I’m not the dinner party type. I’m more of a backyard bar-b-q kind of guy. My friends are more the flip a burger kind of people than they are the hors d'oeuvres type. The dinning attire I most often don includes an obnoxious aloha shirt, khaki shorts, and a pair of flip flops; as far as accessories, I find the only thing I really need is a good pair of sunglasses. Highbrow humor, social commentary, and political satire are not the type of conversations my hosts expect from me. They know I am more of a hold my beverage and watch this type of guest.
I am not the dinner party type, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to be. I think it would be refreshing to receive a good old-fashioned dinner invitation in my letterbox. I think it would be fun to dress for dinner for a change, nobody dresses for dinner anymore, I think it would fun to put on fine clothes for dinning. And even though I am a big fan of casual dining, it might be nice to be seated at a formal table where the dinner plate is exactly one inch from the edge of the table and there is an assortment of cutlery on either side. I think it might be fun to put a cloth napkin on my lap as I sip on a cup of tea while extending my pinky finger. And although I would likely never eat it, I would like to at least one time in my life say, “please pass the pâté” or “where might I find the caviar?”
I know I am unlikely to receive an invitation to a dinner party. I understand we aren’t a dinner party culture anymore, but sometimes I wish we were. Sometimes I think it might be nice to be invited to a dinner party. If you share my sentiment, then you are going to enjoy the lesson from Proverbs 9 that we are going to be taking a look at today. There, God invites us to imagine that we have been extended not one but two invitations to a dinner party.
O.K. Imagine yourself facing a temptation. It can be any temptation. Yours is likely not the same as mine. Different people have different temptations. You think of something that tempts you. What temptation you choose to imagine doesn’t matter. But imagine yourself standing at the moment when you will have to decide whether or not you are going to give in to that temptation. It is that brief moment in time that Proverbs chapter nine compares to an invitation to a dinner party.
In Proverbs chapter nine there are two woman who are throwing a dinner party. One woman is called Wisdom, the other is known as Folly. Wisdom is described in verses 1 and 2. There we read, “1 Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. 2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.” Wisdom lives in a house that she herself has constructed. We are told her house is so massive and magnificent seven pillars have been used in its construction. Wisdom has built a grand mansion in which she entertains her guests. As we think about the mansion that wisdom has built we cannot help but recall the words of Jesus that have been recorded for us in John 14:2, especially as they are translated in the King James version “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” Heaven is the house wisdom has built and heaven is where she makes her preparations.
Perhaps you noticed that wisdom does not “cook supper”, she prepares a dinner. She prepares the meat, mixes the wine, sets her table; she goes out of her way to ensure her dinner guests have a gratifying and satisfying dining experience. Wisdom’s attention to detail and her careful planning are reminiscent of the preparations the heavenly Father made when in the fullness of time He “sent His Son born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those under the law.”[1]
In contrast to lady wisdom is the woman Folly. That woman is described for us in verses 13-14. There we read, “13 The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. 14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city.” Three adjectives are used to describe Folly. She is loud, undisciplined, and ignorant. The three adjectives are often found together. An ignorant person who lacks discipline is often loud. Folly speaks confidently of things she does not know and cannot understand, she seems intent on sharing her ignorance. Folly sounds a great deal like the individual described by saint John who was “a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”[2]
I might add a fourth adjective to describe this woman; lazy. Notice we find her, not hard at work making preparations for her guests but, sitting at the door of her house. She has nor care or concern for the comfort of her guests; a gratifying and satisfying dining experience is not what she has to offer, her’s is more of a weeping and gnashing of teeth soiree.
But I’m getting slightly ahead of myself. Let’s first take a look at the kind of feast these two hosts have prepared for their guests. Back at lady Wisdom’s mansion the invitations have gone out, “5 Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.” Back in verse two we were told lady Wisdom prepared her meat. Literally, in the Hebrew, she “slaughtered her sacrifice”. The same Hebrew word is used in Isaiah 53:7 where we read, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter”. And the wine lady wisdom serves is a wine that has been mixed to make it as tasty as possible for her guests. The prophet Isaiah describes an occasion were a similar wine is served. In Isaiah 25:6 we read, “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines.” The feast that the prophet speaks of is the banquet of the Lord’s salvation that has been prepared for all His people. Lady Wisdom invites her guests to eat and drink salvation.
Again, in contrast to the food lady wisdom serves is the food the woman Folly slaps on her table. In verse 17 we learn what is on Folly’s menu. There we read, “17 Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” Folly offers her guests food that is neither substantial nor nourishing. Indeed, her menu has more in common with a meal served to an inmate in prison than it does to what one expects at a typical dinner party. But the boorish woman appeals to a weakness we have inherited from our first father and mother. She knows in our weakness we hunger for that which is forbidden. As she fooled our first parents, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”[3], so she attempts to fool us with her stolen water and secret food. Folly invites her guests to eat and drink damnation.
It is almost time for you to decide who’s invitation you are going to accept. But before you do let’s consider how the guests at each party spend their evening. In the heavenly mansion of lady wisdom where salvation is served, guests are invited to “6 Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.” The guests of lady Wisdom spend their evening having the time of their lives. A poet by the name of David who has now been a longtime guest at lady Wisdom’s dinner party described his evening with these words, “11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”[4] Life! The guests of lady wisdom spend an infinity of evenings having the time of their lives.
Once more let’s contrast how the guests of lady Wisdom spend their evening with how the guests of the woman Folly spend theirs. In verse 18 we read, “But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.” The woman Folly tries to conceal her evening plans from her guests but God wants you to know what she has planned for you. God invites you to take a closer look at the guests that attend this party. Look closely and you will see the walking dead dine with the woman Folly (and not the cool zombie kind that live on the south side of Atlanta, but the dead in sin kind that will be tormented for all eternity). In the depths of the grave burns a fire whose flames can never be quenched. In that fire the guests of Folly spend their eternal evening.
In Proverbs chapter nine we are presented with two invitations to a dinner party. In verses 1-6 we learn about lady Wisdom’s invitation. In verses 13-18 we learn about the woman Folly’s invitation. Standing right between these two invitations are verses 7-12. Standing right between these two invitations is a description of the guest. Standing right between the two invitations is you. You have a decision to make. A Christian family, faith filled friends, and a doctrinally sound church can go a long way in influencing your decision, but verse 12 reminds you the decision is yours and yours alone. There we read, “12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.” The question is, whose invitation are you going to accept? When faced with temptation, do you choose to dine with lady Wisdom or with the woman Folly?
There is no question lady Wisdom’s invitation is the better choice. And yet so often we must confess that we have given in to the temptations before us; so often we have spent time dining with the woman Folly. That, my friends, is why I am so grateful for the bread of life that came down from heaven that we read about in our gospel lesson for today. That is why I am so grateful for my savior Jesus who sacrificed His body and shed His blood on the cross for the forgiveness of my sins, and not just my sins but yours as well. That is why I am so thankful for the feast of forgiveness that Jesus instituted on the night He was betrayed and, in a few moments, I will share with you; my brothers and sisters in faith. A meal in which we receive the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in with and under the bread and wine. A meal that is given and poured out for us; for the forgiveness of our sins; for the forgiveness of all the times we have given in to temptations and dined with the woman Folly.
So, regardless of whether or not you are the dinner party type, there is no question lady Wisdom’s dinner party is one dinner party that we all want to attend. Every time we find ourselves facing a temptation, by the grace of God, she extends her invitation to you and to me. Filled with the gratitude of forgiveness and the power of the Spirit, may God strengthen us to resist temptation; may God equip us to accept her invitation. Amen.
[1] Galatians 4:4
[2] John 8:44
[3] Genesis 3:1
[4] Psalm 16:11