Rev. David Holwick S Series on Proverbs
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 2, 2006
Proverbs 8:14-16
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I. Who's in charge here?
A. New Jersey has a long history of colorful politicians.
1) We are famous for our corruption and scandals.
2) How many governors make the front page - around the world?
3) But you have to be led by someone.
B. In the Bible, God is supposed to be the ultimate king.
1) Originally, Israel did not have a king.
2) As Proverbs says, insects do just fine without kings.
a) Prov 6:6-7. Ants have no leaders, but get provisions.
b) Prov 30:27. Locusts have no leaders, but are organized.
3) Nevertheless, the Jews clamored for a human to lead them.
a) Prophet Samuel warned them - you'll get a leader, and
also oppression (taxes and military draft followed).
1 Samuel 8:5-22
C. Jewish kings had great power, but not absolute power.
1) He was obliged to uphold God's law. Deut 17:18-19
2) "Separation of church and state": religion remained in
the hands of the priests.
D. The ideal king was a servant of God, and of the people.
1) Proverbs gives several qualities of such a king.
2) Those attributes are still important today.
II. Leaders must uphold justice.
A. They should make just and wise laws. 8:15
B. They should be good at uncovering the truth. 20:8, 25:2
C. They shouldn't show partiality. 24:23
D. Crime must be condemned, not let off hook. 24:24-25
III. Leaders must have compassion for the poor.
A. Being fair to the poor ensures a secure government. 29:14
29:14 If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne
will always be secure.
1) Test of a person in power, and their hidden strength,
is how they treat those who have no power,
who can't put any pressure on them.
As humorist Dave Barry put it, "A person who is nice to
you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person."
#2599
2) A friend of the poor is a friend of God. 19:17, 14:31
Proverbs 19:17 tells us that "he who is kind to the poor lends
to the LORD."
And in Proverbs 14:31: "He who oppresses the poor shows contempt
for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."
The prophet Jeremiah wrote of good King Josiah, "'He defended
the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.
Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the LORD"
(Jeremiah 22:16).
All of us marvel at history's friends of the poor.
We look at the life of Francis of Assisi, who left the fortunes
of his father's textile industry to live with the poor.
There was something right about his life, something we want to
emulate.
Author Gordon Aeschliman got to know Bishop Festo Kivengere
before his death.
When he first met him Festo was a black Anglican priest under
the cruel and pathetic dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin.
Amin's demonic campaign of terror in the 1970s left hundreds of
thousands of orphans and widows in its wake.
Amin threatened to kill the priest and many Christians overseas
offered to let him into their countries.
But Kivengere stayed in Uganda to minister God's mercy to the
poor, the widows and the orphans.
After Amin was kicked out, Gordon asked Bishop Kivengere how he
managed to live in the middle of such pain and destruction.
"Doesn't such poverty overwhelm you?"
Kivengere's sweet spirit, forged through his relationship with
Christ, shot right back:
"No, Gordon, Christ's compassion does not overwhelm us.
It sharpens our vision, sensitizes our hearts, and compels us
into action." #31284
Few human institutions have as much ability to show concrete
compassion as a government.
To give a sense of perspective, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will
contribute $3 billion a year to health issues around world.
One agency of the government, the National Institute of Health,
gives this much, and other agencies give even more, year
after year.
B. Love and faithfulness are firmest political foundation. 20:28
20:28 Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love
his throne is made secure.
1) Do Americans believe this?
a) Is our country strong because of our values, or
because of our laser-guided bombs?
b) Too many would trust the bombs over the values.
IV. Leaders must have personal integrity.
A. Bribes will destroy them. 29:4
29:4 By justice a king gives a country stability, but
one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.
1) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is the only Buddhist leader in Europe.
He is actually the dictator of a breakaway republic.
When challenged about rampant corruption in his government
he replied:
"While money exists, while there is government, beginning
with the Roman Empire, and in the thousands of years
since - it's always been a problem." [1]
2) He is right, of course - but it doesn't have to be that way.
B. Sex can ruin them. 31:3
31:3 Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on
those who ruin kings.
1) I couldn't think of any politicians who have been tripped
up by women...
C. Booze can corrupt them. 31:5-6
31:4 "It is not for kings, O Lemuel--not for kings to drink
wine, not for rulers to crave beer,
31:5 lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and
deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
1) Often, booze and woman work together...
In 1974 Congressman Wilbur D. Mills was the powerful chairman
of the Ways and Means Committee.
It was said that no law passed unless it had his approval.
But in October of that year, Mills was pulled over in downtown
Washington by the Park Police.
In was 2:00 a.m. and he was speeding with no lights on.
Mills was drunk, and one of the women in his car was drunk
too.
She jumped out of the car and dove in the Tidal Basin near
the Jefferson Memorial.
The woman was a stripper named Fanne Foxe.
She was not Mills' wife, who was home at the time.
Mills never lived it down and had to resign from Congress.
Foxe continued working as a stripper, changing her stage
title from "The Argentine Firecracker" to "The Tidal
Basin Bombshell."
She also published a book, "The Stripper and the Congressman."
#31286
D. Evil companions can influence them. 25:5
25:5 Remove the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne
will be established through righteousness.
1) Sad example of President Warren Harding.
He was an American Baptist, like us, and served as a
trustee in the Trinity Baptist Church of Marion, Ohio.
When he became President the country entered the Roaring
Twenties.
There was peace and prosperity and he was hugely popular.
But behind the scenes, some of his friends were using
their positions to get rich.
A swindle called the Teapot Dome Scandal rocked the
capital.
Harding complained, "My...friends...they're the ones that
keep me walking the floors at night!"
He is now remembered as a disgrace, not because of what
he did, but what he allowed others to do.
Harding's impressive tomb in Marion is barely visited.
#31285
E. Rage is a common problem of kings. 20:2, 16:14, 19:12
20:2 A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion; he who
angers him forfeits his life.
1) Sort of like that minor league coach who blew his top
this week...
2) Many politicians have a reputation for volcanic tempers.
a) They often feel it is the only way to motivate people.
F. Arrogance and lying are unsuitable. 17:7
17:7 Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool -- how much worse
lying lips to a ruler!
1) Lying has gotten a lot of leaders in trouble:
a) Ike Eisenhower - lied about U-2 flights, lost face.
b) Jack Kennedy - Bay of Pigs.
c) Richard Nixon - Watergate tapes.
d) Clinton - Lewinsky affair.
V. Leaders reflect God.
A. We are told to respect them as we do God. 24:21
24:21 Fear the LORD and the king, my son, and do not
join with the rebellious...
24:22 for those two will send sudden destruction upon them,
and who knows what calamities they can bring?
1) They have real power - today, nuclear.
2) But it is the position we respect, more than the person.
B. Their words are like an oracle/message from God. 16:10
16:10 The lips of a king speak as an oracle, and his
mouth should not betray justice.
1) Shows finality of their words.
a) Harry Truman - "The buck stops here."
2) Does not mean leaders are infallible -they're still sinners.
C. God remains in charge.
1) God directs the course of history. 21:1
21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD;
he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
a) Applies to good and bad leaders alike.
b) Leaders are no better than anyone else.
2) God alone can give true justice. 29:26
a) Some politicians can be a great help.
b) But no leader can save us.
c) Only Jesus can do that! And he does...
Not long ago, James Treffinger was touted as one of the
brightest politicians in New Jersey.
In college he won a Fulbright scholarship.
He began as a councilman and mayor of Verona, then advanced to
be in charge of Essex County, which has millions of people.
He was in line to become the Republican candidate for the U.S.
Senate.
It all went to his head.
He admitted: "I had a holier-than-thou belief that people
really did need someone like me to fight for them."
His real motivation was fame, which he called his addiction.
By his own admission he became a workaholic enthralled with
politics.
He ignored his family.
Then federal authorities raided his office.
In May 2003, Treffinger pleaded guilty to obstructing an
FBI investigation into a kickback scheme.
Although he was raised a Roman Catholic and even taught Sunday
School in the church, under his wife's influence he began
attending Brookdale Baptist Church.
He became close friends with the pastor and became born again
on October 17, 2002.
Eleven days later, Treffinger was arrested outside his house
and handcuffed by federal authorities.
He spent almost a year in prison and said, "Prison is an awful
experience - it's supposed to be."
Though he never feared for his life, Treffinger said he feared
for his stability, strength and, at times, his sanity.
In prison, he was known simply as inmate 2509005.
Since his religious conversion, he said he realized "my jail cell
was my ego."
In prison he taught high school classes and organized Bible
classes and evangelized the prison population.
Treffinger said sixteen of his students received their diplomas
and four other men became Christians.
The church has become a lifeline for Treffinger, who lost his
license to practice law due to his crime.
One year to the day after he began his prison sentence, in his
first public appearance after his release, he stood in the
pulpit of the church and asked for the congregation's
forgiveness.
He compared himself to the Prodigal Son and told them he is at
peace with himself because of his new relationship with God.
#28954
You can have that same relationship, through Jesus Christ.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
This sermon is adapted from a sermon I preached on November 6, 1988.
[1] "Planet Kirsan," by Michael Specter, The New Yorker magazine,
April 24, 2006, page 82.
# 2599 "Quotes On Kindness," this quote by humorist Dave Barry.
#28954 "Fallen Politician Becomes Born Again," by Diane C. Walsh,
Star-Ledger newspaper, Newark, New Jersey, January 10, 2005.
#31284 "Christ's Love Compels Us To Action," by Gordon Aeschliman,
Discipleship Journal #93, article: "God's Heart For The Poor,"
May/June 1996.
#31285 "President Warren Harding's Sad Example," by Rev. David Holwick,
adapted from http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/wh29.html
#31286 "In Scandal vs. Power, There's No Contest," adapted from an article
by Stephen Green and Margot Hornblower, Washington Post staff
writers, The Washington Post, October 11, 1974.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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