Consequences
Prov.1:20-33; Mk. 8:27-38[1]
We are a people
with a distinct aversion to consequences. We want to be able to do whatever we
please, and if we get caught doing something we shouldn’t, we want to be able
to get out of the consequences. In fact,
we think we should be able to get off the hook, because people get away with
things every day. As a people, we’re not
very fond of “you reap what you sow.”
And yet, the principle of reaping what you sow is one that has pervaded
human culture from the beginning. Hindus
and Buddhists call it “Karma.” More
practical-minded folks say, “what goes around comes around.” But throughout history there has been a
profound awareness that our choices and our actions bring their own
consequences with them.
As Christians,
we may be more comfortable with concepts like forgiveness and grace than
reaping what you sow. But our lesson
from Proverbs for today makes it clear that our choices make a difference. “Wisdom” is personified as a woman crying out
in the streets, offering insights, guidelines, and instructions for living, and
the rewards that come from living by Wisdom’s teaching.[2] But, in ancient times as in our day, it seems
that many, perhaps even most people, prefer to go their own way and ignore
Wisdom’s counsel. For example, when will
we ever learn that “a gentle word turns away wrath” (Prov. 15:1) instead of
trying to overcome violence by violence?
How many of us really believe that our lives don’t consist of the
abundance of our possessions (Lk. 12:15)?
Or when will we learn that when we indulge in promiscuity we’re actually
harming ourselves (1 Cor. 6:18). Or how
many of us really believe and live by the principle that we are all children of
one Creator (cf. esp. 1 John 4:19-5:1), and therefore what I do affects you and
what you do affects me.
Some of these
precepts are obvious in daily living.
Others are not, because it takes time for the consequences to show
up. This is true of our spiritual
choices as well. When we choose a path
that is essentially selfish and ignores the effect of our actions on others, we
may not see the consequences of that choice right away, but they will
eventually make their appearance. When
we live a life that ignores justice and compassion for others in our world, we may
not see the consequences immediately, but we will eventually and inevitably
“eat the fruit of our way” (Prov. 1:31). [3] When we choose to ignore the divine dimension
that fills and defines all of life and simply go our own way, we will at some
point become “sated with our own desires” (Prov. 1:31).[4]
Jesus didn’t
have a lot to say about consequences, but he did address the issue—especially
to the spiritual hypocrites of his day.
But I think our Gospel lesson for today presents us with a similar kind
of choice.[5] Like Wisdom, Jesus calls to all who would hear
him, and challenges them to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow
him in a life of “doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our
God.” If we reject the path of
discipleship because the price is too high, because Jesus asks too much of us
when he asks us to give ourselves away for the sake of others as he did, we may
hang on to some things we hold dear, but he warns that we will lose our very
soul. If, on the other hand, we choose
to follow him, we may very well face losses in this life. We may face significant losses. But Jesus promises that if we follow him we
will have gained our very souls.[6]
I will be the
first to admit that a life of giving ourselves away for the sake of others is
not an easy one. It’s one that asks for
all the very best we have to give, and continues to ask for that over and over
and over again. It’s easy to burn out
when you’re always giving to those around you.
That’s why it’s so important to maintain some kind of spiritual
discipline—reading, prayer, meditation, something. It’s essential to have some way to build
yourself up, to maintain your own inner resources if you’re going to continue
living a life of giving yourself away.
Consequences are built into the very structure of life. We can accept that fact, or we can spend our
lives in an effort to get around them, to get out of paying the price of our
choices, to get off the hook for our actions.
But it will be a futile effort.
Because, in the end it is always true that we reap what we sow. We will “eat the fruit of our ways” as Wisdom
reminds us. And as Jesus points out,
this is not only true for life in general, it is also true for the spiritual
life. It is especially true for the
spiritual life! Jesus not only taught
us, he showed us that the only way to truly live is to give yourself away for
the sake of others.[7] If we refuse that choice because the price of
surrendering our own self-interest is too high, the consequence is that we will
lose the very heart and soul of what it means to really live. But if we have the courage to follow him,
then we will find that this path of self-giving is the way to freedom, and true
joy, and all the life that God wants to give us each and every day.
[1] © 2012
Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/16/12 at First
Presbyterian Church, Dickinson, TX and at A Community of the Servant-Savior
Presbyterian Church, Houston, TX.
[2] Cf. R.
E. Murphy, Proverbs, 12, where he
points out that “Wisdom” in Proverbs speaks and acts like God. He says, “What was referred to God is now
referred to her. It is she who feels rebuffed, and who threatens those who
refuse to listen. She has divine authority, and she hands out reward and
punishment. She does not mention the Lord; she does not urge conversion to God,
but to herself!” Cf. similiarly, Karl
Barth, Church Dogmatics 2.1:428-430.
[3] Cf.
Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, “The Book of Proverbs,” New Interpreters Bible V:41:
“Sometimes, ‘I like myself just the way I am’ is not a healthy
affirmation of self-respect, but a denial that life requires growth and
correction”!
[4] Cf. Van
Leeuwen, “Book of Proverbs,” NIB
V:41: “Wisdom is a matter of life and death not just for individuals but for
families, corporations, universities, nations, and cultures. They, too, reap
what they sow.”
[5] Cf.
similarly, Joel C. Marcus, “Uncommon Sense,” The Christian Century (Aug. 30, 2000): 860.
[6] Cf. H.
W. Attridge and A. Y. Collins, Mark,
409 on the play on words in Greek between “life” and “soul.”
[7] Cf.
Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.1:190,
where he emphasizes that the call to self-denial is based on Jesus’ example,
which in itself is a reflection of the Christian conception of who God is! Cf. also Craig A. Evans, Mark 8:27-16:20, 20; and Pheme Perkins, “The Gospel of Mark,” in New Interpreters Bible VIII:628.
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