Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer. (Proverbs 9:7-12 NIV)
Who is wise? That’s a harder question than it sounds. There are lots of different ways to measure wisdom. Is the wisest person the one with the highest IQ? Or maybe the wisest person is the one who can fix anything… Or maybe the person with the most college degrees… Or maybe the person who has started the most successful companies… Or maybe the person who influences the most people… Or maybe the person who’s found a way to do nothing at all and yet is still rich… There are lots of different ways to measure wisdom. What do you think? Who is wise?
Have you noticed that people can have opposite opinions about who is wise? This causes so many of the divisions in our world today. Is it wise to get a college degree, or is it wise to go right to work doing something useful with your hands? There are people on both sides. Is it wise to buy an electric car, or is it wise to never buy an electric car? Is it wise to get vaccinated, or is it wise to never, ever get vaccinated? Is it wise to support Ukraine in its war, or is it wise to just focus on our country? Everybody thinks they are wise, but we can’t agree on what “wise” is. Who really is wise? That question starts wars and divides families and paralyzes our nation.
Today we hear about the wise men. What made them wise? Well, the word the Bible really uses is the word “Magi.” The “Magi” were the wise men of ancient Persia and Babylon. Magi were known for interpreting dreams and studying the stars. But that’s not what the Bible focuses on. What made the wise men wise? What was the proof of their wisdom? It was this: They dropped everything to worship Jesus. We don’t hear about their accomplishments. Just this, “They bowed down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2:8). What made them wise? They sought Jesus.
That’s exactly what the wisest man ever had said 1000 years earlier. You know who the wisest man ever was, right? Solomon. God gave Solomon more wisdom than anyone else. One of the things Solomon did with all his wisdom was to write the book of Proverbs. In Proverbs, wise King Solomon wrote, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Who really is wise? The one who fears the LORD. Who really understands? The one who knows God. Want to be wise? It’s not about your education level or your work skills or your IQ. Who is wise? “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
So what does it mean to “fear” the LORD? That sounds scary. Should we be afraid of God? Of course we should! This is one of the biggest things missing in the United States: The fear of the LORD. We’ve made God into a pushover. “God? He puts up with everything. Do whatever you want. Live however you want. God will be okay with it, right?” No! That is foolishness. Our sinful natures should be terrified of God. Do you know how big God is? Do you know how powerful God is? Do you know how perfect God is? If an 8-foot tall grizzly bear walked into church, we would be afraid. So what if God walked in? When you understand how big God is, when you understand what we deserve from God for our sins, every person is to fear the LORD.
Thankfully, Jesus does something with that fear. When you realize that the almighty God who could and should squash you actually became a baby and died for you, it changes you. God holds all things in his hands, and yet he was willing to be held in Mary’s arms. God has power in a single word to create the stars, yet he kept silent as he was beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross. God isn’t just big and powerful and perfect. God is gracious. God is compassionate. God is forgiving. When you believe in Jesus, he takes fear and changes it into awe and reverence. Who is like God? Who does what God does? “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
See what that means? Martin Luther had a great way to talk about this. He wrote a simple explanation for each of the Ten Commandments. Have you read his explanations? The first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods.” What does this mean? Know what Martin Luther wrote? “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” Isn’t that true? “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” Then, for each of the other commandments, Martin Luther’s explanation always begins in the same way, “We should fear and love God…” “We should fear and love God…” “We should fear and love God…” That’s wisdom!
That means that the wisest people in God’s eyes are not whom you would expect them to be. That intelligent Harvard professor has written book after book, but he doesn’t believe God exists. He’s foolish! That brilliant scientist has made life so much better with her inventions, but she believes the world just happened to form itself by evolution. She’s foolish! That doctor has saved so many lives, but he can’t identify a male or a female. He’s foolish! That pastor waves a Bible but teaches people that life depends on them doing the right things instead of on faith in Jesus. He’s foolish! The wisest people in God’s eyes are not whom you would expect them to be.
So who’s wise? It’s that widow with no college degree who sits at home and prays to Jesus for everyone and everything all day long. That’s wisdom! It’s that little girl who can’t read or write but who knows that when scary things happen, she doesn’t have to be afraid, because Jesus saves her. That’s wisdom! It’s that teenage boy who might not get straight “A”s or be part of the cool group at school, but who loves going to church. That’s wisdom! It’s that stay-at-home mom or dad who never had a career but teaches her children God’s Word every day. That’s wisdom! Can you see that? That’s true wisdom, because, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
That wisdom from God comes with a promise: “Through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.” God’s promise is that trusting in Jesus and living out God’s Word make life better. Do you believe that? Think about it: If you trust in Jesus for everything… If you forgive and love and treat others as you want to be treated… If you avoid drunkenness and drugs… If you stay faithful to your spouse and don’t sleep around… If you control your anger and live with self-control… If you don’t lie or cheat or steal… Your life will be better, right? Sin is always attractive, but “through wisdom”—God’s wisdom—”your days will be many.”
Of course, that long life isn’t just on earth. No matter how long you live here, believing in Jesus leads to eternal life in heaven. “Whoever lives by believing in me will never die,” Jesus promises (John 11:26). Through faith in Jesus, your days in heaven are going to be many. “If you are wise,” Solomon writes, “your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.” Who is wise? The believer in God. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
But notice one word in that phrase: “Beginning.” “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Believing in Jesus isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of wisdom. There’s so much more for us to learn from God! This past week, kids went back to school after Christmas break. Why do kids have to go to school? Because no one is born able to read. Everyone needs to learn. If that’s true for things like reading, do you think that’s true for God’s things? Yes! No one knows God’s Word by nature. Every one of us needs to keep learning. To grow in God’s wisdom.
So let’s learn a little more wisdom. Our lesson says: “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.” These are such practical words! Here’s what foolish people do: When people try to correct them, the foolish person insults them. When people try to rebuke them, the foolish person abuses them. Isn’t this the society we live in? No one wants to admit that they are wrong. Everybody thinks that they and their ideas are better than everybody else’s. When players get called for a penalty in sports, what do they do? Throw up their arms. When a politician gets confronted with his sins, what does he do? Answer with insults. “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.” Isn’t that true?
What about you? When someone corrects you, do you immediately get defensive? That’s foolish. When someone with a different opinion talks, do you put your fingers in your ears and say, “I’m right and you’re wrong and I can’t even stand listening to you… Ahhhh!” That’s foolish. When someone rebukes you—points out what you’re doing wrong—do you insult them? “Who are you to criticize me? Mind your own business, or I’m going to drag your name through the mud…” That’s foolish. And that’s me. Too often. I foolishly think that I am wise on my own, and I foolishly insult or wickedly reject those who try to instruct or rebuke me. Do you?
There’s a better option. “Instruct the wise, and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” When a wise person is instructed, do you know what they do? They listen. They learn. At my first church, I served with a paster who was nearing retirement and had been a pastor for 40 years. I was surprised to learn that he still took continuing education classes. I asked him, “Why?” He said, “The moment I stop learning, I should stop being a pastor.” Kind of like the wise men. Even with all their knowledge, what did they do when they got to Jerusalem? They asked a question, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” “Instruct the wise, and they will be wiser still.” Be humble enough to listen and learn.
Especially in this: “Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.” Do you know what a wise person appreciates more than anything else? Someone who points out his sins. That sounds wrong, right? No one likes being told that they are wrong! That’s not true. “Rebuke the wise and they will love you.” What a truly wise person appreciates most of all is when a caring brother or sister in Christ points out the sins that he is blind to in his life. Why does a wise person love that? Because he knows what life is about: Repenting of our sins and finding forgiveness in Jesus. The wise person appreciates anything that points her to Jesus.
Because who is wise? Look at our banner in the front of church. What does it say? “Wise men still seek him.” Remember that in 2024: “Wise people still seek Jesus.” All the perfect test scores in the world don’t take away sins. But Jesus does. All the inventions people have come up with don’t help one bit when a person dies. But Jesus does. All the knowledge that we claim to have doesn’t give peace to people’s hearts. But Jesus does. Want to be wise? It’s not about your education level or your work skills or your IQ. True wisdom is trusting in Jesus. Like those wise men, learn to drop everything and seek Jesus where he is to be found. In the Word. In the Sacraments. Then you will be wise. Because “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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