Sermon for 9/18/22: Fourteenth Sunday After Trinity

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Mercy and Faith

Proverbs 4:10-23

                                                  

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

The readings in the Trinity season of the Church Year tend to focus on the Christian life. The Gospel speaks of faith and gratitude. The Epistle compares the life lived by the Spirit of God and the life lived for the sake of the flesh. One could assume that the Old Testament reading would address those same conditions, and what results from them, and that is just what it does. The results are likened to two paths: the path of the wicked, and the path of the righteous. These are two distinctly different paths that one might choose to follow, but only if he is a child of God. It is important to understand this point. The proverbs of Solomon are written for the believer. They are not bits of generic wisdom that might apply to anyone. Note the intimate, fatherly way Solomon proceeds: “Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble.”

Solomon was not directing these words to his own son specifically; the wise man was playing the kindly father for us all. He calls us “son” just as the New Testament calls all Christians “sons of God.” You see, this term is not gender specific; all believers are counted as sons of God. There are no second-class citizens in the kingdom of God; all are full heirs of all the blessings of life and salvation. We are encouraged to take these words to heart, for God speaks through Solomon to His chosen people. If we will pay attention, we can live a good and godly life.

Solomon says, “Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.” Solomon is not referring here to just any instruction, but to instruction in the true faith, and the godly morality that flows from that faith. This is the kind of instruction our world wants to have nothing to do with. The worldly don’t want to hear that they are wicked or that their conduct is sin. We’ve all heard them tell us, “Don’t you dare impose your beliefs on us.” Since they will not place their trust in Jesus Christ, they don’t want to hear that salvation is in Him alone. And whether they will admit it or not, human nature understands what the alternative to salvation actually is.

This instruction in the faith is your eternal life, and yet it is also useful and effective and beneficial for daily life. That is really the substance of this text. Through Solomon God warns us: “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. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.” Note that there is no detailing here of what this wicked path involves. We all kind of know what it is, and we are simply told to avoid it. Do not enter the path of the wicked; do not proceed on the way of the evil. Turn away from it and keep moving.

Jesus said: “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.” But our text doesn’t tell us to choose the path of righteousness, or to decide for it, or to even walk on it, as though it depended on us. That is because it doesn’t depend on us. Our text describes the path briefly. The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn; it shines brighter and brighter until it is like the fullness of day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they stumble and do not know why. The path of the righteous is bright and clear-sighted, and it only gets better and clearer as you go. But it is a path which we are given, a path that we are placed on, not a path which we may choose. You can only choose to depart from it.

The path of the righteous is the path that Jesus walked. He walked it perfectly because you and I could not. We are far too easily drawn to the path of the wicked. He walked that path alone, and He was hated as He did. And He died, not for walking that path, but because that path is the way of life for us—the narrow way that few find. Jesus, however, found it, and He gives it to us. We cannot choose this path, but we can choose to remain on it once we have been put there; we can flee from the paths of the wicked. And this is the instruction to which you are to cling and never let go. These words of God’s love and grace are life and health for soul and body, both now and into eternity.

Wisdom tells you to turn away from the broad path to destruction, to flee in the opposite direction, to part company with the wicked. God will give you strength to do so. He has already given you the instruction and the faith; that is what His Word and Sacraments have accomplished. And so, when you face the two paths, confidently and joyfully walk the path of Christ, faithfully following after your Savior. In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

          The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.