St. Matthew 11:12-19
There is much that passes for wisdom these days, but the Bible is clear on what true wisdom is. The world is confused about what wisdom is, but the Bible makes it clear. Job, in the midst of his suffering, declares “no mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies”(Job 28:18). Job goes on to say that wisdom is hidden from the eyes of all living...destruction and death say “we have heard the report with our ears”...God understands the way to it and knows its place...and to man God says, behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”(Read Job 28). But what does that mean? We have to take an honest look at why we are and need to be Christians. What is it that we seek? If we go to church because we think God will make our lives easier, then we have not come to the biblical knowledge of wisdom. A person can go to church his or her whole life without ever really grasping the main point of God, Christian faith and life. Martin Luther, as he wrestled in his monk’s cell, was struggling to understand what God was doing for mankind. One of Luther’s struggles was trying to understand how God regarded him. Luther, while in the monastery, thought that God was an angry judge. As Martin tried to make God happy with him through good works, he kept coming to the same conclusion that he couldn’t possibly do enough to have the good outweigh the bad in his life. If we think that through the good that we do God will be favorable to us, we are to be pitied....and we would be incorrect--this would send the signal that we still lack godly wisdom. The human being has this sinful capability of manufacturing a false piety, where he or she can parade around and do good things on the surface, go to church, and pretend that everything is just great. The human capability to do this is incredible in its success. There are so many people in the world who have a false understanding of Christ and Christianity. There are so many people who run around and “play the part” of the Christian, but in the cracks and crevices of life, the hidden nature of sin still rears its ugly head in one’s dealings with others. Conniving and dishonest dealings with others come out. Trying to undermine someone else through falsities and lies becomes evident. Stealing from others, while making it look like a legitimate situation that somehow goes in one’s favor is symptomatic of the greater problem. Convincing yourself that you are justified in how you treat others or talk about others is a reality. All of this goes on in the midst of a false Christian piety. We can play the part well, but godly wisdom is different. St. Paul, when he was Saul, was a Pharisee of Pharisees and zealous to the point of killing Christians. He was parading around with a false understanding of God, life, and salvation. At just the right point, Jesus strikes Paul with blindness and it takes God’s man, Ananias, to come and lay hands on Paul in order that he may regain his sight. Something very catechetical takes place as Ananias said the words, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit”(Acts 9:17). Then, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized....and he became God’s man, Paul. Saul had previously lived with a false piety and a false trust in the words and teachings of men when he was a Pharisee. As Luther wrestled with God over sin and forgiveness, he had something like scales upon his eyes that prevented him from seeing how the road of Christ was paved--He was unable to see the gospel, at first. It was when Luther began to read the words of St. Paul in Romans that something like scales fell from his eyes and God’s love became clear. Luther came to realize that he had been trusting in the teachings and ways of men. The Reformation, as a movement, was on a fundamental level, a return to having the word of God as the sole rule and norm of belief and Christian teaching. This did a couple of things: It brought a corrective to how one understood sin and grace. It helped restore the proper understanding of holy living, and how one was to live in this world. But, wisdom is not simply a gathering of information and making some decisions from your brain activity. Godly wisdom is so dynamic that includes the thoughts and intents of the heart. The fear of the Lord and godly wisdom go together. Self-reflection and honesty as to one’s sinful condition is a part of godly wisdom. One moves from the false religions of the world to a true understanding of Christianity when he become honest with himself concerning sin and when he comes to understand the true preaching of the scriptures--Christ crucified. We have to come to grips with the realization that the scales do not fall from the eyes of sinners until the Holy Spirit brings forth the light of Christ’s truth to us through the Holy Scriptures. When a frightened sinner hears the gospel, the light of Christ’s love shines in the darkness. We must hear God speak to us. We must listen to His doctrine and the word of God must smite us and rebuke us for our sins. It is when we finally become honest about the sinful condition that the words of forgiveness and life come as the light that lightens our dark path and we see, finally, that while God is a judge who condemns the unrepentant, He is also the merciful and loving God who desires to save us. When the scales fall from our eyes, then comes peace, contentment, joy, thankfulness, and all the fruits of Christ’s goodness into the lives of Christ’s people. We must experience the anguish that sin brings and that the world invokes on us because of sin, in order to hear those precious words of forgiveness by our merciful Savior. St. Paul understood this whole journey on the road to Damascus. The road to Damascus was his road of struggle to believe, much like Luther’s monk cell, where he struggled to hear God’s voice for his benefit. St. Paul understood so well because of his shift from trusting in himself to trusting in God and His word: “remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace...”(Ephesians 2:12-14). It is of the stuff of godly wisdom that experiences the pain and anguish of our own failures. It must necessarily occur that we have to be honest with ourselves and those around us that we cannot help ourselves; we cannot stop the sin that plagues; we cannot eradicate from ourselves the sinful nature that breaks us down. This aspect of godly wisdom then leads us further into it all to hear the words of Christ spoken over us: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”(St. Matthew 11:28-30). These are words that bear substance and meaning from His blood that was shed on the cross for all. His cross is the kindness and love that God shows sinners, even you. The love and forgiveness of God from the cross leads to the conclusion in the gospel, that “wisdom is justified by her children”(St. Matthew 11:19). The Reformation is proof that God’s eternal wisdom shines in the dark world through the Holy Scriptures, dispelling the spiritual darkness and bringing peace and refreshment to people who scrape along in the darkness. The scales have fallen from our eyes, and we behold, along with Luther and St. Paul, the reality that the blood of Christ alone makes us His holy and forgiven children. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
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