Jesus: The Wisdom of God

9-19-10

“small gate/wide gate”; “narrow road/broad road” (Matt.7)… “sand/solid rock foundations” (Matt.7)… “light/darkness”… “earthly wisdom/wisdom from heaven” (James 3)… “trust in the Lord/wise in your own eyes” (Prov.3:5-7)… “path of the wicked/path of the righteous” (Prov.4:14-19)... “wisdom of the world/wisdom of God” (1 Cor.1)…

…all representative of the (2)-ways motif so often expressed in the Bible and characterizing the (2) contrasting approaches to life: “wisdom” and “folly” (foolishness).

            Wisdom- the approach that honors God (recognizes him) as central and seeks to re-order their lives in order to accommodate such a way of life.

            “Fear of the Lord…” (Proverbs 9:10): The stock-biblical-phrase for a way of life that pays attention to God and lives responsively. “Fear of the Lord” is about intentionally interrupting our pre-occupation with ourselves in order to attend to God.

            Folly- life from our own limited vantage point; seeing ourselves as our own point of reference. Essentially a life being formed from the premise that “… there is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

Wisdom is not theoretical or abstract; it is not simply the accumulation and acceptance of facts or information. Wisdom only exists when people think and act according to truth.

The language that Jesus used seemed to contrast the radical inclusion (welcome) associate with the Kingdom of Heaven with the limitations of acceptance.

            What becomes even more apparent is that Jesus is perpetually challenging our definition of life and the self-defeating means we often use to pursue it. In a word, “destruction” (lit. ‘loss’, ‘ruin’, ‘misery’, ‘to render useless’).

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to Father except through me” (John 14:6)

            Add that to the list of things that Jesus said that makes me nervous.

I have found that, as a Christian, it is often easier for me to talk about what I believe or talk about what I should do than to “live”.

            Honestly, it seemed much easier when faith was just about the accumulation of creeds and doctrines or just about a ‘not so tidy’ list of commands or morality to perform (“Just tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it”, as if it were just about having Godly manners.

“Life” is where it gets challenging, especially at the intersection of my kingdom and the expansive Kingdom of God which is already here, and yet so easily ignored.

            But, we have phrases like God “with” us, Christ “in me” (Galatians 2:20), God “for us” (Romans 8:31) to remind us that Christianity is about a connection with God that doesn’t leave us fending for ourselves. We are not the point… God is, but we are being invited to participate in all that he is doing.

● We are also reminded that we cannot participate with what God is doing and insist on doing it our own way. If we do it “our way”, it won’t be truth and life and it won’t be his Kingdom.

Diversification is a wonderful financial concept, but a poor approach to life [eggs in one basket!]

            Diversification is a great idea if you are considering your financial portfolio, because it allows for some investments to not perform well.

            Devotion means, ‘considering no other options’. When there are options available, we become distracted and lose singleness of heart (Jer.32). But, we hesitate to give ourselves fully to anything or anyone. We need to keep our options open.

If we are not convinced that Jesus is the way, we will not be able to pursue him with the “all or nothing” passion that a relationship (love) seems to require.

            When we say “yes”, to following Jesus, we are also saying “no”, to everything upon which we might depend for life.

“Whoever loses his life, for my sake, will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

            It’s almost as if Jesus knew that the challenge had to be ‘sharp’ and clear. Jesus knew that the message had to be decisive and offer clarity in a spiritual climate where the distinctions were often blurred.

He knew that following him would feel risky, but he also knew that simply adding him to an already overwhelmed way of life would be deceitful and detrimental.

● I think people are desperate for…

A WAY (path to follow; a means of pursuing and realizing the life we desire)- “It is what it is”… the modern declaration of futility. It’s that space between our expectations and our reality. If there is no way, life is confusing and ambiguous.

TRUTH- a viable representation of the ways things really are. Something to help us make sense of our lives and our world; a way to explain our world. If there is no truth, life is pointless and uncertain; there’s no story… no conclusion… only a mass of contradictions.

LIFE- the need to experience an approach which allows me to “connect” with the “other” and with “you” in a way that makes me more fully human. If there is no life, there’s only existence; no intrinsic value to us (which has far-reaching moral and ethical implications). Nihilism ( the conviction that existence is senseless and useless) is our most attractive option.

The faith that we espouse, “Christianity”, comes to us as ‘story’; an over-arching story which is inclusive of many stories.

Although that term is rife with baggage, it identifies us, first and foremost, as a people who are finding life in and learning life from Jesus. Interestingly, we were originally referred to as “people of the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:8, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 23).

The challenge? Not adopting a different way of identifying ourselves (since the label “Christian” has such glaring negative connotations), but portraying a life that makes such a description more attractive; appealing: attaching a better connotation to it.

Our pursuits must be directed at distinguishing between the authentic message of Jesus and our version of it (Christianity 2.0). I think we would all agree that the call to follow Jesus was demanding enough that it doesn’t need to be ‘muddled’ by our commentary (“You’ve heard Jesus say,  but I say to you…”).

● I suggested last week that in making this statement, Jesus was attempting to “lead us somewhere”, to “connect us to something”.  That “somewhere” was the Kingdom and that “something” was the story.

The story included meals, feasts, sacrifices, festivals, rites and symbols, all meant to solidify the story and strengthen the sense of community. It said, “This is who we are”, and they refused to allow that to be reduced to just a few propositional truths upon which they would be expected to agree. It was a “way”; a “life to be lived”.

● Let me make these observations about stories:

            First, due to our fascination with breaking everything down to its smallest part, we are no longer able to discern or convey a “cohesive story”.

            Second, once a story loses its cohesiveness (detached from other stories), it becomes purely subjective. We’re no longer all telling the same story.

            Third, once you dismiss the author, you lose the story itself.

Having lost the story itself, you are left to determine reality for yourself, which, may seem appealing, but is actually the worst possible scenario you could imagine.

 That’s really what’s at the center of our continued brokenness. We have exchanged this broad, expansive story for our own myopic explanations.