Good Shepherd Lutheran,
Pentecost 10—
1 Corinthians 2:6-10
“We do
speak a message of wisdom”
“We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among
the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are
coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's
secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our
glory before time began. None of the
rulers of his age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory . However, as it is written:
'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love him.' But
God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.”
(I Cor. 2:6-10)
It takes great wisdom to live well. And it takes great wisdom to die well. And the two are one and the same wisdom.
But now I must speak to the mature, as these words are
for the mature, “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the
mature.” Let me speak to the mature
who are young-of-age, the mature who are middle-of-age, and the mature who are
later-of-age.
To you who are young-of-age, there is a great gift given
you. It is the gift of being
young. Happiness comes easiest to the
young. But there is also a great
foolishness. When you are young, it is
easy to assume that pleasure and happiness are the same thing. They are not.
Wisdom tells you they are not.
And I am speaking a message of wisdom among the mature.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “Do
not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it.” But here's
the thing, there's always a hook in every pleasure. It was put there either by Satan or by
God. But here's where you are at such a
risk—Satan uses the leaders of this world to help hide his hooks. Because the leaders of this world do not
understand this. And by the leaders of
this world I do not mean the politicians.
I mean the movie makers, money makers, fashion designers, singers, video
game programmers, TV mogels, market and media people. They influence our decisions about what to
buy or what kind of hair style to have or what to do on a Friday night much
more than any politician. The leaders of
this world do not understand this.
Otherwise they would not reject Christ and his Word of pleasure, just
like Paul said of the Jewish leaders, “None of the rulers of this age
understood it, for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
If Satan has set a hook in the sinful pleasure you are
about to indulge in, do you really imagine it will lead to happiness? Are you that foolish?
But if God puts the hook in the pleasure, ah, now that is
a different thing entirely. C.S. Lewis
wrote, “God whispers in our pleasures.” And what is God whispering as
you bite into an ice cream sandwich, as you win Super Smash Brothers Mario, as
you hold the hand of your boyfriend? He
is whispering, “You think this is good?
It's nothing compared to what I have prepared for you in heaven.” As it says here, “No eye has seen, no ear
has head, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” But you know it. For “God has revealed it to us by his
Spirit” through his Word.
So young people, be wise and remember—pleasure is not the
same thing as happiness. And every
pleasure has a hook in it. Sinful
pleasure has Satan's hook in it. But
every legitimate pleasure has God's hook in it.
Each pleasure is designed to make you think, for a moment, of heaven--a
place that Christ wants you to enjoy so much that he did not make heaven
possible, but he made it a certainty by his own death and resurrection. And he gave it to you at your baptism. Keep hold of it by faith. Keep hold of your faith by regularly hearing
the Word. For that is how the Spirit
does his work in you.
Now I must speak to the mature who are
middle-of-age. Young people, you may
want to listen in, since middle-of-age is dead ahead on the road of your
life. A great gift has been given to you
who are middle-of-age. It is the gift of
not being young. And it is a great
gift. The deep happiness of deep
satisfactions belong to you. But there
is also a great foolishness. When you
are middle-of-age, it is easy to get your means and ends mixed up, to let making
enough money become the goal rather than a tool, to think that happiness and
money can be spoken of in the same breath.
Wisdom teaches us otherwise. And
I am speaking a message of wisdom among the mature.
A poet whose name I forget, wrote, “If
there is to be any happiness, it must come from being, not from having.” Fine words. Problem is, no one believes that. Not even you or me; at least, not our sinful
nature. The rulers of this age don't
either, the movie makers, money makers, market and media people. If they did, they would not reject Christ and
his Word about money and happiness, just like Paul said of the Jewish leaders,
“None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
But there is truth in the poet's words,
“If there is to be any happiness, it must come from being, not from having.” So, there
are two 40 year old men. One has
$500,000 in savings and 401ks for retirement.
The other has $77. Which one has
the better chance of being happy? We
don't know, because the one vital piece of information has been left out. Which one knows Christ, is faithful in
worship and the Lord's Supper, and has a private devotion with the Word nearly
every day? For if there is to be any happiness,
it must come from being--being a sinner loved by God, being forgiven daily by
Christ, being cared for by the Spirit, who has things in mind for you and your
life that you don't even know about, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no
mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” That's not just true about heaven, it's true
about what's waiting around the next bend in your life. You don't need to go to psychic to try to
find out the details about what's coming up.
In fact, to do so is incredibly disrespectful of God and is sin. It's enough to know that what's coming up in
your future is in the hands of a God who loves you very much, so much he sent
his Son to die just for you. And for me,
too. And this you know because this has
been revealed to you, “God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” through
the Word, and revealed it with an exclamation mark in the Lord's Supper.
And so, middle-of-age mature people, you must remember
not to use the word “money” and “happiness” in the same breath and let making
enough money become your goal. Wisdom
teaches us that happiness is found in being what you are in Christ. Grow in that, you grow in happiness. And the money will come. God himself will see to that. (Matt. 6:33)
Now I must speak to the mature later-of-age. Everybody might want to listen, since either you
are at this point in your life or you are definitely heading that
direction. To you who are later-of-age,
there is a great gift given you, according to one of our retired professors,
Prof. Deutschlander, in his upcoming book.
It is the gift of fewer
distractions. Happiness has many
forms. The deepest form of happiness is
yours, for you are free from many of the distractions of life, and you know the
Word, and you have numerous experiences.
So you are better able to say in a deeper way what the the psalmist
said, “Yet I am always with you, O God; you hold me by my right
hand...afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but
thee? And earth has nothing I desire
apart from thee.” (Ps. 19) This is the deepest form of happiness. But there is also a great foolishness. The foolishness of looking back with regret
or bitterness. Wisdom tells us
this. And I am speaking a message of
wisdom among the mature.
The famous behavioral scientist, Erik Erickson said each
stage of life is about a struggle you must overcome. The final struggle, he said, for each
individual, is the struggle of facing the fact that I, too, will die. He said, “The mature
person must go through the struggle of integrity vs. despair so that he might
gain wisdom.” And he said, “The wisdom of
the aged is to be able to say, 'I am what survives me.'”
Erik Erickson has
said many good and useful things. This
was not one of them. For Erik Ericksen
apparently did not take into account “God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has
been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” The wisdom of the aged Christian is to face
death by looking ahead, not back.
Looking forward. To glory. With certainty, with longing, like Job (19),
“I shall see my Redeemer with my own eyes, mine and not another's—how my
heart yearns within me!” That is the
wisdom of the aged. Unless, of course,
the individual does not trust in Christ and his promise of salvation. For that person is about to suffer the fate
of the damned; no wonder he only looks back and not forward when it comes to
death!
But I am not speaking about such people now. I am speaking a message of wisdom among the
mature in Christ. To be sure, you, too,
will leave things behind for the next generation. There are things that will
survive you, and you will want those to be quality things,and things that help
the gospel go forward. But not least of
all, what you will leave behind is your example of how to die well. For he “who dies in faith, dies well!” (#105
v.7) That is wisdom. “God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has
been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.” But it's not a secret to you. For “God has revealed it to us by his
Spirit” through his Word.
It takes great wisdom to live well. And it takes great wisdom to die well. And the two are one and the same wisdom. For that wisdom is Christ. That wisdom is found in the Word of
Christ. “All of us who are mature
should take such a view of things. And
if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you (by
his Word and Spirit). Only let us be
guided by what we have learned so far.” (Phil. 3:15-17) Amen.