http://wiki.mrlocke.net/api.php?hidebots=1&days=30&limit=50&action=feedrecentchanges&feedformat=atomNeal's Wiki - Recent changes [en]2024-03-29T00:47:18ZTrack the most recent changes to the wiki in this feed.MediaWiki 1.24.4http://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_24th,_2024&diff=7143&oldid=7139Sermon for March 24th, 20242024-03-24T04:39:40Z<p></p>
<a href="http://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_24th,_2024&diff=7143&oldid=7139">Show changes</a>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=First_Presbyterian_Church&diff=7140&oldid=7124First Presbyterian Church2024-03-24T03:42:05Z<p></p>
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<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 03:42, 24 March 2024</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 24th, 2024]] 499th Sermon: How to Steal a Donkey (Palm Sunday)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 24th, 2024]] 499th Sermon: How to Steal a Donkey (Palm Sunday<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">) (2186</ins>)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 17th, 2024]] 498th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part IV (1634)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 17th, 2024]] 498th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part IV (1634)</div></td></tr>
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</table>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_24th,_2024&diff=7139&oldid=7125Sermon for March 24th, 20242024-03-24T03:40:56Z<p></p>
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</tr><tr><td colspan='4' style='text-align: center;' class='diff-multi'>(13 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Luke 19:28-40==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Luke 19:28-40==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>28After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''</ins>28After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==How to Steal a Donkey==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==How to Steal a Donkey==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*What do you call a donkey with only three legs?  A wonky donkey.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*What do you call a donkey with three legs and a lazy eye?  A winky wonky donkey.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*What do you call a donkey with three legs, and a lazy eye, breaking wind? A stinky winky wonky donkey.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*What do you call a donkey with three legs, a lazy eye, breaking wind, and wearing blue suede shoes?  A honky tonky stinky winky wonky donkey.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">*What do you call a donkey with three legs, a lazy eye, breaking wind, wearing blue suede shoes and playing the piano?  A plinky-plonky, honky-tonky, stinky-winky wonky donkey.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">* What do you call a donkey with three legs, a lazy eye, breaking wind, wearing blue suede shoes and playing piano while driving a truck?  Just talented.  Very talented.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Today is Palm Sunday—the day we remember Jesus’ triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem, when the crowds laid down palm branches in his path and hailed him as the long-awaited Messiah.  This story appears (with slight variations) in all four gospels, although in the gospel of Luke (our passage today) there are actually no palm branches mentioned.  Instead, people spread their coats on the ground in front of Jesus.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Countless sermons have been preached on this story through the years.  I’ve preached on it several times, too.  Usually these sermons focus on Jesus (not surprising—he is the star of the show, after all), or sometimes they focus on the meaning of the palm branches (short version: they can either symbolize peace…or a conquering war hero).  Sometimes the Palm Sunday sermon will focus on the fickle crowd…. that shouts Hosanna and calls Jesus a King, but just a few days later turns against him and angrily calls for the Roman government to “crucify him!”  Often the focus will be on the great irony (probably intentional) of how the King of Kings, the Son of God, rode into town not on a stately horse, but on a humble donkey, not decked out in sword and shield, but wearing a robe and sandals, not at the head of a mighty band of warriors, but leading fishermen, peasants, and the dregs of society.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Those are all great sermons…but they have been preached many, many times.  Today, I want to focus on a much more neglected part of the story, a much more perplexing (and in my opinion, more humorous) part of the story—the part before the crowds, before the palm branches, and before the triumphal entry.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Today I want to talk about that time when Jesus told his disciples to go steal a donkey.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">If you read the text, there’s really no way around this, other than to just ignore it (which is what most theologians seem to do).  Jesus clearly tells two of his disciples (verse 30) “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.”</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">A colt, in the Greek language of the New Testament is πῶλον, which can mean a young horse, a young donkey, or really any young four-legged animal.  But most biblical scholars acknowledge this as a donkey, in part because two of the gospels (Matthew and John) connect this event to an Old Testament prophecy in the Book of Zechariah that says that the king (the messiah) will come riding into town on a חֲמ֔וֹר (hamor), and the Hebrew word חֲמ֔וֹר (hamor) definitely means donkey.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">“Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.”</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">So…maybe Jesus had already made prior arrangements with Enterprise-Rent-a-Donkey, or maybe he just used his Jesus-powers to poof a donkey into existence that didn’t belong to anyone…? But the next verse kind of works against that.  Verse 31:</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’  And then run really fast.  I’m just kidding, Jesus didn’t say that last part.  Or did he? You know, with a smile and a wink?  The Bible may not record EVERYTHING Jesus said….</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">IF anyone asks you….just say this.  The implication here is that IF no one asks you, just take it.  Don’t try to find the owner, don’t ask around to see if maybe this is a free-community-usage donkey, don’t ask for permission…just do it.  Don’t call attention to yourself.  Act normal, like it’s yours.  Nothing to see here, we’re just taking OUR donkey for a nice walk….</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">But clearly Jesus suspects that won’t happen, just like I suspect that if some random two guys walked up to your driveway and got into your car, you (or your neighbors) might say “uh, who are you and what are you doing?”  What?  Us?  Oh…ummm…the Lord needs it.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">That’s what Jesus tells his disciples to say:  “The Lord needs it.”  The gospel of Mark actually adds here “and will bring it back immediately.”  As if that would somehow reassure the owner.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The Greek word Κύριος, which translates as “Lord” means something very specific to most of us, especially when we’re reading the Bible.  It means Jesus, the Lord of Lords.  But in 1st Century Israel, that wouldn’t have been obvious—in fact, Κύριος or Lord would have most likely referred to the owner of the house, the owner of the donkey.  So this choice of words is just a little bit sneaky.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Jesus could have said, “tell them that Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth needs it” but instead he says, effectively…If they ask you what you’re doing, just say that the owner needs it.  Maybe Jesus, the son of God, the creator of the universe and all the animals is making a little play on words here (hey, I own everything, so technically I am the owner) but that’s probably not how the donkey’s actual owner would have perceived it.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">In our passage today, when the two disciples go and do what Jesus told them to do, we read that the owners are the ones who confront them, saying “why are you untying it?”  The disciples give their line, and…then they take the donkey.  No response from the owners, perhaps because the disciples are crazy fast sprinters.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">On the other hand, in the Gospel of Mark, it’s some bystanders who stop the disciples, and when they give their line, the bystanders (not the owners) “allow them to take it.”  Later on, they got the award for worst neighbors of the year.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">When the disciples finally bring the donkey to Jesus, we read in verse 35 that the first thing they do is throw their cloaks over it.  Ostensibly, this is to make it more comfortable for Jesus to sit on the donkey.  But I’ve always wondered if it’s because the owners were in hot pursuit, just running over the hill, saying “where’s our donkey, you thieves?”  Donkey?  What donkey?  No donkey here!  Oh that down there?  That’s just our friend Judas, wearing two coats.  Shhh… Don’t say anything, he’s kind of sensitive about his hairy ears.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">So Jesus rides into Jerusalem…and history…on a stolen donkey.  And we focus (rightfully so) on the palm branches, the Hosannas, the crowd, and all that happens in the climactic Holy Week that follows.  As we should.  But just this once, I wonder if there’s any lesson, any message for us in the story of the stolen donkey?  I mean, it’s in all four gospels—it has to be there for a reason, right?  If it weren’t important, gospel writers could have just said, “and Jesus acquired a donkey, upon which he rode into town”  Why is the interaction, the conversation, the excuse, the manner of its acquisition important enough to include?  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">I have a couple of ideas. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">1.  Jesus was human, and funny, and mischievous, and the gospel writers (who were also human, and funny, and mischievous) wanted us to know that; they wanted to remember the Jesus who so often got them into trouble with a smile and the wink of an eye.  If you’re bothered by the idea of the perfect Son of God stealing something, remember that he did a lot of things that “technically” broke the law in the eyes of the rulers of his day.  And as I said before, “technically” he also owned ALL the donkeys, and he wrote ALL the rules.  But there’s no denying that Jesus was unconventional.  I think sometimes we try so hard to sanitize Jesus, emphasizing his divine, perfect, and sinless nature, that we end up sacrificing his real, authentic and human nature in the process. And the we act surprised when the world can’t seem to relate to him.  Jesus was (and IS) truly the best of both worlds, of heaven and earth.  We have to hold on to both of those things, even if we can’t quite explain how they work together.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">2. Sometimes God takes things away from us…things we think God has no right to.  He doesn’t ask permission, and he doesn’t always explain himself, at least not to our satisfaction.  Maybe God (in the guise of fate, life or bad luck) “robbed” you of a dream or an opportunity you thought you had earned or worked hard for.  Maybe God “stole” someone from your life, someone that you loved, too soon, and unfairly.  What should our reaction be when that happens?  We never get to see the reaction of the owner when his donkey is stolen, and that’s probably a good thing.  He might have said a few choice words that he wouldn’t want recorded for all posterity.  Neither would we in those moments.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">When God takes something away from us, we don’t usually have the benefit of the grander picture.  We only see the loss, the injustice, the broken rule or broken trust.  But in the story of the stolen Donkey, and in all of God’s stories (which means all of our stories) there’s definitely a bigger picture.  I like to imagine it went down this way—many, many years after that first Palm Sunday:</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">James and John, once timid young disciples…. now gray-haired old apostles, bold in their faith, having witnessed the resurrected Jesus, having experienced the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and having guided the faithful in the earliest days of the church.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">James and John, who just may have been the two donkey thieves-in chief, are now sitting together in the corner of a busy room, gathered with other believers as their weekly service of worship is about to begin.  Maybe it’s even Palm Sunday.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">James says to John, “Hey John…do you remember how mad that guy was when we ran off with his donkey?  John chuckles, and says, “Yeah, he was pretty pissed.” </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">“Well, don’t look now,” says James, “but I think that’s him sitting over there near the door.”  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">“No kidding—it IS him!  You don’t think he’s still mad about that, do you?  I don’t run as fast as I used to.”  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">“No, he’s been here a few times before.  It took me awhile to figure out where I remembered him from.”  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">John and James continue to watch their old nemesis as the service begins, as the people sing and pray and break bread together.  And then finally someone stands to tell the story… one of the younger disciples who has committed it to memory.  It’s the story of Palm Sunday, and it all begins with the words of Jesus, the Messiah, saying “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.”  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">The man raises an eyebrow at this, but then when he hears the part about the two disciples, and the line “Say that the Lord has need of it” a flash of recognition suddenly comes over his face.  He’s putting two and two together.  Then he shifts nervously in his seat, as though he’s worried about what might be told next.  But the story moves on, back to Jesus, riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, of crowds waving palm branches and crying out “Hosanna!” </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">At just the right moment (maybe with a little prompting from their parents), the little children in the congregation cheer and wave their palm branches, re-enacting this precious memory that a few older ones in attendance might still remember with a mixture of wonder, regret, and love.  And in the midst of the shouting, in the very back of the room, a tear rolls down the cheek of the man who lost his donkey all those years ago.  His smile betrays a sadness mixed with pride.  Now he knows the bigger picture.  His loss was the entire world’s gain.  And his gain, too.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">James and John, those two old donkey thieves, watched knowingly from their corner of the room.  Somewhere in the distant recesses of their memory, they could almost hear their friend, their savior, their Lord Jesus, laughing joyfully across the years.</ins></div></td></tr>
</table>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_24th,_2024&diff=7125&oldid=0Sermon for March 24th, 20242024-03-23T23:12:40Z<p>Created page with "==Luke 19:28-40== 28After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he..."</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>==Luke 19:28-40==<br />
28After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”<br />
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==How to Steal a Donkey==</div>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=First_Presbyterian_Church&diff=7124&oldid=7121First Presbyterian Church2024-03-23T22:51:26Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 10th, 2024]] 497th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part III (2416)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 10th, 2024]] 497th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part III (2416)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 3rd, 2024]] 496th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part II (1436)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 3rd, 2024]] 496th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part II (1436)</div></td></tr>
</table>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_17th,_2024&diff=7122&oldid=0Sermon for March 17th, 20242024-03-17T13:10:45Z<p>Created page with "==Job 42:1-6, 10-17== ''1Then Job answered the LORD: 2"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3'Who is this that hides counsel withou..."</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>==Job 42:1-6, 10-17==<br />
''1Then Job answered the LORD: 2"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.' 5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."<br />
''<br />
''10And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. 12The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children's children, four generations. 17And Job died, old and full of days.<br />
''<br />
==In Pursuit of Wisdom: Part IV==<br />
My favorite author, hands down, is John Steinbeck. The first time I read him, in high school, I thought I hated him (incidentally, I had that same reaction the first time I read John Calvin in seminary). I read Steinbeck's novel, "The Pearl" when I was about sixteen years old, and at the end of the novel, the main character has lost everything, has been utterly defeated, and then dies. The end. I was pretty ticked off. That's not how a good story is supposed to end. <br />
<br />
Years later, I taught Steinbeck to high school freshmen -- Of Mice and Men, Tortilla Flat, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden -- and all of them pretty much follow the same pattern: Through the course of the novel, the main characters lose everything, get kicked around by life and the other characters in the novel, and have their hopes and dreams ripped out from underneath them. And that's usually where Steinbeck ends the novel. My 9th graders would get really angry after reading the first Steinbeck novel--they thought they had been ripped off, cheated, or tricked somehow. By the second novel, they'd be asking how he ever got to be a bestseller, let alone winning the Nobel prize for literature. <br />
<br />
And then somewhere in the midst of the third novel...they finally began to understand: It is only after Steinbeck's characters are stripped of all their ambitions, their possessions, their relationships, that they begin to see themselves for who they really are--not as farmers, fishermen, mechanics, factory workers, or "Oakies" -- but as human beings, sharing a fragile existence with every other human being on the planet. Steinbeck's characters lose everything...but never their dignity, never their humanity. In fact, as everything else falls away, these things become more and more visible. Kindness and generosity and compassion begin to surface in unexpected ways. On the surface, all of Steinbeck's novels are tragic...and yet below the surface, they are the most moving, inspirational works of literature I've ever encountered.<br />
<br />
In America, we have a love affair with the "happy ending." We are products of Disney fairy-tales, Hollywood romances, and rags-to-riches success stories. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Stories like these entertain us, give us escape from the ordinary, and most importantly, they help us to hope and dream. But sometimes, like my freshmen, we get so used to the happy ending that we form this implicit contract between ourselves and the story: It's a "good" story if it has a happy ending, and a "bad" story if it doesn't. <br />
<br />
But this kind of thinking influences other parts of our lives, too--I'm a "good" person if I'm winning, if I'm successful; I'm a "bad" person if I'm not. God is "good" as long as there's a happy ending in sight; if there's no happy ending, why bother with God? As Christians, we learn almost from the very beginning that our story has a happy ending--Easter, the Resurrection of Jesus. But we tend to forget that the first disciples were called to follow Jesus without knowing whether or not there would be a happy ending.<br />
<br />
And so we come at last to Job. Last in many senses: Today's scripture passage is from the last chapter of the Book of Job; we read about the last years of his life, and this is the last sermon in our series the pursuit of wisdom in the Book of Job. <br />
<br />
When I first read the story of Job as a child, or possibly as a teenager, I liked it. Any guesses why? It has a happy ending. Sure Job loses everything, but he gets it all back in the end, times two. Yay Job! As a young adult, beginning to study the Bible more closely, I started to have some doubts. It's a happy ending for Job, but not so much for all the servants, animals, and children he loses the first time around. Where's their happy ending? Then as a seminary student, I learned that some biblical scholars think the "happy ending" is a later addition to the text, possibly by a different author. Apparently, our insatiable need for a happy ending goes back a lot further than Hollywood or Disney. <br />
<br />
After more than a decade studying and preaching through the Book of Job, I currently think it's all one unified piece, not the work of a single author, but rather of one single editor -- someone who has taken the threads of a very ancient story and woven them together in a skillful, intentional way. And that means, like it or not, I'm stuck with this happy ending. I've often thought that if Steinbeck had written (or edited) the Book of Job, it would have ended with the beautiful, awe-inspiring words of God in chapter 38. <br />
<br />
Why does the happy ending bother me so much? I think it's because the first few times I read the Book of Job, I did what most people do: I read the first two chapters, quickly got bored with the long philosophical poetry (35 chapters) in the middle, and then skipped to God's speech and the happy ending. No problem there. But when I really began to study the middle--and the meat is in the middle--the ending no longer made sense.<br />
<br />
Remember, the prevailing formula for wisdom in Ancient Israel comes from the book of Proverbs (wisdom for beginners!) Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Simple. I believe the Book of Job was written to challenge--or at least nuance--that point of view. Job is undeniably a good person. He argues this point throughout the book. The author (or editor) of the book agrees, and calls him a righteous man. God agrees, and calls him a righteous man, both in the beginning and at the end. And yet bad things happen to Job. Proverbs wisdom can't explain this. But through 35 chapters of questioning, complaining, and crying out to God, Job finally arrives at the conclusion that true wisdom lies in admitting that we don't know everything. We can't know everything. We can't explain everything. God's ways are, ultimately, a mystery. I think that's some pretty profound wisdom.<br />
<br />
But the problem is, when we just read the first two chapters, skim the middle, and skip to the end, we come up with this instead: Sometimes things can get a little rough, but in the end, good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. Job was good, so in the end good things happened to him. And we're right back to Proverbs wisdom. <br />
<br />
Don't misunderstand me here--there is truth to Proverbs wisdom. Our actions, good or bad, do have consequences. It's just that Proverbs is "Wisdom 101" and we shouldn't stop there for all time. There is a theological danger in telling a person terminally ill with cancer "If you're a good person, and if you have faith, you will get better." God does work miracles, but sometimes, in his infinite wisdom, he doesn't. <br />
<br />
There is a theological danger in telling a person who has lost everything, "Don't worry, if you're a good person and have faith in God, you'll get it all back and more." Sometimes, as in Job's case, God does that. But sometimes (and I think we can all point to examples in our own experience and circle of acquaintances) he doesn't. <br />
<br />
There is also a theological danger in making God's love for us too closely tied with our wishes and desires. When my daughter, Abby, was ten years old, she would sometimes say, "Daddy, if you love me, you'll buy me a horse." I would respond, "I do love you, sweetheart, but it's a little more complicated than that." That was hard for her to understand at that age, just like it's hard for us to completely understand God's love this side of heaven.<br />
<br />
And so this is how I've come to understand the "happy ending" in Job. It's not cause and effect. It's not because Job was faithful through all his trials, or because he somehow "passed the test" God (or Satan) was putting him through. God's decision to bless Job at the end of the book is just as random, just as inexplicable, and just as mysterious as God's decision to bless Job at the beginning of the book, and just as random, inexplicable, and mysterious as God's decision to let Job suffer in the middle of the book. <br />
<br />
The Book of Job is not about the happy ending. And ultimately, it's not about the suffering, either. God loved Job when he was blessed with abundance; God loved Job in the midst of his suffering, and God would have loved Job right up to the end of his days whether he was blessed or not. The sign of this love is not the restoration of Job's fortune at the end. It's the fact that God showed up, in chapter 38, and answered Job's cry. God said, "not only have I been with you all this time, I've been with you and all creation since before the foundations of the earth were laid." <br />
<br />
The Book of Job IS, however, about the pursuit of wisdom. At the end of Job's journey, he makes this simple declaration to his God: "I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know." That's almost a thesis statement for the entire book:<br />
<br />
The greatest wisdom is found in humility--knowing how much you don't know. <br />
The greatest wisdom is found in wonder--gratitude for the marvel and beauty of creation.<br />
The greatest wisdom is found in God's presence--in humble conversations with the one who made you, and who loves you from the first page of your story right up to the very end.</div>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=First_Presbyterian_Church&diff=7121&oldid=7115First Presbyterian Church2024-03-16T17:13:14Z<p></p>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 10th, 2024]] 497th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part III</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">* [[Sermon for March 17th, 2024]] 498th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part IV</ins></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 3rd, 2024]] 496th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part II (1436)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>* [[Sermon for March 3rd, 2024]] 496th Sermon: In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part II (1436)</div></td></tr>
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</table>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_10th,_2024&diff=7119&oldid=7116Sermon for March 10th, 20242024-03-10T05:13:01Z<p></p>
<a href="http://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_10th,_2024&diff=7119&oldid=7116">Show changes</a>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_10th,_2024&diff=7116&oldid=0Sermon for March 10th, 20242024-03-09T23:47:21Z<p>Created page with "==In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part III== In just a moment, we're going to jump right into the scripture passage, but first we need to set the scene. Where are we in the book of Jo..."</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>==In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part III==<br />
<br />
In just a moment, we're going to jump right into the scripture passage, but first we need to set the scene. Where are we in the book of Job, and who is speaking in this chapter? In the chapters up to this point, we've heard from God and Satan, we've heard from Job's wife. We've heard from Job's three friends, and we've heard a lot from Job himself. In the chapters after this one, Job concludes his argument, then we hear from Elihu, and then we hear again from God. But I don't think the voice we hear in chapter 28 is any of those voices. <br />
<br />
I think it's actually the voice of the author himself. The NRSV translation calls this chapter an "interlude." And I think that's about right. The passionate argument between Job and his friends has reached an intense, feverish pitch. And right here, I think the author hits the pause button, does a freeze frame, and steps into the chaos of his own story, directly addressing the audience.<br />
<br />
==Job 28:1-28==<br />
<poem><br />
1 Surely there is a mine for silver,<br />
and a place for gold to be refined.<br />
2 Iron is taken out of the earth,<br />
and copper is smelted from ore.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
Ok, so that's an odd place to start. What does any of this have to do with Job and his misfortunes? We'll get to that in time. This is actually a classic Middle-eastern Wisdom tradition approach: The wise (those ancients who composed and compiled wisdom literature) looked to nature and the natural world for understanding of how things worked. That's why wisdom literature (including Job) is full of plants, insects, animals, minerals, geographical features, and weather patterns. They were the early precursors of our modern-day biologists, geologists, meteorologists, and physicists. But the key word in those first two verses is "mine." It's a metaphor for a place where things are hidden, things of great value.<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
3 Miners put an end to darkness,<br />
and search out to the farthest bound<br />
the ore in gloom and deep darkness.<br />
4 They open shafts in a valley away from human habitation;<br />
they are forgotten by travelers,<br />
they sway suspended, remote from people.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
How many of you here are students, graduates, or even just fans of the University of Texas at El Paso? Job 28 is your special Bible chapter. It's the longest passage in the Bible about Miners. In this passage, we shift from nature itself--elements like silver, gold, iron, and copper--to the humans who interact with nature. And there's an important aspect of wisdom literature here, too: Wisdom literature, unlike the rest of the Bible, is not about Kings, Princes, Prophets, or important people. Wisdom literature takes as its inspiration the common people and common professions (what we would call blue collar). The miner is remote from people, forgotten by travelers. But there's more to this metaphor: A miner must be dedicated to his task, must seek longer and harder and farther than all others in order to be successful at his task.<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
5 As for the earth, out of it comes bread;<br />
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.<br />
6 Its stones are the place of sapphires,<br />
and its dust contains gold.<br />
7 That path no bird of prey knows,<br />
and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.<br />
8 The proud wild animals have not trodden it;<br />
the lion has not passed over it.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
Bread (which is common) comes out of the earth, but jewels (which are uncommon) are further down and harder to get. Incidentally, the Hebrew word for Sapphire is סַפִּיר. This is one of those rare English words that comes from Hebrew. In verse 7 and 8, we find a list of animals, again typical for wisdom literature. The point here is that even wise animals--the lion with all its strength, the falcon with its sharp eye-sight, cannot see beneath the earth to what is truly beautiful, truly rare. But the miner can! Back to the miners:<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
9 They put their hand to the flinty rock,<br />
and overturn mountains by the roots.<br />
10 They cut out channels in the rocks,<br />
and their eyes see every precious thing.<br />
11 The sources of the rivers they probe;<br />
hidden things they bring to light.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
Truly, if anyone in all humanity has the ability to seek out, find, and uncover what is precious and valuable, it is the Miner. And then in verse 12 the author drops his piercing question:<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
12 But where shall wisdom be found?<br />
And where is the place of understanding?<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
Most people seem to think that the main question in the Book of Job is "Why do bad things happen to good people?" I think there's a bigger question, and it's this: In the face of the bad things that obviously happen to good people (and all people!) how do we respond? Do we grieve? Do we get angry? Do we blame ourselves? Do we blame God? What is the wise response? Or, Where can wisdom be found? Note there are actually two questions in this verse. Often in Hebrew poetry, one line states an idea and the next line states the same idea in a different way. But here, I think the author is actually asking two separate questions: Where can wisdom be found, and WHAT is the place of understanding? More on that later. But first we work our way backwards, through humans and nature, to try to find our answer:<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
13 Mortals do not know the way to it,<br />
and it is not found in the land of the living.<br />
14 The deep says, "It is not in me,"<br />
and the sea says, "It is not with me."<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
Nothing living on land or in the sea holds the answer. Even the Miner runs out of luck.<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
15 It cannot be gotten for gold,<br />
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.<br />
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,<br />
in precious onyx or sapphire.<br />
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,<br />
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.<br />
18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;<br />
the price of wisdom is above pearls.<br />
19 The chrysolite of Ethiopia cannot compare with it,<br />
nor can it be valued in pure gold.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
The entire first half of the chapter was a set-up, to say whatever thing you think is the most valuable, beautiful, rare thing in all creation--be it gold, silver, diamonds or pearls--wisdom is worth fare more than all that...and (more importantly) it's more rare and difficult to find than all that. <br />
<br />
<poem><br />
20 Where then does wisdom come from?<br />
And where is the place of understanding?<br />
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living,<br />
and concealed from the birds of the air.<br />
22 Abaddon and Death say,<br />
"We have heard a rumor of it with our ears."<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
By the way, this word, "Abaddon" only shows up in wisdom literature (Job, Proverbs, Psalms). We often interpret it as another way of saying "Hell" but the concept of a differentiated afterlife (heaven/hell, etc.) is a much later development. Taken literally (as it should be here) it means "place of ruin." Notice the subtle difference here: Nothing living knows where wisdom can be found, but death and ruin have at least heard a rumor of it. One explanation of this could be that true wisdom only comes at the point of death and total ruin, when our experience is finally complete.<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
23 God understands the way to it,<br />
and he knows its place.<br />
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth,<br />
and sees everything under the heavens.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
On the surface, this looks like an answer to both questions. God understands the way to wisdom, and he knows the place for understanding. But wait...that's not really an answer, is it? If you asked me the square root of 28, and I told you that the Math teacher probably knows...did I really answer your question? But perhaps we're closer. <br />
<br />
<poem><br />
25 When he gave to the wind its weight,<br />
and apportioned out the waters by measure;<br />
26 when he made a decree for the rain,<br />
and a way for the thunderbolt;<br />
27 then he saw it and declared it;<br />
he established it, and searched it out.<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
Wind, water, rain, and thunderbolt. Another list from the natural world, supporting the idea that God knows where to find wisdom, and indeed established it. But there's something deeper to this list. Wind, water, rain, and thunderbolt. These are powerful, uncontrollable, unpredictable forces of nature. They all have the capability of causing catastrophe--those bad things that happen to good people. Those things for which we seek a wise response. Where can wisdom be found, and what is the place of understanding?<br />
<br />
<poem><br />
28 And he said to humankind,<br />
"Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;<br />
and to depart from evil is understanding."<br />
</poem><br />
<br />
As it turns out, we've been asking the wrong question. Instead of "where" is wisdom, we should have been asking "what" is wisdom? And how is it different from understanding?<br />
<br />
Sometimes people confuse the two, or assume they are just synonymns. But in English, as in Hebrew, they are separate words, distinct concepts. In Hebrew, wisdom is חָכְמָה (chokmah) and understanding is בִּינָה (binah). Incidentally, there's also a Hebrew word for knowledge, מַדָּע (madah). Together, the three form a progression. You can know something but not understand it. And you can understand something without acting wisely. But being wise encompasses the other two--it assumes both knowledge and understanding. <br />
<br />
I've said in previous sermons that the Book of Proverbs (also wisdom literature) teaches a very simple approach to life: Do good things, and you will be rewarded, do bad things and you will be punished. The problem comes when we try to flip that around--does that mean that if good things happen to you, you must be good, and that if bad things happen to you, it must be because you have done something wrong? The author of the Book of Job would disagree, hence the whole story of Job. But here, in this one chapter (28) in this one verse (also 28) I think he gives a subtle hint of his own, personal answer: <br />
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Let's start with the second question: What is the place of understanding? It is to depart from evil, and (implied) to embrace what is good. Proverbs in a nutshell. But the author of Job is saying, that's okay, it's a good start, it's understanding...but wisdom is something more. <br />
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Where can wisdom be found? I don't know. God alone knows. But here's where it starts, here's what it IS: The fear of the Lord. In modern English, fear means primarily being afraid, but in Hebrew, יִרְאָה (yirah) it has a wider range. It can mean awe, reverence, honor, or just a healthy respect: To fear the Lord means to accept that God is God, the wind is the wind, the thunderbolt is the thunderbolt. We do what we do, and they do what they do. There are things in life we can control, but many we can't. There are things we can grasp, but many that are beyond our comprehension. Wisdom is accepting that there are limits to what we know, and what we understand. <br />
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And here, the author of Job "unpauses" the scene, and the story comes back to life. Job continues for a few more chapters to rage against God and his friends, protesting his innocence. And that's okay. In the end, God does not fault him for this. Given the circumstances, Job's response to all he has suffered seems understandable, even if it may not exactly qualify as "wise." And eventually, he gets there with a little help from God, who shows up and shows Job some of the wonders of his creation. Eventually, Job begins to accept that God is God, Job is Job, and there's not always a good answer--at least not one that makes sense to us or seems fair to us. <br />
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But when we can simply accept the wind, the waters, the rain, and the thunderbolt for what they are...<br />
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We can also, like Job, begin to see other things, too: The gentle wind and the cool, refreshing water on a hot day; the soft and lifegiving rainfall in spring; the multicolored lighting that lights up the entire night sky; the birds of the air, the proud animals and the spine-tingling roar of the lion; the simple, dignified farmer working hard to bring bread from the ground, the lonely miner searching the hidden depths of the earth for that rare, priceless treasure. <br />
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I am not a wise person, not by a longshot. But maybe that's why I like the Book of Job so much. It reminds me that there is great beauty all around us in this world, even in the midst of suffering and pain. There is profound truth around us and within us, even if we can't always embrace or fathom it. There is love all around us, even when we think we are all alone. And there is wisdom all around us, even if we don't always see it, or know where to look. Like the God who established them, these things--love, beauty, truth, and wisdom--are always near. Thanks be to God.</div>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=First_Presbyterian_Church&diff=7115&oldid=7108First Presbyterian Church2024-03-09T23:46:06Z<p></p>
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</table>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_3rd,_2024&diff=7113&oldid=7109Sermon for March 3rd, 20242024-03-03T08:38:53Z<p></p>
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<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 08:38, 3 March 2024</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan='4' style='text-align: center;' class='diff-multi'>(3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td>
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<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Job 12:11-25 (OT p.462)==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Job 12:11-25 (OT p.462)==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>11 Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Scripture passage incorporated into the sermon.</ins></div></td></tr>
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<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">==In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part II==</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">A young executive was leaving the office late one evening when he found the CEO standing in front of a paper shredder with a piece of paper in his hand. "Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing work?" "Certainly," said the young executive. He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button. "Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I just need one copy."</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Today's sermon is about the shredding of very important things.  And I promise, there's a connection with the pursuit of wisdom, too.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Last week, we covered the first half of Job chapter 12, where Job responds to his three friends who have come to comfort him in his grief and loss.  They're not doing a great job, at least not in Job's opinion, and so he sarcastically calls them out in verse 2, saying "Surely you are the people, and wisdom will die with you!"  Job then goes on to lay out his own philosophy for where wisdom (and comfort in the face of tragedy) can be found--speak to the earth and it will teach you.  Look to the birds, the fish, the plants and the animals. For Job, wisdom begins by looking for the creator in his creation.  Simple enough...and yet too often we pile on layers and layers of complications.  More on that later.  For now, let's pick up where we left off, in verse 11.  Job is about to make a transition in his speech.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>11 Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>12 Is wisdom with the aged and understanding in length of days?  </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>13 “With God are wisdom and strength; he has counsel and understanding.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>13 “With God are wisdom and strength; he has counsel and understanding.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Job starts with a metaphor--testing words with your ears, the way you taste food with your palate.  This is experiential learning, trial and error, very much in keeping with Job's wisdom philosophy.  In theory, if you keep trying things and none of them kill you, by the time you are aged (with great length of days), you will also be very experienced, and thus very wise. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Job poses this as a question, and it might seem at first like he answers in the negative: Is wisdom with the aged? No, with God are wisdom and strength, not with old people.  But I think the answer is meant to be superlative rather than negative.  In other words, yes--wisdom does come from age and length of days.  And who is older than anyone else?  God, of course.  The aged are wiser than the young, but God is then wisest of all.  Of course, this is a setup for all that God DOES in his infinite wisdom.  Verse 14:</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild; if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild; if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>16 With him are strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>16 With him are strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">God's strength and wisdom can sometimes appear destructive.  Look in particular at verse 15.  God withholds the waters and there's a drought.  Now, Job could have said that when God sends the waters back out, they water the earth providing nourishment to the plants and animals.  But instead, he says they overwhelm the land.  In other words, God sends both drought AND floods.  Both are destructive.  Both come from God. Verse 17:</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>17 He leads counselors away stripped and makes fools of judges.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>17 He leads counselors away stripped and makes fools of judges.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>18 He looses the sash of kings and binds a waistcloth on their loins.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>18 He looses the sash of kings and binds a waistcloth on their loins.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>19 He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>19 He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Counselors, judges, kings, and priests--all public figures, publicly humiliated by God, who strips from them the symbolic clothing of their office.  By the way, all those professions--counselors, judges, kings, and priests--are associated with wisdom (or at least you would hope they might be wise in order to perform their role competently).</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">But it gets worse.  Verse 20:</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>21 He pours contempt on princes and looses the belt of the strong.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>21 He pours contempt on princes and looses the belt of the strong.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>22 He uncovers deep things from the darkness and brings deep darkness to light.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>22 He uncovers deep things from the darkness and brings deep darkness to light.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">If you think there was a silver lining in that last verse, you are wrong.  The things God uncovers from the darkness are probably intended here to mean scary, frightening things, and what is brought to light (translated as "deep darkness") is literally צַלְמָֽוֶת (tsalmavet) or the "shadow of death."  In other words, God brings both the monsters and the shadow of death out of hiding and into the light of your life!  Does this sound like a nice, friendly, loving God?  Brace yourself for the ending--it's not a happy ending.  Verse 23:</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>23 He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>23 He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>24 He strips understanding from the leaders of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>24 He strips understanding from the leaders of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>25 They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>25 They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">==In Pursuit </del>of <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Wisdom</del>, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Part II==</del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The end.  My sincerest apologies to those </ins>of <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">you who came this morning looking for some comforting words of hope and inspiration--this is not your day</ins>, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and Job is not your guy.  What's more, if you're looking for a God who thinks all of your character flaws are cute, who winks at your bad behavior and smiles and your secret sins--well, you probably won't find that God anywhere in the Bible, and certainly not in the Book of Job.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">But on the other hand--if what you're looking for today is a little wisdom... and if you're willing to undergo some pain and suffering in order to grow (because that's part of how we learn from experience), then perhaps there is something here in Job's (or God's) angry tirade that's worth paying attention to.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">All of the things listed in verse 14 through the end are destructive actions.  Or maybe they're "deconstructive" actions.  Do you remember the joke I started with?  About the CEO who had become so self-important that he could no longer figure out the simple things without the help of his secretary?  Like how to tell the difference between a photo-copier and a paper shredder?  It's just a joke, of course, but I wonder what happened next in the story, after his very, very sensitive and important document was shredded to bits.  Did he learn something valuable from that experience, did he come to the epiphany that his document wasn't as important as he thought it was, or did he just yell at the junior executive who was trying to help him?</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">18 He looses the sash of kings and binds a waistcloth on their loins.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">I said earlier that Job's approach to wisdom is simple--seek God's wisdom through God's creation.  But the problem is, all the things we create for ourselves--our words, our buildings, our empires, our excuses--those things have a way of hiding or obscuring God's creation, and so we grope in the dark without light, staggering around like drunkards.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Have you ever done a home renovation project where you have to take out your flooring in order to put a new one down?  Or maybe it's your roof shingles, or the wallpaper--whatever it is, every time you take off a layer, there's another one beneath it, and another one beneath that.  You could just put yours down on top of the old one, but that causes problems in time.  The best thing to do--and the hardest thing to do--is to scrape away all those layers and start fresh.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">And sometimes that's exactly what God wants to do with us.  To destroy--or deconstruct--what we have wrongly come to think of as "the most important things" in our lives; all those layers we like to pile on to cover and conceal God and his creation.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">The pursuit of wisdom is not always about gaining more knowledge or adding more things to our experience.  Sometimes it's about subtracting or stripping away what distracts us from our Creator, from the simple things that are truly important.  That can be painful. Or uncomfortable. Or awkward.  </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div> </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">When Jesus gathered his disciples together for one last meal, he used simple things:  Bread, wine, a few simple words.  The time for preaching and parables and displays of miraculous power was done.  There is profound wisdom (and profound simplicity) in this meal that we share together each month.</ins></div></td></tr>
</table>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=Sermon_for_March_3rd,_2024&diff=7109&oldid=0Sermon for March 3rd, 20242024-03-02T21:01:08Z<p>Created page with "==Job 12:11-25 (OT p.462)== 11 Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food? 12 Is wisdom with the aged and understanding in length of days? 13 “With God are wisdom..."</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>==Job 12:11-25 (OT p.462)==<br />
11 Does not the ear test words as the palate tastes food?<br />
12 Is wisdom with the aged and understanding in length of days?<br />
13 “With God are wisdom and strength; he has counsel and understanding.<br />
14 If he tears down, no one can rebuild; if he shuts someone in, no one can open up.<br />
15 If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.<br />
16 With him are strength and wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are his.<br />
17 He leads counselors away stripped and makes fools of judges.<br />
18 He looses the sash of kings and binds a waistcloth on their loins.<br />
19 He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.<br />
20 He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.<br />
21 He pours contempt on princes and looses the belt of the strong.<br />
22 He uncovers deep things from the darkness and brings deep darkness to light.<br />
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away.<br />
24 He strips understanding from the leaders of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.<br />
25 They grope in the dark without light; he makes them stagger like a drunkard.<br />
<br />
==In Pursuit of Wisdom, Part II==</div>Iranealhttp://wiki.mrlocke.net/index.php?title=First_Presbyterian_Church&diff=7108&oldid=7100First Presbyterian Church2024-03-02T20:58:54Z<p></p>
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<td colspan='2' style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 20:58, 2 March 2024</td>
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</table>Iraneal