In the book of Proverbs this morning, we start our summer Psalms and Proverbs series. We’re looking this morning at the mocker or the scorner, the type of fool who tears down rather than builds up, who insults rather than encourages, and who divides rather than unites. As we look to the reading of God’s word, if you join with me in prayer.
Lord, we do ask that you would shed your light on us, that being rid of the darkness of our hearts, that we would come into the true light, which is Jesus Christ, your Son, who is the light of the world, who lives and who reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
A medley of verses here. The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning. A scoffer does not like to be reproved. He will not go to the wise. The arrogant, insolent man, mocker is his name.
He acts in the rage of arrogance. Drive out the mocker and out goes strife. Some of you may recall at the start of COVID a series of memes came out. A meme, if you’re not aware of that, is typically a short video or a picture that’s humorous in nature, often maybe somewhat sarcastic in tone. And this one though, it, um, saw it in lots of different ways.
It referred to COVID-19 as the boomer remover and had like a little picture of spray bottle and COVID-19. And of course is emphasizing the hardest hit by the disease were those who were 65 and older. And so it made reference to those of the baby boomer generation. Now possibly a macabre humor, but it was certainly rolled into a disdainful way of speaking of the older generation that still pervades to this day. The current expression, probably getting the ire of many, it simply just says, “Okay, boomer.” Just simply means just be quiet, stop talking.
We don’t want to hear you. And the internet has given us this ability to take this kind of disdainful and contemptuous speaking to far greater levels than ever. We’re constantly inventing new phrases, coining new words that better help us to insult one another. These combinations of things being pressed together, like libtard, sheeple, snowflake, and it’s a snarky ridiculing attitude and tone. And it saturates our society.
It’s Disrespect at all levels. Of course, as Christians, we want to know, what does the Bible say about this? And Proverbs directs us a great deal about the kind of speech that should mark us as God’s people. And it also tells us the kind of people who speak this way. And that’s what we’re looking at today.
The character, the issue of the heart. ‘Cause when we look around, we see that we are indeed mocking our way to foolishness. And if we continue down this path, we are leaving biblical wisdom far behind. Psalm 1, it begins with this blessing. He said, blessed is the one, the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.
And because the Lord desires his people to pursue his His blessing, we are to keep ourselves firmly and humbly planted in His wisdom. Let’s look at Proverbs and what it has to say about the heart and its condition. The first we see is what happens to the heart that’s unable to hear. Proverbs opens up in chapter 1 with a very well-known phrase to us. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and then fools despise wisdom and instruction.
So immediately it’s setting these two. In opposition. And throughout Proverbs, we run into a series of bad characters and the bargain basement bad character in Proverbs is the simple-minded, the person who’s not firmly committed to pursuing righteousness or unrighteousness. They’re easily led astray. Proverbs 14:15, the simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
So if you want to upgrade, as it were, from there, you do so to being a fool. And a fool in Proverbs is not about how smart you are, but it’s about your moral alignment. It’s about your character. You can be an intelligent fool. A fool rejects God’s wisdom, is stubborn in their refusal to listen to other people.
They’re often unteachable. They can’t hold their tongue. They end up making the same mistakes over and over. Proverbs 10:14, the wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool brings ruin near. But you can level up from being a fool too.
You can go from being simple to a fool to being a mocker. Or a scoffer. And this person is wise in their own eyes and makes fun of everyone trying to correct them. There’s little hope or little help for the scoffer. Proverbs 13:1, a wise son hears his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
And so if you’re following the career path of anti-wisdom, it’s to go from simple to a fool to a, a scoffer or a mocker. And that word is used about 14 times in Proverbs. It’s the most hardened of hearts that Proverbs speaks of. It’s a spiritual problem that’s rooted in excessive pride. I appreciate Old Testament scholar Bruce Wacki.
He put it rather tersely. He said of the mocker, his supercilious arrogance blocks him from wisdom. He has a genius for invective and denigration that impresses the gullible as long as he has his way. He opens his big mouth and he sets the whole community at loggerheads and destroys it.
That’s why Lady Wisdom, the very beginning in chapter 1, is calling out to the simple not to go down this path because it’s a progressive hardening of the heart that ends in destruction. In arrogance, you make yourself incapable of of changing, you invite ruin.
Guess which ship captain made this statement? I could not imagine any condition which would cause a ship to founder. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.
Edward Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic. He ignored several warnings from other ships about ice in their shipping lanes and continued ahead full steam.
We know how that ended.
In 2000, CEO John Antioco, his team laughed a young startup company right out of their boardroom. They were the then rental powerhouse company called Blockbuster. And they were being asked to purchase this fledgling and struggling company called Netflix for a mere $50 million.
Laughed them out of the boardroom. Now many of you younger people are like, Blockbuster, what’s that?
They went defunct in 2014 and they were a movie rental business. Netflix today is worth $310 billion.
That’s a kind of arrogance. It’s a kind of not being able to see what’s coming because you made yourself incapable of learning. Proverbs 14:6, the mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning. See, the mocker’s arrogance keeps them from humbling themselves And God’s wisdom is then elusive to them. Paul writes about this in 2 Timothy.
He said that the proud, the arrogant, the lovers of self are always learning and never able to arrive at the knowledge of the truth. You can’t come to true knowledge without humility. From Bruce Watkey again, instead of finding what lies beyond himself in God, through inspired teachers and being corrected by it, the mocker, his exaggerated opinion of his own importance, his desire for social power and exaltation bring him back again and again to himself. That’s the loop. You’re stuck in yourself.
The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.
Because you’re not trapped into yourself.
In Proverbs 21:24, it says arrogance and rage are tied together. The scoffer is his name, the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. The other translation then says the arrogant, insolent man, he acts in the rage of arrogance. Someone say, well, what’s the connection between a scoffer and this type of anger? Well, his arrogance makes him resistant to teaching, and his overblown ego gives him a hair trigger.
He imagines an offense when none is given, and he easily explodes into rage.
Well, how do these who are in this category, how do they treat those who try and help them? Well, They’re true to themselves. They mock and make fun of those trying to help. Proverbs 15:12, a scoffer does not like to be corrected. He will not go to the wise.
The mocker is scoffer. He attacks those who criticize or tries to help them. They make fun of them. They put them down. This insolent fool has placed himself beyond correction.
To the point in Proverbs 21, it says, “When a scoffer is punished, the simple become wise. When a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.” He’s saying the only help in punching a scoffer is that the lower-level simple ones can see and go, “Oh, I don’t want to do that.” But not so much for themselves. There is a caption, another meme, if you will. It’s a picture of a ship that is sinking, and it has— It says right on, it says mistakes. And then the subtext, it could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.
That is a proper use of humor.
If you go down this path, you become unable to be corrected and your ruin just serves as a warning to others. And that’s what Proverbs says. The simple see your destruction and they are to learn from it. Charles Bridges, an 18th-century preacher in England, he said, the scorner is a grief to his minister and a stumbling to his church, but he hurts no one such as himself. Because scoffers stir up trouble.
They’re not content to let others be with what they have, and there’s no remedy for that.
They won’t let others alone. They stir up trouble. And so the remedy that’s given, Proverbs 22:10, is drive out the mocker and out goes strife. Quarrels and insults are ended. That’s the end game for trying to deal with someone who’s become beyond correction, incorrigible.
But that’s not what God wants for his people, clearly. We want a heart that bears the fruit of wisdom. And wisdom is not something that’s seized by the proud. It’s not something that’s taken by force.
Wisdom is a gift of the Lord and is given to those who humble themselves to receive it. To bear this kind of fruit means you must go low. And that’s contrary to the so-called wisdom of our age. Kelly Dennard, he’s a ruling elder. Actually, he can be here second service.
Uh, he’s a ruling elder in our presbytery. He’s one of the elders at Lander and he’s got a forthcoming book called Toxic Leadership. And I got a preview copy of it. And I was reading this in it. He quotes from two people who are business coaches, Kate Ludeman and Edie Erlanson.
Have coached more than 1,000 senior executives. Alpha males and queen bees are so named in business management circles due to being bold, self-confident, demanding. They go on to say that alphas have opinions about everything. They rarely admit that those opinions might be wrong or incomplete. It is estimated that nearly 70% of executives aren’t happy unless they’re the top dog.
Dogs. What we emulate as the leader of business and industry is what Proverbs tells us is foolish and destructive. We have to be very careful about where we want to get our models for leading, particularly in the church. It comes from the Bible and not from Harvard Business Quarterly. What kind of fruit does this produce?
We know what kind of fruit it produces. It doesn’t produce Galatians 5: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control. It produces a whole different kind of fruit. Now, some may object and say the Bible does use humor and sarcasm at times to make a point. Yes, it does, in a very limited way.
Paul does so in 2 Corinthians 10:13 about those who are criticizing him. Certainly the most famous one we see with the prophet Elijah and that showdown with the prophets of Baal, 1 Kings 18. However, contempt and insolence is not the markers of those who bear the name of Jesus. That line between humor and scoffing, it’s not very far apart. Now, I enjoy satire of the Babylon Bee, like many of you.
There’s good humor there, and humor is often a way of pointing out foolishness. And one of the great things about this type of teaching humor is that it’s actually an invitation into the humor to learn to laugh at yourself. Because that’s something we should be able to do. We should be able to laugh at ourselves. And humor done in that way, it can be an invitation out of foolishness.
No doubt about it. But it is a short distance from there to contempt and insolence. And that we just need to be very aware of that. Because I know in my sinful heart, that’s an easy little step. So easy to do with people particularly who disagree with you.
Who are doing things you don’t like.
And that is not the path that God wants his people to go to. Proverbs 3: My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, Or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord corrects those he loves as a father, the son in whom he delights. You see, to bear the fruit of wisdom, you must be willing to hear correction and criticism. That is the path of character growth. To shut your ears and to never admit your mistakes will only make you very sure of doing the same thing over and over again.
The perpetual loop of folly. And we see this all the time. And often it has catastrophic results when we’re unable to hear correction. In 1986, Bob Ebeling, he was one of the engineers from Morton Theokol, and he tried to stop the launch of the Challenger space shuttle the night before it was to take off. And his group warned NASA management that the O-ring seals would fail in freezing temperatures.
And so they tried to get the launch stopped. But managers of NASA ignored the warnings and they went ahead with the launch. And 73 seconds later, 7 astronauts died. A culture of not listening. Was one of the things that they followed that up with.
Not being able to hear, not being able to listen, particularly to technical details. We all have the expression, you know, “It’s not rocket science.” Except when it’s rocket science, it matters. It’s those types of details that a place like that needs to listen to. And when you create a culture that keeps yourself from hearing some of the best voices, Destruction takes place. Proverbs 11:3, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives.
That’s the heart of wisdom. It’s founded in humility. It listens first and foremost to the Lord, and then it listens to others. You see, in pride, the scoffer shows no respect for the opponent they have or for their viewpoint. And that’s something that marks far too many.
We see it in the news, we see it in speeches, we see it in podcasts, a disdain and a contempt for others. Instead of logical arguments, all that’s given is a loud and brash assertion. Often the argument is just the mocking tone. Now, none of us are immune to this. But I would say this is particularly a struggle with young men because there’s a bravado that glories in being edgy and cutting.
And we need to be aware of that. Proverbs 15:5, the righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked creates disgrace and scorn.
He always, you, you’ve been taught this from kindergarten up. It’s clear throughout the Bible, how you say something is as important as what you say. You cannot separate content from tone.
It’s easy to hate those you disdain. That’s why you’re called to look at your own heart, that you don’t have contempt and disdain towards somebody. Because we’re called to love even our enemies. And those who persecute us, those who curse us. It’s easy to score points in an echo chamber, but as Paul tells us, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
And yes, there are those who make fun of those reminding you not to make fun of people. You can justify any bad behavior you want and even find a verse or two to— along the way. But in the end, there’s no life found in the desolate and alkaline soil of mockery.
Proverbs 29:8: Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath. If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet.
I’d say that describes most internet chat rooms.
It was a common thing for those who would probably be more aligned in the conservative side of theology, you know, easily 15, 20 years ago, who wanted to make sure to point out the dangers of postmodern deconstruction. That was something everyone said a lot about. The dangers of postmodern deconstruction, they’re tearing apart our institutions, they’re just destroying things.
True. But what occurred in the following two decades was that those who were so concerned about the deconstruction of that side took up the wrecking ball on their side.
And a wrecking ball, whether it swings from the right or the left, leaves a pile of rubble. And it isn’t about fighting fire with fire. See, when you end up in a cul-de-sac unwilling to reverse direction, there’s little that can be done for you. And that, that’s the danger, is that you push yourself where you see, and you allow some of these events around us, or the anger and the, the that feeling of even your own sense of being disrespected. And it can push you in a direction if you’re not letting your heart get checked.
And you end up doing the same things that you’re criticizing others for. And it becomes incapable of change if you stay there. And the only recourse As I already said, Proverbs 22:10, drive out a scoffer and strife goes out. Quarreling and abuse will cease. If you don’t, they continually stir people up.
And for some, there’s sort of a perverse joy in doing that, just getting other people mad and angry.
The ultimate scoffers in the Bible, we see them in Mark chapter 15.
Jesus is on the way to the cross and he’s being mocked. And when he’s hanging on the cross, there we read, those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘Aha, you who destroy the temple and rebuild it in 3 days, save yourself! Come down from there!’ So also the chief priests and the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, He saved others, he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross that we may see and believe.
That’s not the side we want to align with, just to be clear. Jesus, the Word made flesh. Jesus, the very wisdom of God.
Did not mock or scoff at us in our helplessness.
He came, he died for us. That was not the path of the weak or the simps. It was the path of strength and sacrifice. Jesus knew what was in the heart of a man. And yet he did not shy away from mixing with sinners.
If you want to show biblical bravery, love the unlovely. It’s hard. If you wanna stand for righteousness, bend down low.
Proverbs 18:21, the tongue has the power of life and death. And those who love it will eat its fruit. What a beautiful invitation that God has given to his people who bear his name in their baptism, to be a fountain of life, to be a fruit of wholeness and health because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Moving us in a different direction than the path of the world.
And it is difficult to do.
And I’m sure you have heard or have said in some fashion or form to children, your children, to others, you know, if everybody’s jumping off a cliff, are you gonna do it too? You know, that sort of thing. And you Do you know the answer? Of course not.
If everyone is jumping off the cliff of disdain, contempt, and mockery and insolence, do we jump off too? It’s a super simple answer.
Don’t let derision and mockery complicate this. It’s really easy. We know better because we follow Jesus.
What our online life looks like, our comments, our conversations, how we speak to one another, it has to have the aroma of Christ.
And 100%, me included, we are guilty of having an aroma of death. And the biblical response to that is repentance and to go back to Jesus.
Is to pursue him. It is a love for wisdom made flesh. The person and work of Christ Jesus. That we would look and sound and act like our Savior because his Spirit dwells in us. That is such an encouragement that when we have failed and when we have blown it, Jesus is the one who invites us to himself, who reminds us of the love that he has for us.
Of the price that he paid that our sins could be atoned for. And that the empowering ability of his Spirit dwelling in us is enabling, animating, and motivating us to go forward, to be a part of that community of faith, the church that we long for that is coming, that we spent a whole lot of time in Revelation seeing what is yet to come, that we can truly participate in that now, in power.
That, brothers and sisters, changes the world. Pray with me.
Father Almighty, as we come before you, Lord, we recognize that apart from you, we are trapped in ourselves. Father, there is no hope apart from your son Jesus. So Father, we just say thank you. Thank you for setting us free. Thank you for enabling us to love the unlovely, to stand courageously and boldly alongside our Savior.
And Father, we pray that as we go forward and as we move from here, that Lord, you would fill our lips. Our hearts with joy in your Son, that the fruit of the Spirit would be that which so marks all of us here, simply because of what Jesus has done on our behalf. We pray and ask this all in his mighty name. Amen. Amen.
Discaimer: This sermon text was generated by an automated transcription service.