Wisely Deal With Danger or Else Suffer Disaster.

Sermon Transcript

A couple years ago, our family was hiking in beautiful Arches National Park out in Utah when we walked up on a deadly disaster in the making. A young boy was playing near the edge of a cliff without a parent nearby. He was playing and jumping off rocks without a care in the world, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was feet, or maybe inches, from falling to his death. Andrea and I intervened. The child was fine. However, Andrea and I have used his foolish example multiple times in order to teach our kids how to wisely deal with danger so that they won’t suffer disaster.

Proverbs 6 similarly teaches us wisdom through the example of fools. In Proverbs 6, God, through the voice of a father mentoring his son, holds up the example of four different types of fools so that we’ll wisely deal with the danger of becoming like them and avoid suffering disaster. In Proverbs 6, God teaches us wisdom through the example of four fools. Each successive fool that Proverbs 6 introduces us to is worse than the one before. The first fool is the loan co-signer who puts up security for someone else’s risky financial decisions. The second fool is the lazy sluggard whose life motto, as one scholar describes him, is “don’t rush me.” The third fool is the gossip who sows discord among brothers. The fourth fool is the adulterer who lacks sense and destroys themselves. What do each of these four fools have in common? Each fool is like the child who was playing near the cliff in Arches National Park; they’re in danger of suffering disaster. Why does all this matter? Because all four of these fools live inside of us. If you’re a follower of Jesus, you’ve been born again through the resurrection of Jesus with a brand new heart. However, as long as you’re in this body and life, these fools are lurking in your flesh. If you don’t wisely deal with them, you’ll suffer disaster. Thankfully, Proverbs 6 was written to help us wisely deal with the danger of becoming like these fools so that we don’t suffer disaster and our lives can be full of blessing. That brings us to the big idea of Proverbs 6 Wisely deal with danger or else suffer disaster. Wisely deal with danger or else suffer disaster. What dangers? We’ll explore two this week and two next week. This week: 1. The danger of cosigning (6:1-5), 2. The danger of laziness (6:6-11).

THE DANGER OF CO-SIGNING (vv. 1-5)

If you read the Bible from cover-to-cover, you quickly learn that God has a lot to say about money. Some of the most important truths about money from the Bible are, first, that God owns everything. The Bible says that God owns the cattle on a thousand hill; it all belongs to him. If you’ll let it, that truth will change your life and the way you handle money. Secondly, since God owns everything, everything we have is a gift. It’s not ours, rather, it’s a gift. A third significant truth about money is that since it’s all God’s and everything we have is a gift, everything that we have has been entrusted to us. We are stewards, or servants, entrusted with God’s resources to use for His purposes and His glory. We aren’t first spenders or savers, but servants. It’s a privilege! Stewarding God’s resources looks like enjoying the gifts he’s given to us, wisely providing for our families, and storing up treasures in heaven by giving our money away to support the ministry of our local church and advance the gospel around the world. God has glorious purposes for our money, but the first fool that we’re introduced to in Proverbs 6 puts all of that at risk. He puts all of it at unnecessary risk.

Let’s meet this fool. I call this fool the “co-signer,” because of how he’s introduced in Proverbs 6:1 – My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger…Who is this person? Putting up security or giving your pledge for a neighbor is essentially co-signing someone else’s debt. It’s personally guaranteeing someone else’s future debt. Old Testament scholar Ray Ortlund describes what the co-signer is doing well, writing, “It is cosigning a loan. It is putting yourself up as collateral. It is underwriting someone else’s speculative risk. It is getting into a partnership when your partner’s default can bring you down.” It’s not always wrong to guarantee someone else’s debt, but to do so requires incredible care, planning, and wisdom. It should never be done hastily and without wise counsel. Of course, we can broaden this principle because this fool comes in other forms. The cosigner has siblings. One of the cosigner’s siblings is the enabler. The enabler helps in a way that hurts and wastes their money aiding someone else in their foolish lifestyle or irresponsible financial decisions. The enabler practices generosity without true love. They don’t want to engage the person and help them become wise, so they throw money at them. The enabler functionally fears God more than man. The cosigner’s other sibling is the risk taker. The risk taker. This is the person who invests in ventures that they can’t afford to go belly-up. The risk taker doesn’t know when to say, “enough is enough” and back out of a bad deal or business venture and live to fight another day. The risk taker lives on credit cards and racks up debt, always thinking that a windfall is around the corner.

What disaster is the co-signer danger of suffering? Well, remember why God has given us financial resources? To enjoy the world God has entrusted to us, to provide for the family God has entrusted to us, the support the church God has entrusted to us, and to advance the gospel God has entrusted to us. And the cosigner has already put their ability to do all that at risk! The cosigner is anyone who unnecessarily puts their ability to steward God’s resources for God’s purposes in God’s world while storing up treasures in God’s kingdom. What a disaster that is! Proverbs 6:1-2 helps us see that disaster. The key words are “snared” and “caught.” “My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth… In other words, if you’ve already put up security for someone else, if you’ve co-signed a loan, if you’ve entered into a risky debt arrangement, it’s not that you might get snared, it’s that you’re already caught. You’ve already put your ability to provide for your family, financially support your church, and steward your money for gospel-good in our world at risk. God has glorious life-giving purposes for your money in your family, in your church, and in the advance of the gospel around the world and you’ve put that glory at risk.

How do we wisely deal with the danger of cosigning? A great rule of thumb is this: don’t guarantee anymore than you’re willing to lose because it’s just like gambling. However, Proverbs 6:1-5 is written specifically to advise someone who has already become a cosigner, enabler, risk taker, or know-it-all. The way to deal with the danger, according to Proverbs 6 is simple: get out of it immediately. Go to the person you cosigned for, or go to the lending agency, and urgently plead to be released from the snare you’re in. Proverbs 6:3-4 – “then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber.” Go immediately, let them read you the riot act, do what you can to not leave them in the lurch, but no matter what you do, do everything possible to get out of it. In case you’re wondering if it’s really that urgent to get out of a credit arrangement like this, Proverbs 6:5 removes all doubt, “…save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the Fowler.” A couple weeks ago my son Soren and I went archery hunting for deer. The first two deer we saw got away. The third was the charm. Why did they get away? As soon as they knew they were snared, they bolted way faster than I could shoot a simple arrow. If you’ve become the cosigner, or one of his siblings, you’ve put your ability to steward God’s money for God’s glory in danger through foolish risk and unnecessary debt, then bolt faster than a deer in danger to get out of it. As I often say to the other pastors and church staff, “don’t let the funk get funkier. Deal with it right away. Don’t just hope it will all work out.” In general, if you’ve done or are doing something you know is foolish or sinful, don’t sleep on it, instead take responsibility and get yourself out of it immediately. Before we move to the second danger, I simply want to point out that the cosigner reminds me of just how glorious Jesus Christ and his gospel is. Do you want to know the greatness of Jesus? He guaranteed our sin debt, not just the past, but the future. Jesus guaranteed our debt and it ruined him on the cross, but we’re now free. How glorious! Let’s honor him with our resources. Ok – as significant as the danger of cosigning is, there is one that is worse…

THE DANGER OF LAZINESS (vv. 6-11)

Wisely deal with danger or suffer disaster. The second danger is laziness. We are introduced to this fool in Proverbs 6:6a – “Go to the ant, O sluggard…”

Who is the sluggard? You know a sluggard by a few hallmarks. The first hallmark of the sluggard is that they rest when they should work. Proverbs 6:9-10 describes him, “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest…” As one scholar has put it, the sluggard’s motto is “Don’t rush me.” The sluggard loves the snooze button. The sluggard folds their hands to rest when they should dirty their hands to work. The sluggard folds their hands in restful consideration when they should be decisive, move forward, and take action. The sluggard really loves words like “balance” and “self-care.” The sluggard thinks that being exhausted is always a bad thing, but it’s often a glorious sign that you’re doing something great with your life. The sluggard doesn’t seem to understand that everyone’s going to die tired, so they might as well be exhausted to the glory of God. If you’re truly negatively exhausted, you don’t need self-care, you’re probably not burnout, and you may not need a new job. What you probably need is the biblical pattern: work six days and cease from work for one in order to rest and worship. And you probably need a daily 30-60 minutes of devotional time alone with the Lord. The sluggard rests when they should work. A second hallmark of the sluggard is that they often start things and rarely finish them. As Proverbs 26:15 says, “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.” What an amazing picture. The sluggard is like a guy who stabs the meat with his fork, but is worn out at the prospect of pulling the fork to his mouth. The sluggard’s life is full of unexecuted plans, unfinished projects, unkept commitments, with little to show for it all. Because of this, the sluggard often feels like they’re busy, but their life never really builds anything. The sluggard is busy doing nothing at all. The sluggard bounces from checking email, to checking texts, to checking DM’s, to checking social media, to checking slack, so they feel busy and accomplish nothing. In the digital age, the sluggard is often busy being lazy. The key word in verse 10 is “little.” The sluggard’s life is punctuated by little compromise after little compromise until their life accomplishes little good. Honestly, does that sound like you?

What disaster is the sluggard in danger of? Simply, poverty. Proverbs 6:10-11 – A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. The sluggard is in danger of suffering the disaster of poverty; an impoverished bank account, an impoverished life, and an impoverished legacy. The true disaster that the sluggard is in danger of is wasting the one glorious life God has given.

How do we wisely deal with the danger of laziness? The answer is so humiliating, but we need it. The answer is that we need to consider ants. Proverbs 6:6 – Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. To wisely deal with the disastrous danger of wasting our lives through laziness, our God invites us to consider the ant and become wise. What do we learn when we consider the ant? Two things. First, we learn the value of being self-motivated. Self-motivated. Proverbs 6:7-8a – “Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares…” I see the wisdom of self-motivation in my wife. She’s always busy doing the right thing, taking responsibility, and helping build our life without anyone having to tell her to get after it. To be honest, I find this pretty convicting. While I am self-motivated with most things and though most people would probably accuse me of over-working and under-sleeping, I can be quite passive about household responsibilities. At times, my dear wife had to ask me again and again and again to accomplish my limited home responsibilities well. It should not be this way! The wise person learns from the ant and no one has to nag them to work hard at home, at school, or at work. Are you self-motivated in every area of life? If not, you may need to spend some time outside observing an ant hill. Second, we learn the value of working hard for the future. Working hard for the future. Proverbs 6:8 – She prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. Winter is coming, so the ant works hard ahead of time and prepares for the future. To wisely deal with danger of falling into poverty and, even worse, having an impoverished legacy, go to the ant, learn from her the value of being self-motivated to work hard in the present for the sake of building a great future.

Recently, I attended the funeral for the mom of one of my friends. It was one of the most inspiring experiences I can remember. This woman must have been an expert in ants. Person after person told story after story of her incredible work ethic and the way she wisely worked alongside her husband to build a family, build businesses, and build a legacy of faith that has been passed down to her children and grandchildren. No one had to nag her. She worked hard to build a great life and a great legacy. Now, why did she do that? You may have heard of something called the “Protestant Work Ethic.” As believers in the gospel of grace, we stand in a long tradition of men and women who work incredibly hard. Why is incredibly hard work a hallmark of those who believe the glorious gospel of grace? Because hard work is an overflow of the gospel of grace. The gospel is great news that God is forgiving, adopting, and saving sinners forever by grace alone, through faith alone, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone. The gospel is glorious news that naive co-signers and lazy sluggards can be totally forgiven and redeemed by Jesus. There is no condemnation for sluggard who receives and rests in Jesus Christ the Savior for forgiveness of sins. And that glorious gospel of grace creates incredibly hard workers because grace is powerful and effective. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul writes about himself, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. We were incredibly hard because amazing grace is working in us!

I love the way Ray Ortlund puts it, “The gospel shows us such glory in God, and in ourselves because of Christ, that gospel-people become accomplishment-hungry. A Christian family should be like an anthill, everyone busily accomplishing something. A healthy church is like an anthill, everybody actively achieving together. Wise people love goals and strategies to leverage their present into a better future.” My fellow sluggards, by the grace that is yours in Jesus Christ, leave behind your lazy ways and like an army of ants, start building something great for God’s glory with your life. By the grace of God, leave behind laziness and start building a great relationship with Jesus Christ. By the grace of God, hurry up and start building great holiness, a great marriage, a great family, a great church, a great career, and a great legacy that will long outlive you, by God’s grace and for his glory. What are you building?! Wisely avoid the danger of financial ruin and a life wasted lazily not accomplishing much of anything. The gospel calls you to a greater privilege. Christian – work harder than anyone because God’s grace is working in you.