17th Sunday after Pentecost
September 16, 2018
Proverbs 1:20-33; Mark 8:27-38
(Or watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHXfE2l5KWQ )
There is a tale told about a 15th century
German man named Johann Georg Faust.[1]
In real life, he was an alchemist, astrologer, and magician during the German
Renaissance. The legend, however, says that Faust was quite successful yet very
dissatisfied with his life, leading him to sell his soul to the devil in
exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasure. Several playwrights and
authors have since retold the story of Dr. Faust, sometimes called Dr. Faustus,
the man who sold his soul to the devil. Today we tend to use that expression
more as a caution. To “sell your soul” means to do anything it takes, no matter
how immoral, illegal, or just plain wrong it is, to achieve your objective. In
today’s Gospel reading, Jesus asks, “What good is it for someone to gain the
whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for
their soul?”[2] Dr.
Faust gained unlimited knowledge for 24 years in exchange for then belonging to
the devil for eternity. Today on eBay, you can sell your soul for $400, if you
can slip through the cracks.[3]
Souls are one of the items that are on the restricted list for the online
auction company. In 2000, eBay explained that they do “not allow the auctioning
of human souls for the following reasons: If the soul does not exist, eBay
could not allow the auctioning of the soul because there would be nothing to sell.
However, if the soul does exist then, in accordance with eBay's policy on human
parts and remains, we would not allow the auctioning of human souls.”[4]
There are also stories of musicians, like the guitarist in the movie, “O,
Brother Where Art Thou,” who sell their soul to the devil in order to become
the best musician ever. These stories of people selling their soul to achieve
something run quite the gamut.
Yet
the more pressing question is really: Why? What causes someone to sell their
soul? In the case of the guy who got $400 for his on eBay, he said he was
bored, and anytime he’s bored, he turns to the internet.[5]
Dr. Faust was dissatisfied with his life and wanted something more. In the case
of musicians, it’s because they really want to have incredible musical talent.
What these examples have in common is a dissatisfaction with life and a wanting
something more. They’re at a crossroads, and they make very poor decisions.
Jesus advises against forfeiting, or selling, your soul. When we’re at a crossroads,
when we’re trying to figure out which path to choose, what do you do? Take the
road less traveled?[6]
Sell your soul? Do nothing? And how do you decide? Let the decision be made for
you? Pray for God’s guidance? Consult trusted friends? Where do you find
wisdom?
In Proverbs this morning we read about Lady Wisdom,
wisdom personified. She is in the street, in the public square, out in the
open, at the busiest street corners and at the entrance to the city gates. In
Lisbon, this means she’s across the street at the “Welcome to Lisbon” sign,
she’s at the traffic circle, she’s in the Food Lion parking lot and by that
High’s gas station, she’s next door at the elementary school and over by the
fire station. Wisdom is in these public places, these spaces where people
gather. And she’s not just sitting quietly in these intersections of people,
she’s calling out. Wisdom longs to be
heard. She’s raising her voice, calling aloud, crying out, speaking with
urgency, inviting anyone who will hear to listen to her. “How long will you
refuse to listen to me? How long will you ignore me? I have called and you
refused. I stretched out my hand and you ignored me… but those who listen to me
will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of disaster.”[7]
Wisdom longs to be heard. That’s why she’s in these public places, that’s why
she’s at busy intersections and where people gather. And most people long to do
the right thing. Most people want to be wise; they want to know the right thing
to do. The children’s resource that I read for each Sunday defines wisdom as “all
of God’s ideas about how the world should be and how we should treat one
another.”[8]
What does God say about how the world
should be? What does God say about
how we should treat each other? That is all that Lady Wisdom is asking here. It’s
pretty basic stuff, like the book pastor Robert Fulghum wrote in 1990, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in
Kindergarten. This is the wisdom that still longs to be heard.
The problem is we don’t always take the
time in each intersection to pause and consider. We don’t always realize we’re at a crossroads where we can choose
wisdom or choose foolishness. We just charge ahead, fueled by our emotions
or following the lead of someone else. We don’t always take the time to consider
what’s wise in each situation, in each interaction, in each intersection.
Because we don’t take the time with most interactions, because, frankly, it’s
unrealistic to pause each time to think, “What’s God’s idea about how this
should be? How am I going to treat this person?” it’s important how we are
formed. It’s important how we are shaped. Our spiritual formation is crucial
because that impacts our identity and how we’re going to act in any given
situation. Spiritual formation is an ongoing journey as we grow closer to God
throughout our lives. Author and pastor Richard Foster has this beautiful
description of why spiritual formation is important: “We are eternal beings,
but have lost sight of eternal living. We spend time, energy, and money on our physical
needs, but neglect our souls. Our misplaced efforts leave us feeling powerless
and detached from God. That’s not how God intended it to be. We are meant to be
in relationship with God and others in a way that is dynamic, whole, and fresh
every day – relationship that extends beyond church services into every facet
of our lives. Spiritual Formation helps us reclaim our relationship with God as
it was meant to be. It’s not trying – it’s training in eternal living,
determined discipleship to Jesus Christ, and the way we discover the renewable
source of spiritual energy we’ve been looking for.”[9]
Spiritual formation is about taking care of your souls. They are not meant to
be an unused extraneous body part like your appendix. They are at the core of
who you are. And when you tend to them, when you do those practices that feed
your soul, then when you’re at an intersection, whether you take the time to
recognize it or not, then there is no crisis and you don’t have to think through
the possible consequences because you already know how you are going to act.
You’re going to act in accordance with God’s principles. You’re going to act
with love and mercy. You’re going to follow God’s ideas of how the world should
be.
There are still remaining obstacles. One is that there are many other competing voices of
wisdom. Wisdoms are in overabundance today, practically overwhelming us with
self-help books, TV shows, seven steps to a better life, life coaches. Advice
is plentiful these days. Drink more water. Cut back on carbs. Exercise as much
as humanly possible. Buy this product. The whole advertising industry is based
on telling you what to do and what you need and especially lately, feeding our
egos and selfish desires with messages of “you deserve this.” So, which wisdom
do you heed? Or do you resist all wisdom because it’s on overload?
The
second obstacle worth mentioning is that God’s
wisdom is hard to live out. It’s not
an easy path. Spiritual disciplines like bible study, prayer, worship, abstaining
from something, giving to something, generosity, and self-control help us live
by God’s wisdom. Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save
their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel
will save it.”[10]
At each intersection we have the option to follow Jesus, to choose God’s wisdom.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes, “the message of the cross is foolishness to
those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”[11]
Furthermore, “we preach Christ crucified…a stumbling block to [some] and
foolishness to [others], but to those whom God has called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”[12]
It is not an easy path and there are many crossroads. Yet earlier in Proverbs
1, the author wrote that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”[13]
That is, a good relationship with God is the beginning of wisdom. A good
relationship with God: that’s the point of spiritual formation. It means that
when you come to a crossroad of whether or not to sell your soul, there is no
question. You’re not even going to consider it in the first place, because you
know the value of your soul and you’re not afraid of what might happen.
Proverbs 1 ends with Lady Wisdom saying, “The waywardness of the simple will
kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens
to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of disaster.”[14]
Even
the long-running TV show “The Simpsons” did an episode on selling your soul on
an episode in 1993.[15]
Homer announces that he’d sell his soul to the devil for a donut. So, the devil
shows up to take him up on his offer. Homer tries to outsmart the devil by not
finishing the donut; he leaves the last bit on the plate and puts it in the
fridge. However, then late one night he gets up looking for a midnight snack
and eats the last bite. So much for trying to get out of his deal.
There are
times when you can mitigate the consequences of your foolishness and times when
you cannot. So, draw close to God. Listen to and heed God’s wisdom. Some of it
will sound crazy, some of it will sound like foolishness. When I left teaching
in North Carolina to follow Jesus to teach in Nicaragua, some of my fellow
teachers did call me foolish. But in losing my life for the sake of the Gospel,
I found my life again.
That
summer before I went to Nicaragua was also the summer that we had a pastoral
change at my sending church in North Carolina. The pastor who left preached his
last sermon at our church on this passage from Proverbs 1 about Lady Wisdom
calling out from the intersections. He said that it is your intersections with
yourself, with others, and with God that shape your life. It is in your
intersections with others that you show Jesus to them and that you meet God. May
we also be wise at the intersections in our lives, a people formed by God to
show God to the world, a people who continuously seek to meet God, and find him
and be found by him.
Let
us pray…
[2]
Mark 8:36-37
[6]
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
[7]
Paraphrase of Proverbs 1:22, 24-25, 33
[8] Forbid Them Not, Year B, by Carolyn
Brown, p. 151
[10]
Mark 8:34-35
[11] 1
Corinthians 1:18
[12] 1
Corinthians 1:23-24
[13]
Proverbs 1:7a
[14]
Proverbs 1:32-33
[15]
“Treehouse of Horror IV”, airdate October 28, 1993
No comments:
Post a Comment