09.09.18 A Good Name

 

 

Sermon title:  A Good Name 

Sermon text: Proverbs 22: 1-2, 8-9, 22-23 

 

Sermon excerpt

James Limburg is a man who has spent his entire life studying the book of Proverbs and he describes it as “a guide for steering the ship of your life, the ocean of the life, when the sailing is smooth and when it is not.”[i]

...

But the wisdom of the book of Proverbs is not meant just to benefit the character formation of an individual; it is concerned with the formation of a wise community rooted in the peace and justice of God.[i]

How a community reckons with poverty is front and center in these three separate yet related proverbs:

1A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all.

8Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of anger will fail.
9 Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.

22Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.

 

[i] Stephen C. Johnson, (Kindle Locations 1204-1206), Bartlett, David L.. Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17-Reign of Christ) (Feasting on the Word: Year B volume) Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.

 [i] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3764 (James Limburg)