Living Stones – Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Signs and wisdom
1 Corinthians 1:22
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
There are some things that very quickly become a part of the religious context that often limit our capacity to process truth. These things change from age to age, generation to generation, and from culture to culture.
At the time that the Apostle Paul was writing to the Corinthians, there were competing approaches to the issues of life, much like there are today, except that the different approaches are differently comprised. Paul’s context was circumscribed in the main by Jewish religious thought on the one hand and Greek philosophy on the other.
The Jews had a long and well-documented set of religious traditions and a string of prophetic utterances upon which to judge anything that they confronted. The Jews were frequently violent in their efforts to maintain the purity of those views and fidelity to them by members of their clans. As we have observed, Jesus Himself, the Jewish Messiah, was frequently attacked for appearing to buck those traditions and deeply held views. “And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him,” Luke 19:47
To the Jewish mind, signs were important. The prophet, the Messiah, must be credited with signs. In recording the Gospel, the New Testament writers emphasised that Jesus was performing ‘signs.’ After the turning the water into wine at the Wedding in Cana John records that, “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.” John 2:11.
There are also many instances where the Jews came specifically asking or demanding a sign from Him. “Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.” Matthew 16:1.
The Greeks seemed to like what we Guyanese call a good “gyaff.” In other words, we would meet and talk, and talk, often with great intensity and animation. We express deep and complex views about the human condition, but in the end, we change nothing but are satisfied that we had a good “gyaff” and we look forward to the next one.
Paul encountered this in Athens, there “certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Acts 17:18. Paul was attempting to proclaim the life-changing Gospel of Jesus, which they clearly recognised, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” Acts 18:18. But they didn’t stop there. For them, the “babbler” with strange ideas was good for a good Guyanese gyaff.
“And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.” Acts 17:19-21
Religious studies, philosophy, and science all have their proper place so that we are not just led blindly by our noses. But these, though driven by the human condition, miss being able to meet the needs of that condition. I meet people in this dilemma in my community every day.
For example, I recently had an engaging conversation with a very bright young man who is studying science in high school, he has discovered Darwin and evolution and is now unsure that he could believe in God. He asked me boldly and confidently, “… since everything was created, who created God?” He was confident that he had me trapped. I meet other students who are not so confident, not so brave but who are asking themselves the same question. “Why bother to come to church if no one can prove that God exists?”
I also meet some very religious people, people who visit and are knowledgeable about the various churches and how they worship, and who know what they like or dislike about each of them. These people have their own answers to life’s questions, but since it includes God they have to visit a church from time to time to ‘get a good feelings.’
But here is what I also found in the engagements in my community, everywhere people are dealing with the problem of evil.
Young ladies are giving themselves up to young men who claimed to love them and they are quickly abandoned and passed on without any concern for the emotional distress and sometimes physical consequences of those relationships.
Many young people are being violated and abused by people in their homes; others are hooked on drugs, alcohol, and sex, and some steal and deceive as part of their daily routine.; and many are not sure why they are living and what were they to do next.
Evil is everywhere, and everyone has questions – How can we get out of this? How can we be better in ourselves? How can we be better to each other? How can we be better as a community?
Turns out that, in the end, they need hope, hope that comes with wisdom and, if possible, signs.
Fortunately, Jesus promised that, “signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17,18.
Think about these things:
- What are some of the questions being asked in our time?
- What are some of the issues of concern to the youth in your church or community?
- What signs do you think would impact the current generation in the midst of so much science and technology?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that our ministry would be accompanied by signs and wisdom.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
