A Poor and Silent Savior—Proverbs 10:11-22
Everyone can think of a superpower they would like: invisibility, teleportation, immense strength, bullet-proof skin. Like many, I would choose to fly.
These powers are only found in the comic books, but there are some real life superpowers. Proverbs 10:11-22 focuses on two of them: money and speech. You can get a lot with money, if you have enough of it. And sometimes, what you can't get with money, you can get with persuasion, with rhetoric, with the ability to speak well. But these powers, like the powers in the comic books, can be misused too. Sinful people are prone to do more harm the more power they have.
And so I want to start with Jesus, who saves us from ourselves and our powers. And I want to start with how he used his own powers of wealth and words. The surprising thing is this: Not only by his wealth and speech, but also by his poverty and silence, Jesus gave life to the world.
Jesus, being the Son of God, had infinite wealth at his disposal. And yet, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, "though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." He became one of us and was born into a poor family. He lived as a refugee in Egypt, and he came back to Israel to grow up as a carpenter's son in the backwater town of Nazareth in the backwater region of Galilee. He abandoned his trade to become a traveling preacher. He was dependent on others, like any other homeless person. "Foxes have holes," he said, "and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Why did he do it? Because, as he said, "it is better to give than to receive." He went from wealth to poverty, not for himself, but for us, his people, who needed him.
But there is another power that he had throughout his ministry: the power of speech. "The crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes" (Matthew 7:28-29). "The chief priests and the scribes and the principle men of the people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words" (Luke 19:47-48). "No one ever spoke like this man!" (John 7:46). Indeed, it wasn't just human beings who listened to him. "Who then is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:41).
And then, when his life was in the balance, he fell silent. When he was on trial, and his powers of speech might have saved him, he did as Isaiah the prophet said he would: "like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." He chose not to defend himself.
Why did he do it? Once again, he did it for us. The only way for him to save us from our sin was to give his life in our place, to take our sin upon himself and die for us. And so, though words could have saved him, he stopped speaking, and he was crucified.
But on the third day God raised him from the dead, victorious over sin, death, and the devil. And one of the things we learn from this is that although words and wealth are very useful in this life, even to the point of acting a lot like superpowers, what matters most -- in fact, what matters at all, in the end -- is not how much wealth we have or how well we speak, but if our wealth and words are of the kind that God blesses.
If we know that Christ has done all this for us, the question on our minds should be, "If Jesus used his wealth and words to save me, how can I use my wealth and words to serve him?" And the principle I just mentioned will guide us. What matters is not so much how much money we have, or how good we are at speaking, but if we gain our wealth and use our wealth in a way that pleases God, and if we speak or keep silence in a way that pleases him.
These eleven proverbs give us eleven ways we can use our wealth and words to serve the Lord.
1. Give life. Proverbs 10:11 says, "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence." We know that Jesus gave us life by his words. The amazing truth in this proverb is that, as Jesus' servants, guided by his Spirit, we too can give life to others by our words. This can happen at an earthly level: when a doctor gives thoughtful, educated medical advice, he can save a life. But every Christian, by speaking the truth about salvation in Christ, has the ability to point someone to the road of heavenly, eternal life.
The task of giving life through righteous words is all the more important since there are people out there who are interested in taking life away. "The mouth of the wicked conceals violence."
2. Cover offenses. Proverbs 10:12 says, "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses." Have you ever seen someone do something wrong, and felt a small sensation of pleasure, because you know that you now have evidence of how bad that person is, and you can nail them with it? That's the opposite of love. Love covers offenses, like God covered Adam and Eve when they were naked and ashamed.
This Proverb can be misapplied. There is a time to confront someone (lovingly) about the sin they have committed. Matthew 18 gives us instructions for how to do this, and Jesus himself confronted people often. There is also a time to tell others when someone has done something wrong. If someone breaks into your house, call the police. But that's not what this Proverb is about. This Proverb is about giving up your opportunity to take vengeance on someone you love. If you really love them, let it go. Cover it up.
3. Wise up. Proverbs 10:13 says, "On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense." It's better to have wisdom on your lips than to have a rod on your back, isn't it? God's rules are always good for us, and this is one of the times that is especially obvious. Use some common sense! Wise up! Then you won't get spanked. And, what's more, you'll be serving Jesus at the same time.
4. Put knowledge in the bank. Proverbs 10:14 says, "The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near." Everyone puts something in the bank. Most people put some money in the bank. A few people have safety deposit boxes where they put, I don't know, gold nuggets or baseball cards or something. But every fool puts ruin in the bank: they store it up, whether they want to or not. If you're wise, on the other hand, you'll put knowledge in the bank. At an earthly level, it's better to have some education and no money than to have some money and no education. But at a much deeper spiritual level, knowing God's word will save your soul and make you useful to his kingdom, whereas folly will leave you useless and headed for trouble. Once again, God's rules are for our good.
5. Value wealth for what it's worth. Proverbs 10:15 says, "A rich man's wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin." This is one of those brutally honest sayings for which Proverbs is famous. Wealth is useful. Rich people are safe from all kinds of trouble that poor people have to face. Money can buy food for the belly, a roof over the head, and medicine when you're sick. In some countries it's customary for even middle-class people to hire guards to stand outside their door at night. Poor people, on the other hand, have to put up with all kinds of nonsense. So you would be foolish to pay no attention whatsoever to earning an income and saving up, and wealth can preserve your life so that you can serve the Lord Jesus for longer in this world.
But hold on. Solomon has more to say on the subject.
6. Seek righteousness first. Proverbs 10:16 says, "The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin." Hang on! This proverb makes us rethink the one that came before it. Yes, wealth is valuable... but only for righteous people. The wealth of wicked people leads only to more sin. There's no value in that. And the gain of the righteous leads to life, regardless of the quantity of that gain. $7 gained by a righteous man at honest labor is gain that leads to life. and $7 million dollars gained by a wicked man is gain that leads to sin. So we should do what Jesus said: "Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness." That's what really matters. If we want to render thanks to our Lord, we should focus on working in a way that honors him. How much wealth we acquire will always be a matter of secondary importance.
7. Learn from reproof. Proverbs 10:17 says, "Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray." I don't like reproof, myself. I don't know anyone who does. That would be like liking the flu shot, or liking to go to the dentist and get your teeth cleaned. And yet, reproof, if it's loving and true, is of great value. Probably, if we never learn from reproof, we'll never make any real spiritual progress. After all, the beginning of the Christian life is, "Repent and believe, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." If we can't accept reproof at this point in our walk with Christ, maybe we haven't started the walk at all. But every time we do heed reproof, we take another step down the path to life.
8. Be honest. Proverbs 10:18 says, "The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool." There are two kinds of deception in this proverb. There is the deception of the person who secretly hides hatred in his heart and says nothing about it. And there is the deception of the person who goes around spreading lies. Dishonesty can reside in your lips or in your heart. Christians should purge themselves of all of it. Love your neighbor as yourself, hate the devil with a clean, open, honest and zealous hatred, and never spread a rumor. Be honest.
9. Don't talk so much. Proverbs 10:19 says, "When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent." Sometimes, you can serve the Lord Jesus just by saying nothing. I have trouble with this one, because I like to fill the awkward silence around the dinner table or the firepit. But an awkward silence is a lot better than transgression. If it takes you 10 solid minutes to think of something to say that will honor the Lord, then don't say something after 9 minutes and 59 seconds. Be prudent, and often that means, be silent. Your Savior was silent for you.
10. Do talk when it's right. Proverbs 10:20 says, "The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth." As he often does, Solomon here gives us the flip side of the previous proverb, and this time the flip side of the coin is made of silver. Good, truthful speech at the right time isn't just allowed: it's highly valuable. And so, if it takes you ten minutes to think of the right thing to say, and the ten minutes mark is the right time to say it, don't wait until minute #11! Speak up, Christian! Often, the thing that the tongue needs to say, but has trouble saying, is something about how good the Lord has been to us. Don't be afraid to say it.
Generally, I think we would all agree that a heart is more valuable than a tongue, but not always. The heart of the wicked is of little worth, whereas the tongue of the righteous is choice silver. Think about that. How you think and how you speak matter a great deal to God.
11. Bank on the Lord. Proverbs 10:21 says, "The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it," or, some translations say, "and toil adds nothing to it." This brings us back again to the subject of wealth. The world would tell you that what really matters is the number in your bank account or your stock portfolio. But Solomon says there are deeper measures of wealth. He doesn't want you to be naive about money. We've already seen that. Money has its place. But far more important -- in fact, infinitely more important -- is the question of how to get the blessing of the Lord.
The answer to that question is at least as old as the Jacob, in the book of Genesis, who simply clung to the Lord, and said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
And so, if you would serve Jesus with your wealth, you must first get his blessing. And if you would get his blessing, you must first cling to him in face. And you can be sure that if you will not let him go unless he blesses you, he will not let you go when he has done so, but will take care of you in wealth and in poverty, in speech and in silence, until he brings you at last to your eternal home. And there, you will be forever safe, for while a rich man's wealth on earth may be a strong fortress in some sense, Christ's city in heaven is unassailable.
Pastor Nate Jeffries