Bright Wings

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with Ah! Bright Wings.

September 02, 2009

Two Sorts of Stupid

We continue to look at some sins common to Christians. I suppose these are sins common to everybody- but since it is my job to pick on Christians we’ll zero in there. Luke 9: 44-45 says this:

“Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.”

Jesus makes a rather plain statement about his impending arrest, trial, and, ultimately, death. He has made this known to his disciples on a previous occasion (9:21-22). Shouldn’t be too much confusion on this point, it would seem. But we see that the disciples struggle in their understanding. They didn’t get it. They struggled for two reasons, I think. And so they illustrate for us what I call ‘Two Sorts of Stupid’.

The first sort of foolishness displayed by the disciples and common to us all is foolish ignorance. Ignorance is failing to find, see, perceive, and receive truth where it is readily found. It is a willful failure to understand truth where it is plainly made known to us. Often ignorance is a matter of laziness. It is a failure to open the Algebra book because a re-run of your favorite show is on. Here in Luke 9:44-45 we see an ignorance in the disciples due to fear: ‘they were afraid to ask him about this saying’. Jesus told them what must happen for his ‘atoning glory’ to be made known. They would not accept the truth of it- truth revealed through the Law and Prophets, truth presented to them by Christ. It conflicted with their notions of Jesus’ Messiah-ship. It didn’t mesh with their plans for themselves. It didn’t jive with popular conventions and conceptions of the role of the Messiah. They were afraid to press Jesus on it. Were they afraid to get into it because they knew what he meant but chose to live in fearful ignorance of reality?

We fall into this sort of foolishness easily. God has revealed truth to us in a thousand ways. Often we are ignorant of his truth (in creation, mathematics, philosophy, balancing our budget, disciplining our children, etc.) because we are lazy. We don’t want to study. We don’t want to open our eyes- we’d rather slumber along. We have been given the Scriptures and we simply fail to open them. There is also an ignorance driven by fear. We fail to receive truth where it is found because we know what it would mean to find it. We must receive it - obey it. So we don’t go there. A young man asks me about his improper relationship with his girlfriend. He wants ‘wisdom’- but not really- he has wisdom readily available to him in God’s Word. It is easier, safer in his estimation, to search for the answer he wants from a multitude of counselors rather than obey the truth presented under his nose.

The second sort of stupid is what I call foolish arrogance. Arrogance fails to see, perceive, receive, and obey truth as sovereignly revealed. This might be called foolish pride- a pride that refuses to see anything other than self as a source of wisdom and truth. Foolish arrogance fails to see that God is sovereign over your mind. That ultimately God must reveal truth - everywhere and always- and that ultimately God has the authority to conceal truth, is an affront to human wisdom. The wise man, according the Scriptures is the man who accepts truth as revealed graciously either through creation, gifting, hard work, what have you. Regardless of how you found truth, the source of it is God (Deut. 29:29; 1 Cor. 2:10; 4:1; Matt. 11:25; 16:17; John 12:38; Rom. 1:17; 10:20; 16:25-26; Eph. 3:5).

Samuel Morse received many honors from his invention of the single wire telegraph but felt undeserving: “I have made a valuable application of electricity not because I was superior to other men but solely because God, who meant it for mankind, must reveal it to someone and He was pleased to reveal it to me.”

Likewise, George Washington Carver, who developed hundreds of useful products from the peanut, said this: “When I was young, I said to God, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‘That knowledge is reserved for me alone.’ So I said, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ Then God said, ‘Well, George, that’s more nearly your size.’ And he told me.”

Luke tells us that there was a sovereign ‘concealment’ of truth at work here. Why would God conceal truth? Because of his purpose and plan. There was a concealing of truth, or the reception of it, that allowed God’s purpose to move forward. There infinite ways this works out in our lives. For the sake of His purpose, God does not open our eyes to this or that mystery. This is not a malicious withholding - but a concealing of truth in accordance with what the Apostle Paul calls ‘the kind intention of HIs will’ (Eph. 1:5). The proud heart will struggle with this. But the humble heart, recognizing there is a God and you are not it, will receive truth where it is plainly found and pray for truth as it must be sovereignly revealed.

At any moment we are usually wrestling with one sort of stupid or the other. May we continue to contend against sin- especially the sins of foolish ignorance and foolish arrogance- with all His energy, which so powerfully works within us (Col. 1:29)!

 

Tags: Sermon Notes

posted by Erik Braun