God doesn’t hate anything…except… #4

by Marquis Murray | May 23, 2018 | Sunday Conversations

Cooking segments on day time TV are always interesting…I love how they have 5 min to make something, and it turns out amazing.
What I find intriguing, from someone who doesn’t cook all that well, especially one who doesn’t bake, is how it all comes together.
The hardest part, in my opinion, is starting. You have to imagine something good coming out of your raw ingredients. You have to have a vision that drives you to mix and stir and bake and cool…and then…EAT.

We are, knowingly or not, stirring up something.

• our life is a result of what we started stirring up a few years before
• our actions are a result of what has been stirring in our heart
• our relationships are as strong as the ingredients we’ve put into them and the discipline to do the hard work.
• nothing tastes good without any planning, working, stirring, and mixing at the onset.

How is this analogy part of our current conversation?

Well, as we come to the end of our journey in Proverbs 6, we are given the last and final thing God hates, or at least, the writers interpretation of what God hates. It has to do with stirring, mixing, and creating.

I mentioned last week that I tinkered with a FaceBook survey or pole. As promised, I will share some of the best responses. Here are the top things people hate…

• Bad Coffee & Bad Beer
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Marble Cheese
• The political party they didn’t vote for
• Dust bunnies
• Boston Bruins
• When someone presses an elevator button that’s already been pressed
• How much time do you have?
• Facebook questions/surveys?
• Doing the same thing over & over and expecting different results
• Lies & vaccines (needles)
• Mental illness & it’s impact
• Seeing people suffer
• Fear
• Lies & Arrogant people
• Mistreatment & Rigid Thinking
• Entitlement
• Hate (a few people said they hate hate…I agree with them)

Where have we been so far? What have we talked about? What is God ‘not fond of’?

• prideful eyes
• envious of what others have
• lying tongue
• hands, feet, HEART

This all comes from Proverbs 6. The writer of the proverbs does his best to interpret and answer this question, ‘what does God hate?’.

¹⁶ There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷         haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸         a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹         a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

This final line seems to both add another layer to the conversation, while also summing things up quite nicely.

3 parts two this line that are essential…PERSON / STIRS UP CONFLICT / COMMUNITY

a PRESON who…

The underlying intention in this text was leading us to this all along.

What kind of PERSON do you want to be?
What makes up WHO you are?

This proverb reminds us that our hands, our feet, our eyes, our tongue, and of course our heart, reflects the PERSON we are.

Will we be defined by the words this proverb uses to describe those parts of the body…or…will we, with intention and purpose, be the person Jesus is calling us to be.

• Humility instead of Pride
• Truth instead of Lies
• Good instead of Evil
• Life giving instead of Life threatening

We get to choose the kind of person we are. We get to invite God to help us become who he calls us to be. That’s both a gift and a choice.

STIRS UP CONFLICT…

Like we said at the top, we or others are always stirring up something. Nothing that happens, just happens. We or someone else was part of it. Things come about because of what was being stirred before hand.

This puts value on every part of everything we do.

I love the metaphor or analogy…to stir up or sow:

• are we intentional about what we are creating with the decisions we’re making?
• are we thoughtful of what will come from our ideas and more importantly, our actions?
• are we planting peace, hope, love, grace, forgiveness…today…so it grows into something impactful…tomorrow?

This proverb of course warns us of what not to stir up: CONFLICT. DISCORD.

We know what conflict is, but I love the word DISCORD (ESV). Something intriguing about that word.

Discord in Hebrew means, division, strife, contention, quarrel, and of course, conflict.

When I think about this word I can’t help but think about music and chords and separating the word like this – DIS / CHORD

• something that break ups the harmony
• a note that doesn’t belong in the chord or the scale
• a musical element that causes unnecessary tension

God hates it when what was supposed to be harmonious is now in dis-cord, or is now in conflict, is now divided.

Proverbs speaks to this issue a lot…

10:12 Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.
15:18 A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel.
16:28 A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.
17:1 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.
13:10 Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.
22:10 Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; quarrels and insults are ended.
28:25 The greedy stir up conflict, but those who trust in the Lord will prosper.
29:22 An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins.

Of course, the NT addresses this as well:

Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
1 Tim 6:4 They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction…

What contributes to or feeds conflict/strife (according to Proverbs)

• A hot temper
• gossip
• greed
• anger
• quarrels
• pride
• talking too much / saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or the right thing at the wrong time
• Mocking/Judging

What sucks the air out of conflict or strife (according to Proverbs)

• A peace maker
• patience
• A grateful or content heart
• A calm demeanour
• humility
• listening
• If and when you talk, think about it, pray about it, count your words

COMMUNITY…

The last word in this proverb is community.

What saddens God’s heart most? A break up in community.

All the things that are listed in Proverbs 6 are of course things that lead to broken relationships, broken families, broken marriages, broken neighbourhoods, broken work places and offices, even brokenness in faith communities and churches.

TAKE HOME :

We have a choice…to be the kind of person who stirs up good, who builds up others, who makes those around us better.

How do we do that? By hating what God hates and loving what God loves.

Say no to pride and yes to humility
Say no to lies and yes to the truth
Say no to evil and yes to good
Say no to tearing people down and yes to building people up
Say no to unnecessary conflict and yes to healthy community

These are the ways of Jesus. We can’t get away from that. Jesus lived his life in this way for us to follow his example.

The final question in this series is this: What are you stirring up? What ingredients are you adding to the mix when if comes to forming your character, your heart, your mind, your life? What kind of person are you becoming, and do your actions reflect who you want to become?

This is a question we should always be asking ourselves so we keep in step with the person God is calling us to be in Jesus.

– – – – – – – – –

small(er) group questions:

What are your impressions of this final theme in this series? How does that final line in our Proverb text resonate with you?

Did you see how the writer led us to this very place where we can analyze what kind of person we are? How do you feel about the sequence he used? Eyes, Tongue, Heart, Hands, Feet, Person? How does this challenge you?

Conflict isn’t always negative and is sometimes necessary. If so, what do you think the writer means by causing conflict, strife or discord? (Feel free to use the other proverbs quoted above)

How valuable is community to you? How about a sense of family? Do you see God’s heart for this here? Is your heart aligned with God’s in regards to community and healthy relationships?

What are you stirring up? Does this metaphor speak to you and more importantly, challenge you? Is fo, how?

How difficult or important is it to choose humility over pride, truth over lies, evil over good, life giving activity over life sucking activity, and community over division?

God doesn’t hate anything…except… (#3)

by Marquis Murray | May 15, 2018 | Sunday Conversations

If we’re honest, our response to the question, what do I absolutely hate, is led by our emotional state; it shifts with moods or circumstances.

• Bullying (if our kids have been bullied)
• Cold Weather (in a long winter)
• HEAT (when it’s gone on too long)
• Your lawnmower or computer or car if it breaks down at the worst possible moment

We’ve been asking this question about God…

• tough…tricky…
• I would never ask how others would respond to this question, with fear I’d get some ridiculous answers.

Honestly, if anything, what does God hate?

This question comes from Proverbs 6. The writer of the proverbs does his best to interpret and answer this question.

Here’s what we read:

¹⁶ There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷         haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸         a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹         a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

So far we’ve talked about…

• prideful eyes
• envious of what others have
• lying tongue

Up to now we’ve dealt with a line at a time, today we will group three of them together.

HANDS / FEET / HEART

HANDS…

This part of the proverb, as important as it is, should simply be a given. (Ex 20:13)

Hands that shed innocent blood? Who wouldn’t or shouldn’t hate that.

Yet, in our world, on a daily basis, people die, innocently, foolishly, senselessly.

Ignorant wars? Acts of violence? Those who don’t have a choice? DIE.

Toronto is not immune to these acts, as we saw just a few weeks ago.

Murder. Senseless death. Comes from those who…
1) don’t see the image of God in others, and 2) have an undervalued view of their neighbour.

Of course murder is more than what we think it is. We kill people’s dreams, people’s aspirations, people’s hopes, all the time, and think it’s ok.

Jesus addresses this in Matthew 5 (20-22).
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ ²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ (which means I hate you or a form of contempt) is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Jesus is obviously expanding the meaning of murder and more importantly the limits of the ten commandments. It’s not just your hands that commit the evil, it’s your thoughts, your words, your intentions.

Extreme Case: Don’t Kill
Subtle Understanding: Don’t tear people down, don’t wish people dead or treat them like they’re not image bearers of God.

I recently heard these words from a podcast that ring true here: Be careful how we use the words ‘crushing it’ and ‘killing it’. When we’re crushing it, is someone else getting crushed? When we’re killing it, is someone else being disposed of?

FEET…

Feet that rush to evil…

I love this metaphor. Rushing. Hurrying. Doing something dumb, and doing it quickly.

Think about all the things we rush to…work, home, our phones, a store before closing, …

Are most of the things we rush towards worth it? I bug my kids to hurry up all the time…family gatherings mainly…and we’re still the first ones there…we’re reconsidering our plans for the next event 🙂

If you rush to do anything, the proverb is saying, rush to do good. Rush to love, to help, to build up, to encourage, etc.

Such a vivid metaphor: rushing to evil. God hates it when we choose to move in the wrong direction. WHY? It hurts us. And it can most definitely hurt others in the process.

You’ve heard this before: I do what I do and it doesn’t affect anyone, so why do you care? Untrue. If we rush to evil, we will most likely drag others along with us.

Our feet dictate where we go…so count your steps, discern your direction.

Psalm 37 talks about this much…with words like, firm steps…ordered steps…walk in in God’s ways…

How futile…to rush somewhere…you have no business being.

HEART…

A heart that devises wicked schemes…

We know that the word heart is not our physical heart. Heart in scripture generally means our will, our mind, our insides…the control centre of our lives.

Proverbs challenges us to really take inventory of our heart. More importantly, we’re challenged to not even let anything in that can send us in the wrong way.

I’ve been teaching my son how to drive recently. Let me tell you, the steering wheel, when moves one way or the other, with too much force, really gets the car going in a way that is, let’s say, unsafe 🙂

So just like a steering wheel in a car, your heart directs your life.

That’s why another proverb tells us to guard our heart. To protect it. To ensure it’s healthy and good and humble.

Jesus says in Matthew 15…
18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

– – – – –

It’s very interesting that the phrase about heart is at the centre. In ancient writing, and in poetry, position and location is very important. This phrase is the 4th of 7 lines. 3+1+3.

They are trying tell us something. If our heart is in the right place, so will the other parts of our body.

If our heart is healthy, it will reflect every part of our life.

Think about it this way. If your heart is right, your hands and your feet will follow suit.

HEART is who I am
FEET is where I go
HANDS are what I do

They work together, but it starts in your heart.

TAKE HOME:

Today is Mother’s Day. It reminds us how important it is for us to plant good seed in the hearts of those we care for.

The most important thing we can do is teach our kids or teach those we are privileged to influence, to take care of their heart, to guard their heart, to nurture their heart with God’s words, God’s ways, Jesus’ values.

Moms & Dads & Leaders, we are planters. What we plant, will grow. So the challenge is to plant well.

God loves your heart so much he wants you to devise plans that are good.
God loves your feet so much he wants you to move in the right direction.
God loves your hands so much, he wants you to use them to build up and encourage.

God just hates it when we waste good hearts, feet and hands, on dumb things. To be honest, so do we.

– – – – – – – – –

small(er) group discussion:

What are some initial thoughts or questions that come out of this week’s topic?
Which aspect (Heart / Hand / Feet) resonates with you most?

How do you interpret the Proverb’s words on murder? Could this be a non-issue if we saw every person as an image bearer of God or if we loved our neighbour as our self?
And then, how do you see Jesus taking it a step further and re-interpreting one of the ten commandments? (Matt 5) (Not just physical, but intentions, words, thoughts, etc.)

What do you make of the metaphor of Feet rushing to evil? Is rushing ever good? Is hurry in itself evil? And what would you rather be in a hurry to do?

Heart. The most important one of all. Why does it seem we always come back here; to the heart of the matter, if you will?
Two verses to think about: Proverbs 4:23 & Matthew 15 (Jesus’ words on heart & life). Discuss.

What is our role in planting good seed in people’s hearts; as parents, leaders, managers, friends, neighbours, influencers?

God doesn’t hate anything…except… (#2)

by Jonathan Manafo | May 9, 2018 | Sunday Conversations

When was the first time you lied? Do you remember? I remember the first time I wanted to lie…when I was 4 I accidentally stole some chocolate bars from the grocery store (an old school Dominion store at Yorkdale Mall)…at 4 years old…already a criminal. My brother and sister and I had to decide if we would tell my mom. The taste of Coffee Crisp and Aero were too great to handle. We ate them. And we lied. Or at least we didn’t let my mom in on our (my) criminal activity.

The temptation to lie is with us from birth, that is why we continue to work towards being people of truth.

In 2016, the compilers of the Oxford Dictionary declared “Post-Truth” the word of the year. Interesting isn’t it?

Two other buzzwords have risen to the top of the pile these past few years as well: “Fake News” & “Alternative Facts”. (I’m not going to comment on why)

In addition to Oxford Dictionary, it’s interesting that in 2017 a group called American Dialect Society declared “fake news” the word of the year in the US.

The origin of Fake News? A journalist found a small cluster of news websites all registered in the same town in Macedonia called Veles. They found 140 of these sites…all run by students who were making lots of money off them…all spreading news that was…FAKE.

Funny thing, they asked the Pope what he thinks about the origin of Fake News, and he said its origin is in the Garden of Eden…a snake fooling early humanity to believe something that was false. Classic (and great) answer.

I found out that Durham College (local school) teaches a class called the real truth about fake news.

What does this tell you about culture?
What does this tell you about our vulnerability?
What does it tell you about our discernment?

We have little regard for the truth. Why? Because sometimes the truth doesn’t get you ahead, but lying does.

Here’s the interesting thing about lying:
– Some people’s problem is they lie to others.
– More people’s problem is they lie to themselves.

OK. So why are we talking about lying?

We’re in the second week of a series in Proverbs 6. Looking at what, if anything, God hates.

The writer of Proverbs, in his wisdom and understanding writes these shorts lines about what God hates…or at least what he interprets God to hate…(6:16-19)

• Prideful Eyes
• Lying Tongue
• Hands that shed innocent blood
• A heart that devises wicked schemes
• Feet that rush to evil
• A false witness who pours out lies
• A person who stirs up conflict

If there’s a reason for God to hate anything, it’s because it doesn’t only hurt him, it hurts us.

You’ll notice that the writer uses parts of the body to make his point. Like tools or instruments, they can be used for good or bad.

Two out of these Seven lines in Proverbs 6 refer to lying. Think about it, two of the seven things God hates are in reference to dishonesty and false stories. By the way, false story is just another way to say…you got it, fake news.

LYING TONGUE. TWO WORDS. 

Lying

Why do people lie?

• It doesn’t matter to them (lack of conviction)
• Lying = Control
• The truth may disappoint
• It’s just a snowball from another lie
• It’s not a lie to them
• They want it to be true (convince themselves)

Psalm 120:2 says “Save me, Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.”

We know from the context of this psalm that this is in reference to others, but if we’re honest, we can attribute these words personally as well. God needs to save me from lying and deceit, from fooling myself to think that I’m ok when I’m really not, or that I’m falling apart, when I’m really not.

Proverbs 12:22 reads, “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.”

We can list the multiple reasons why people lie, but here’s one really good reason not to…God hates lying.

Tongue

We can’t lie without words.
We can’t speak words without our tongue.

The tongue, as I’m sure we will all agree, is the hardest thing in our body to control.

We’ve learned this from experience. Who’s ever said something they regret? (all hands raised)

We also learn this from the book James. Listen to what he says about our tongue…

For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. ³ We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. ⁴ And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. ⁵ In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. ⁶ And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
⁷ People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, ⁸ but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 

Wow. James. Why so negative? Because it’s true. This is the power of your tongue…and in turn the power of your words.

– – – – –

The writer of Proverbs says that God hates a lying tongue…Here’s what God loves instead: Truth

Proverbs 23:23 says…
Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment. (NLT)
Buy truth—don’t sell it for love or money. (MSG)

 Jack Nicolson screamed (in A Few Good Men), “You can’t handle the truth”, But the writer of proverbs says, not only can we handle it, we have to do everything we can to get it.

If you’re going to consume anything, invest in anything, trade the farm for anything, let it be truth.

I love that Jesus says that he is the truth, that we worship in spirit and truth, that we can live by truth, that if we know the truth, that truth will set us free.

In the New Testament, Truth = Gospel/Good News. CS Lewis, when he came to faith, said that he believed the myth (story) of the Gospel to be true. He said that of all the myths he came across (he loved mythology), that the gospel was the only true one that resonated deep within his heart.

Who cares what the word of the year was in 2016 & 2017. Don’t let others put words in our mouth. If Post-Truth, or Fake News, or Alternative Facts get all the headlines, so be it. Let your word of this year and every year be TRUTH.

TAKE HOME :

Last week we said that the book of proverbs (ch. 6) is meant to help us in our relationships, our community, our work, our everyday life. Why does God hate lying? Because it ruins relationships, families, careers, marriages, friendships, neighbourhoods. God loves the truth because the truth builds up all those things that lying ruins.

So, what do you wanna be known for…by the people who know you best?

• Truth
• Honesty
• Authenticity
• Sincerity
• One who speaks truth, and does so in love

 – – – – – – – –

small(er) group discussion:

Does our society have a problem with untruth? Where is the glaring evidence? Where is it more subtle?

Do you remember when you first lied? How about when you last lied? (kidding) Why are we tempted to lie?

What are the consequences of lying? What parts of our lives are affected most?

What about the tongue? We can’t lie without using words. How do you feel about what James says about the power of the tongue? The power of words?

End with reading and discussing Proverbs 23:23.
Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment. (NLT)
Buy truth—don’t sell it for love or money.