{"id":97,"date":"2000-09-10T13:02:06","date_gmt":"2000-09-10T13:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=97"},"modified":"2020-11-22T13:06:24","modified_gmt":"2020-11-22T13:06:24","slug":"a-good-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/a-good-name\/","title":{"rendered":"A Good Name"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Proverbs 22:1-2<\/a>, Proverbs 22:6<\/a>, Proverbs 22:8-9<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 10, 2000<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proverbs are short, one-sentence wisdom from everyday experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrain children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray\u201d (22:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mouth of a loose woman is a deep pit\u201d (22:14).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And today, \u201cA good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold\u201d (22:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have all grown up hearing these one-sentence sayings. My Mom used to say when we were walking off the sidewalk, \u201cWhen there is a sidewalk, you walk where dogs do their business.\u201d \u201cClean your plate clean and you will marry a woman with nice complexion.\u201d Or, \u201cPick up your socks.\u201d \u201cIf you are nice to people, they\u2019ll be nice to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Book of Proverbs is something like being on a long road trip with your mother in the back seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we recognized and promoted children from one grade to another. It\u2019s a great time to dispense these one-sentence sayings of wisdom. \u201cRead your Bible everyday because it is the Word of life.\u201d \u201cSit in the front row in class, your teachers will like you and you will get a better grade.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raising a family gives you plenty of opportunities to come up with your own proverbs to say to your kids. Some of mine are: \u201cWhen you are out in the world, your behavior reflects on Mom and Dad.\u201d \u201cSpend only what you have.\u201d And when our kids kissed us to go to bed, I always said, \u201cBe good!\u201d And they always had a puzzled look on their faces that said, \u201cDad, we\u2019re only going to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Old people like me like to dispense out proverbial wisdom. It makes us feel needed. It gives the impression that the accumulation of years actually taught us something! And most young people are probably saying to themselves, \u201cSo this is how you got to where you are today!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lately, proverbial wisdom has been enjoying phenomenal growth. Look at the bestseller section of your local bookstore and you\u2019ll see Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Book of Virtues, Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. <\/em> You can say that these are proverbs for modern people who don\u2019t have much time for anything in depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Proverbs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historically, proverbs begin to sprout during those times when culture is in chaos, when things come unglued, the old truths are questioned, when people begin to wander and    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

don\u2019t know which way to turn. The Book of Proverbs was written during such a time in Israel. In Israel, it was a time of social and moral decline where corruption of values and morals prevailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the purpose of proverbs does not grow out of judgment or condemnation of sins and wrongdoing, but rather out of love. Proverbs are the product of a society that loves its young enough to show them the way, to point out the path, to tell the next generation what we have learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proverbs are affirmation that life has some answers, that the younger generation won\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel. The proverbs that we might share point the way for the new generation\u2019s future. It\u2019s like telling the children to \u201cRead their Bibles everyday.\u201d It\u2019s making a pledge as new parents that we will raise our children to be God\u2019s kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaining Wisdom<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Some of you are probably saying to yourself, \u201cAll I Really Need to Know I Learned at Kindergarten.\u201d \u201cI have been around the block I few times in my life.\u201d \u201cI have seen the way the world really works.\u201d Here goes the preacher again, \u201cHe\u2019s going to say how the world ought to work and the way it shouldn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, don\u2019t leave, sit down, listen to me, and I\u2019ll tell you what works in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Good Name<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s proverb is \u201cA good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold\u201d (v.1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s proverb contrasts between one way of life and another. A good reputation, good favor, is better than wealth. Would you agree with this? Would you choose a good name rather than a good bank account? Is it better to have a good reputation than to have riches? Is that the wisdom of this world?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we were to form two groups and I ask you to choose one of these groups\u2019 paths into the future, one group leads to riches, the other to a good name, which group would be larger? My guess is that the group that would lead to riches and more power would be larger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may be idealistic and talk about teaching in an inner-city school. But then after a couple of years, you lose your idealism, some naivete, and you apply for law school. We face the facts and step in with how the world works. And the way the world works is, \u201cChoose power, riches, things, and if there is any free time left over when you get home, work on your reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This summer there was a new biography of Donald Trump. Trump has not chosen the path toward a good name and he\u2019s famous. A few weeks ago, Newsweek devoted an entire issue to America\u2019s new rich, the new billionaires among us. I don\u2019t recollect a<\/p>\n\n\n\n

really good name among them. There were mostly people known, not for a good name, but rather for helping themselves to the goodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when we hear today\u2019s proverb is \u201cChoose a good name rather than riches,\u201d this is an assault on the wisdom of the world. We are saying that contrary to all that we learned about what success is, what fame is, what power is, having a good name is better than having all the riches in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are proverbs that just restate what everyone already believes or would like to believe. It\u2019s conventional wisdom, \u201cA woman\u2019s place is in the home.\u201d But then there are proverbs that subvert, deconstruct, and assault what everyone already believes and a new understanding is made possible like, \u201cA woman\u2019s place is in the house, and the senate<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This biblical wisdom of \u201cA good name is a better choice than great riches\u201d challenges all the conventional and societal wisdom that we know. Competing with this biblical wisdom is \u201cThe one who has the most toys when he dies wins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did not Jesus tell us the proverb that it is possible for someone to gain the whole world and still loses his soul?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proverbs frames for us this choice. You need to make the choice. Not all paths taken in life are equal or wise. Some are just foolish. The choice for you is \u201cA good name is better than riches, power, and all that the world has to offer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Good Character<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

When I think about what a \u201cgood name\u201d is, I think about character. The word, \u201ccharacter\u201d comes from the Greek meaning \u201cengraving tool.\u201d When you have a \u201cgood name\u201d a good character, you have engraved in your personality, good traits that distinguish you from another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we play our stock options or venture capital right, you are I can probably accumulate a mountain of wealth. People like Donald Trump has done this. If you have all the wealth in the world, you can\u2019t buy a good name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth of this proverb cannot be identified with people like Trump. We see it in people whom we can say, \u201cShe can be counted on, through thick and thin.\u201d or \u201cHe is a kind and generous person.\u201d or \u201cShe manages to do much good for others without telling anyone about it.\u201d or \u201cHe always thinks about the needs of others first before his own.\u201d These are the everyday affirmations of character of a good name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth of this proverb can be found here at FCBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we take the time from our busy schedules and agendas to teach Sunday school or advise our youth groups, you are making a good name for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you give of yourself like so many did at last weekend\u2019s Family Camp so that young parents can attend the program, to hold the babies, to run around with the toddlers in the play ground, to dispense wisdom to the youth about relationships, you are making for yourself a good name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you sit down one to one with these children who graduated from the third grade to the fourth grade and help them read their new Bibles, you are making for yourself a good name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julie and Shack, when you raise Phoenix and Sierra in the right way so that they will not stray from God\u2019s plan for their lives, you will not only make a good name for yourself, but you will be nurturing and making good and faithful names for your children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choose Wisdom<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The Book of Proverbs offers two ways to life: the way of life and the way of death. Two groups of people travel these two ways: the wise and the foolish. The wise people use these proverbs as ethical resources to steer their paths toward a good name. The foolish, those who see themselves wise in their own eyes, reject teachings from others and relying only on their own ingenuity become hopelessly lost among life\u2019s winding paths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus shared proverbial wisdom with his disciples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cIf any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up the cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?\u201d (Luke 9:23-25<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May you choose the wisdom of a \u201cgood name\u201d rather than great riches of silver and gold. May you choose Jesus Christ by taking up your cross daily and follow Christ. Here is where you will find life everlasting and a good name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, sometimes we would like you to choose for us but we know that the decision is up to us. Help us to choose honesty, integrity, generously, love, and faithfulness; all the things that would build up our characters for a good name. Lead us to follow Christ\u2019s path to life so that we may have everlasting life. In Jesus\u2019 name we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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