The Wisdom of God, Part 2

I had been reading my daily e-devotion from Scripture Union, UK one morning, and there it was, staring at me ... the familiar but incredible story of Isaiah's vision of the throneroom of God. While this is a story I am quite familiar with, I wanted to read it with an eye toward understanding it wisely.

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

9 He said, "Go and tell this people: " 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.'

10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."

11 Then I said, "For how long, O Lord?" And he answered:"Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged,

12 until the LORD has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.

13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land."

Isaiah 6:1-13

There's a lot of imagery here, and it can be easy to miss its relevance for us today. But what stands out to me is how Isaiah's response is as attention getting as the very vision he is confronted with.

Imagine yourself caught up in a vision, finding yourself in the throne room of the LORD, and angelic beings flying around. What is your reaction? A throne room is not something we Americans can really identify with, and even the idea of seeing God on a throne isn't necessarily something that we could imagine too easily. We won't even touch on angels with six wings. But what they said made Isaiah shudder with fear ... and maybe we, too, should pay attention and pay heed to what they said.

Upon hearing their call - "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty" - Isaiah becomes mindful of his own sinfulness. We are not told why he becomes so conscious of it. We don't know exactly what he has done. But this is not the issue.

We need to realize that regardless of how "good" we think we are, our goodness, or our good deeds in no way measure us up to God, who is the very definition of "good". This is where 'Wisdom' comes to play. Wisdom from God helps us understand that in the presence of God, we must cry out for mercy, we must cry out for grace. God's Wisdom helps us realize that we need His salvation. It was Wisdom that helped Isaiah realize that being in the very presence of God was dangerous just because God is so holy, because to be in the presence of God is not safe.

I am drawn to remember that part of the story from the Chronicles of Narnia, in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where the children are in Mr. and Mrs. Beaver's den, and he tells them about Aslan. The children are scared of what they've been told, and ask, "Is Aslan safe?" "Safe? No, Aslan isn't safe. But he's good."

God is not safe - He is not something we can manipulate for our own sense of good. God is not here to make us happy. Isaiah understood this.

This is the sort of wisdom that confronts us when we are in the very presence of God. We cannot resist it. It cannot be ignored. Why? Because it is part of how we were created. It is part of our DNA, as we have been created in the image of God. As Scripture elsewhere tells us, that every knee will bow before God (Rom. 14:11; Phil. 2:9-11). In the presence of God, we do nothing else - it is wisdom.

The question then is how do we gain this wisdom and apply it to our every day lives? How do we live in a way that is 'wise'? Again, Isaiah offers us a great example. He cries out his confession, and humbly receives God's grace and forgiveness. But then he does something that I think we often miss ...

Isaiah becomes quiet, and he listens. He does not try to make excuses, nor does he try to make bargains. Neither does he babble. He listens. And when he hears God's voice, God's call, "Whom shall I call, who shall go for us?", Isaiah is able to respond in faith. He can respond in faith because He knows God's grace - he knows, as in knowing by experience, God's forgiveness - he has experienced who God is. He speaks up, "Here I am, send me!"

This is wisdom. I want to suggest that wisdom can be differentiated from knowledge in several ways, one of which is that wisdom is not just something that fills the head, but is by its very nature, something that positively impacts the decisions and choices we make. It is an adverb to the way we live. Wisdom takes knowledge and applies it in a way that honors God, and shows us living much more closely to the way that God intended for us.

Even though God sends him on a difficult task - to deliver a message - he is willing to go ... confident in his relationship with God. This is no small thing. The mission is to deliver the hard news of judgment to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. But Isaiah does so, and does it willingly.

Why? I think that it is because he knows who he trusts is trustworthy. This is the point of Wisdom.

Are you willing to humble yourself to living out of the Wisdom of God, or will you reject it in favor of what you think you know? what you think is right? The Wisdom of God has been fully revealed in the event which billions of Christians around the world celebrate in Christmas. Jesus Christ is the Wisdom of God personified, incarnate, the living example of who God is, and who God calls us to be.

It is in reading the inspired Word of God that we see Wisdom lived out. Turn to such a passage as Matthew 5, and see it unfold in the teachings of Jesus. Turn to the crucifixion narratives in any of the Gospels, and feel it in Jesus' forgiveness of His murderers. Turn to Acts 1 and 2, and pay attention to Jesus' promises, as He gives the Wisdom of God in the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

As Christians, we have access to the Wisdom of God because the Wisdom of God dwells in us. This is the good news. Now I invite you to choose Christ Jesus; choose to live wisely. And you will live out and live out of the Wisdom of God.

The Wisdom of God, part 1

What do you think of when you hear or read the word, 'wisdom'? Is it an amorphous something in your mind? Does it seem like one of those words that you feel like you know it, but can't really describe it? Is it different than knowledge? How does it apply to you?

James, the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, wrote to Christians who were scattered around at least the western Mediterranean seaboard due to persecution. Throughout his letter to them, he expresses a number of thoughts and concerns, but what I find both incredible and self-convicting is how the wisdom of God flavors the entire letter. Consider the presence and power of God's wisdom in what James says here, where he writes in James 2 ...

1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor person in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the one who is poor, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11 For he who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

It is easy to read this and just come away discouraged or frustrated with yourself for not living up to what James wrote to Christians almost two thousand years ago. And because we can remove ourselves from it by consideration of its original audience, or because we have socially removed ourselves from interactions with people who are different from ourselves, we think we're doing okay. Or maybe we think that because Jesus came, died on the cross, and rose again, that a "new" law is in effect, and so, like Martin Luther before us, we wrongly think that James is still, somehow, stuck in following the Law of Moses.

But is that true? If we understand that the Wisdom of God has been at work as the integral part of God's plans for creation from before He uttered the words that started it all off, then we must reject such thoughts. If we are willing to see Jesus as the fulfillment of all things in Old Testament that refer to God's making for Himself a people to be a light to the world, and not superseding the Law, then we must see God's Wisdom, not only at work from creation to His consummation at the end of Revelation, but God's Wisdom as God incarnate, Jesus Christ.

Understanding that allows us to appreciate, then, the words of Alistair Metcalfe, when he writes for Scripture Union UK's WordLive devotions (12/13/2008) ...

What’s going on inside the minds of individuals when they show favouritism?
Why is there such a strong temptation among people – even God’s own people – to
show preference towards the wealthy, the well-to-do or the well-connected – even
when they can be the very ones who tend to make our lives difficult (vs 6,7)?

James gives us a clue by going on to speak about the Law of Moses (vs
8–13). The first two commandments given in Exodus 20 establish God as the only
one to be feared and worshipped, and leave no room for idolatry – and I think
idolatry is the root issue here (see Exodus 20:3–6).

How easy it is for us to see people not for who they truly are – made in the image of God and carrying his identity – but purely in terms of what they can do for us. It’s only when we see other human beings as objects that we can covet their bodies adulterously. And it’s only when we see life as disposable that we can imagine dealing with them murderously (v 11).

God doesn’t show favouritism because he sees us rightly – not as
commodities, but as his children. Loving others as we love ourselves (v 8) means
choosing to see one another in the same way.

This is the Wisdom of God that is present in those who have received Jesus as Savior and Lord. The Wisdom of God is available to God's people. And yet, we often choose to live as though we knew Him not. We sin because we do not see the way God sees. We sin because we do not understand as God understands. We sin because we can only see what we (our sin self) want to see.

When we avail ourselves ... no better, when we surrender ourselves to God's mercy, we align our will, our very selves, with God. We are able to see people made in the image of God, the imago Dei. We do not see others as objects which we may covet, or life as disposable which we may toss. God have mercy upon us, for Jesus didn't just limit these sins to actions, but to thoughts - greed, lust, murder.

But the Wisdom of God is the "cure" to sin and sinfulness. As Jesus permeates us, our thoughts and then our lives become free from sin. This is why Paul writes that we are to be transformed [in and by the work of the Holy Spirit of God] through the renewing of our minds. This is not a dichotomy, as if our bodies didn't matter. Rather, Paul goes on to note that once our minds are renewed, we shall be able to test and approve - to know intimately - God's good and perfect will. We will know, we will approve, and we will participate willfully, joyfully in God's will - not in our own sinful desires.

What do you think? Where is the Wisdom of God in your life? It's more than just having Scripture memorized ... it is living the Scriptures out, and doing so to God's glory!

Of Michael and Anthony

Back on Wednesday, Dec. 17, I spent much of the day at the O'Hare International Airport, wondering if the delay in my flight was going to be short, or the matter of several hours. It seemed all flights to Philly were experiencing some delay due to "weather" in Philadelphia. But in the course of that time, I met two different men, and had two entirely different conversations - both concerning God.

When I sat down at Gate F 10, I wasn't looking to evangelize anyone. In all honesty, I was tired. Just that morning I had turned in my last paper, culminating two plus weeks of burning the proverbial candle at both ends. After arriving at the airport, getting my boarding pass, and making it through security, I sat down for a leisurely lunch. But at the gate, it was anything but restful. I just wanted to relax, to veg, to rest. In the economy of God, however, He often has other plans.

Michael was about my age, and was on his way back to Philadelphia from Chicago, where he and a coworker had been doing some sort of project. I never did find out what they were doing, but it was obvious that they were both ready to get home, and equally irked at their flight being delayed. Michael had already been drinking in order to pass the time away. He seemed friendly enough, wanting to include me in the conversation with his coworker. Then he asked me what I was doing going to Philly. To make a long story short, I shared with him that I was out in the Chicago area going to school to study theology. That got his attention, to say the least. What ensued from there was Michael trying to argue me into a corner, trying to get me to admit that he didn't need to follow the church's religion, and that he was a good guy, therefore he didn't need the church.

I don't consider myself a gifted evangelist, per se. But I tried to meet him where he was. I asked him why he thought he was good, why he thought being good was good enough, from where did his sense of good and bad, and right and wrong come from? The questions seemed to irritate him, and yet he was the one who wanted to keep talking. I guess I could've walked away, but I felt that this was an opportunity from God. In the end, I felt like I had done nothing to help Michael understand what made my faith in Christ different from his belief that he was good enough to get by with God as he was. Michael did not accept my explanations. But as he finally boarded his flight, I was reminded that the Christian faith is not built on an intellectual or rationale series of thoughts. It requires us to believe. After Michael left, I felt like I had failed, and thought about what I could have done differently to have been effective in sharing the gospel with this man -- but it was for naught -- it just made me feel all the more like I could not share my faith. Michael didn't agree with me, but rather, felt justified to reject the truth in exchange for essentially worshipping his own self.

On the plane ride home, however, I met a young Korean man who was on his way back to Southern New Jersey. He had just completed his first freshman semester at Univ. of Illinois, and was feeling very reflective. It turned out that Anthony was a Christian. It turned out to be an opporutity to just listen to someone who was trying to make sense of his faith amidst all of the challenges to it within the college culture. Even though I was even more tired, what began as a conversation while waiting for the plane to take off continued on as a thoughtful dialogue on Jesus, the faith, the church, and our response to each. In the end, when the plane landed, what I did share with him were some things that God has been speaking to my heart. But the conversation turned out to be very encouraging for both of us. Anthony was very encouraging to me. In the sharing of his story with me, he also explained to me how the conversations we had were helping him understand points in his faith that were tough for him to grasp, and that as we talked, he gained insights into how to live out his faith well.

Where Michael left me down and discouraged, Anthony showed me that God doesn't waste opportunities -- that He is sovereign. What was my calling in meeting with Micheal? What came to mind later was the saying that some are called to sow, some are called to water, and some are called to harvest. We are called to be faithful to as much as we understand of God's plan. But this sometimes mean that we must just deal with whatever awkwardness, and keep doing what God was calling me to.

Anthony reminded me of the value of being faithful, and that even in the face of uncertainty, God has pleasant surprises for us. While Michael was really hard to talk to, Anthony, as a brother in Christ, was able to understand spiritual things. Anthony sought to be faithful, and even on a plane, with a complete stranger, he was willing to share out of what God had blessed him with and for.

The conversation with Micheal left me frustrated and feeling inarticulate. It left me questioning myself. But the conversation with Anthony was a gift from God. In some ways, I felt like it confirmed my calling to teach theology to seminarians, to pass onto them my passion for the Word of God as the basis for our theological work. But both conversations taught me something about the LORD and the church. Both taught me to trust the Lord, and to be faithful, even when I felt like I wasn't being understood, or what I said was rejected by someone. I don't know whether Michael thought anymore of our conversation - he was actually quite upset that I suggested only those people who received Jesus as their savior and sought to live for Him would receive eternal life - but I did ask him to consider what I had shared with him, and to read in Scripture for himself the good news that I shared with him that day. I have prayed for him, asking that God would bring someone into Michael's life in order for him to have opportunity to profess faith in Jesus Christ. I also prayed that Anthony would have the grace to follow through on his faith in Christ, and to pray for opportunities that would be in line with God's will for him to bring God glory.

Two men. Two different stories. Both in the same day. Both by God's glory. I thank God I had the opportunity to meet these different men and try to be faithful to what I thought God was calling me to.

What do you think?

Between Moralism and Virtue

There's an inherent tension in living out the Christian faith. We are confronted by our own sinfulness and sinful behavior by a God who is holy and just, who loves us, but cannot tolerate our sin/sinfulness. His solution? Send His one and only Son to be fully human while also being fully God, so that the Son may take the penalties and sinfulness of the whole world onto Himself. Through His dying, though holy and right with God on His own merit, He is resurrected to new life, and through the giving of His Holy Spirit, He invites us to into His kingdom by confessing our sinfulness, and acknowledging Him as Savior and Lord, to live our lives for Him. That's the good news, the gospel, in a nutshell.

But what does that living our lives for Him look like?

It is no obvious thing, perhaps, to point out that such a life speaks to a holistic transformation of the individual, and the community of faith to which that person is a part. The Church, as that community of faith, should not be understood as a purely institutional structure, to which the believing individual has voluntarily aligned themselves with, however. Instead, as Paul makes clear in 1 Cor. 12, the Church (local and universal) is the very body of Christ. This means that being "saved" means that we are part of Christ's body - it is ontological to our new life in Christ (that is, it is part of our being). It also means that being a part of the Church is to be and will impact our pursuit of Christ, our being like Him through the way we live. This should be a positive thing - though, in all honesty, sanctification (the transformation of a person's life toward holiness in Christ) is often not easy, is often awkward, and sometimes painful as our "old" self (our self-centeredness and its related desires) dies in order for the person Christ died for us to become, whom God created us to be.

To that end, I want to talk about the impact that this transformation has on us as believers as we live out of our transformed lives.

This, of course, speaks to how we understand that living out. Is it merely an issue of a dualistic way of living? What I mean is an inner life and a separate outer life. Or, is it a seamless approach? The outer life as an expression of one's inner life. What I invite you to consider is that 'moralism' is merely a dualistic approach, versus 'virtue' as being the seamless approach.

'Moralism', as I'm presenting it, is where the individual, and most often, the community, seeks to establish a set of agreed upon outward actions and behaviors that they believe best reflects who they understand themselves to be. At first glance, this doesn't sound all that bad. After all, Christians are called to be moral people. If God is good, then He certainly calls us to be good. Jesus tells us that no man is good, only God. Therefore, our behavior should strive to like God's - yes?

The problem with 'moralism' in general is that it is an outward-in approach to holiness. It is concerned with the image that is projected. Now, don't misunderstand me here. I'm not advocating a no-holds-barred approach to behavior - for Christians or unbelievers. But I am saying that an approach to living out our faith that puts behavior first is at best flawed, and worst, it is simply unChristian. Back in the lat 1990's/early 2000's, some company ran a marketing campaign ... 'Image is everything'. I thought it was an appropriate moniker for our culture at large. Unfortunately, I think it also seems to be how a great many Christians live out their faith. The great problem with the 'moralism' approach is that we take what Scripture says about how we are to live, and we seek to live out of those truths on our own, in our own strength and understanding. Do you see the inherent problem?

Perhaps it can only be captured by looking at 'virtue' as the seamlessness between one's inner life and their outer life. Virtues, as I want to define them, are in essence, the character traits of the very person of God, and as perfectly expressed by Jesus Christ during his earthly life. It is a life that is transformed from the inside out. Our exterior behavior is still quite important, but is less about living up to a mandated set of rules - what inevitably turns into 'legalism' - and more about, as Jesus says in Matthew 5, "letting your light shine for all to see".

Another way we may understand the power and purpose of 'virtue' is through the image of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, goodness, and faithfulness - see Galatians 5:22-23). To put it succinctly, we are called to exhibit these fruit in our own lives. But not by merely imitating them in our own lives.

Rather, we are to manifest them. What's the difference??? Just as faith is a gift from God, through the inner working of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and of the Church, the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit comes about through the Holy Spirit's working in and through the inner life of each believer. Through the Spirit's work of sanctifying the believer, the fruit is brought forth. The "old", pre-Christian self dies away, while the "new", post-Pentecost believer is brought forth. And as a result of the inner changes, through the presence and power of the Spirit, the outer self changes, too.

We take on the very character of Christ Jesus. We exhibit the 'virtues' of the Triune God of grace. We live out the law of love. Not perfectly. Remember what I mentioned earlier ... sanctification is often slow and sometimes painful ... it is often messy. But where 'legalism' and 'moralism', as exterior-oriented emphasizing living, condemn, virtue, as life in the Spirit, corrects and teaches, and most importantly, seeks to love. While this is not always done perfectly - after all, we are all humans on the journey of sanctification - we are offered the ongoing grace of God in Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

'Virtue', then, is ultimately concerned with the condition of the heart. As my wife has taught me as we've sought to parent our children well, when one of our kids does something wrong, one of our first questions to them is, "what was in your heart, that you thought that was okay to do (or say)?" We want our kids to consider what is in their hearts, especially before they do or say something. It is a question I have sought to regularly ask myself when I feel anger or angst towards something or somebody. I will give the Holy Spirit credit for bringing such a question to mind, and say that it is part of my journey of faith, through sanctification, that it feels (too often for my comfort) like I need to ask myself that question a lot. But I am comforted that in asking that question, I am drawn to look not first at my behavior, but first at my heart, the throne of my behavior. Jesus tells us that the condition of our heart will decide who we are (see Matt. 5:21ff; 6:19ff; and 9:4 as examples). 'Virtue' comes from God, while 'moralism' is our own attempts at being 'good'.

As God's people, as beneficiaries of Jesus' death and resurrection, we are called to live holy lives, transformed lives ... no longer as people in darkness and ignorance, but as people who have been changed from the inside out. By living 'virtuously', we are living from the inside-out, we are living depently on God's Spirit to do for us what only God's Spirit can do, sanctify us, make us holy as God is holy. Living this way, living God's way, then, means that we live out of the joy of God, knowing that it's not up to us to be "good", but that God is working in us. When there are struggles, we should recognize that there is sin or a sinful attitude in our hearts, one that needs to be brought before God and removed from our hearts.

While it's not the purpose of this note, this transformation comes about through the regular reading of the Word of God in the Scriptures, regular personal prayer, and regular participation in your local church. These three things work as God's tools for transformation toward the inside-out life of 'virtue'.

What do you think? How do you see this in your own life? What has God taught/shown you regarding the condition of your heart and your behavior?

a New year

looking back at the stretch of time over the last several months of 2008, and looking ahead into at least the first several months of 2009 should mark some of the biggest amount of change my family as a whole has ever experienced. we spent New Year's Eve "homeless" as we are in transition between the selling of our home in one state and moving to a rental townhouse in a completely different state. the kids will start new schools. my wife will look for a new job. and I will start the second full semester of my studies. there are many new changes and experiences in store for us in this new year. all very exciting. and we pray that all that happens, all we set out to do, will all be to God's glory - may He be glorified in our lives.

I hope 2009 will be a wonderful year for you and yours, too. God's many blessings be yours.