The Way of Wisdom
Proverbs 4:10-23
September 10, 2023 anno Domini
Jeus is on his way to Jerusalem and the lepers are on their way to death. St. Paul tells the Galatians “to walk by the Spirit” so they do not lose the way of life to the desires of their flesh. In Proverbs Solomon is teaching his son “the way of wisdom” so that he does not stumble. Perhaps Trinity 14 should be called “Travel” Sunday or “Walking” Sunday. I’m sure it would sound more sophisticated in Latin.
God has one goal. To interrupt your journey to death and bring you onto the way of life. It’s the goal of a loving Father to his children. That’s how Solomon puts it in the book of Proverbs.
The first nine chapters of Proverbs are conversations between Solomon and his son. Like our Father in heaven Solomon is a good father and he wants his son to have a good and long life, so he imparts wisdom.
In Proverbs wisdom is often personified as a woman, particularly a good wife. This might be because wisdom is a feminine noun in Hebrew, but it might also be because Solomon wants his son attracted to Wisdom. He wants his son to love Wisdom and pursue her, but Solomon knows his son will also face the temptations of the world, even as Paul knew the Galatians were wrestling with “the desires of the flesh.” In Proverbs Wisdom’s alternative is an adulterous woman named “folly” who is loud and seductive.
Although the word doesn’t occur in the text the word “fear” is used often in Proverbs. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Luther used the same word “fear” in his explanation of every commandment. We should fear and love God. This fear is not the fear of a servant afraid of getting whipped by his master. This is the fear of a son for his father. This fear is really love – the love of a son who does wants to please his dad and not disappoint him. This fear is faith.
That tells us something else that Proverbs makes clear. Wisdom is of God, and it is a gift to you. Wisdom is like Jesus coming down the road to those 10 men in today’s Gospel reading. When those men got leprosy they pursued every bit of human wisdom they heard. They tried every home remedy and vitamin supplement available. They drank gallons of tart cherry juice and saw every specialist at the Centracare Plaza in Jerusalem. Human wisdom was folly in the face of leprosy. The only Wisdom that could heal them (and you) had to come down from heaven. Jesus is God’s Wisdom in the flesh. Had He not come down that road the lepers would have had no life, no hope, no future, and neither would you.
That’s a long lead into the text.
Solomon tells his son there are only two directions for his life to go. The way of wisdom or the way of the wicked, the path of uprightness or the path of evil. He will have long years of life or sleepless nights. He will walk without stumbling or he will cause others to stumble. He will walk toward an ever brighter light or he will plunge into deeper darkness.
You would think the choice would be obvious, right? It sounds as easy as the multiple-choice question Moses put to the Israelites on the verge of the promised land. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Then he even gives them the correct answer, “Choose life, that you and your offspring may live.” But what did Israel choose again and again? They chose the way of death. That shouldn’t surprise you. What do you choose? What is the easier choice? To sin or to be holy? To covet or be content? To worry or to trust God? To complain or to pray?
Solomon imparts Wisdom to his son, but Wisdom is not simply a set of instructions. Wisdom is the character of God. God is all-wise or as we learned from the catechism – omniscient. God has all the science in His person, so we can trust Him far more than the scientists of this world. By Wisdom God created the world and ordered the world to be the place of life for us. Wisdom is not doing what God says, it is having what God gives. God doesn’t just want you to walk on the right path, He wants you to believe His path is the right path, to desire that path. That’s why Solomon preaches all the goodness of Wisdom to his son. He wants his son to desire Wisdom, to love Wisdom, to have his heart set on Wisdom. Wisdom does not come by works, but by faith, by believing and trusting that what God says and does and teaches is right and good and wise for you.
This is what Solomon wants for his son, so he contrasts the way of wisdom with the way of the wicked. Wisdom will give his son freedom. His steps won’t be hampered, and he will run without stumbling. God’s Wisdom, which ultimately is Christ, sets you free. You’re free from sin so you can tell the Devil off when he bothers you with your sins. You’re free from death so you can look ahead to life and the resurrection. You’re free from trying to earn God’s favor so you can serve your neighbor in love. You’re a baptized child of God so you’re free from finding your own identity. You’re free from putting your hope in man, because your hope is in the God who became man to save man, to save you. God’s Wisdom delivers real freedom, freedom to do what is good and pleasing in God’s eyes. So, Solomon encourages his boy to pursue Wisdom like a beautiful and desirous wife, Keep hold of instruction do not let go, guard her, for she is your life.
The way of Wisdom delivers. The way of wickedness robs. On the wicked way you cannot sleep unless you have done wrong. Your only rest comes when someone else stumbles. If you live in sin your only comfort is when you see someone worse than you. The things that nourish you are the bread of wickedness, and you get drunk on the wine of violence. Look at that wicked list Paul gives in Galatians – those sins give you nothing and rob you of everything and hold you like a vice. Solomon does not want his son to wed such a wanton woman as folly so he gives his son six commands, “Do not enter the path of the wicked and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it. Do not go on it. Turn away from it and pass on.”
Lastly in th text Solomon tells his son that Wisdom is not just for his soul, but for his body. Incline your ear to my sayings, let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Your sin doesn’t just soil your soul, it corrupts your flesh. Your lips tell lies. Your hands grab what isn’t yours. Your mind wanders during the sermon. Your feet trespass into places God has fenced off. God’s Wisdom is for you – body and soul. The Son of God, God’s Wisdom, became flesh. Jesus had eyes that saw sick lepers and ears that heard their cry and lips that bestowed health, and hands that were pierced and lungs that breathed their last. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the wisdom of God is to preach Christ and Him crucified. Believe that and your lips will say blessed things, your eyes will see a brighter day ahead, your hands will serve your neighbor, and your heart will beat with life for all eternity. That’s the wisdom Solomon wants for his son and your Father in heaven wants for you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.