10:30 am, Sun, July 10, 2022 - J G White / FBC Amherst
(Amos 7:7-17; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37)
As I unpacked books onto the shelves of my new study, here, I came upon a Nova Scotian booklet called ‘Sayings From Wise People,’ compiled by Hattie Dyck. It is a collection of quotations, with such gems as these:
“Don’t take
credit for sunshine, or you’ll be blamed for the rain.”
“If a snake weren’t crooked, he’d never get anywhere.”
“The worst decision is indecision.” (pp. 8-9)
My Dad has some definite wisdom, and some of it comes out in the stock
phrases he uses. A few sayings he would use on us kids are the following:
“You’re a gentleman and a scholar.”
“A word to the wise is sufficient.”
“Like it or lump it.”
Oh, to be wise and understanding! Whether you are thirty-one, fifty-one,
or ninety-one, we have gained some wisdom, and we have more to learn. We have
used some good sense, and we are going to need more and more. I got onto this
theme from today’s epistle reading, the first of four in a row from Colossians.
The writer of this letter says, we have
not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge
of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding... (1:9) Typical of
these New Testament letters, the opening greetings move into prayers for the
recipients of the epistle. Prayers for things they need: spiritual wisdom &
understanding.
In the ‘Brief Order for the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper’ that I
used last Sunday for communion, I read this phrase: ...and pray for the strength to know and to do the blessed and holy
will of God. This prayer is like the prayer at the start of Colossians:
praying for wisdom and knowledge of God’s will.
Within the Christian path, wisdom and understanding are tied to ‘the
will of God,’ so called, the plan, the purpose, and way that the Creator has
for us. Some people have a real gift of wisdom, often because their life
experiences have taught them to be wise. You might think of others you know,
followers of Christ, who seem to have a real grasp on what God wants and plans
for them, and for others. I think this gets called ‘the gift of discernment;’
when a person is inspired to see as the Spirit sees.
For many of us, most of the time, we might think about the will of God
when things have already happened. We try to see what God did, what God wanted,
and how things in life fit into some divine plan. It is not easy. It does take
wisdom. No wonder the writer of the letter to the Colossians prayed for it.
One of the wisest people I had in my life is now dead, but I was reading
a booklet of his teachings on the will of God this past week. He was a theology
professor and a pastor: a deep thinker and a deeply compassionate human being.
Dr. M. R. Cherry wrote these personal stories:
When I was a
sophomore in college, I was called out of a class one morning to be told that
my father had dropped his gun and killed
himself. And people said to me, “We don’t understand it, but it was the will of
God.” Frankly, I did not find that very helpful. I could have dealt with the
fact if somebody had suggested that we are responsible, and that we are
supposed to be careful when we are handling guns. ...But the suggestion that
God caused this to happen I didn’t find very helpful.
Dr. Cherry goes on... Several
years passed and one afternoon after watching a football game on T. V., I went
to dinner. Someone came to me and said, “Cherry, they’ve been trying to get you
on the phone for some time. Will you take a phone call?” When I answered the
phone I was told that my mother, on her way home in her car, had been struck by
a train going 90 miles and hour and had been killed. We never saw her; they
picked up the pieces and put them in the casket and buried it. And again I was
assured that it was the will of God. Frankly, I didn’t find that very helpful.
And I don’t think many other people do. |(Cherry, M. R., The Will of God, Lancelot Press, May 1984, p.5)
I think Cherry, and other wise Christians, have been right in warning
against just saying everything is God’s will. As life goes on, we learn to
express ourselves better. I believe that when we say, in the face of tragedy,
“It’s God’s will,” or, “He doesn’t give us more than we can handle,” we are
simply expressing emotions, not explaining theology. We are trying to speak
God’s care and love, despite the terrible and painful things that happened. We
are reaching for the great hopes that there is healing for life’s hurts, and
there is a God we can be personal with, who is powerful, and who is good and
only good.
That New Testament prayer for the believers in Colossae to know God’s
will was so that they would “live lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to
him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of
God.” This brings out another aspect of ‘the will of God:’ how to make
decisions and do the right thing.
We heard the well-known and loved story of Jesus we call ‘the Good
Samaritan, which really is no longer a very helpful title. Perhaps we pew people still know that, in the time
and place of Jesus’ life, the Samaritan people were considered foreigners,
religious heretics, and basically unclean people. People the Jews avoided.
Jesus, a Jew, did not avoid them. And in this parable, He uses His usual
dramatic storytelling to shock and challenge the audience. A Samaritan, of all people, truly acted
like a neighbour to the man who had been mugged.
Oh to do good work in this world! To be a neighbour to everyone. To
“live lives worthy of the Lord,” as Colossians 1 says. In my first week ‘on the
job’ here, I just glimpsed the challenges of being a neighbour to every sort of
person in downtown Amherst. You who are part of the fellowship, and come by to
help out, or just to say hello and visit. The tourist from Lunenburg who wanted
to see the beautiful Church her dear friend told her to visit. The homeless
fellow who was starved for food – so I fed him half a dozen granola bars and
two cups of fruit – and who just wanted to get away from all the other people
hanging around town, bugging him.
Spiritual wisdom and understanding is for the sake of living well. And
let me end by touching upon the wisdom needed for a group. I think of the harsh words of an ancient prophet like Amos
as an expression of the will of God for a whole nation. With his creative
preaching, Amos declared that the LORD says, “See, I am setting a plumb line in
the midst of my people Israel.” The holy will is for things to be made right.
We have this confidence that together, in our congregations, we have
divine guidance. For instance: your minister leaves. You get organized to seek
another. You discern who you are as a Church. You seek candidates. You meet and
interview. You make a decision – congregation and Minister. And there you have
it, your new minister: Susan!
One other example: First Baptist’s sponsorship of the Pavlichenko
family, living in one room in Poland right now. This project feels like a
response to a need, an answer to many prayers, and obedience to the will of
God. What wisdom do we have? What knowledge? Is this God’s plan, to have this family of five come to our town in
Canada. Talking with Oleksandr on Friday, he expressed his trust that we are doing the right thing now, even
if they end up not getting here.
It caught my attention that Oleksandr spoke of God’s will. When I asked
about specific prayer requests, he spoke of being confident in the will of God,
even when we do not know what it may be, exactly. Will they get here? Or will
they end up staying somewhere, in some nation in Europe? May God’s will be
done.
In other words, may the best things, the blessings the Master intends,
be given and happen.
The wisdom and knowledge needed for good decisions is rooted in seeking. What we call prayer. What we
call cooperation. We don’t live life on our own. We are together in figuring it
out. And we are with the gracious
Saviour who is our Way, our Truth and our Life.
As you, our United Church friends, declare, We are not alone, we live in God’s world.
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