Hearts Made for Generosity

The book of Proverbs is a collection of poems and wise sayings edited together several hundred years before Jesus was born. It was likely used at school as a way of teaching wise instructions for life. The students memorized the wise sayings, so that they would pop into their minds when they were making a decision or facing a problem – like we memorized and stood in front of the class and recited
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

Even though the wisdom of Proverbs is often attributed to Solomon, it is not likely that these are the wise saying of one person. Today, if we were to edit together a compilation of wise sayings, we would attribute them to the people who said them:

Mother Teresa said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

Jon Bon Jovi, observed that “Miracles happen every day. Change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.”

Wayne Gretzky inspired many with, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”

Rosa Parks reflected on the courage required to refuse to move back on the bus, “When one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.”

John Quincy Adams, America’s sixth President, said of leadership “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”

Or perhaps on Veteran’s Day weekend, we should be mindful of these words of our first President, George Washington, “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”

But, the custom of that time was to attribute writings to someone known and respected by all as an honor to that person. So, likely the editor attributed the sayings to King Solomon as a tribute.

So rather than an address from the King, this is more like a wise elder pulling you aside to offer wise counsel. The odd verses offer a teaching and the even verses offer a promise.

Verse 3 teaches, “Be true of heart. Let God and everyone see your faithfulness and loyalty.”

And Verse 4 promises, “So there will be grace in all your relationships. You will receive blessing you don’t deserve in all your relationships.”

The next teaching and promise are pretty familiar to us. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Fully rely on God. It sounds nice. We put it on greeting cards. But what does it really mean? Trust in God and not yourself. It’s not something I can tell you how to do. It’s not something you can tell yourself, from now on, this is what I’m going to do. It’s not a matter of mind. It is a matter of heart. You already know how, or you did. Scientists have studied the generosity of 19-month olds. Did you know that a 19-month old, when they have a lovie or a toy that they sleep with and someone seems to be upset or sad will offer their lovie to them? In another study, they observed that when they have a favorite treat and someone appears to be hungry, the toddlers will offer their treat to them. Toddlers are vulnerable and they know it. Jesus taught, “Unless you become like a child, you will never be part of actualizing God’s vision, God’s kingdom.” Children can’t pretend that they are in control of their lives or that they are independent. They “rely not” on themselves, and so they are generous and trusting.

A Scottish missionary, John Paton, travelled to the South Pacific to an island East of Australia, now called Vanuatu, to bring the Gospel to the native people. He was translating the Bible into their native language, and he had a translator helping him. When they were translating the Gospel of John, there was one word they couldn’t translate – the Greek word “pistis.”. And it was a problem because it occurs 85 times in the Gospel – we translate it as faith or belief, and it can also be a verb to – to have faith or to believe. The translator couldn’t help him with anything that meant even something similar in the native language. Until, one day they had been out trekking through the jungle and they came back to camp exhausted and the translator collapsed into his hammock. I can relate to how good that felt. When we go to Mexico, we have the option of sleeping in a twin bed or in a hammock. There is nothing like hanging cocooned in a hammock and letting your whole body relax. Well, when he saw the translator fall into the hammock it was like a lightbulb went off – John Paton said, “Tell me what you’ve just done.” The translator answered, and then the missionary shared with him how faith is exactly like collapsing into a hammock. It was that expression that Paton used to translate the words for faith and believe. Collapse all of your weight on the Lord. Trust in the God who knows you and loves you. Wholeheartedly, completely, don’t hold anything back.

The next teaching in verse 7 is, “Don’t be arrogant, live in awe of God, and turn away from evil.” Understand who you are and whose you are, and choose whom you will follow.

And the promise in Hebrew is not hard to translate literally, “It will be healing to your navel and medicine to your bones.” But, we really don’t know what that means. From everything I’ve read, it doesn’t make more sense in Hebrew. We have phrases that don’t make sense in English, “she’s the apple of my eye,” “that really gets my goat,” “it’s nothing to sneeze at.” They don’t really make sense, either, but you get the point. “Don’t be arrogant, live in awe of God, and turn away from evil.” “Know God is God, and you are not, and that you belong to God.” and “It will be healing to your navel and medicine to your bones.” It will be deeply healing for you.”

The next teaching is really clear. “Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce.” It is the only time in Proverbs that the ceremonial worship rites are mentioned, the bringing of the firstfruits means “Honor God with your best.” We usually have Thanksgiving dinner with Chris’s family. For many years that meant that the meal was served mid-day for about 20-25 people with ironed napkins and tablecloths on fine china. But, the evening meal, was leftovers all laid out on the kitchen counter and everyone was free what they wanted and eat it between naps during the football game and not only was it on paper plates, but plastic solo cups were brought out too. No one was washing any more dishes. If God were our guest on Thanksgiving, none of us would invite him to leftovers. We would invite God to the main meal, and then enjoy that God stayed around and had leftovers with us.

The promise is that when you invite God to the main meal in your life, there is not only plenty for everyone, there are leftovers!

The path will not always easy, though. The final teaching is to accept God’s refining. Like a carpenter with sandpaper, or a sculptor with a hammer and chisel, God is shaping and forming you because God sees you as a parent sees their child – a little rough around the edges sometimes, but oh, the POTENTIAL! A parent who truly loves their child will correct them. For a parent not to try to guide, to leave sins and failings uncorrected isn’t a sign of love; it is a sign of indifference. And God loves you with the love of the ideal parent.

So, this is the promise, not that you will know a worry-free life or suffering or loss, but that you will know true joy and peace, when you live wisely like this, riches far better than silver and gold.