quiet beats

the unfettered heart

with no chains

to press against

no box or board

to echo

so still one might

                       think

death had come

sickle-silent

in the willing air

 

no

 

soft sound

is life to the listening ear

staccato rhythm

sets pace to

live by

love by

listen by

lullaby

dreaming of future

marching forward

in time

always

in

time

 

For once I looked up a definition in the Oxford Dictionary and came away unhappy with it. Oxford defines wisdom as follows:

 

wisdom

  • noun 1 the quality of being wise. 2 the body of knowledge and experience that develops within a specified society or period.

This is definitely one of its more unhelpful definitions…particularly number one. Number two has more of the ingredients of wisdom but it fails to do anything with those ingredients. Wisdom is most certainly a systhesis of knowledge anbd experience toward a certain way of life but like many things wisdom has lost its anchor and has become a "relative" term.  Wisdom today has no goal. It could be the synthesis of any knowledge and experience into a certain way of life and expression of that way.

In the Genesis story of Adam and Eve the eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (I know that is an unweildy sentance) was motivated partly by a desire for wisdom (see Genesis 3:6). This was a mistake which reflects a common error of humanity – the assumption that knowledge equals wisdom. The tree had nothing to do with wisdom and yet the temptation (at least in part) was to gain in wisdom. The reality is that wisdom is acheived through experiential application of knowledge and even this does not go nearly so far as to explain it.

In the Bible (and in Greek philosophy) wisdom is seen as an attribute of God so valued that it is anthropomorphised and given a persona. Sophia is wisdom and she has a voice and is loved of and comes from God. In Exodus 23:3 God is the one who gives wisdom. This is also the case in Deuteronomy 34:9 where "the spirit of wisdom" is given to Joshua. Of course the most famous use of wisdom in scripture is that of Samuel who asks for wisdom from God and is granted his request. The granting of wisdom to Solomon led to peace and justice in the land such as had never been seen before (perhaps the absence of peace and justice in the world today suggests something of the quality of wisdom in the world as well).

The book of Job is rife with a search for wisdom. Job’s friends pretend to have it but Job calls them on their lack. It is in the book of Job we find the verse "the fear of the Lord – that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding." The Psalms and Proverbs take up this theme and report as well that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The Proverbs say nothing but good things about wisdom and tell us that creation was made by the wisdom of God.

Wisdom is anchored in God. Wisdom is thoughtful of what God seeks and follows the same paths. Wisdom is prudent and careful to speak and act, not wreckless, not thoughtless. Wisdom and understanding are married to one-another…with wisdom comes understanding…the clarity of a vision that comes from God.

However we are taught by Ecclesiastes 1:18 that "For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." In this we are being given a caution – that to attain to the mind of God is to attain to something of the burden of God too. Wisdom gives us understnading but it does not give us the strength to solve the problems we see around us..it is at this crossroads that wisdom then says that these burdens are best carried by God and we are best made to trust and as the writer of Ecclesiastes concludes "fear God".

Of Christ it is said "And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." and in Acts seven were chosen to administrate within the church based upon being filled with the Spirit and wisdom…not one or the other but both. Finally in 1 Corinthians 1:18 we find that Christ is "the wisdom and power of God". In many ways Christ is the wisdom of God made accessible to humanity. But once again the stress must be made that simply knowling Christ is not the same as wisdom but acting in accordance to this knowledge.

In Christ wisdom becomes our "righteousness, holiness and redemption"; no other wisdom leads to these things. They are mere shadows of the wisdom that is anchored in God who is Christ.

So how do we recognize wisdom that we too might attain to it? The question is best answered by James when he asks "Who is wise and understanding among you?" and then answers –  "Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom."

Wisdom is seen not in words (that is the realm of knowledge) but rather in deed. Wisdom is the word of God at work in the one who seeks said word and then through God’s Spirit enacts that word in the world until it become The Word. James 3:17 tells us "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

If we would be wise we would first and regularly ask for it from God and in so doing draw near and allow the Spirit to transform us that we might recognize the wisdom that is in Christ who would live through us and ou wisdom would be seen as pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit (see fruit of the Spirit), impartial and sincere.

 

I am unsettled. I don’t know why. I think I fear and I hate it. What do I fear? I fear change.

 

Change is frightening. It scares most people to such a degree that they refuse to allow for any change settling for the "don’t rock the boat policy". The church is one of those institutions that seems most frightened with change. This is one of the more ironic of her character attributes because God is not settled…he is unchanging yet he brings change with him where ever he goes. Nothing God is involved with stays the same – nothing…so why is it that we in the western church seek sameness at all costs?

 

We are so focused on enshrining some traditions and agendas that they become like theology to us and eventually they are almost impossible to change. Fear of change is a cowardly attribute that stagnates growth and is an agenda driven by the lazy and the cynical. Hmmm – perhaps those words were too harsh…perhaps they are not harsh enough.

 

If Abraham had been afraid of change he never would have left the comfort of Ur and his father’s house; his father’s gods. If Moses had been afraid of change he would have ignored God and remained a peaceful shepherd and Israel would have remained in bondage. Imagine. If the apostles had been afraid of change they never would have left Jerusalem and the church would never have survived. If Saul ha been afraid of change he would have ignored the light, got back up on his horse and continued persecuting the church till nothing remained.

 

What are some examples of this horrible fear we in the church harbor? Sometimes it is as simple as becoming satisfied with the way things are. Contentment. We have a nice number of people, a decent tithe, some cool repeatable programs. and an order of service that is as predictable as a Mike Tyson fight when he was in his prime. Why complain? We’ve got a nice facility why invite new people into it…why not enjoy it amongst ourselves…after all we earned it didn’t we?

 

Of course we did not earn it. We earn nothing…everything is given from God to one end and one end only – service of the Gospel which is Christ. Our buildings, our services, our tithe, our clergy jobs, none of it is ours – it belongs to God and he would see us use it completely for the sake of those who do not know him. As a youth pastor I experience fear all the time. Youth can be a frightening bunch. Honestly the biggest fear I battle is the fear of new youth coming to my group. Frankly this is a stupid fear and I don’t mind saying so. The reality is that new youth, particularly youth who are not close to God or have never even heard of him tend to be very disruptive to my nice comfortable ministry. I have sometimes even found myself tempted to avoid them. Imagine that…the very ones God has called me to minister to and I am actively battling the temptation to avoid them. Why? I fear change. I fear the extra work involved in change. I fear the anger of other comfortable people who don’t want their nice warm fuzzy ministry changed.

 

Fear is a killer and must be fought at every step. We must never give in to it…as one of my favorite books says "fear is the mind killer. I must not fear…" Christ followers must confront fear with the truth that God is stronger then our fear and what we are afraid of may be his very hand at work. We must be willing to change everything for the sake of the gospel. If your newly built church communicates the gospel better as a foodbank and homeless shelter then turn it into one. If the gospel is better heard at midnight on Thursday then at 11 am on Sunday then switch your services. Finally and most painfully of all – if the gospel is best served by another person doing what you are doing then quit your job. As a pastor I recognized a long time ago that to be remotely effective I had to be willing to lose my job for the sake of the gospel. I have to be willing to be fired for the sake of the gospel. The minute I become afraid of that I become ineffective.

 

As a Christ follower the same challenge exists. We must be willing to lose everything, our very lives even (and yes, literally) for the sake of Christ or else we all become ineffective. Fear is the greatest tool of evil and the only antidote is to plunge into the dark. As I said earlier God does not change but the church does. The church is Christ, the very substance of God thrust into our world for our sake…becoming whatever he needed to become in order to communicate his love. Are we willing as the church to become whatever is needed in the service of the gospel or are we to become a Holy Club Med where Christ followers can relax till the coming kingdom?

 

So – do not be content. Do not settle and become comfortable with your Christianity. Do not become comfortable with you church. Challenge your pastors. Challenge your elders and challenge one-another to plunge into the change that God holds before you. Every major reformation and revival within Christianity came from bold, fearless believers (or maybe believers who ignored the tremendous weight of their fear) who moved forward into the unknown knowing that God was with them…there is no room for cowards (but there is love).

 

Hard, offensive, emotional words I know and I do not know what led to them but there they are nonetheless.

 

There is an old dry wellspring

long gone forgotten

boarded in dust caked planks

a place of black echoes

and fists through ice

my overgrown pit

lost in a jungle of decades

 

lo it has been found

uncovered and filled

to overflowing

water black in the cold moon’s light

is crisp on my lips

and refreshing like a prodigal memory

gone and come back again

 

and I am father run to son

and I am son run to father

surprised that my clothes

still fit so well…remarkably well

 

I did

then you did

then they did

and I was going to say

you should quit

but I let

what I did

stop up my mouth

till

I could not say no

You would not hear no

They would not hear no

and evil won out

 

better an honest hypocrite

then a cowardly saint

kettle is no less black

in spite of pot’s truth