Whippersnapper Wisdom?

Psalms 119:100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

Without the second clause, this would be the life verse of most teenagers because the psalmist said he has more understanding than his elders. We are not reading a haughty young man disparaging the wisdom that generally comes with age and experience. This is not the prideful denunciation of some “boomer” who won’t get in line with “progress.” Really, the only way this makes any sense is if it were an unusual situation, the point being a rather remarkable thing has occurred — a young man has surpassed the elders in understanding. “I understand more than my peers” doesn’t really have the same punch and “I understand more than toddlers” is certainly not any better.

The second clause tells the story. There is a reason why there is more understanding and it doesn’t have anything to do with age, but with the Word of God. The wisdom the Psalmist has doesn’t come from experience, otherwise the elderly would have it. The reason the psalmist outstripped others was the source of his understanding and the means he procured it. The source of his understanding was the Bible and he got it through reading, study, meditation, and practice. We are dealing with a godly young man, who has put his heart to learning more of his Lord and Savior.

Since he has “more understanding” he actually knows the Bible. He’s not just “familiar” with themes and stories, but he’s dug down deep and studied the Word and grasped it’s truth. I believe that young people are capable of understanding the Scriptures. Listen to any group of 10 year old boys talk about their hobby and you’ll see rather quickly that if they care about something, they can dig deep and know and understand complicated subjects. The fact is, we do young Christian people a disservice by not pushing them to understand and grasp Biblical concepts.

He doesn’t merely know the Word, but puts it to practice. In order to keep a precept you have to know the law and know what it means. I know a person could be charged with “assault and battery” and until just a few seconds ago when I looked it up, I didn’t know the difference between the two. I have heard the terms for years, but never bothered to look them up. I knew they both had something to do with violence, but wasn’t familiar. Now, I know a little more, but if I were charged with either, you better believe I’d want a lawyer, someone who has more understanding, regardless of his age. Why? Because he would know the law, understand the law and what it says and doesn’t, and has practiced the law. Christian, you age doesn’t give you understanding. Church membership doesn’t either. Time won’t give you an abundance of this wisdom. Get in the word. Read it, study it, then put it to practice for the glory of Christ.

Parable about Parables

I read a story about a Sunday School teacher who wanted to teach her class the dangers of alcohol. She took two glasses, poured whiskey in one and water in the other. Then she put worms in each glass. Eventually, the worms in the whiskey glass died, and the worms in the water were still living. She asked the pastor’s son what he could learn from this? The boy said, “If you drink whiskey, you won’t have worms.” That’s an exercise in missing the point and he may have learned it from his dad. Some people view the parables the same way. We can try to figure out some special significance to every word in the parable and by doing so, we miss the point. I taught this in Sunday School once, and as an exercise, we decided to see if we could discern the meaning and significance of the Canadian Flag, the red and white flag with a single maple leaf. One young man said that he thought the Maple Leaf was probably related to the ancient vexillology of kings, the tree representing strength and stability. Another theory was it symbolized pancakes. Maple leaf, maple tree, maple syrup, pancakes. A third theory was maple syrup is sweet and so are Canadians. Well, it turns out, when we looked it up, there was no special significance to the flag. Canada needed a flag, and someone designed that one and that’s the one they liked. Our flag has symbols, the stripes and stars represent things. The Maple Leaf didn’t have any deep meaning at all. Sometimes a leaf is just a leaf. In the parables, sometimes a leaf is just a leaf. Sometimes, the character or setting in the parable is just a character or a setting with no special significance to the point.

We are much better off getting the truth where the truth is taught. The only sure footing is to follow God’s Word. If I teach and prove a right doctrine from the wrong place, consistency will eventually prove the passage doesn’t really teach that truth. I believe that method of preaching ultimately does more harm to God’s people than it does good. People will either lose confidence they can interpret the Bible, or stop trying to understand it themselves. I think if a pastor is going to preach the Bible, he ought to preach what the Bible says, where it says it. Parables are not spiritual inkblot tests where you stare at the Bible verse until you can see something in the text. You should read the parable, think about it, pray about it, compare it to other Scriptures, and then come to the conclusion of its meaning. Jesus told the parables to make a point about something and the wise and safe thing to do, in my opinion, would be to come to the point Jesus made. Creative interpretations make interesting sermons. But is that worth putting words in the mouth of Jesus?

Bare Necessities

"Distributing to the necessity of saints," Romans 12:13. Thoreau wrote the necessities of life in Walden were, "food, shelter, clothing, and fuel." It appears much has changed about humans since the 1800's since according to some, the basic necessities of life include free college, free health care, and high-speed internet access. If high-speed internet were a necessity to life, we'd be in bad shape in Clay County. Other markers of basic necessities include well being, i.e., the place you live is getting better, or a safe and easy place to exercise. I certainly am not downplaying poverty, nor begrudge anyone for working to have any of these things. In my adult life, I've gone without and didn't care for it, and did my best to get out of the situation. When you start putting comforts equal to needs, you will soon have (or already have) a covetous and unthankful heart.

Paul puts down the basic necessities of life in 1 Timothy 6:6-10 as food and raiment. The Bible doesn't say we can't have comforts or enjoy what He gives us. But the more you think you are owed something, the more unthankful and indignant you are when you don't have it. If we have food and clothing, then we should be content. That's what we need and anything else is gravy on top. Godliness with contentment is great gain and money and possessions are not a danger just for the wealthy. It's not just those who have money, but those who love it who are in peril. I've known a lot of poor people who loved money and coveted after it and wealthy people who had a lot because they loved money and went and got it.

The text speaks of the saints in need, so being without doesn't automatically mean you are a bad person or bad with your finances. Some kids are born behind the eight ball and are in bad shape before they could even make their own bad decisions. Providence sometimes leaves us empty handed and needy. Many saints have lost it all – ask Job. The 'prosperity gospel' is a lie. Saints can have needs. Material prosperity is not a sign of God's love any more than not having anything is a sign of God's displeasure. Better to have necessities and be a saint than have it all and go to Hell. Being poor doesn't make you bad but it also doesn't make you good. Suffering now doesn't save you.

The church is charged in Romans to take care of those lacking the necessities in the household of faith. If a man won't work when he can, having needs are a great motivator. This text doesn't mean the church is responsible to make sure everyone has all they want and live equally with everyone else. It does mean though, if a brother is starving to death, you ought to put him on the prayer list only after you've fed him and got him some groceries.

An Ordinary Baptism

 The Sunday before last, I baptized my youngest son upon his profession of faith in Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord. He expressed his desire to be baptized and unite with the church and we received him into our number. It's really remarkable to think about what happened in Clay, though it may seem rather ordinary. It's what Christians do, go to church, preach the gospel, make disciples, and baptize believers.

We gather on the first day of the week because my Lord was risen on the first day of the week. Every Sunday we honor the fact Christ Jesus the Lord rose from the dead and pronounce our living faith in a living Saviour. The very day Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples gathered together and the next week, they did the same. And the week after that. And every Sunday for nearly 2,000 years, Christians gather on the first day of the week to worship their Lord, and we followed in their steps.

My Dad is the pastor of Beauty Ridge Missionary Baptist in Kentucky and we had him come and preach for us that weekend, so in God's goodness, he was able to witness the event. Sunday morning he preached the gospel of Jesus. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ, and before the Lord's public ministry, John preached repentance unto faith and baptism upon faith. When John saw Jesus he declared, "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." We met on the first day of the week, and were pointed to Christ, the Lamb of God. The Lord's people have been preaching that message for millennia as well. The same faith once delivered.

After the preaching, we headed to the water. It was raining that Sunday and I joked with my son that he was going to get sprinkled before he got immersed, but that wasn't true. It was sprinkling the rain, but not my son. The rain sprinkled on him, but he wasn't sprinkled. I baptized him, or immersed him as the Greek word means. That's what John the Baptist did, he immersed men under the water. It's a picture after all, of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It wouldn't be much of a burial to sprinkle a handful of dirt on a body. So we entered into the water and in the name and by the authority of the Holy Trinity, I immersed him. The sin didn't roll away in the water because the sin was paid for at Calvary. The blood before the water. Baptism showed what Christ has already done, a physical act symbolizing  a spiritual reality. Going under the water also symbolized him dying to sin, and then coming out of the water, walking in the newness of life, united to Christ. We baptized him the same way, for the same purpose, under the same authority as Christians have been doing since Jesus walked the Earth, just as He promised. 

So, in one way, it was an ordinary Sunday. There were no reporters on the scene to document Baptists going to church and baptizing a believer. It was ordinary because that's what we've been doing for centuries. But it was extraordinary in that God saves sinners. Christ Jesus, the Son of God, died for sinners, shedding His own blood for a propitiation and we receive it through faith, and united to Him, we are joint-heirs with Him, having everlasting life. It is ordinary, because that's what we do. It's extraordinary that we do it at all. It's extraordinary because God's amazing Grace.