“Growing in Wisdom”
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2:41-52
The Christmas presents have all been
opened and enjoyed, but a few remain apart, marked by those dreaded
words: some assembly required. This is a time for skill, perseverance,
knowledge, even some wisdom. There was a recent cartoon of a man
standing with drill in hand, three pieces of wood, screws and instructions
spread across the floor and a few holes in the wall with the caption:
“Bob just decided to keep his Nobel Prize in the garage.”
Wisdom, knowledge, skill, whatever it might be called, we often seem
to be lacking something critical as we tackle those final presents,
along with the many more challenging and critical issues of life.
Today's passage in Luke describes Mary,
Joseph and family making their annual trip to Jerusalem for the Passover
Festival. Every good Hebrew made at least one trip a year to the
Temple; more often if they could afford it. This would be the
year before Jesus came of age, a good indication that he was regularly
being trained in the faith of his parents.
After the festival, they started to
return home. A day out of Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph realized
that Jesus wasn't with them. This is somewhat like taking two
cars to church on Sunday. Both parents think that the child, who
is playing hide and seek in the basement, is with the parent in the
other car. The men would be in one group, traveling ahead to find
a place for the night as the women and children came along at a slower
pace. Based on his age, Jesus could have been in either group.
But he wasn't.
Jesus had stayed at the Temple.
He was sitting among the teachers and asking them questions. And
the teachers were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
We might well miss the importance of these phrases. We are used
to sitting in a classroom as the teacher stands. In that culture,
the teacher sat. They taught by asking questions. As a modern
joke goes, a Jewish student asks the Rabbi: “Why do you always teach
by asking questions?” The Rabbi replies: “So, what is wrong
with questions?” It appears that the 12 year old was teaching the
teachers.
Jesus stayed in his father's house,
the Temple. This provides one of those challenging theological
mysteries. Jesus, as noted in the last verse of today's reading,
grows in wisdom: he does not know everything as God knows everything.
He had emptied himself of that which he knew as God when he became human,
fully human. Yet, he still knows who his father is. It was
not a Hebrew tradition to call God father; by some means, Jesus knew
that he was the Son of God.
I think that it is important to know
that Mary and Joseph were not perfect parents. Whether overly busy with
the journey or just making bad assumptions, they left Jesus behind.
When they realized that Jesus was missing they searched for three days,
finding him safe in the Temple. They were astonished, better described
as dumbstruck, they just could not believe that Jesus was putting them
through such worry. Jesus, even knowing his true father, still
was obedient to these imperfect people.
While this vignette is comforting to
all parents who have made mistakes, I think that it is important not
to emulate Mary and Joseph or be overly distracted by them. Rather,
we should focus on Jesus, for we are called to conform to the image
of Christ. (Rom 8:29)
Let's focus on this final verse, Luke 2:52:
52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human
favor.
This seems like such a simple verse,
other than it does leads to the mystery of how much Jesus knew and when
he knew it. Clearly, Jesus got smarter and older and God and people
liked him. This shouldn't be surprising for a well behaved boy
who studied his faith. Luke uses a similar phrase in verse 40:
“(Jesus) grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor
of God was upon him.” This both closes a section and the repetition
adds emphasis. It also sounds very much like 1 Samuel 2:26 in
our Call to Worship: Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor
with the Lord.
We also grow older and smarter.
God does love us. Hopefully, people do also.
However, Luke is conveying far more depth in this statement than we are likely to understand.
The verb 'increased' or 'grow' isn't
something that happens naturally. This is something that takes
effort. It is more like clearing away obstacles with great effort.
There is a sense of perseverance in the term; this increase was not
something that just happened by itself. And it applies to each
of the phrases about wisdom, age and favor. A less concise reading
might start with: “Jesus stubbornly over came the obstacles of ignorance
by the training in Scripture that he had received and by the annual
trips to the Temple to learn the customs of his faith.”
Whatever is happening in this verse
comes by effort, effort even for the boy Jesus.
Then, as now, there were many views
on what constituted wisdom. In the Old Testament, and Luke seems to
be using words here as they were used in the old Hebrew writings, true
wisdom was a gift from God. Yet it also required study and discernment.
The first chapters of Proverbs describe wisdom personified as a beautiful
lady. However, she is a lady easily confused with Lady Folly.
One must seek God's guidance as to which is which.
Luke also uses favor much like the Old
Testament does to connote a gracious disposition or action, a willingness
to share with one in need or a sense of attractiveness or receiving
approval. When it is used in relation to God, the emphasis shifts
to God's willingness to hear prayer, to heal, to redeem, pardon and
strengthen.
It is important to realize that Jesus
also grew in favor among men. God did not come to be apart from
us. God came to reveal himself to us through Jesus the Christ.
As we are conformed to this image, we continue to reveal to people what
it is to be Christlike. Jesus grew in favor amongst an interesting
group of people: sinners and tax collectors, gluttons and drunks.
And Jesus grew in favor amongst the sick and the poor. Jesus also
grew in favor among those who sought to know and worship God.
About the only people that Jesus did not grow in favor among were the
religious leaders who were more interested in their rules and ways than
in putting Scriptural lessons into practice.
Putting all this back together, we get a translation more like:
52
And Jesus diligently worked hard to increase his understanding of God's
word and apply it to his life through study and practice and struggled
to grow. Jesus cleared away all obstacles, finding approval
in the eyes of God and respect and goodwill among all mankind.
What does this mean to us? We
too have to make effort if we want to increase in wisdom and favor.
We have to look in the right places.
Think of all the places that we can
seek wisdom. The sources are as varied as the definition of wisdom.
The wise men who came to see the baby Jesus were wise magicians.
We ascribe wisdom to those who have special skills or a combination
of cleverness and cunning. Culture and rules of conduct, ethics, offer
glimpses of wisdom. Closer to what Scripture talks about as wisdom are
those who have practical wisdom, often called street smarts; at least
it is wisdom that is useful for living. There is also a form of
piety that leads to wisdom for the wise also know God, understand God's
ways, and humbly understand that they are not God.
There are many books that claim to provide
specialized wisdom based on the teachings of Jesus. Jesus CEO:
Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership or The Leadership
Lessons of Jesus: A Timeless Model for Today's Leaders. According
to Barnes and Noble those who bought The Leadership Lessons of Jesus
also bought Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun (BN.com).
The ideal of wisdom among the Greeks was to understand God's divine
plan; more accurately, the divine plans of the many gods. Such
a plan would be logical and fully comprehensible to the wise philosopher.
These books seem to promise this type of wisdom based upon the words
of Christ. Yet, as Paul reminds us, our God's wisdom appears to
man as folly: what is wise about the love shown on the cross, the way
of salvation? Further, God is so much greater than we are that
we can only comprehend a portion of God's plan, the portion that has
been revealed to us through Christ. In 1st Corinthians
1 we find that 30It is because of him that you (we) are in
Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness,
holiness and redemption. (I Cor 1:30)
Peter refocuses our search for wisdom
by telling us to look beyond the words. 2nd Peter tells
us to “Grow in spiritual strength and become better acquainted with
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). While Proverbs
also tells us to track down (2:4), find (3:13) woo (4:7) and accept
the invitation of wisdom (4:6ff), it seems that true wisdom comes from
a personal encounter with God.
Ultimately, we have to accept that wisdom
is a gift from God. In Christian terms, it is a knowledge of God's
will and our worthy conduct in response. James tells us that if
we lack wisdom, we should ask God, who gives generously to all without
reproach. (James 1:5).
When we seek this from of wisdom, James
tells us what the results will be in our lives. “But the wisdom
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full
of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17)
This wisdom from God will cause us to grow in favor before God and people.
Perhaps the best way to understand how to find wisdom is to turn back to Proverbs. It can be difficult to tell Lady Folly and Lady Wisdom apart. Proverbs 26 provides both a challenge and a clue. Listen to these two verses:
4 Do not answer a fool according
to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to
his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes. Proverbs 26
How do we tell which fool to answer and which fool to ignore? Which fool will bring us down to his level and which fool will think themselves as wise as us? How does one tell the two types of fools apart? How does one make sense out of these two verses? The answer to these questions is to seek wisdom from its source, from the one who can see inside us, can see inside fools, and provide the guidance we need to increase in wisdom and favor, to overcome the obstacles of life. Only our God, revealed in Christ, provides this type of wisdom. Let us seek it, like Jesus, in the study of Scripture, by seeking counsel of wise men and women, and through prayerful discernment of the leading of the Holy Spirit.
December 31, 2006
Pastor Al Hammond
First Presbyterian Church
Logan, Utah