A Secret Wisdom

Psalm 112: 1-10
1 Corinthians 2: 1-16


While studying the bible this week i discovered a secret about God and the commandments he has given us. I was learning of the first people to fill the earth and how quickly they turned wicked and violent. And then there was Noah who was pleasing in God’s eyes. Noah who walked with the Lord, Noah who saw God’s commands as life-giving rather than rules that would cage him in and take away his freedom. Noah understood that when God tells us to do something it is not because he wants to be a tyrant or dictator, but that there is a reason, a good reason behind the command. Noah understood that God was our loving parent and if we follow God’s ways there is freedom and life in the act of following.

So imagine my surprise when I read the Old Testament reading in my devotion the next day and it says in the very first verse, “Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands”. It sounds to me like God is trying to tell us something here. The wonderful thing about the Lord is that when he wants to get through to us, he’s not very subtle. He keeps hammering away at all of us until we get too exhausted to fight anymore. Isn’t that wonderful? God doesn’t give up on us – ever.

The next few verses in Psalm 112 tell us why we should fear the Lord and delight in his ways. It says that our children will be blessed and mighty, that they will know wealth and riches. It says that those who know God, will know even in the darkest of moments that the light (which is Jesus Christ) will be with them. Goodness comes to those who are generous and lend freely, and those who act with honor will be honored themselves. This is an amazing passage!

What is wonderful about the Old Testament is that it sets up many of the rules we are to follow. Not just the Ten Commandments or the laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. I’m talking about rules of the heart, rules of the Spirit. I’m talking about the secret Wisdom that comes straight from God’s heart to our own hearts. You see, it is not easy to live your whole life trying to be loving and kind and generous. Matter of fact, it can be downright exhausting to always try to have a smile on your face and kind words on your lips.

This is why so often we fail. We forget that all goodness and power and glory not just GO TO God, but COME FROM God. We try to do it on our own! Silly, silly, silly of us! And we all do it, we learn from an early age that we are to do things on our own. We teach our children to feed themselves, to walk without aid, to tie their shoes and put on clothes without our help. Then we teach them to do chores such as clean their room and mow the lawn. Then we teach them to drive and schools teach them how to think on their own. We teach them how to be completely independent and so when it comes to trying to be spiritually wise, we all try to do it on our own. Because that is what we have learned.

However, we cannot. We need God the Father’s help. We need Jesus Christ. We need the Holy Spirit. If we could be spiritually wise on our own, Adam and Eve never would have eaten the fruit. There is a reason why before beginning the sermon I ask that the Lord open our hearts and minds to His Word. I ask because if I do not ask for the Lord’s help, these words are just words.

They have no power or potency because they would merely be the words of one woman rather than God’s Holy Word that is filled with the power to change lives. And isn’t that what we proclaim? That because God is with us, there is holy power to be found in this sanctuary today. Ready and waiting for us to open our hearts, to free our minds from our human limitations where we think we are so wise – but we need to remember that we are no where near wise.

Without God, without God’s loving guidance, without the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and Jesus’ faithfulness we would be and are nothing. And once we understand this truth, once we wrap our minds around the fact that we need God – we become free. Isn’t that interesting? Everyone always taught us that to be free means to not need anything from anyone. But that is human wisdom, not Godly wisdom.

Freedom means accepting God’s dominion. It means fearing God’s magnificent power, it means respecting God’s wishes for us. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, once we accept God the Father’s commands and the Holy Spirit’s guidance our life will change forever.

Freedom means letting go of doubt and fear. Freedom means accepting what comes to us as gifts from God and even the painful times in our life are no longer something to be feared. We learn from the pain, we grow and we change during stressful, hurtful times. It does not trivialize our pain, it does not make it less real or less painful. But it DOES makes it more than human anguish – we remember that the one who died for us, shares this agony with us and that we may lean upon His strength to get us through.

There is the freedom. When Carrie Underwood sang the song, “Jesus take the wheel”, this is exactly what we must do. Let Jesus take us where we are supposed to go. Let the Spirit soothe our anguished hearts, and we let ourselves accept that God is not a ruthless dictator who likes to see us squirm, but that God is an anxious parent, worried over His creation. Worried that even though he offers us life, we constantly choose death. Worried that even though he has given us everything he has to give, there are still those who will never accept Him. There are so many people that never really see God, not the way God is. Not like Noah saw God – as one that brings and gives life. Instead, many of us see God as stern and unbending, indifferent to our pain and suffering.

If you really want to make your head spin, consider this analogy for God. God is the wallflower sitting in the corner at the dance. The wallflower that is actually a wonderful, good and kind person, but no one ever sees that. No one ever notices the goodness and grace because they are too busy staring at what is flashy, shiny and appears perfect. God is the forgotten, unnoticed person in this room, the one you never think much about, but if you paid attention you would see that person has a wealth of love to give.

So my challenge to you this week is to find that wallflower. Find the person that goes unnoticed in your life and take the time to say a few words. Take the time to get to know that person you think is funny or strange or weird. It may just be Jesus Christ you have been ignoring. God often uses unexpected people and ways to reach out to us but we have to have eyes that see and ears that hear and hearts that are open to the wisdom of God's Spirit.


Amen.