If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from their house (Proverbs 17:13).
Read Proverbs 17:1–20
As you reflect on the last few devotions, you’ll find some recurring themes. Themes like humility, quietness, trusting ourselves to God, ceding our sovereignty to his. And having a listening ear.
The focal verse for today is a self-evident truth: if you are treated kindly, you should not repay it unkindly. Sadly, what should be self-evident often isn’t. Otherwise, we would not have crucified Jesus. He is the ultimate fulfilment of passages such as Psalm 109:5: ‘They repay my kindness with evil and friendship with hatred’.
Even on the level of normal human relationships, if we are treated kindly and repay it badly, we reap a harvest of unhappiness: our relationships become tainted by our selfishness, and we diminish ourselves as human beings.
When we come to the New Testament, Jesus expands this teaching: ‘But I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you’ (Luke 6:27,28). That is what Jesus did. It is what he does.
Thus, Peter says to us, ‘Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing’ (1 Peter 3:9).
Peter also says that in a time of suffering, when we are treated unkindly, ‘in [our] hearts set apart Christ as Lord’ (1 Peter 3:15) and that it is better ‘if it is God’s will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil’ (1 Peter 3:17).
Because of Jesus’ ministry and the gift of his Spirit, we must also let go of wrongs suffered and not seek revenge or hold grudges. Or, to put it positively, to walk in the liberty of the Lord.
Heavenly Father, thank you for not repaying us as our sins deserve. Thank you for sending Jesus to us, full of grace and truth, and that even as we vented our anger and hatred on him, he turned his eyes towards us in love. May we be filled with his Spirit so that his life is shared through us. Amen.
Noel is currently spending his retirement serving as the Intentional Interim Pastor of the Top End Lutheran Parish. He lives in Darwin with his wife, Kirsten, a medical doctor who mainly works in remote Indigenous communities. He also serves as a professional supervisor for a number of pastors, chaplains and others.
The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin (Proverbs 10:8).
Read
Over the next few days, our devotions will take us to some of the most ancient parts of the Bible.
The Bible contains different types of literature. To name just some of them, there are letters, such as Paul’s letter to the Romans. There are prophetic books, such as Isaiah and Ezekiel. There are books that comment on the history of God’s Old Testament people, like 1 and 2 Kings. There is poetry. And there is wisdom.
Proverbs is chief among a number of Bible books characterised as wisdom literature. But also, some of the psalms are wisdom psalms, and books like Ecclesiastes and Job are also types of wisdom writing.
Why is this important? Because God is not only interested in the big themes of salvation and redemption but also the practical day-to-day issues of how best to make our way in this sometimes confusing world.
Proverbs is a collection of wisdom sayings. They are easy-to-remember, shorthand descriptions of what makes for a good life. Our focal verse contains one of the most important biblical principles: wisdom is found by listening – in having a quiet, humble and submissive spirit, which cedes our sovereignty to God’s.
That is what faith is. Trusting him more than ourselves.
Proverbs 10:8 can also be translated as:
- The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin (Proverbs 10:8 NIB).
- The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces (Proverbs 10:8 NLT).
This is good advice. We are too prone to rush headlong. We are apt to trust our own opinions. We often refuse to be told, even when we are clearly in the wrong.
Yet, as we ponder this proverb even more, it becomes clear that the one person who has lived this most fully is Jesus. He was not a babbling fool. He had a listening ear and a humble heart.
Even if we sometimes babble too much, he does not. If we have been foolish, he remains our wise Saviour. If we have fallen flat on our faces, he delights to raise us up and put us on a straight path. Perhaps today is the day for your heart to stop babbling and be still and receive from the hand of God, who knows what we need and what he is doing.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for your wisdom, which has been most perfectly embodied in Jesus. Thank you for your patience with us and for the humble heart with which Jesus serves you and saves us. Let us be filled with your Spirit so that we can walk with wisdom in this sometimes confusing world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the senses that you have given me to be able to worship you with my whole being – sight, smell, touch, hearing, and tasting/talking. You have given me so much, help me to be thankful for all your goodness and blessings to me every day. I have ‘Experienced Jesus’ this last Advent Season, help me to carry these experiences with me each day through the coming year and be willing to share and tell others of your incredible love, faithfulness and forgiveness. Guide me through the coming year, and bless my family, friends and those I meet. Give me the courage and strength of purpose to fulfill the commission you have for my life. We praise you daily for your goodness and love. In your Son’s precious name I pray, Amen.
Read Matthew 28:16-20 “[Jesus] said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.’” Mark 16:15 (NIV) I probably have about 200 souvenir pins. Whenever I go to a new place, whether in Australia or overseas I collect a souvenir pin of that place and when I come home, I pin them on two different rugs that I have hanging on the wall. During this last holiday to the USA in May, I came home with nine new pins from different states and towns. Some wonder why I do this, but my response is to not forget the stories that the pin evokes in my memory. I have so many fun and exciting stories to tell others of my travels, but unless I have something to remind me, these stories can be forgotten. God gave us a souvenir pin rug to remind us constantly of His love and faithfulness to His people through all time. It is the Bible and the countless stories of God’s faithful people that are contained in it. Over Christmas we heard of Jesus’ birth and all those who came to see, hear, smell, touch and then tell of God’s amazing love for the world. The last to visit Jesus as a baby, that we are told, were the wise men who came from countries far away to see what God was showing them through a star appearing in the sky. They had heard and read and then followed. These wise men were unofficially commissioned after seeing Jesus go and tell the world of this baby who was God’s Son, and they did! We know of God’s love through others sharing God’s story with us. We hear the stories but cannot keep them to ourselves so tell them to anyone who will listen. For those who hear the stories of my travels, I hope they are inspired to also see some of the places I have seen. So also, we hear of God’s love, listen and read the stories for ourselves and find that we can do nothing else but share them with others and pray that they are inspired by the Holy Spirit. The disciples were commissioned with that task – tell the world! That is our commission too! Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to share your story with others so that they will hear of your love for them. You have commissioned me to be your disciple, and guide my words and actions. Amen.
Read John 3:11-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV) I love a good story. One of my favourite things to do is sit and read a good book. To me a good story needs to have some great characters, descriptive pieces about the setting and then some sort of plot that happens to the characters – oftentimes you have a villain, so that there is someone to dislike in the book. A good story can also be read aloud for others to hear and imagine with you. As a teacher I used to find some time every day – even ten minutes - to read to the children. During those times the children would listen intently to what was going to happen next. One year I read C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia to my year five class. The story came alive to them, with the figure of Aslan creating an impact as he guided the children through their adventures. The Bible is a book that I read and hear regularly, whether in church, studies, or personal devotions… even when reading I ‘hear’ what I am reading. We have just heard and read the Christmas story over and over through these devotions and throughout the season of Advent. It is a story we have heard many times and we like to think we know how it all ends – we all go to be with Jesus in Heaven forever. But what happens in the middle parts of our lives? We don’t know what will happen in the middle, until it happens. We can imagine and plan what will occur in our lives, but only God knows each of our stories and guides us through our lives. Through God sending Jesus as a baby to be the Saviour of the World for us, right through to His death on the cross at Easter, rising from death and then ascending to Heaven, God was sharing a story of salvation. We read all about Jesus and His story and how He came to bring life. Jesus shares how He wants us to live: to love God and love each other and the rest of our stories then unfolds! Prayer: Lord God, you know my story. I trust that you know what is best for me and I thank you that you have assured me of my salvation through your story. Amen.
Read James 1:22-25 “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased. Listen to him!’” Matthew 17:5 (NIV) Once upon a time, there was a shepherd who bought a flock of sheep, but when he got to know them a little better, he realised that these sheep just would not stop bleating. All day long, it was -” Baaah baaah,” what a deafening racket; and they just ignored the shepherd’s commands. He used all the means at his disposal to get the sheep to listen to him and to his dogs, but it was hopeless. Finally, seeing as the sheep wouldn’t stop talking, the shepherd decided to at least have some fun with them. He bought an enormous ear and transported it out to his fields on the back of his wagon. Surprisingly, on seeing the ear, the sheep all stopped bleating to each other, and began telling the ear all their woes and complaints. When the shepherd drove his wagon, the sheep would even follow him about, just so that they could carry on talking to the ear. And so it was that the shepherd understood that even sheep have something to say, and just want to be listened to. There is a difference between ‘listening’ and ‘hearing’. The definition of hearing revolves around the physiological act of hearing sounds. The definition of listening revolves around actively paying attention to the words and sounds that you hear to absorb their meaning [google]. Hearing is simply the physical process of perceiving sound while listening involves understanding and responding to what you have heard. In the book of James, listening is described as not just hearing, but doing what it says and likening it to looking in a mirror and then forgetting what you look like when you leave the mirror. Listening means retention and responding. It is active, not just passive and takes work. We all need to be listened to, even the sheep in the above story, but God commands us to “Listen to Jesus!” Listen to the words He shares through the Gospels, Listen to Him through the Pastor at church, and Listen to Him through the Holy Spirit. Listen, take to heart, and respond! Don’t just hear, truly listen! Prayer: Dear God, thank you for sharing your words of life with me. Help me to actively listen and respond to you and to help others through my listening to them. Amen.
Read 2 Chronicles 6:36-40 Jesus says, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” Matthew 11:15 (NIV) Three main bones make up the ear, with the smallest bones in the body being found in the middle ear (the stapes, incus, and malleus). The inner ear is responsible for sound detection as well as balance. There are around 15,000 tiny hair cells inside our cochlear (inner ear) and they are the sensory receptors - without them we couldn’t hear. Our ears never sleep, they are always actively listening – although the brain learns to ignore the sounds around us as we sleep. The outer ear never stops growing throughout your life. Throughout the Old Testament, God calls His people to listen to Him through His prophets and those He called to speak for Him. There seems to be a pattern. God’s people sin, God punishes them to make them see their wrongs, God sends someone to tell them what they are doing wrong and to repent (turn around), God hears their prayers and cries for mercy and God then forgives and brings them back to Him. This pattern happened again and again. But then God sent His Son Jesus, to break this cycle once and for all. At Christmas we heard of His miraculous birth and the joy Jesus brought to the world. God gave His Son to be the person to break the cycle of our punishment and our having to show our sorrow (as in the Old Testament). At Easter, Jesus died and paid for our sins, once and for all. God heard all the people’s cries and prayers throughout the centuries and sent His Son to atone for all our sins. No longer do we have to plead with God to hear and forgive us, for we know that when we pray, He does hear us, and He does forgive us every time we do wrong. God’s incredible listening ear is always open to our pain and hurts and brings us His grace and peace. Prayer: Dear God, you do hear me every time I pray to you. Forgive me for not listening to your words and obeying. Help me to open my ears better to your guidance. Amen
Read Mark 1:1-8 “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.’” Isaiah 40:3 (NIV) John the Baptist, son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and cousin to Jesus, was born about the same time as Jesus – some say he was born about 6 months before Jesus. John’s purpose and ministry were very different from Jesus’. The Gospel of Mark doesn’t begin with the birth of Jesus as both Matthew and Luke do, instead, it begins with John telling others about Jesus. It was foretold in Isaiah that John was going to make a noise in telling others to repent and to be baptised. He told people to prepare themselves for the coming Saviour who would also bring the Holy Spirit. So even before Jesus’ ministry began, his cousin John was causing a stir and shaking them out of their complacency. John was Jesus’ loudest supporter. The Gerhardy family has always been loud at supporting. When my brothers were playing for Adelaide Lutheran Football Club (AFL), all the family was out at most football games barracking and telling them what to do, even sometimes pointing out offenses to the umpire. We were vocal, loud supporters and everyone knew with whom we were affiliated. John was this loud supporter of Jesus – telling others who was coming and to wait for what they would see him do and the miracles that He would perform in the name of God. Christmas is now over for another year. New Year’s Day is also over (only just), and we are getting close to Epiphany. This is the time when Jesus is revealed to the human race as a Saviour for all the world. This should be something we get excited about, that we get loud about and share with others about. It is a time to state which team we are affiliated with – Team Jesus – and barrack for Him with all our heart, soul, and minds. May God open Himself up to you this New Year for you to stand up for Him against all odds. Become the loudest Jesus supporter! Prayer: Jesus, help me to become your greatest supporter. Give me the courage to share who you are and what you have done for the world in dying for our sins. Amen
Read Psalm 150 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” Luke 2:14 (NIV) Last year, my family got together with our neighbours and celebrated the bringing in of the New Year on the banks of the Noosa River. Fireworks exploded over the waters and shouts were heard from adults and children as they expressed delight at the light exhibition. Dogs weren’t quiet as they howled and cowered into the most secure areas away from the noises and bright lights and booms. Everything seemed so loud, as if that is the way to start the New Year – with a BANG! What are we actually celebrating though? Is it the joy of finishing a year or the joy of welcoming a new start? Too much noise and loudness can stop the thought process, to the extent that we just go along with the crowd. Our society today seems to be very loud with the cost-of-living pains, with protests about one thing or another or just noise to drown out thinking too hard about what to do. In Psalm 150 we are told to celebrate and to praise God with loud noises and songs and music. But in contrast, Jesus came as a tiny baby not with noise and fireworks, but with peace and joy, kindness and gentleness, love and grace. God wants us to find times of quiet to think about all He did for us in the sending of His Son. Now what did I do after being at a very loud Noosa River with thousands of people? I walked home quietly with my family as we contemplated all that we had seen and heard. After the noise has died down, spend some time quietly asking God what it is that he wants from you this New Year. Maybe it is just spending time with Him and His Word regularly, maybe it is spending some time helping your church and community by volunteering, or maybe it is just introducing family and friends to the love of God. Celebrate loud and hard but find peace and quiet later to listen. Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for coming quietly into the world to bring your peace and love to a noisy world. Bring a purpose and a peace to my life this year. Amen