Word of Salvation – Vol.48 No.1 – January 2003

 

Tunnel Vision

 

Sermon by Rev P Archbald on Proverbs 4

Scripture Readings:  John 14:1-15; Proverbs 4

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is well known that Proverbs addresses the parent-child relationship; that it has much to say about parental discipline, for instance. It may seem that Proverbs 4 is one of those passages simply dealing with this theme of home life. But in reality, this chapter is not only about fathers and sons. It may indeed have implications for such relationships, but that is not the main point.

The main theme of Proverbs 4 is Wisdom. The getting of Wisdom is compared to the situation with a father instructing his son. The “father-son” thing is a device to teach us about Wisdom’s call to us.

We consider this under two headings:

– the “Father’s” Role;

– the “Father’s” Advice.

1. The “Father’s” Role

Notice, in the first place, the picture of three generations linked by the common process of the Jewish father instructing his son in God’s ways (vss 1-3). The father instructs and advises his son, as his father once did to him, many years before. Mum gets a mention, too, “When I was a son to my father, tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, then he taught me…” (vs 3). The picture is of a very young child, tender, needing protection, needing his parents’ teaching. Perhaps an ‘only child’, so deeply loved by his parents that they make absolutely certain they raise him in the right way, the Lord’s way.

Now, as I say, there’s a temptation here to read this, and go off at a tangent. As one commentator puts it, this teaches that Wisdom is transmitted by personal influence – from mum and dad. Another observes, “A child untaught is a living shame.” All true observations, in themselves, but is this the point of the text?

I would suggest that there are actually three main points being made here in this comparison between Wisdom’s call and parental instruction in godliness. The first is that we are to pay very careful attention to the Lord’s Word of Wisdom. When dad sits the boy down, and says to him, “My son…”, he’d better pay attention. Even more so if he says, “Son, I’m going to give you some advice my father gave me when I was your age.”

Of course, especially these days, a lad may sit there thinking, “Oh boy, here we go again! Another one of those father-son talks. When I was a boy…” Still, he’s waiting to hear what it’s going to be about. So when Wisdom calls to us, we had better listen carefully, to find out what it’s about. Ignore the words, and you do so at your own risk. A grave risk! For this is the Wisdom of ages, of generations, the Wisdom of the Eternal One. Young people, don’t dare write it off as just another, “When I was a boy” saga. The Lord doesn’t speak idly to us.

Besides, it’s for our own protection. Dad says to his boy, “Listen, son, I don’t want you playing on the street. It’s dangerous. The cars come around that corner too fast.” Or, “I don’t want you swimming in that part of the river.” Or, “I don’t want you hanging around with those other boys. They’re trouble.” Children are tender, they need protection. God’s children, too, are tender. We are tender. We need His protection, need His Wisdom to protect us from spiritual danger. We had better listen.

The second aspect of this comparison is that the Lord’s concern to impart Wisdom to us is not cold and calculating. It arises out of His love for us. His electing love for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. The “son” here is not just any son, but the son of the covenant, who needs to be taught and learn the Wisdom of His heavenly Father. Israel is God’s “only son” – an “election” term – much loved by his Father, the apple of His eye. So are we. Israel is the tender, defenceless child, needing the protection of God’s Wisdom. And He gives it because He cares for us. Election is not the cold, hard, calculating doctrine some make it. It is about love – “love before time” – the love of a Father for His only Son.

Related to this, the third aspect of the comparison between parent-child relationship and Wisdom’s call: It is about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Wisdom of God, the Wisdom of the ages, of the generations. The Wisdom that covenant fathers must teach their covenant children. And He is the Teacher. A number of times the Lord Jesus therefore addresses His disciples as “children.” He talks about His “little ones” whom no one is to cause to stumble. His Kingdom is composed of such “little children.”

Not only so, but the Lord Jesus also went through the same process of instruction, growing up as a tender child, “learning obedience” – learning His Father’s will under the gradual process of instruction and putting into practice, though without sin – making Him a completely sympathetic High Priest. No one else is more qualified to be our Teacher and our Lesson, since He has also been the Student in our place! How can we refuse to listen to One with such qualifications and compassion for us!

2. The “Father’s” Advice

Now of course, in family life, dads sometimes have to have these “man-to-man” talks with their older sons. Especially when they reach a certain age, and start to discover another whole world of temptations. So we look in the second place at the actual advice of the “father,” the content of his wisdom.

One of the common areas of advice with older sons concerns romance and dating. Maybe there’s a particular girl over whom the boy has gone calf-eyed. But he can’t pluck up the courage to approach her. Dad (or more likely, mum) notices, and the boy is taken aside. “So, son, you like her, eh?” “Awww, dad! Anyway, she’d never be interested in me.” “Son, let me give you some advice my father gave me. Worked with your mother. He told me, ‘Go get her!'”

“So, son, you’re interested in Wisdom? Well don’t just stand there, do something! Go get her!” Four times the text uses the word, “get!” or “acquire!” Not that I want the boys here today to conclude that girls are mere acquisitions, like trophies. Nor do I suggest that, “Go get the girl!” is universal advice. My point is that the text is using the language of a love-engagement, to make its point: “Get her!” “Acquire her!” “Love her!” (vs 6), “embrace her!” (vs 8). That’s pretty intense language!

The point is, the pursuit of God’s Wisdom is more than just an intellectual pursuit. It’s not just a matter of brains. It is also a love pursuit, a boy chasing a girl to marry her. Boys don’t usually get girls just by intellectual exercises, by exchanging maths problems over the internet – though there may be some chemistry involved! It is generally more intense than that, involving the whole person.

Thus the writer wants to gain the heart of the reader. Wisdom is a girl to be loved! One who loves to be pursued in love, wholeheartedly. Of course, we can’t do so without the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. The love-pursuit of Wisdom is not exactly the same as ‘boy meets girl’. But there are similarities.

A further similarity is that when God’s Wisdom is pursued in this wholehearted manner, she will reward her suitor. She will protect her lover’s interests, honour you with a garland of grace and a crown of beauty. Marry the Lamb and you will be graciously rewarded – that is, with His grace and beauty, His wedding garlands.

Turning from romance to another piece of fatherly advice: parents often give their children advice on what pathway to choose in life. “Son, make sure you choose the right pathway in life!” (vss 10-19). Our children, as they grow up, often come to a crossroad, a major fork in the road where they must either choose the way of righteousness and Wisdom, or of wickedness. Older folk, too, are sometimes in this situation.

But again, choosing Wisdom’s way is not just a matter of brains. For a “path” in the Bible represents a whole attitude, behaviour, way of life. It’s a matter of our whole character, a whole-person commitment. As with the advice about pursuing Wisdom, the great love of our life, so here the idea is one of wholehearted commitment. It is described also with words like “walking,” “running,” “passing,” “proceeding,” even “stumbling.”

The New Testament speaks in similar terms: the faith is the “Way,” the “Path.” Only it becomes even more clear that walking in God’s path is not just a matter of following certain godly rules. It is a matter of walking in Christ, because we don’t walk in the rules as we should. We stumble repeatedly in our folly. Therefore we need the Way, the Truth and the Life to be given to us. We need the Christ to do our walking for us, before we can follow in gratitude with our own faltering steps.

As we know, the nature and outcome of these two paths is very different. They are directly opposed. One is upright, clear, light, leads to life and blessing in Christ. The other is morally upside down, regarding evil as so necessary and normal that it’s like one’s daily bread and drink. A continual preoccupation, as if the sinner cannot sleep if he’s not engaged in it. It comes to be regarded even as one’s duty. It becomes so “second nature.” This is the way of darkness, of increasing bewilderment, as sin breeds further sin, hardness breeds further hardness. The wicked can become so darkened in their understanding, they don’t even realise consciously – though they know better deep down in the recesses of their conscience – that they are sinning.

That kind of moral ‘upside downness’ is very evident in our society. Couples live together, take drugs, and so on, and no longer see it as wrong; or see themselves as bad people. They see themselves as just kind of average, normal.

Over against this walking in darkness, if we want to walk in Christ, in God’s pathways, we need to be constantly vigilant. The father also advises his son to be on the alert, to guard himself from things that are forbidden and profitless. Things that will distract us and cause us to stumble in the way (vss 20-23). Here again, see how this is to be a whole-person thing: guard your heart, mouth, lips, eyes and feet. What we have in the heart will flow out to the rest anyway, like water from a spring – either clean or polluted.

One writer makes the astute observation that half our virtue we owe to being out of the way of temptation. That is a measure of how weak we are, how easily led astray by what we hear, read and see around us; the company we keep and so on. How carefully we need to be guarded!

It is by no means enough, however, simply to avoid taking in rubbish. Avoidance of temptation alone will not make us godly. We are to give attention, positively, to God’s Wisdom – as we’ve already seen. And then we are to guard Wisdom’s / Christ’s sayings on our heart. First we must give attention to learning what He says, embracing it, and storing it in our heart. Then we are to guard zealously what has been stored there, for it is most precious. It is as precious as life itself, for that is indeed what is at stake.

Thus the proper motivation for avoiding temptation is not that we secure life for ourselves by our own caution. But because we don’t want to be distracted from the Wisdom Christ has conveyed to us. We love the life He has given us too much to allow distraction. “Let your eyes look directly ahead, and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you” (vs 25). “Watch the paths of your feet, don’t turn to the right, nor to the left, turn your foot from evil” (vss 26-27). This is not just about keeping the Law, which we do very poorly. It is about love of Wisdom / Christ that creates in us a ‘tunnel vision’, where the tunnel is the Lord Jesus, His Word and Wisdom. It is about fixing our eyes on Him, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

In conclusion, Proverb 17:24 tells us that “Wisdom is in the presence of the one who has understanding, but the eyes of the fool are on the ends of the earth.” The upside down morality of the world looks all over the place, from one side to the other. It also promises the world. It is the ultimate in ADD (attention deficit disorder), total distraction. To guard against that, we need to remain in the presence of Wisdom, in the presence of Christ, fixed upon Him. Fight the distractions! Whatever would take you away from Him, chop it off! Pray the Lord will give you ‘tunnel vision’ that looks only to Him! Pray that as parents we will teach this to our children, but also that the Church’s ministry will do the same! But above all, pray that the Lord Himself will be our Teacher, through His Word and Spirit!

Amen.