Heavenly Wisdom

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St. Mark 9:30-37

In the Epistle, James speaks of two kinds of wisdom – wisdom “from above” and wisdom “from below.” Heavenly wisdom and earthly wisdom.

The wisdom “from below” is an arrogant, self-centered sort of wisdom. James calls it “earthly, unspiritual, dark, and devilish.” We’re accustomed with that kind of wisdom. It’s “in our genes,” so to speak. It comes naturally to us. “Don’t get mad, get even.” “Do unto others before they get a chance to do unto you.” “Might makes right.” “Me first; look out for number one.” We know it all too well. The will to power, to control others, to make others bend their will to our will and our way. “My will be done,” if we could get away with it. James puts it this way: “Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

But there is another wisdom.  From above.  This is God’s wisdom. And that is the wisdom of the cross. It is the way of dying and rising. Jesus preached it. “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and after three days He will rise.” That’s God’s Wisdom Incarnate.

The disciples are baffled. They were afraid to ask about it. So, they resort to their own wisdom — their own way of thinking. Consequently, they argue with each other about who was the greatest. Imagine that! Jesus preaches His death and resurrection and the disciples bicker over who is the greatest among them. The wrangle about who will have the top cabinet appointments in Jesus’ kingdom. About which of them will get the most recognition for a job well done. Will it be Peter, James, John? Certainly not the bottom rung disciples like Thaddaeus or Bartholomew or that tax collector Matthew!

We know that game all too well ourselves. We play it at work, at home, at church. Wherever two or three are gathered, there will be a power struggle.

Jesus sits down and teaches the twelve, and us, a thing or two about greatness in the kingdom. It’s not about being first, but being last. Literally dead last. The lowest slave. The bottom rung. The servant of all. That’s Jesus’ place. He came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom. An atoning sacrifice. Not for the religious and the good, but for sinners. Not a king crowned with gold sitting on a throne, but a king crowned with thorns hanging on a cross.

He takes a little child and has him stand among all the adults. In Jesus’ day, childhood was not something idealized, but something you got through as quickly as possible to productive adulthood. Children were considered losers until they grew to pull their own weight. They knew nothing of the modern invention of adolescence. That’s when Jesus blows everyone’s minds!  Did you catch it?  Did you.  He identifies with the littlest of the losers and says, “Whoever welcomes one of these, welcomes me, and in welcoming me, welcomes the Father who sent me.”

The disciples’ jaws probably hit the flow.  That not their wisdom.  Nor is it ours.  Coming in last. Identifying with the little. With those who have nothing and receive everything in trust. On another occasion, Jesus said, “Unless you become as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” Childlike, not childish. Childish is the way of the old Adam – self-centered, bratty, all about me. Childlike is the way of Christ – trusting, receiving, becoming the least.

What causes fights and quarrels among you, James asks in the Epistle. The early Christians had fights and quarrels. Think about that. There has never been a perfect church, a pristine Christianity. Not even among the first believers. What causes fights, quarrels, divisions? What goes on inside us. We want but we can’t have. We pray self-centeredly instead of Christ-centeredly. Then we complain that we don’t get what we pray for. We make our alliances with the world. We betray our baptisms — the mark of ownership God branded on us in the water.

There has to be a better way. There is! It is the way of heavenly wisdom. The wisdom that comes down from above. Pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, sincere. It’s the way of peacemakers who sow in peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. It’s what Jesus called “blessed” in the beatitudes. Blessed are the spiritually poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted.

The world cries out, “That’s the way of losers!” And God cries out, “That’s the way of life in Jesus.”

Now let’s be clear.  This is not something you produce on your own. This is what Paul calls the “fruit of the Spirit” – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22). As Paul says, “There is no law against these.” These are the fruit that happens when the Spirit of God has His way and we get out of the way. This isn’t something that you do to be saved, but something God does because He saved you.

It’s there in that tiny little word spelled G-R-A-C-E. “But He gives us more grace,” James says. Undeserved kindness toward you and me the sinner. Forgiveness, life, and salvation! Gifts in abundance. The gospel that is the power of salvation to those who believe!  It’s all there for you, dear child of God. Complete and perfect forgiveness for all of your sin. Life in abundance in the death and life of Jesus. His own Body and Blood FOR YOU to strengthen and sustain you. Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound. “He gives us more grace.”

This isn’t grace as in power to do good. This is the grace of the heavenly Father who embraces his wayward, loser sons and daughters in the hold of His Son’s Good Friday unconditional forgiveness. This is the grace that seeks and saves the lost. This is the grace that invites the uninvited to the wedding feast. This is the grace that welcomes a little child as a picture of greatness in the kingdom of heaven.

This is the grace that embraced you in the poverty of your sin, your selfishness, your desire to power and control. This is the grace that picks you up when you are humbled, broken, kicked, stepped on or sinned against. Grace. Amazing grace. Undeserved kindness toward sinners. “While we were still weak … Christ died for the ungodly … saved by Him from the wrath of God,” (Rom 5). That’s the wisdom of God, the wisdom that comes “from above” – pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, merciful, fruitful, impartial, sincere. That’s the wisdom that is yours in Christ Jesus.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.