September 13th

Nice Folks Finish Last

Proverbs 22:1,2,8,9,22,23



The title of the sermon may sound familiar to some of you. It comes from a quote of former baseball manager Leo Durocher. Leo’s actual words were, “Nice GUYS finish last.” But, hey! I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy, so I changed it.

Of course these words go against almost everything most of us were taught growing up. Remember hearing the words, “Now behave and play nice!” from parents and other relatives when you were growing up? I seem to remember my Mamaw Carrie saying to us on more than one occasion, “You kids will either play nice, or you won’t play at all!” Normally, Mamaw was holding a house slipper or switch when she said it, too. So you better believe we played nice—at least when she was watching.

The concept of “Nice people finish last” also seems to be in direct contrast of what it means to be a Christian, too, doesn’t it? After all, didn’t our Sunday School teachers tell us how important it was to be nice to others? Don’t I preach on peace and “speaking the truth in love” to one another?

So if nice people finish last-- and Christians are supposed to be nice people-- are we headed in the wrong direction here? Should we just resign ourselves to the fact that we are a bunch of boring losers, move to a mountain and wait for the Second Coming?

Well, that all depends on the definition of “nice,” now doesn’t it?

So, what exactly is the definition of “nice?” Well, Webster defines the word “nice” variously as “agreeable, passive, socially acceptable.” Agreeable in this context may be seen as “willing or ready to consent or conform.”

So that is the definition of “nice” according to Mr. Webster. But here is something that may surprise you: No where in the Bible are people called to be “nice”—at least not in Webster’s definition of the word. But if we aren’t really called to be nice, then what are we called to be?

I think we can look to Proverbs for at least part of our answer. Proverbs is one of my favorite books in the Old Testament. The reason for my love of Proverbs is that most of the passages in the book are so practical. The bulk of Proverbs addresses the issues of what it means to be good, righteous, and wise. Most of us have heard of the books for dummies series, right? Cooking for Dummies, Computers for Dummies, etc? Well, think of Proverbs as “Wise Living for Dummies.” Proverbs reshapes the concept of what it means to be nice—in other words, good or righteous in God’s eyes--and the writer spells out what that means for us.

First of all, Proverbs 1:7 tells is that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” This fear is a healthy respect and reverence for God, not the fear of being zapped if we make a mistake. God desires our authentic and passionate love and worship, and love and worship based on fear is neither authentic nor acceptable to God.

So now that we know that the foundation for being “nice” people of God begins with a healthy respect and reverence for God, let’s look at some of the more practical applications of this somewhat radical concept of “nice.”

According to Proverbs, it is better to choose a good name rather than great riches. In Old Testament times, your name was more than just a name. Your name said something about your reputation. Unlike today, it took more than leaning on the family name to establish a good reputation. You chose a good name through your choice of actions. And while riches were sometimes associated with a good name in the Old Testament, this scripture makes it plain that wealth is secondary to a good name.

What this scripture means for us is if we are going to choose the name “Christian,” it is going to take more than being passive, socially acceptable, and accommodating members of a particular community, church, or denomination. The term “passive Christian” is an oxymoron—in other words, it doesn’t make sense.

No, we are not called to be passive; but as Christians we ARE called to be PASSIONATE people of God. Proverbs 22:9 says the generous are blessed for they share their bread with the poor. How do we do that? We have the opportunity to share our bread with the poor in our community by supporting our Food Pantry. Not only is this sharing of bread literal, we can also share the bread of our knowledge, time, talent, and financial resources with other.

Verse 22 of this same chapter also discusses not “robbing the poor because they are poor,” and not “crushing the afflicted at the gate.” What does all that mean? In the times of the Old Testament, the “gate” was the city gate, where public business—including the business of justice—was done. The “poor” and “the afflicted” are also symbolic terms for not only the poor and sick, but ANY disadvantaged people. This passage is not only a judgment against the rich getting richer at the expense of the poor, it is also a judgment against those people who are in power who use that power in abusive ways to keep others in submission to their oppressive agendas.

At the same time, this passage of scripture is also a warning to legitimate authorities who do not plead the cases of those who are disadvantaged. We aren’t just talking about legal authorities here, either. We are all called to use whatever perceived leverage we may have to plead the cases of those who feel they have no voice. Let me give you a personal example.

Some years ago when I was still in the field of accounting, someone told me, “Danny, you are an intelligent person with the potential to make a lot of money. You just have to learn to play the game and not be so vocal about equality—especially when it comes to the whole gay thing.”

What this person was REALLY saying was, “You’re an educated, middle class, white guy. Use your skin color, gender, and education to YOUR advantage. Keep quiet. Play nice.”

I really don’t think so.

See what this passage in Proverbs says to me is that I have the responsibility to use whatever leverage my skin color, gender, education, and position as a clergy person gives me to do just the opposite of what my friend suggested. I am not called to be quiet. I am not called to “play nice.”

And neither are you.

How can I say that? How do I know that? I can say these things because for those of us who call ourselves Christian, Jesus Christ is our example. And guess what? Jesus Christ wasn’t “nice.” At least not according to the world’s standards, and not according to Mr. Webster. Let’s face it, if Jesus Christ was nice—you know, passive, accommodating—why did the religious authorities want him dead? Why did they work so hard to turn popular opinion and governmental authority against him?

Jesus Christ was anything but passive and accommodating. Jesus Christ was constantly in conflict with popular opinion. Jesus cared only about the approval of God—not opinion polls. Jesus was compassionate toward the spiritual and physical needs of people that the religious authorities wouldn’t touch. Jesus Christ was courageous, and didn’t play the victim. And if Jesus Christ is our example, can the Church afford to do anything less? Can the church afford to BE anything less?

Some of you today may be thinking, “What can I do, though? I’m just one person, and there is just so much going on that needs changing.”

The good news is we are not alone. God doesn’t expect any of us to do it all alone. That is one of the reasons why we have this institution we call the Church. We have a community of sisters and brothers around you to worship, fellowship, and yes, WORK with to better become the presence of Christ in the world. Not only do we have our sisters and brothers in Christ, we have God Almighty with us.

Maybe you really want to be a part of a Christian community, but you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If that is the case, we will have a time for you to do just that during Communion, and I encourage to seriously consider making the decision to ask Christ to come into your life. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Maybe you are already a Christian, but you just aren’t feeling that passionate about it right now. I encourage you today to rededicate your life to Christ, rededicate yourself to a life of living passionately for Christ and for others. Again, you won’t regret it.

Maybe you’re already passionate about living for Christ and for others, but you just don’t know what direction that passion should take. You may be thinking, “I want to do something; but WHAT should I do?” I encourage you—actually I encourage all of us—to check out what your church is doing here in this place, in the community, and in the world. I encourage each of us today to become a passionate part of our family of faith through the giving of our time, our talents, and yes, our financial gifts. As Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, says the Lord God of hosts; see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.”

Leo Durocher said nice people finish last. Well, he may have something there—if you’re reading Webster.

However, if you’re reading the Bible, passionate people, Proverbs people, committed people, servant people, finish first in God’s eyes. And aren’t those the only eyes that really matter anyway?

God bless you and amen.