The Foolishness of God

Tony Khalil

Midland SDA Church

May 7, 2011

Did you enjoy the hymn we sang this morning?  Some of the hymns we know so well that we can sing them without thinking about the words.  I can’t speak for everyone, but I for one, find myself doing that often.  I think it would be good to meditate on the words of some of these well- known hymns.  Many of them speak a sermon in four or five stanzas.  We would likely enhance our Sabbath blessing just by making a concerted effort to focus on the lyric of the hymns in the worship service.

There is a particular song that for some reason, every time I hear it, instead of just enjoying the tune, I am captivated by the lyric.  It’s not a hymn, but it is a Christian song, written by the prolific songwriter and musician Michael Card.  The song, if you have not already guessed from my sermon title is “God’s Own Fool”.  Have you heard it?  You may relax.  I won’t be singing it for you.  I clearly remember hearing him introduce the song during a concert at Temple Baptist Church in Detroit.  He said he knew it was a good song because he got into a lot of trouble for writing it.  I don’t know whether or not there is a relationship between good music and controversy, but perhaps it is the unconventional theme of the song which captivates my thoughts and engages my mind.  The title is in reference to Christ, and at first blush, it sounds like heresy to refer to Christ as God’s own fool.  Perhaps it is, but the first line of the song dispels any intent of disrespect.  Let me quote it for you.  “It seems I’ve imagined Him all of my life as the wisest of all of mankind, but if God’s holy wisdom is foolish to man, He must have seemed out of his mind.”  This is the theme, God’s wisdom, to sinful man, is foolishness.  It’s true isn’t it?   It’s not a particularly deep or difficult concept to understand, nor is it a new idea, but prior to hearing this song it hadn’t occurred to me that wisdom could be subjective.  That is to say, depending on your vantage point, an action that may be considered as wise to one, could be perceived as foolish by another.  In my “black and white” mind there was foolishness at one end of the spectrum and wisdom at the other with indifferent in the center and progressive degrees of either foolishness or wisdom on either side.  Is wisdom relative, or is there a true wisdom and a counterfeit?  Perhaps we can discover the answers to this and other questions as we take a look together this morning at the topic of God’s wisdom. 

Prayer           

It’s hard to talk about wisdom without referring to knowledge.  The two are often used interchangeably or confused with one another.  So it might be good if we begin by defining them, and their relationship to each other.  Let’s start by looking at the Hebrew word that is most often translated as knowledge.  It is da’at, which in addition to knowledge can mean understanding, and learning.   The English definition of knowledge is expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.  The Hebrew word most often translated as wisdom is hokma and it can mean wisdom or skill.  It can refer to skill in life, trade, war, and spiritual things.  The English definition of wisdom is the ability to optimally apply perceptions and knowledge and so produce the desired results.  Sorting through all of this, I think it can simply be put that knowledge is practical understanding while wisdom is the application of knowledge.  Wisdom is one step beyond knowledge.  It is using knowledge effectively. 

What would you think of me if, one day you hear I have liquidated all my assets: my home, 401K, cars, furniture, everything, and purchased an empty nondescript five acre parcel at the edge of town?  Having no other knowledge of the situation you would say “he’s crazy, what a foolish thing to do”.  Ah, but you’re on to me, you have read The Parable of the Hidden Treasure in Matthew 13:44.
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  
Suddenly foolishness becomes wisdom.  What changed?  Yes, the knowledge of a hidden treasure in the field.  In order to judge if something is foolish or wise we must have all the facts, for without them, we may error.  As created human beings do we ever have “all the facts”?  No, but there is one who does, one who actually knows it all.  Our God is omniscient.  That is He possesses the capacity to know everything infinitely. 
Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite.  Psalm 147:5. 
So is that it?  Wisdom is absolute, and if given all the facts everyone would agree?  I still don’t think it is that simple.  Let’s try and answer some other questions that might have bearing on this problem.  How about this one:  Should we desire wisdom?  Is it wrong or right, good or bad to seek wisdom?  Turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 3: 1-7
 1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.      
When she saw that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.  Eve was seeking wisdom was she not?  And look where it got us.  The desire for wisdom resulted in sin leaving its indelible mark on the human race.  But before we jump to too many conclusions let’s examine another example.  Open your bibles to I Kings 3: 5-14
5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”
6 And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”
10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
Here we read of King Solomon asking God for wisdom.  Not only does God grant his desire, but we see that it pleased the Lord, that Solomon asked for this thing.  We know the rest of the story of Solomon’s life and how he didn’t always use his wisdom for good, but that does not change the fact that God was pleased to be asked for wisdom. 
Two stories, both characters desiring wisdom, one disobeys and throws this world into sin and the other is applauded by God.  What made the difference?  The obvious answer is where they went seeking wisdom.  Eve went to Lucifer, albeit under deception, and Solomon went to the God of wisdom.  This is true, but I believe there is more we can learn about wisdom from these stories if we examine them a bit closer.  What was the name of the tree in the midst of the garden that Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat from? It was The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  We read in Psalm 118:1:
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever.   
And in Mark 10:18 Jesus tells us:
… “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
I would submit to you that Adam and Eve already had knowledge of good.  They lived in a perfect garden in a perfect world created by a perfect God who at each step of creation saw that “it was good”.  They spent daily time in the physical presence of God, who by his vary nature is Good.  They already possessed half of what the tree and the serpent had promised them.  It was only the knowledge of evil that they lacked and that, we could all attest, is a knowledge we could do without.  It appears from this story, and is evident throughout scripture, that there are two broad categories of knowledge, knowledge of good and knowledge of evil.  So, if we use our simplified definition of wisdom, “using knowledge effectively” we can conclude that there are also two types of wisdom, the wisdom of good, which is the wisdom of God, and the wisdom evil, which through the fall has become the wisdom of Man.  Why don’t we discover what else scripture says about these two types of wisdom.  Turn with me to Romans chapter 16 verse 17-20       
               
17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus[d] Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. 19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. 20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
Here we read as Paul is speaking out against divisiveness among the Roman brethren he admonishes them to be “wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil”.  Your translation may say “innocent concerning evil”.  I prefer that wording because to me it is clearer.  Being innocent concerning evil means you are naïve to it, having no knowledge of it.  Now turn back to Jeremiah 4:22 and we’ll see the inverse of this.  We will be reading the word of God spoken through his prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel.  Notice the wording.
22 “ For My people are foolish, They have not known Me.
      They are silly children, And they have no understanding.
      They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.”
The people are wise when it comes to evil, but foolish of good.  Why are they foolish of good, because they have not known God.  Let’s look now at 1 Corinthians 1: 18-25 the writings of Paul are filled with this contrast between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man. 
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
There it is!  the message of the song.  If we don’t know God and have the knowledge of good, his actions make no sense to us.  What kind of fool choses to die for principle.     
19 For it is written:
      “ I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
      And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”[
a]
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
I can think of only one way to destroy wisdom.  That is to reveal it to be something else, for if it truly is wisdom, by definition, it cannot be undermined?
 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks[b] foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.       
God has done a switcheroo on us.  It’s sort of like reverse psychology.  He attempts to teach us by contrast.  His actions are the polar opposite of ours and it is this radical contrast that prods us to take a closer look, to consider His ways, and question our own.  Have you ever done something the same way for as long as you can remember, so long that the thought of doing it differently would not even cross your mind?  One example that comes to my mind occurred while I was ice fishing.  I have fished my entire life and one of the most basic laws of fishing that I learned when I was four, is when the fish bites, you set the hook.  That is to say when the fish takes the bait, you pull back hard enough to cause the hook to sink in to the fishes lip and hold there long enough for you to reel him in.  Well, I was ice fishing with a friendly old guy that I met on the lake that afternoon and the fish were biting.  In fact they were biting hard, but I was having difficulty hooking them.  The old guy had noticed this and attempted to give me a tip.  He said “when they bite, don’t set the hook, instead lower your rod and give the fish some line.”  To me, not only was it offensive that he would think I needed any help when it came to catching a fish, but his advice was absurd.  It was contrary to everything I had ever learned or experienced.  If you give the fish line you are giving him the opportunity to steal the bait and or get free from the hook.  Everyone knows a slack line is the best way to lose a fish.  I politely thanked him for the advice, but didn’t intended to implement it.  That is until I started thinking about it.  Had his suggestion been more conventional, I likely would have not given it a second thought, but it was so radically different than conventional fishing wisdom that it bothered me.  It also bothered me that he had more fish on the ice than I did at that point, so eventually I caved.  It couldn’t hurt to try, so I did as he had suggested.  The next bite, I resisted the temptation to set the hook and instead lowered my rod tip, giving the fish more line.  Just as he had described, the line slowly tightened and only then did I set the hook.  He was right!  It seemed that although these fish were biting hard, they were not taking the hook fully in their mouth, so when I set the hook, I was simply pulling it away from them.  But by lowering the rod tip and letting the line go slack the fish felt no resistance and quickly sucked the hook in. 
The suggestion was so contrary to what I had known that it caught my attention.  It turned my previous knowledge on its head.  The foolish action turned out to be the wise one.  This is what God has done through Christ.  While we were looking for a strong king to free us from our oppressors, He sends a humble gentle man that won’t stand up for His own rights.  We had our eyes on an earthly kingdom but He set his mind to redeem us to a heavenly kingdom.  We said that beauty is free of blemishes.  He has shown us that beauty displays scars.  It seems backward, illogical, ludicrous, but it works.  It works so well, that it makes our conventional wisdom appear laughable. 
So, if His wisdom is so distinct from ours, so much better, how can we tap into it?  How can our minds be reprogramed?  Where do we go to become acquainted with His ways?  I would like us to take a look at three possible answers to these questions.  Let us open our Bibles again and turn this time to Psalm 104: 24-30
24 O LORD, how manifold are Your works!
         
In wisdom You have made them all.
         The earth is full of Your possessions—
 25 This great and wide sea,
         In which are innumerable teeming things,
         Living things both small and great.
 26 There the ships sail about;
         There is that Leviathan
         Which You have made to play there.
Our first possible answer… Creation!  The works of God were made out of his wisdom.  His works speak of His wisdom.  They embody it.  This is why science is so fascinating.  I know the word “science” carries a lot of baggage with it.  I am not talking about the science that accepts unproven theory as fact and builds upon it, turning a blind eye to all evidence to the contrary.  I am talking about the kind of science that we can observe as we look closely at the world that our creator has so carefully constructed.  There is wisdom to be found in His created works.  Let’s continue:
         
27 These all wait for You,
         That You may give them their food in due season.
 28 What You give them they gather in;
         You open Your hand, they are filled with good.
 29 You hide Your face, they are troubled;
         You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
 30 You send forth Your Spirit, they are created;
         And You renew the face of the earth.    
Just as the rest of creation relies upon God for survival, we must put our faith in Him knowing that apart from Him we have no hope of developing a wisdom that exceeds the level of stupidity.  We must accept that we to are His creation, He is in control, and allow him to lead in our lives. 
We can’t do a study on wisdom without taking a look at Proverbs.  Turn forward one book to Proverbs 3: 19 & 20.
19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
            By understanding He established the heavens;
            20 By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
            And clouds drop down the dew.
And Jeremiah 51: 15
15 He has made the earth by His power;
           
He has established the world by His wisdom,
            And stretched out the heaven by His understanding.
Creation is the recipient of His wisdom and bears evidence of Him.  In our search for wisdom we must not overlook his works. 

The next suggested answer to the question of “How do we obtain the wisdom of God?” is to emulate Him.  Imitate His character to the extent that it becomes our own.  How do we do this?  How do we decipher God’s character?  His character is found in His commandments.   By obedience to the word of God we put on his character.  Psalm 19:7 says

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 

  His law is perfect.  Here we see the law and testimony linked with wisdom.  Having a simple childlike obedience to the law is the beginning of wisdom.  This thought is reinforced in Psalm 111:10:  
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.  His praise endures forever.
Again wisdom and understanding are associated with commandment keeping.  God’s character as revealed in his law imparts wisdom on those who aspire to keep it. 
My sister gave me a piece if religious art that hangs on the wall of my home office.  Pictured in it, is a man sitting at the edge of a river reading from a scroll.  If you look at it long enough, you will see the face of Christ formed by the trees and sky looking down upon the man approvingly.  At the bottom of the print, Psalm 1:1-3 is inscribed:
1 Blessed is the man
         Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
         Nor stands in the path of sinners,
         Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
         And in His law he meditates day and night.
 3 He shall be like a tree
         Planted by the rivers of water,
         That brings forth its fruit in its season,
         Whose leaf also shall not wither;
         And whatever he does shall prosper.  
Here we read of a blessing of longevity and prosperity, in addition to wisdom, that will be imparted on those who delight in the law of the Lord.  What a blessing is His law.
The third step toward developing Godly wisdom is to meditate on the life of Christ.  Just as God’s law is a perfect reflection of his character in words, Christ life demonstrated His character in action.  Everything that Christ did was in harmony with the Law and with his Father.  One thing I like about being a Dad to my son Aidan, is having a little person that wants to be like me.  I love it that when we are getting ready for church Sabbath morning my son Aidan asks me “Dad what are you wearing?” He wants to know what colors I’ll be wearing so he can do his best within the limits of his wardrobe to match me. In a sense, Jesus did this with His Father too.  Not necessarily in a physical way, but in His character he perfectly matched His Father.  In John 14:9 Christ says…
9 …“Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.   
Often times a scriptural passage will come to mind, but I do not know the book, chapter, and verse where it is found.  I did not have the good fortune of having a Christian education in my early years and consequently missed the blessing of being required to memorize scripture.  So I had to consult my Strong’s Concordance to find the scripture we just read.  One thing Strong’s does is highlights Christ’s words by block shading them in grey.  I was astonished to see how many times Christ referenced the Father.  It seemed that is all he talked about.  “He who has seen me has seen the Father.”  We cannot be a perfect representation of the Father, but Jesus came and showed us how it is done.  We can study his example daily and become more and more like him.   Mrs. White puts it this way in First Selected Messages:
"By beholding we are to become changed; and as we meditate upon the perfections of the divine Model, we shall desire to become wholly transformed, and renewed in the image of His purity. It is by faith in the Son of God that transformation takes place in the character, and the child of wrath becomes the child of God..." –1SM 335-338 (ST December 26, 1892).  
As Adventist people we are people of the word.  We are blessed also to have writings and guidance of Mrs. White.  We believe in absolute truth, and understand that we possess the truth.  We have many resources available to help us in giving step by step well thought out logical Bible studies.  We have well formulated arguments supported by scripture to support each of our 28 fundamental beliefs.  This is a good thing.  Many of us sit here in this church today as a testimony to the effectiveness of teaching in a rational scriptural manner.  However, we must be mindful of the fact that more and more as this world buys in to the wisdom of man, the most coherent scripture supported sound line of reasoning may very well be rejected by many as foolishness.  Did Christ have the truth?  Did He not have iron clad reasoning?  Yet even the religious leaders viewed his teachings as radical and blasphemous.  If Christ was rejected two thousand years ago, should we not expect some rejection too?  The wisdom of man is most certainly an altogether different thing than the wisdom of God and we should not expect it to always appear rational to this fallen race.  Both are offered to us freely, one from a loving creator God and the other from a snake in a tree. 
We began this study with the lyrics of a song.  Mr. Card ends his song with an appeal.  It is not an entirely feel good appeal that will leave you challenged and empowered toward positive change in your life.  It’s a bit more conflicted.  Yes, we want to make positive changes and draw closer to our Savior.  But his appeal also possesses the all too real sting of rejection that we are certain to encounter as we align ourselves with a wisdom foreign to the mainstream culture of a fallen planet.  I would like to end today with this same appeal for I believe it is powerful.  In the words of Mr. Card I quote: 
So come lose your life for a carpenter's son
For a madman who died for a dream
And You'll have the faith His first followers had
And you'll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Find the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see
So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well