Hidden treasures

My wallet was wearing out—the snap prone to loosen and fling my money and vital information to any and all.  It was a hand-me-down to start with—and I don’t mind used items that still have good wear.  But the time had come for me to shop for another at my favorite bargain haunt: a thrift store.  One seemed to fit my needs with just enough “pockets." But as I unzipped the front compartment, I discovered two twenty-dollar bills! What came to mind immediately—and I am not making this up—was an odd little proverb I’d read long ago:

“It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer, then off he goes and boasts about his purchase. (Proverbs 20:14)

It's one thing to be dishonest, but another to bargain. I engaged in a lot of "bargaining" with customers during the "estate sales" I had to hold after both sets of parents died. I was glad to help people find a reasonable bargain for something they needed. And when I tag along when my husband goes to yard sales, I’ve done my own “suggesting” of a price, especially when there’s a sign that says “make offer.” It’s expected in the garage sale culture.

 But I couldn’t knowingly slip out the front door of this store with a two-dollar wallet and $40 hidden inside. When I went to purchase it, I told the clerk, “I am an honest person, and I found this money in a pocket.  The sorter must have overlooked it.”  After getting over the shock of my statement, she thanked me for my honesty, and asked if it would be okay to donate it to the store fund (the store chain helps disabled people). I walked out the door with an empty new wallet and a clear conscience.

BLAMELESSNESS

 Later that day at home, I looked up that vaguely-remembered verse, and took note of two others about honesty just above it:

“Differing weights and differing measures—the Lord detests them both.” (Proverbs 20:10)

“The righteous man leads a blameless life; blessed are his children after him.”  (Proverbs 20:7)

I know the book of Proverbs contains many admonitions to honesty.  It’s a trait that doesn’t “sell well” in our current “it’s-all-about-me” culture.  But that day, in a store aisle with no other customer nearby to witness it, I had a greater Witness--One whom I was glad to obey. I received the hidden treasure of doing what's right. And I still got a great wallet for less than "new" price.

Think tank: honest

Second in a series on Philippians 4:8.

One of spring’s earliest bloomers, the lupine stalk bubbles with blossoms as its tip reaches to the sky. A member of the pea family (a genetic cousin is the sweet pea), its wild cousins are stunning as among the first flowers to sprinkle local hillsides. Simple and honest, they bring to mind the second Philippians 4:8 command to “think on” things that are honest (KJV).

One day at the grocery store checkout I got in line behind a woman with just a jug of milk.  Lifting it to the counter, she told the clerk, “This milk was on the bottom of my cart when I checked out and I forgot to show it to you. I saw it when I was loading my groceries into the trunk and knew I had to come back and pay for it.”

Honesty.  What a testimony!

Other, newer translations have chosen other words for the KJV’s “honesty,” semnos in the original Greek. It’s “honorable” (NLT), "noble" (NKJV), “worthy of reverence” (Amplified). One classic commentator suggested “nobly serious.” That brings up an image of wise, perhaps older, respected people. When we think on things that are “honest” we may think of people committed to uprightness. Like the lupine, they point up to God.

They are sources of godly wisdom.  Models of spiritual behavior. Lovers of God. Servers of God.  Some call them “mentors.”  I’ve had several in my life. Some became tight friendships, almost like a parent. Others threaded their golden wisdom in and out of my life as God wove the unique tapestry that is me.

In reading 1 Timothy 5 lately, I thought of such people in every church. In this passage, Paul was giving young Pastor Timothy a “performance review,” like so many of us have had in our jobs.  Paul’s counsel hints that Timothy, as pastor of a large church, may have been tempted to be too proud of his “training credentials” under famed apostle Paul. Listen to Paul’s advice:

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.  Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. (5:1)

Paul didn’t say, “Let ‘em have it, Timothy. Cut ‘em down to size.  Show ‘em who’s boss.”  Instead, he reminded Timothy to respect the wisdom that comes to older men and women with spiritual growth, and to leave no room for criticism from his generational peers.

As my husband and I discussed people we knew who were “semnos” or honest and spiritually mature, we recalled aging pastors and conference speakers who were part of our past. Their lives were open books that reflected God’s holiness. They left us an example—and a challenge. Are we pointing up to a holy God in all that we do?

Civility and yard sales

The incidents hit the news last week like grenades: a rapper ranted rudely at an entertainment awards show, a senator shouted sarcasm at the President, and a tennis diva threw a tirade over a ruling—all before millions watching on television. “Where is civility?” commentators asked, processing the parade of negative behavior.

These public figures disappointed me, too, but I wasn’t surprised. Hey, I’d just experienced the darker side of humanity while holding a yard/estate sale of my late mom-in-law’s things. These types were among the yard sale’s shoppers:

Stalkers: They ignore starting times. They’re after items with collector’s value to re-sell. The day before the sale, as I lugged borrowed tables to the lawn, one woman showed up claiming the ad said “today,” then asked if I had certain collectibles she could buy while she was here! On sale day, one man showed up at 7 a.m. (an hour before the sale started) as I was frantically putting out items. He, too, asked about certain collectibles.

Stuffers: They practice the tricks of shoplifters. For this sale, I’d placed matching towel sets (bath, hand, wash cloth) in twist-tied clear plastic bags, the “set” price clearly marked. Midway through the sale, while tidying up display tables, I noticed a woman fumbling with one of the sacks. It seemed unusually full when she came to pay, so I opened it and found other items conveniently “included” for the same price. When I pointed out the problem, she glared and left.

Switchers: They re-price items, thanks to easily-removed price stickers. That had to be the case when people brought ridiculously low-priced items to the cash box table. Even though I was tired after two days of pricing things, I knew I’d priced those items higher. What could I say, except, “You got yourself quite a bargain.”

Scammers: They use planned deceit. A friend who’s a swimming coach helped her team hold a fund-raising sale. At the beginning, a woman gave them $15 to “hold” a $30 vacuum cleaner, saying she’d get the rest of the price from her husband. At the end of the sale, she returned and claimed, “My husband doesn’t want me to get it. Please give me my $30 back.” Told she’d left only $15, she began quarreling loudly. Finally the coach said, “I will give you the $30 you are demanding, but we all know you only left $15 and you are robbing these girls of money for their fund raiser.” She took the $30 and left. (Reminder: get it in writing!)

The Bible speaks to such behavior:
“’It’s no good, it’s no good!’ says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.” --Proverbs 20:14
“Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay is the man who gains riches by unjust means.” –Jeremiah 17:11
“The Lord detests lying lips.” –Proverbs 12:22
“The Lord abhors dishonest scales.” –Proverbs 11:1

Yard sales can be a good thing, especially in helping some of us pare down and others of us live more economically. A lot of nice people came to the yard sale, too, enabling us to continue emptying the earthly home where my mom-in-law lived.

But the shady shoppers? The prophet Jeremiah was right: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9). There’s nothing like sitting over a cash box full of quarters and crumbled dollar bills to remind you that ordinary people as well as celebrities reveal their souls when “civility” is missing.