Scripture: Proverbs 24: 30-34; Proverbs 27: 23-27
Sermon: Wise Words to Farmers and Royalty
Topics: farming, royalty, parables, folly, wisdom
Preached: January 8, 2006
Rev. Mike Abma
Proverbs 24: 30-34
30I passed by the field of one who was lazy,
by the vineyard of a stupid person;
31and see, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
33A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
34and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.
Proverbs 27: 23-27
23Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds;
24for riches do not last for ever,
nor a crown for all generations.
25When the grass is gone, and new growth appears,
and the herbage of the mountains is gathered,
26the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field;
27there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and nourishment for your servant-girls.
SERMON
One commentary I have calls the Proverbs 24 passage we just read a “Soporific Admonitory Poem-Parable”
and it calls the Proverbs 27 passage a
“Bucolic Admonitory Poem-Parable.”
Boy, does that make you want to read these proverbs?
Basically, what we have here are farming poems that make a point.
Simply put, the first poem is about the foolishness of being lazy.
The second poem is about the wisdom of being hard-working and caring.
The first poem first – its theme is all about the foolishness of being lazy and apathetic.
You know, the book of Proverbs often sounds a bit like my mother. That is because the book of Proverbs hates laziness. It cannot tolerate people who refuse to learn the wisdom of life. It puts into the category of fool the people it calls lazy-bones, slackers, and people who fritter away time on useless things. This poem-parable is simply one in a whole list of proverbs that resonate with what Jesus says in his Sermon on the Mount:
“everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”
Our first poem-parable says,
“Walk by the field or vineyard or farm of a lazy, foolish person, and what do you see? You see weeds everywhere, the place overgrown with thistles, and the walls and fences broken down. What do you expect when you spend most of your day lazing around and snoozing beside your plow?”
The second poem-parable has the same flavor but the opposite message. It is still in the agricultural realm, but this time the language has more to do with livestock than cash-crops. This second poem paints a picture of a successful farm – a farm where the grass is green, the lambs and goats are healthy, and the family can make a living.
II. SO WHAT?
You may be thinking, so what? These farming poems say nothing to me. I am not a farmer. I never plan to be a farmer.
Well, let me ask you, do you think Jesus’ parable of the sower is only meant for people who plant grain by hand?
In the same way, this poem-parable isn’t only for farmers.
There is even a clue in the second poem-parable that these words were written for royalty. It reads, “Riches do not last forever, nor a crown for all generations.” In all likelihood, these poem-parables were written for kings and queens – people with the responsibility to take care of kingdoms.
You still may say, “Yeah, well, that still has nothing to do with me.”
Well, not so fast.
In truth, you may not realize it, but I bet you that you have a farm, that you have a kingdom. You may not see it as a farm or kingdom, but really, it is.
So what is your farm, what is your kingdom?
It is any part of your life that you are most responsible for?
Say you are a middle school student – what is your farm? What is your kingdom?
Well it might include your bedroom or at least that part of your bedroom that is yours.
It may include your dresser and or closet that contain your clothes.
If you have a pet at home, it may include your responsibilities over that pet.
It may include your locker at school, or your desk.
It probably includes your homework, your school work.
It also includes your body, your physical health.
Everything that you have a significant responsibility for is your farm, your kingdom.
That means these poem-parables are for you.
III. PICTURE OF FOLLY – NOT CARING
So what is the first poem-parable telling us?
It is saying the first danger is NOT CARING.
That is what that first poem parable is all about – the consequences of not caring.
If you don’t care about your crops, your fields will be full of weeds.
If you don’t care about your livestock, your fences and walls will be broken, letting your
livestock get out and wild animals get in.
But perhaps this language of fields and fences says very little to you.
Perhaps you need to hear it in the language of your life.
Say, the language of computers.
What happens if you do not care about maintaining your computer?
What happens if you really cannot be bothered to help protect it:
No anti-virus program
No anti-spam protection
No fire-walls
No safe-guards of any kind.
What happens?
You know what happens.
You get viruses, and worms, and Trojan horses;
You get spam from every marketer of Viagra.
You get a very sick and very slow computer.
That is the consequence of not caring for your computer.
Of course, this is the consequence of not caring in all areas of life.
In J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings, he describes a land in which the creatures fail to care about anything that is really important. This is the land of Mordor. In Mordor, no one cares and nothing flourishes. Everything is barren. There is not a tree, not even a blade of grass, in sight. The only thing you see are orcs running around with weapons in their hands parasitically living off the people they conquer. This is what the land of poem-parable one looks like.
III. PICTURE OF WISDOM — CARING
The second poem-parable we read from proverbs paints the opposite picture. It is a poem-parable about the wisdom of caring:
the wisdom of caring for your flocks and herds.
How does one care for one’s flock?
You are concerned with the grass they eat.
You are concerned about the well-being of each little lamb
and each little goat
because they will provide you will clothing and food.
You are concerned with the well-being of each humble servant,
Because they are the ones helping you
Take care of the grass, and the lambs, and the goats.
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s the world of Middle Earth, the opposite place from Mordor is the Shire. The Shire is a place where everything is green and flourishing. That is because it is filled with little short hobbits who care about things:
they love to garden, love to eat well-prepared meals, and love to share stories. In this world of the Hobbits, few people are as caring as Sam Gamgee – an avid gardener, a great cook and lover of food, an extremely loyal friend, and a person who cares deeply about Rosie, the woman he loves back home.
What is the wisdom here?
The wisdom is this
If you really care about your flock, you need to care for each little lamb.
If you really care about your vineyard, you need to care about each vine.
If you really care about the health of this planet, you need to start caring about the health
of your own backyard.
If you really care about the health of the church, you need to care for each individual
member.[1]
If you really care about your clothes, you need to pay attention to each pair of socks.
If you really care about your friends, you need to stick with them and not simply wander
from one person to the next.
If you really care about your homework, you need to pay attention to each assignment.
God has given each of us gifts to take care of.
It is the way of wisdom to cherish them and care for them.
It is little hands doing the diligent work of caring that makes this world into the kingdom of heaven.
“LEAF BY NIGGLE”
I’ve mentioned J.R.R. Tolkien, the writer and creator of Middle Earth a few times already. Much of the wisdom of our poem/parables tonight is found in a story he wrote called “The Leaf by Niggle.”
This is a story about a little man who was a painter and who dreamed of one day creating a masterpiece. But every time he thought of creating a huge masterpiece, he didn’t know where to start. It was too overwhelming. It was much easier simply to take a nap.
Eventually, however, Niggle found himself absorbed in painting one leaf.
He became absorbed in painting each and every detail – its shape, sheen, the way the
dewdrops beaded on its edge.
He carefully created a wonderful leaf.
Then he decided to paint another beautiful leaf.
Eventually, after painting enough leaves, he painted the tree they were on.
Then he painted the birds and other animals that rested in its branches.
Then he painted more trees.
Over a long period of time, his trees became a forest.
In time, over the course of years and years, his forest was placed in a country with mountains and valleys.
By this time, his painting was huge, immense.
Niggle could hardly believe he had painted it all.
But was it a good painting?
What that story, “The Leaf by Niggle” is, is a metaphor, a picture, of the way Tolkein himself created Middle Earth and his epic novel Lord of the Rings.
It all started with a love for words — old words, and old myths.
He started playing with letters and forming whole words and whole new languages.
Then he created the different peoples who spoke those languages.
Then he placed them in a world called Middle Earth.
After years and years of lovingly crafting this other world, he found that he had created an immense work, The Lord of the Rings.
Is it a good book?
While Tolkien was still living, some literary critics were extremely harsh.
They called it trivial, escapist, one even called it “juvenile trash.”
When asked to respond to these critics, Tolkien merely said, “There is only one critic who counts, and he is Christ, the Lord, the judge of the living and the dead.”
CONCLUSION
When all is said and done,
when we have cared for that corner of creation we have been given
responsibility for,
when we have done the best we could in helping everything and everyone
around us flourish,
then when we rest from our labors,
the voice of Wisdom made flesh is the only voice that really matters.
Amen
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A good article exploring this is Kyle Childress, “Good Work: Learning about Ministry from Wendell Berry” Christian Century March 8, 2005. ↑
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