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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-07-25, Page 23THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2019. PAGE 23. By Charmila Ireland Melville Presbyterian Church, Brussels Max Lucado tells a story in his book, The Eye of the Storm. There once was a poor woodcutter who happened to own the most beautiful horse. People, kings even, wanted to buy this horse from him, but he always refused, saying the horse was his friend. One morning he came out and the horse wasn’t in his stable. The townspeople laughed at him and called him a fool. He could have had a fortune and lived easily for the rest of his life, but now he had nothing because his horse was stolen! The man replied, “All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don’t know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?” Lo and behold, a few weeks later, the horse returned, bringing with it a dozen more excellent wild horses. The townspeople returned and said, “Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.” The man responded, “Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don’t judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase? Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don’t say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don’t.” The townspeople saw only the surface events. They could not conceive of anything beyond the immediate. The same events happened to the old man, but he saw much more than they: he saw that he couldn’t see, he knew that he didn’t know. He recognized that only God has read the whole book. We only get to read one page. I see echoes of this story in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. What does Paul mean, when he says that God will “destroy the wisdom of the wise” and thwart the discernment of the discerning? Does God have something against intelligence, wisdom and discernment? Why does God seem to think that we should be foolish? Stupid? That doesn’t seem right. What about Solomon? His big thing was wisdom! Or the entire book of Proverbs, trying to make us wiser! What is God’s message for us here? Why is Paul saying this? It’s not because God hates knowledge or wisdom. It’s simply that, without a relationship with God, what is the point of human wisdom? Will being the smartest or wisest person in the world get you into heaven? There’s a saying, “knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad”. Neither wisdom or knowledge will change your life in the way that God can. He wants us to recognize a higher wisdom: His. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I, as a Christian, believe in what society today considers the ultimate foolishness: the Gospels and the sacrifice of Christ. I know that’s a pretty bold claim, but just give me some leeway. Have you read the book, The Life of Pi, or seen the movie? It’s about a teenage boy, stranded in a lifeboat with a tiger. Pi is a Hindu boy from India whose family owns a zoo there. There is a scene towards the start of the book where Pi discovers Christianity. He’s talking to a Catholic priest who tells him the story of Jesus, and Pi is thinking, “The first thing that drew me in was disbelief. What? Humanity sins, but it’s God’s son who pays the price? I tried to imagine father saying to me, “Pi, a lion slipped into the llama pen today and killed two llamas. Yesterday another one killed a black buck. Last week two of them ate the camel. The week before it was painted storks and grey herons. And who’s to say for sure who snacked on our golden agouti? The situation has become intolerable. Something must be done. I have decided that the only way the lions can atone for their sins is if I feed you to them.” “Yes, Father, that would be the right and logical thing to do. Give me a moment to wash up.” “Hallelujah, my son!” “Hallelujah Father!” What a downright weird story. What a peculiar psychology.” When you put it that way, Pi certainly has a point. How odd is it that the only perfect one, Jesus, willingly sacrificed himself to make up for our mistakes. Although Pi comes to know the power of Christ, many others don’t. They never get past the first step, that initial confusion. Think of the Richard Dawkinses of the world or the Christopher Hitchenses. They think that we’re deluded, stupid, sheep. They think that we’re fools, while they are wise enough to see the “truth”. But as Paul says, the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom. The wisdom of the world is not the wisdom of Christ. The first thing that Christians know is that Jesus died for us. Paul says, “We preach Christ crucified.” For a lot of people, death means defeat. You lose the battle with a terminal illness. You lose your life. To some, Jesus’ death looks like defeat. The end. The scribes, the chief priests, the elders, the soldiers and the passersby all mocked Jesus, hanging on the cross. How could this man, beaten and close to death, who claimed to be God’s son, have any power? The people who crucified him were doing it to end his power, shut him up, and get rid of him. But Jesus’ death was not his defeat. For Christians, Jesus’ death is the source of our life. His death led to From the Minister’s Study The foolishness of Jesus Christ: Ireland THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF NORTH HURON AND NORTH PERTH CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO ATTEND HOLY MASS. OUR SUNDAY LITURGIES ARE AS FOLLOWS: Brussels: St. Ambrose Saturday 6:00 p.m. 17 Flora Street Wingham: Sacred Heart Sunday 9:00 a.m. 220 Carling Terrace Listowel: St. Joseph’s Sunday 11:00 a.m. 1025 Wallace Avenue N. huronchapel.com huronchapelkids.com huronchapelyouth.com 519-526-1131 ~ 119 John’s Ave., Auburn July 28 is “Bring Your Bike to Church Sunday”! (motorized or pedal-powered) August 25 - Baptism Opportunity Evangelical Missionary Church 10:30 a.m. Worship - Pastor Ernest Dow “Mercy, Modesty, & Money Pt. 2: Pleasing the Father not Fads” Sunday July 28 Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, July 28 at 10:30 a.m. 650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School) Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service. Summer evening service 6:00 p.m. at various homes. For additional details please contact Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 The Regional Ministry of Hope BLYTH BRUSSELS Trinity St. John’s 9:15 am 11:15 am COME WORSHIP WITH US! Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector 519-357-7781 email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca The­Regional­Ministry­of­ Hope St. Paul’s Trinity WINGHAM 11:15 am These Anglican Churches Welcome You Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service 7:30 pm You’re Invited To Join Us In Worship OFFICE: 519-523-4224 Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday ~ 9:30 am - 2:00 pm blythunited@tcc.on.ca No services during the month of July Accessible Blyth United Church Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, JULY 28 Nursery care available 519-887-6687 Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Worship & Sunday School - 9:30 am Coffee & Snacks following the service We invite you to join our church family in: BRUSSELS United Church July is our summer break Your chance to worship with other congregations including Melville Presbyterian at 9:30 am B.U.C. services resume August 4 at 11:00 am Continued on page 25