Sermonette: July 29, 2019

I saw a bear once. It was the summer I worked at Boy Scout camp and I was ambling half-awake down the trail to breakfast and there, running down and then across my trail was a black bear. I was so startled, I didn’t react; I just stood there stupidly processing what I had just seen.

After being surprised by a bear, that was one morning that I was FULLY awake before breakfast. I think I was shaking as I continued down the path. I remembered my boy scout training that told me that black bears aren’t very dangerous unless it is a mama bear with cubs. Our handbooks told us that an easily frightened bear becomes a terrifying and dangerous animal. A mama bear with cubs in tow is to be avoided at all cost because of the fierce rage she can exert. It’s this dynamic that Solomon references.

“Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs

Rather than a fool in his folly” Proverbs 17:12

As dangerous as a mama bear protecting her cubs is, a fool in the middle of doing foolish things is even more dangerous. That is what Solomon is saying, isn’t he?  

The lesson is clear: if you see someone doing something foolish, stay back! Solomon warns his sons and us to be wary of fools doing their thing. Yes, it might be funny. Yes, it might look fun. But keep your distance. Next time you see an idiot doing something you know is dumb, remember mama bear, and step back.