Saturday, April 03, 2010

Foolish Wisdom

And so on this Holy Saturday in two thousand and ten, when faith is considered quaint and belief in God is seen as old fashioned and actually thinking that one can have a relationship with Jesus Christ is laughed at as being naive, we stand out from the crowd.

So much of the western world has heard this good news already that for them it's old news. They've moved on to more sophisticated pursuits and for some, hobbies. It begs the question, have they even known God? Do they even know what is open to them, or have they just been scared off by having a little bit of Jesus, and too much of his body?


And where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. It's foolish to the Canadians who want many gods and it is foolish to the Americans who despise it's humility.

On this historically silent Saturday when all the world seemed caught in sober silence, shocked by yesterday and unsure of tomorrow, we who at least have the wisdom of perspective from today looking back, need to live into what precious little wisdom we have. We don't trust wisdom to save us from ourselves and our addictions and our enemies because it won't, but we can trust it to point the way to the One who can save us from all the rest. And while it is true that the message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction, it is also true that the Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.

No, on this quiet night as the earth and all its inhabitants hung between the death of their hope of salvation and its glorious resolution the next morning when Christ would conquer death and be seen by hundreds of people, perhaps it's an appropriate time to give up our fancy excuses and deep profound earthly wisdom for what some consider a foolish idea. Maybe we should consider the words of a simple prison warden who out of desperation begged Paul: "What must I do to be saved?"

Pauls response was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.”

Indeed. Tonight I pray for you the grace and the time to believe so that you too may stand out from the crowd.

2 comments:

  1. I like that: "having a little bit of Jesus, and too much of his body..."

    ReplyDelete



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