This Sunday I’ll begin exploring topics developed in Proverbs 10-31. My sermon is titled “Living Out God’s Wisdom in Your Words.” While Bruce Waltke argues that verbal and thematic threads (poetics) give preachers a reason to exposit sections like 10:1-16 or 26:1-12, I still concur with Tremper Longman who argues that the proverbs in chapters 10-31 are arranged in a more or less random fashion (with obvious exceptions like 31:1-9 or 31:10-31). But this approach of pulling together and then presenting the various proverbs on a given topic – words, relationships, wealth, etc. – raises a vital question. How do you make your sermons from Proverbs 10-31 do more than dispense good advice or offer help for self-improvement?
My vision for preaching Proverbs is to enable God’s people to live out the purpose and the mission for which they were created. In order to represent God and showcase His glory (my purpose in life), I need to live wisely. If I am going to develop myself and others into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ (my mission in life), then I need to live wisely. After all, it’s in Jesus that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (see Colossians 2:3).
The point is, there’s a bigger vision in Proverbs 10-31 than self-improvement. There’s a bigger issue at stake than me having a better marriage, better friendships, and a better financial situation. In his book, Why Church Matters, Jonathan Wilson writes: “The good news to which the church is called as a witness is fundamentally a way of life. . . . The greatest threat to the faithful witness bearing of the church is the absence of vibrant and vital practices of the gospel.” The short, pithy sayings in Proverbs 10-31 can help a church retain or recover these vibrant and vital practices of the gospel. That’s what I want to pursue in my preaching!
Posted by Steve Mathewson at 10:10 AM on July 20, 2007
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