicly confess the truth of her healing, Jesus is restoring her to the community.  Now, she can be included again. That’s social healing. And by affirming the woman for her faith, Jesus is giving her honour, dignity and respect. That’s psychological healing.

Perhaps Jesus is also helping the community think differently about women and about women’s health generally.  

The Lord has fulfilled the woman’s longing. Jesus has been a tree of life for her.

But spare a thought for Jairus, the father of the sick girl. Every passing minute must have felt like an age to him. The interruption and the slowness of the crowd is deferring his hope.     

49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”

‘In the chilly hours and minutes of uncertainty, I want to be in the warm hold of your loving mind.’ (Donovan, Catch the Wind.)

Jairus is very much in the warm hold of Jesus’ loving mind in these minutes of uncertainty. The temptation here is for Jairus to abandon all hope, but Jesus calms Jairus’ fears and keeps his hope alive. Jesus encourages Jairus to believe something good is waiting in his future.

51 When Jesus arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”

53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.

Jairus’ hope had been deferred but now the longing for his daughter’s life to be restored is fulfilled. Jesus is a tree of life to Jairus’ whole family.

These twin stories in Luke 8 serve as a pattern for us in our journey of faith with Jesus. We come to Jesus in hope that he will help us in some way. But Jesus does not always give us what we want at first. Sometimes we have to wait.

In the waiting, we are sifted and refined.

Last week, we heard how God prevented Adam and Eve access to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. That is not how the story ends.

In John’s Revelation we read: To those who overcome, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God. 

We need to maintain our hope in Jesus, for he is our tree of life. In Christ our deepest longings are fulfilled.

May the Lord heal your heart and fulfill your longing for him. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • What is hope? Why do we need hope?
  • Can you think of a time when your hope was deferred? What happened? What psychological effect did it have on you?
  • How might we measure mental or emotional energy? What are your mental and emotional energy levels like at present? What do you need to fill your emotional tank?
  • What are you looking forward to (or longing for) at the moment? Where is your hope placed? How vulnerable is your hope?
  • Reflecting on the story in Luke 8:40-56, who do you identify with most? Why?
  • What does it mean to put your hope in Jesus? How do we maintain our hope in Christ? 
Tawa Baptist

Tree of Life

Scriptures: Proverbs 11:30 & 3:18 & Luke 7:1-10

Video Link: https://youtu.be/dqemajnLd6I

Structure:

  • Introduction
  • Tree of life
  • Winning souls
  • Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning, everyone.

Today we continue our sermon series in the book of Proverbs. Broadly speaking, we might think of the book of Proverbs like a sandwich. The opening and closing chapters are the bread holding together the filling of proverbial sayings in the middle. 

Chapters 1-9 offer poems extolling the value of wisdom. We have been focusing on these chapters over the past few weeks.

Chapters 10-29 contain hundreds of short sayings which serve as a guide for how the world operates. These little nuggets of wisdom tend toward generalisation and don’t explore the exceptions to the rule all that much.  

The proverbial sayings do not appear to be arranged in any sort of helpful order. It’s not like there is a nice, neat chapter on alcohol and then a chapter on sex and a chapter on money. The sayings are all mixed together. 

The book of Proverbs closes (in chapters 30-31) with the bread of more poetry.

Today we take a bite into the filling of the Proverbs sandwich, the actual wisdom sayings themselves.

Our message this morning focuses on chapter 11, verse 30, which reads…

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

The tree of life:

Trees are amazing. They have the power to heal and to make life better.

Trees turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, so we can breathe. The leaves of a tree also purify the air, removing toxins within a 100 metre radius. 

Trees promote biodiversity by providing a home for all sorts of wildlife including birds, insects and small animals.

Trees take care of the soil. Tree roots help to prevent erosion and they purify the water running off into streams and rivers.

Trees act as a natural air conditioner, helping to cool temperatures in urban areas. City streets are covered in tar seal which exasperates the heat. Trees shade the tar seal from the sun, thus reducing the temperature in the neighbourhood.

Walking or sitting among trees supports mental health too. Trees reduce people’s stress levels and calm anxiety. This is to say nothing of the beauty of trees. Trees are life giving in every way.

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of trees though, is the fruit they produce. Trees are a source of food for humans and animals, birds and bees.

Proverbs 11, verse 30, is a verse of two halves. The first half describes the fruit of the righteous as a tree of life.

The righteous are people who, as a matter of principle and habit, routinely do the right thing in their relationships with others. Righteousness equates to right relationship.

The fruit of the righteous refers to the words and actions of righteous people. Things like justice, honesty, mercy, kindness, faithfulness, forgiveness, humility and so on. Let me give you an example based on something that happened to me when I was at university…

Imagine you go to a cash machine to get some money out. You try to withdraw $200 but the machine doesn’t give you the cash. The money comes off your account balance as a withdrawal but there’s something wrong with the ATM, so the money doesn’t physically come out.  

The ATM is right outside an actual branch of the bank, so you go inside and stand in line for 20 minutes. Eventually you are seen and explain your story to a bank teller. The teller listens patiently only to say, “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do.” She doesn’t believe you.

At that moment another customer walks up to the teller next to you and says, “I just withdrew $20 from the ATM outside but the machine gave me $220, so I’m returning the extra $200.” It is then clear to everyone the ATM had a hiccup and the $200 belongs to you. The teller gives you the $200, you thank the honest stranger and go on your way feeling strangely warm inside.

The person who got $220 when they only withdrew $20 could have walked away with the extra money and no one would be any the wiser. But she didn’t. She was righteous and returned the cash that did not belong to her. The fruit of her righteousness in this situation was justice and honesty.

Her justice and honesty were a tree of life to you. Not only did you have the money you needed to buy your groceries, but you also felt better about the world you live in. The fruit of this righteous woman strengthened your capacity for trust and helped you to be less anxious.

The thing about trees is they are always doing good. It’s not like they carry out random acts of kindness when it suits them. Trees do good for the environment all the time, simply by their living presence.

It’s the same with righteous people. They have a positive, life-giving effect on those around them all the time, through their presence and because that is who they are.

Sometimes we might think that to be righteous we must perform some grand gesture or carry out a heroic task of superhuman proportions. Maybe like working in a refugee camp or finding a cure for cancer or rescuing kittens from a burning building or raising lots of money for a good cause. And while they may be good things to do, righteousness is usually more routine, more ordinary than that.

Righteousness is not an isolated act. Righteousness is a state of being. Being there for your family, to support them. Being content with your husband or wife and not looking over the fence. Turning up to work, doing your best for your employer or your employees. Using your pay to put food on the table.

Righteousness is being patient when your child is having a tantrum. Righteousness is knowing when to say ‘yes’ and when to say ‘no’. Righteousness is owning your mistakes and putting things right to the extent you can. Righteousness is trusting God to make things right when you have been wronged.     

Another thing about trees is they do good silently, invisibly. Most of the time we don’t even notice the good trees are doing. Unless we consciously go out of our way to study trees, we probably take them for granted.   

Righteous people are like trees in that they don’t advertise the good they do. Most of the time we don’t even notice righteous people. Righteousness is not glamourous or attention seeking. In fact, righteousness may appear quite pedestrian or boring even.

Reflecting on your own experience for a moment; who, through their righteousness, has been a tree of life to you? [Pause]

Those of you who know your Bibles will be aware there is mention of the tree of life in Genesis. What connection (if any) is there between the tree of life in the garden of Eden and the tree of life in Proverbs? In Genesis 2 we read…

9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve were allowed to eat the fruit of any of the trees in the Garden of Eden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Sadly, they disobeyed God.

Consequently, Adam & Eve were expelled from Eden and not allowed access to the tree of life in case they ate the fruit and lived forever. This tells us the tree of life in Genesis represents immortality. Living forever without dying.

It might seem unkind of God to keep the tree of life from Adam and Eve, but it was a mercy. To live forever with our Sin would be terrible. The essence of Sin is alienation from God, alienation from our neighbour and alienation from ourselves.

To be alienated from yourself is to hate yourself. Some people project their self-hatred out onto others. Some people internalise it. To hate yourself is a cruel torment. To not be able to live with yourself (or anyone else) for all eternity would be a kind of living hell in which one longs to die.

It is because God did not want us to suffer in this way that he kept the tree of life from us. God was limiting our suffering. Death and resurrection are the fresh start we need to be free of sin and alienation.  

So how does the tree of life in Genesis inform our understanding of the tree of life in Proverbs? Well, the writers of Proverbs were most likely piggy backing off the tree of life imagery in Genesis.

Proverbs 11, verse 30, is not saying that the fruit of the righteous will enable people to literally live forever. It’s simply a poetic way of saying, righteousness promotes long life and well-being. Righteousness feeds the human soul and spirit with good things. Indeed, righteousness blesses the whole community.

Proverbs 3, verse 18, says that wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her. This is another way of saying the same thing: the wisdom of righteousness is life giving.    

Winning souls:

The second part of Proverbs 11, verse 30, says: and he who wins souls is wise.

If you come from an evangelical background then, for you, winning souls might equate to convincing someone to become a Christian. Getting them to pray the sinner’s prayer, ask Jesus into their heart and be baptised.  

But I don’t think that’s what the writers of Proverbs had in mind, not exactly.

A soul is a person’s life force. So, the word soul is associated with life. It’s a term that describes your essence. More than that though, the term soul refers to a whole person. As in the phrase, ‘there were 250 souls on board’, meaning there were 250 living individuals on board.

You are not just a body, with a mind. You are a soul, with a body and a mind. Your soul (your life force, your essence) animates your body and lends uniqueness to your personality. 

In the context of Proverbs 11, to win souls could mean to save someone’s life or at least have a positive and lifegiving effect on their wellbeing. It may also mean being winsome in the way you relate with others.

Both halves of verse 30 shed light on each other. If the first part of verse 30 is saying that the words and actions of a righteous person are lifegiving to those around them, then the second half is saying wise people (who are also righteous) have a positive effect on the people around them.

Looking at verse 30 from another angle, we might also say, a wise person knows that righteousness is the way to influence other people for good. When someone is treated with kindness and fairness, it affects their soul in a positive way, so they want to be kind and fair too.

A wise person wins souls by their righteous and winsome behaviour, not by fast talking or manipulation.

Let me give you two examples of people who win souls through wisdom and righteousness. The first is from the movie The Shawshank Redemption.

Andy, a righteous man, is sent to prison for a murder he did not commit. Despite suffering abuse and mistreatment, Andy petitions the authorities to send him books so he can teach other prisoners to read and write. The fruit of Andy’s righteousness is a tree of life to those around him. Andy has a lifegiving effect on his fellow inmates.

Through his wisdom and righteousness, Andy wins souls. One soul in particular is that of a fellow prisoner nicknamed Red. Red has been in Shawshank for decades and it has destroyed his capacity for hope. Red does not dare to imagine a better future because he knows that hope can drive a man insane. Hope is dangerous.

But Andy has a different perspective. Andy says, “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

At the end of the movie, Red is released from prison and the last thing we hear him say is, “I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.”

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Through his righteous friendship, Andy won Red’s soul. Andy restored Red’s capacity to hope.

As inspiring as it is, The Shawshank Redemption is a fictional story, based on a book by Stephen King. This is not to suggest the righteous who win souls are a fiction, just a nice ideal that does not exist in the real world. 

There is a true story, a gospel story, based on historical fact, which shows us what soul winning righteousness looks like. From Luke 7, verse 1 we read…

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. 2 There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. 3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, 5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them.

The Roman army were the occupying force in Israel at the time of Jesus. The Roman army were the enforcers. Mostly they restricted Jewish freedom and oppressed the people.

But here we have a Roman Centurion, in charge of 100 soldiers, who is not destroying or oppressing the Jews but actually helping them by building a synagogue. The Centurion does the unexpected. He overturns our prejudice.  

This wise and righteous army officer is a tree of life to the Jewish community. Through his fairness and generosity, the Centurion has won the souls of the Jewish elders. He has earned the trust and respect of those he is there to police.  

More than that though, this Roman Centurion wins Jesus’ commendation too. Not by some grand gesture or heroic deed but by his vulnerability and faith. From verse 6 we continue our reading…

Jesus was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Jesus: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Jesus, who was Jewish, could not enter the home of a Gentile, like the Roman Centurion, without becoming ritually unclean. The Centurion knows this and finds a winsome way to save Jesus from this socially awkward and culturally embarrassing situation.

Here we have a greater quality of righteousness. The righteousness that comes from faith. The Centurion loves his servant, and he trusts Jesus to heal his servant from a distance.

9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10 Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Through his faith, the Centurion won the soul (or saved the life) of his servant, and he won the respect of Jesus in a winsome way. He continues to win souls even today.

Who do you identify with most in this story? The servant in need of healing? The wise Centurion? The Jewish elders who intercede? Perhaps you identify with Jesus? Or someone in the crowd following Jesus, bearing witness to it all? 

We may be reluctant to think of ourselves as the Centurion. Kiwi culture does not allow us to think too highly of ourselves. But we may not be too different from him. Like the Centurion, we too have put our faith in a Christ we have only heard of from a distance and not yet seen.

Conclusion:

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

Jesus was crucified on a cross, nailed to a tree of death. The fruit of Jesus’ righteousness, in going to the cross in love and obedience to God, is a tree of life to all those who put their faith in Christ. Indeed, Jesus’ wisdom in obeying God, even unto death, has won millions of souls down through the ages.

In a few moments we will share communion together. Communion is a time to remember the abundant life Jesus has won for us.

It is through Jesus’ death that our alienation comes to an end.

It is through Jesus’ sacrifice that our relationship with God is made right.

It is through Jesus’ love that we are set free from self-hatred.

It is through Jesus’ resurrection that our hope is restored.

May the righteousness of Jesus bear fruit in our lives. Amen.   

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading these Scriptures and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

  • Discuss / reflect on the benefits of trees. When was the last time you planted a tree?
  • What does the fruit of the righteous refer to? Can you think of examples from the Bible or from your own experience?
  • Who, through their righteousness, is a tree of life to you? What do they do that is life giving? Give thanks to God for them. How might you be a tree of life to others?
  • Why does God restrict access to the tree of life in Genesis 3? Why is this a kindness?
  • What does Proverbs 11:30 mean by winning souls?
  • Thinking of the story of the Roman Centurion in Luke 7, who do you identify with most and why? The servant? The Centurion? The Jewish elders who intercede? Jesus? Or someone in the crowd following Jesus?