Galatians 5:16–23
St. Luke 17:11–19
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
My son, get wisdom! The Book of Proverbs is a father urging his son to get wisdom from the Lord. It was written by King Solomon, the son of David. And in it, Solomon is addressing his son, Rehoboam.
We don’t know when Solomon wrote his books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon), but we do know Solomon was not the best role-model as a father. He started out faithful to the Lord and to all his father David had taught him. He was given wisdom by the Lord, beyond any man. He became wealthy and his kingdom flourished. And he used that wealth to build the magnificent temple for the Lord in Jerusalem. But he ended up marrying many foreign wives, who worshiped foreign gods, and enticed him to worship these false gods as well. The history of Solomon in 1 King leaves it at that. We are not told if he ever repented of his sin and returned to the Lord, which is a little strange since he is the inspired author of three books of Holy Scripture.
But here’s what I like to imagine: I like to think that at the end of his life he did repent and turn away from those idols. And it was then that he wrote Ecclesiastes, expressing the meaningless of life apart from the one true God. And then he wrote Proverbs—the sincere effort of an aged father, trying to rescue his son who had probably already followed him in his footsteps of sin. So Solomon urges his son, Rehoboam, to likewise repent and seek true wisdom from the Lord.
Solomon begins Proverbs, chapter 4, by remembering what his father David had taught him: When I was a son with my father… he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her (that is wisdom), and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight (Prov. 4:4–7). This last point from David to Solomon to Rehoboam is the main theme of Proverbs. It may sound circular or redundant, but it is essential: The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. You are wise when you know you’re not wise and you seek to become wise. Desire to be taught by the Lord. Do not be vain and proud, thinking that you know it all or that you know enough. Keep getting wisdom.
Solomon then goes on in the section we heard earlier, and he describes wisdom as a path that the Lord would lead us on: Hear, my son, and accept my words… I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life. So, God’s path of wisdom and righteousness is not so much a thing, not so much knowing a bunch of information or getting the list of rules just right. Wisdom before God is walking on the right path—keeping, guarding, cherishing what the Lord says and gives. This is just what it means to be a Christian. You can only walk on a path as you continue to walk on it. If you’ve stopped walking you’re not going on the path anymore. Solomon is saying that real wisdom is a continual receiving, always listening to the Lord. So long as you’re in this life, in this sinful flesh, then you’re never quite done learning God’s Word. When you stop hearing, you are doing an anti-Christian kind of thing. So long as you keep hearing you keep being a Christian. Wisdom means keep getting wisdom, keep coming along on wisdom’s way.
But watch out! There are two paths. The way of wisdom is righteousness. The other path is the way of wickedness, foolishness, unbelief. Solomon warns his son: Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on… The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble. Apart from the bright light of God’s Word, we grope in darkness, blinded by sin and unable to find the right way to go. Do not listen to the opinions of men, the fads of culture, the presuppositions of your mind, or the feelings of your heart. Do not listen to any of it, unless it agrees with the truth, the Words that your Lord speaks to you. Keep listening to Him and you will eventually see your way. Solomon promises his son: The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. True wisdom is life. Learning from the Lord brings healing. As Jesus said, The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and Life (John 6:63).
This wise counsel from Solomon is all echoed then by St. Paul in our Epistle, Galatians 5: Walk by the Spirit—that puts you on wisdom’s way! The Word of God gives the Holy Spirit, so when we walk on wisdom’s path, following the Lord’s Word, then we are not walking by our own power, stumbling like zombies in the darkness of sin and death. But we are indeed alive, walking by the power of the Spirit. Again, this is just being a Christian, nothing more or less.
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. So, the path of wisdom keeps us from sinning. Remember, Solomon’s warning. There are two paths: one the way of wisdom and righteousness, the other the way of wickedness and false faith. So, walking by the Holy Spirit keeps us on the path of wisdom, but going along with the desires of our sinful flesh is the way of wickedness, darkness, and death.
And notice how St. Paul describes what the Spirit does to you: the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Paul knows, God knows, that what you want to do is sin. What you want to do—your Old Adam in your natural mind and corrupt heart—what you want is to go down that other path and see what’s there to see. The devil always wants to tempt us to think that sin means freedom: “Cast off the chains of God’s Law. He’s just a big kill-joy with all His commandments, telling you don’t do that, don’t do this. Be your own man. Make your own path,” says the devil, “Be free.” But sin is not freedom. It is slavery and it ends in death. Those who take the devil’s path and do what they want to do, doing the works of the flesh, any of those works mentioned in the Epistle, they are under the condemnation of the Law. And I warn you, as St. Paul warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Led by the Spirit on the path of wisdom, you are not under condemnation, because you are following Christ, you are under His righteousness. And faithfulness to God is not bondage. It is Life! And a life full of spiritual fruit. The fruit of the Spirit, what you gain by staying on His path, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. For today, let’s notice especially that last fruit: self-control. Remember, the Holy Spirit’s work is to keep you from doing the things you want to do. The Spirit gives you self-control, so that your New Man, the new–you–in–Christ, controls you, urges you, speeds you down the path of wisdom, seeking after God, walking in His righteous ways.
Christians exercise self-control against sin. They tell themselves, “No,” despite the fact that their sinful flesh still tries to pull them off-course, onto that other, darker path. And often, the Old Adam succeeds, we lose control, and we go back to staggering around with those works of the flesh. But the Holy Spirit also brings forgiveness. He washes away the sin by the blood of Jesus in your Baptism. The Spirit kills the Old Adam. Indeed by giving you self-control, He kills you. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. The path of wisdom, the Spirit of God—these are at work in you so that your flesh may finally be put to death and gotten rid of.
So at last we come to that faithful leper in Luke 17. And speaking of crucifixions and death, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. But that Samaritan leper comes back to Him, glorifying God. He is acknowledging what Jesus has done for him. He is a Christian. When you give thanks and praise you’re highlighting, you’re extolling the goodness of the gifts you have received and the Giver of those gifts. Glorifying God puts a magnifying glass up to Him and His gifts. “My soul magnifies the Lord!” all Christians sing with the Blessed Virgin Mother. Along with Mary and this Samaritan, we make God known for His gracious, free goodness. Most especially we make Him known for the death and resurrection of Christ our Lord. The grateful Samaritan knew that he received far more than clean, healthy skin. He recognized that he received a clean heart on account of Jesus’ holy blood.
And hear what Jesus says to him. Our translation says, “Rise and go your way.” In English, “go” has the sense of “going away,” but “come” has the sense of “coming here.” In English, we distinguish those two. But that’s not the case in Greek. They don’t make that distinction between “going” and “coming.” So, I believe, it would be best to hear Jesus say, “Rise and come,” as in, “Come with Me.” However we translate the phrase, the truth remains that this man is a Christian, and so he does truly go with Jesus—with Jesus on the way of wisdom; with Jesus on the path that leads to more and more fruit from the Spirit; with Jesus on the path of the righteous that is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. Yes, this path leads on to Jerusalem, on to the cross, to crucifying and dying, for Jesus and for all Christians who follow Him. But this path also leads on to the brightness of the full Day, the glory of the resurrection. Jesus lives. And so His Words, His path, is Life for you, now and forever.
The path of wisdom does not end at the grave. Don’t be deceived by the fools of this world. Don’t go on thinking, “Let’s eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” You keep that up and death is all you’ll get. The way of the wicked will perish (Ps. 1:6), and those who do the works of the flesh will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the path of wisdom does not end at the grave. The way of the–righteous–in–Christ is the way of forgiveness, faith, resurrection, and eternal life.
So, do you want this wisdom? Then get wisdom. Do you want to follow this path? Follow it. Keep on. What’s the secret for getting wisdom? Seek wisdom. You’re not done, you don’t know it all. Learn from the Lord. Come back to Jesus—back to His Word; back to your Baptism; back to the Lord’s Supper that He has provided for you while you’re on this journey. Jesus told the Samaritan that his faith saved him. But faith, like wisdom, is not a thing. Faith is not a one-time event, or just a bit of info. Faith, like wisdom, is following the Lord’s Word on His path. Your faith saves you, that is, returning to Jesus—coming along with Jesus—saves you, because Jesus saves you.
In the Holy + Name of Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Trinity, Clinton, IA & Immanuel, Charlotte, IA
