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Proverbs is one of those books of the Bible that can punch you in the gut. I suppose we should expect that if one of the opening passages is, “The immature will die because they turn away; smugness will destroy fools.” (Proverbs 1:32)
Proverbs doesn’t mess around. It’s a book of wisdom for those young men who will be amongst the elite of society, blessed with influence and opportunity – in other words, they have freedom. The collective wise men of Israel want to make sure they use it properly.
Being that we’re celebrating our freedom tomorrow, in the country that has been known for centuries as “the land of opportunity” and has been a major world influence since 1776…perhaps Proverbs has something to teach us too?
Pay attention to the Proverb I started with. It ends like many of them do (and many, many other scriptures do): “Trust in the Lord.” That’s not exactly a novel statement for anyone who’s read scripture or been in church for any length of time, but it is a loaded statement. To trust someone is to give yourself to them. It’s a limiting statement, because if I trust the Lord, I’m admitting there is someone wiser than I am AND I’m stating that I’ll do what the Lord says. To disobey or go against the Lord is negating the affirmation of trust – thus “smugness will destroy fools.” Smugness equates to “doing our own thing,” which according to the Proverbs makes us foolish.
How does that relate to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?” Isn’t the benefit of a free society that I can be happy however and whenever I want?
Not if we have faith.
Freedom is often expressed as an individual blessing in which all of what our country does and stands for is all for my and only for my well being. Even in political debates, this thought is present when we are told to be afraid of those who are coming to take our freedom – which ironically is a bid for us to trust them and give our freedom to their lordship.
But that’s the freedom that Christ gives us, and not the freedom that the elders want the young disciples in Proverbs to gain. They recognize what we say in our communion liturgy, “we are freed for joyful obedience.” In other words, we are given freedom to choose freedom in Christ – and in doing so, we give up our own smugness and choose the way, truth, and life of the Lord.
I would postulate that many of us are waiting on a savior, when we already have one. We complain about what is happening, or complain about what someone is doing – all the while giving our freedom away to them in a reliance upon someone else to bring about the good world of God. But Jesus gives us the Spirit not for fear or timidness, but to confront the evils of this world with courage and proactiveness.
Or…in other words…we are free to get to work, without complaining, without waiting…and even if it’s not our first choice. Because we trust that through sacrifice, we will join with Christ’s sacrifice, and bring true freedom to all those whom Jesus loves.
We are free to choose what we believe – but once we believe, we are giving up some of our freedom. We are giving up the freedom to be artificially afraid…the freedom to be selfish and smug…the freedom to hate and destroy.
We are giving up the freedom to go our own way…
…because we trust that God knows a little more than we do.
I hope you have a happy and safe 4th of July, and I hope the revelry reminds you of the joy that Christ brings. May you soak in the joy, so that fear has no place among us.
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