We question the wisdom of others all the time. No where is that more true than with weather forecasters. Any more you wait to see what does or doesn’t fall from the sky. All last week I’d heard that The Farmer’s Almanac was predicting 40” of snow for today. Thankfully, it didn’t happen.
But, what is the wisdom in becoming a person of faith? More specifically, what is the wisdom in choosing to become a person who has faith in Jesus the Christ? Often the practices and claims of Christian believers seem foolish to the rest of the world.
A little boy was waiting for his mother to come out of the grocery store. As he waited, he was approached by a man who asked, "Son, can you tell me where the Post Office is?"
The little boy replied, "Sure! Just go straight down this street a coupla blocks and turn to your right."
The man thanked the boy kindly and said, "I'm the new pastor in town. I'd like for you to come to church on Sunday. I'll show you how to get to Heaven."
The little boy replied with a chuckle. "Awww, come on... you don't even know the way to the Post Office."
Much of what we in the church preach and teach doesn’t make sense to those outside of the church. Unfortunately, many of our actions and behaviors don’t coincide with what we say either. So it’s no wonder non-believers look at Christians with skepticism.
Consider. We encourage and try to convince people that they should make a new beginning in their lives by coming to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To do that for the first time we tell folks that they need to turn away from what is evil in the world and what is harmful in their lives. Basically we tell people that in order to save their life, they must lose their life, or, in order to live, they must put to death their present self. Where is the wisdom in that?
Now, on the surface it sounds pretty wise to turn away from what is evil in the world and what is harmful in our lives. But as people begin to realize that to do so would mean giving up many things that have been pleasurable, exciting and fun for them – well, what’s the wisdom in that?, they ask.
The wisdom of making a new beginning in faith, whether for the first time, or each time after we sin and repent, is believing and accepting that there is a better way to live life than the way we currently live it. Even though many of the lifestyles of this life and this world can bring pleasure, excitement and fun, a lifestyle following the ways of God is better. For one, it is better because the godly lifestyle brings longer lasting fulfillment. Plus, that lifestyle is less prone to the harmful consequences and side effects of this world’s lifestyles. Lastly, the Christian lifestyle is the only lifestyle that produces benefits in this life and the next life.
Beyond making a new beginning in faith, though, Christians also spend a considerable amount of time teaching and preaching that we should deepen our faith. There are many ways and opportunities for believers to deepen their faith, but one of them is through demonstrating trust in God through loyal obedience to God. Basically, we say that the way to true freedom is to restrict our choices of behavior. Again people ask, where is the wisdom in that?
Consider the Ten Commandments: Ten simple rules for living life God’s way. But many people reject the wisdom in those commandments because they us what not to do. Thou shalt not. No one likes to have a finger waved in their face telling them “no”. But the commandments are phrased in negative language to make clear to us God’s absolute rejection of harmful choices.
It is hard for us to understand the wisdom that prohibitions and bans can actually make life better for us. Our first reaction is to think that they take away from or diminish our lives.
But the commandments may be as much about developing Christian character as they are about shaping Christian behavior – in other words, as much about who we are as about what we do or don’t do. Do we keep them in public but break them in secret?
United Methodist diaconal minister Janet Porfilio Westlake wrote, “The law is not about legalism but about faith.” How can that be? For starters, being obedient to the law is to show respect for the lawgiver. But more than that, obeying the law is a response of faith to God’s grace and love. Believers choose to obey God’s laws and live by God’s ways because of the way God has treated us - namely because God has loved us and redeemed us. Seen this way, obeying the commandments is not a restrictive obligation, but, rather, is a choice we make that frees us to be the kind of people God wants us to be. It trusts God’s wisdom for our lives.
Restricting our choices of behavior in order to be free sounds like foolishness. What’s the wisdom in that? Part of the wisdom in that is that if there is a better way to live, the wise person will strive for it, even if it means they restrict or restrain themselves from what they otherwise could choose to do.
But seems to me that in today’s world, and especially in our scientifically minded culture, the basic question that is asked is this: Where is the wisdom in being a person of faith as opposed to a person of facts?
To be a person of faith may make us appear foolish to others. The debate rages today between science and faith. At the heart of the debate is proof versus belief. Most people in our society and culture will put their trust in what can be proven scientifically rather than in what is to be believed on faith.
Friends, what it boils down to is this: The wisdom of faith is believing that God knows best, despite appearances to the contrary. The Bible teaches this truth this way.
The message about the cross doesn't make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God's power at work. As God says in the Scriptures, "I will destroy the wisdom of all who claim to be wise. I will confuse those who think they know so much."
What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn't God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish? God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him.
Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach. Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise. But we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. Most Jews have problems with this, and most Gentiles think it is foolish. Our message is God's power and wisdom for the Jews and the Greeks that he has chosen. Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else. I Corinthians 1:18-25 Contemporary English Version
Faith is believing that God knows best, despite appearances to the contrary. Appearances do not always reveal reality. One of the classic plots of TV sitcoms is where the characters jump to erroneous conclusions about something they saw or heard. More recently, remember Susan Boyle, the British sensation whose ordinary looks fooled judges and audiences alike as to the depth of her beautiful singing voice.
How many times has what appeared to us to be a wise course of action actually turn out to be quite foolish? Financially ruined stock investors remember the dot.com fiasco. Who among us hasn’t purchased a product that didn’t come close to measuring up to the hype it was given?
Just so, God almost always seems to act in ways that are contrary to our human understandings and expectations. Sometimes it is an action of God that seems foolish. Surely to save and redeem God’s people God would use force and violence against the oppressors. Instead God sent the Redeemer to be the victim of violence at the hands of the oppressors and die on a cross. When there is sin or wrongdoing, human wisdom and justice demands punishment and sometimes retribution, even when the offender is repentant. God’s wisdom, though, demands forgiveness and mercy.
At other times, it is inaction by God that seems foolish at the time. For instance, why did God allow Joseph to be sold into slavery by his brothers? The wisdom of that action wasn’t proven until years later when Joseph was able to save his brothers and their families because of where he ended up.
Again, it takes belief and faith to trust God’s wisdom in those matters, in all matters, really. Pastor Westlake also wrote, “The message of the cross is that salvation is not based upon common sense or reason. It comes from belief in the crucified Christ, which is seen in self-denial and obedience to God.”
Folks, faith is trust in what we cannot or do not see. The wisdom of faith is believing in more than we can see. And so, as we make new beginnings in faith and as we deepen our existing faith, we are called to seek out God’s wisdom and plan and direction for every aspect of our lives.
When we have to make judgments or decisions, we need to seek out God’s wisdom prayerfully in those matters, no matter how big or small those judgments or decisions may be. We need to seek out God’s wisdom as well, especially when appearances make the choice seem like a no-brainer. Remember Isaiah 55:8 in which God reminds us: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.”
The bottom line is this: We need to choose, to decide, which wisdom we will follow. It takes more faith than facts to follow God’s wisdom. Let us be bold to step out in faith, confidently trusting God to guide our steps in those places where we cannot see clearly what lies ahead, but are called to go nonetheless.