HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-01-27, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2011. By Pastor Ernest Dow, Living
Water Christian Fellowship
(EMC), Blyth
When did it dawn upon you that
you would not be the world’s next
superstar? For me, it was about
Grade 3. Our small primary class
was having a footrace along the
sideroad in front of SS#2 Hibbert
under the watchful eye of our
teacher, Mr. McDonald. Several of
my classmates pulled away in front
over the course of the 100-yard dash,
leaving one smaller lad and myself
vying for last place (in retrospect, I’d
like to think I opted to keep him
company, but the facts probably
wouldn’t actually square with that).
It was at that moment I realized I
was probably not destined to be a
‘jock’ like some of the rest of the
boys.
However, all hope was not lost as I
discovered I had an aptitude
for spelling bees and mental
arithmetic. Consequently I strove
for status in class by being an ‘A’
student; of course, there were some
fringe benefits, as this meant you
got to help the pretty girls with
their homework occasionally.
This approach fostered subtle
pride up through high school and
college.
In the scholastic pecking order,
you had to be either smart or strong
(if you were a boy) or smart or pretty
(if you were a girl) or else you really
didn’t rank. Those who were neither
smart nor strong nor pretty got
overlooked or, worse, picked on.
One classmate, ‘Willie’ (not his real
name), always seemed socially
awkward, a bit different; sometimes
the others played tricks on him. I
remember one time at lunch while
sitting outside, other boys caught a
fly and put it in Willie’s sandwich
when he wasn’t looking. Then we
all inwardly chortled as he
proceeded to unknowingly eat the
sandwich.
I think of that whenever I drive by
Willie’s farm. In more recent
decades, he’s served well as reeve of
the township. Meanwhile a lot of the
‘stars’ of the class have moved away
and faded into obscurity. This
humbles me, and has caused me to
reflect on the superficiality of our
childish approach to classifying
people prematurely.
In 1 Corinthians 1, we find God is
not impressed by what wows
humans, the strength or smarts
people are prone to boast of. In fact,
He aims to nullify (or show the
emptiness of) our usual standards of
measuring intelligence or strength.
God has inverted the system: in
Christ He makes it possible for
what’s despised and lowly and
overlooked in the world to be
redeemed, raised up – to the praise
of His glory, not human egos.
William Barclay observed, “Pride
is the ground in which all the other
sins grow, and the parent from which
all the other sins come.” So you’d
suspect pride might be something on
God’s radar to fight. The Bible
reveals God is set against what the
world is proud of. “For it is written:
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise; the intelligence of the
intelligent I will frustrate.” (1
Cor.1:19)
Verse 20 says, “Has not God made
foolish the wisdom of the world?”
and mentions a few categories of
‘wise guys’. “Where is the wise
man?” and “Where is the
philosopher of this age?” These most
likely refer to the Greek schools of
philosophy and rhetoric. Verse 22
continues, “Greeks look for
wisdom.” We still study Greek
philosophers today – Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle are world-famous. But that
approach makes me the judge of
truth: I decide what will fit my
categories. Deism in the 18th
century followed suit by requiring
religious truth to be explainable on a
purely natural basis. Naturalism
today is very similar, and popular in
the sciences – so what if you have to
resort to aliens to explain the
origin of the universe, anything but
God. Humanism makes man the
sole gauge of everything, by
definition. But all these philosophies
or worldviews are deficient in
that they’re biassed to restricting
truth’s categories to our pre-defined
terms. Verse 21a, “For since in the
wisdom of God the world through its
wisdom did not know Him...” In
other words, founding your views on
strictly worldly sources is not how to
get to know God.
If you really want to know ‘where
it’s at’ in the universe – start not with
Confucius or Descartes, but the
Cross. The Holy One sets the terms,
He defines what’s true, what’s
‘really real’. What gets you to
heaven? Not your intelligence or
your muscle. Verse 21b, “God was
pleased through the foolishness of
what was preached [i.e. Jesus’ cross]
to save those who believe.”
By Messiah’s sovereignly-
designed means of death for the
atonement for sinful humankind, all
our petty means of boasting are
undone, shown for the vanities they
are. V27-29, so that none may boast
before God: God chose to shame the
wise, shame the strong, to nullify
“the things that are” - what’s
popularly seen as really counting,
substantial, who’s who.
Thomas Fuller said, “Pride and
grace dwell never in one place.”
God’s grace saving us from our
sinful past excludes any pride
we might feel legitimate on the
basis of our brains or braun or
breeding.
This passage may seem kind of a
write-off for us as far as our natural
human merits go, but it is also
positive in terms of who Jesus
becomes for us when we yield to
Him as Lord and receive Him fully
into our lives. “We preach Christ
crucified...to those whom God has
called...Christ the power of God and
the wisdom of God.” (1 Cor. 1:24) In
the opening of John’s gospel, Jesus
is God’s “Word” or Logos, giving
meaning and rationality to all
existence. Jesus’ wisdom became
obvious to those who heard Him
over the course of His earthly
ministry. Recall the beauty of His
ethical teaching, in such passages as
the Sermon on the Mount; the
vividness of His parables; His
commentary on Old Testament
passages and Jewish traditions that
confounded the most respected
religious teachers of the day; His
perception in going to the heart of
what’s most important; and His
depth of insight into the mysteries of
the Kingdom of God and eternal
realities. After the culmination of
His run-ins with the various groups
of the religious elite, “No one dared
to ask Him any more questions.” (Mt
22:46)
Verse 30 unpacks the concept of
wisdom in Christ specifically as it
applies to believers: “It is because of
him that you are in Christ Jesus, who
has become for us wisdom from
God— that is, our righteousness,
holiness and redemption.” He has
become for us wisdom – when we’re
in Christ we look ‘smart’ to God:
not in grey-matter smarts but
godliness smarts (righteous, holy,
redeemed).
An article in ChristianWeek
summarizes the humble, grateful,
un-boastful attitude that results
when we receive Jesus as Lord and
start operating from the basis of His
love and goodness, no longer
boasting in our own personal
accomplishments or smarts or
strength. A teenager from Stouffville
named Jared Henriques has started
selling clothes to raise funds for
Compassion Canada’s unsponsored
children’s fund. So far the new
company (Pocket Change Apparel)
is not making any profit or wages
from it themselves, they’re ‘just a
band of volunteers’. Since launching
in May 2010, Pocket Change has
sold around 1,000 t-shirts, raising
about $5,000 for Compassion.
Jared’s comments have the tone of
someone who’s finding in Jesus his
power and wisdom. He’s quoted as
saying one of the most amazing parts
of the entire process was seeing “the
transformation that God has done
through me personally. I’m just as
average as anyone else...It’s
unbelievable just to see the stuff that
God can do. If it can happen to me,
it can happen to anyone. It’s nothing
that I’ve done by my own power. For
me, it’s really been a matter of just
being along for the ride.”
When Christ is in the driver’s seat
– when He’s our wisdom, our
treasure – it’s great being along for
the ride!
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
CORNER OF DINSLEY & MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark, BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman, BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
January 30th
“Changing the Channel”
Please join us for worship
Hwy. 4, Blyth
519-523-4743
www.blythcrc.ca
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00 am
Evening Service 7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Pastor Gary Klumpenhower 519-523-9233
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com
Sunday, January 30
Ethel United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 11:00 a.m.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Small Group
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women’s Ministry
Fridays 7:00 pm - Youth Group
Jan. 30:1 Cor. 3:1-15
“Worldly - or
Workers?”
Evangelical Missionary Church
Wed. Feb. 11 Faith-In-Song
8 p.m. at Blyth CRC
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, January 30
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m.
No evening service
this week
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age (mornings only)
Childcare provided for infants and toddlers
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact:
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Chris McMichael 519.482.1644
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come and worship with us
Trinity, Blyth
9:15 a.m.
Church Office: 519-317-4883
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Sunday, January 30
Rev. Perry Chuipka
www.nabcom.ca/church
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, JANUARY 30
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-2664
10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
119 John’s Ave., Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School
10:30 a.m.
Morning Worship Service
Guest Speaker:
Pete Humphreys
From the Minister’s StudyWisdom comes from Jesus at the wheel
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