2404AFC012624 – A Word to the unwise
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Deuteronomy 18:15 – 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a Prophet.
Psalm 95:7 c – 8 –
O that today you would listen to his voice!
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness …
1 Corinthians 7:35 – 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered* devotion to the Lord. * (ap-er-is-pas-toce’) without distraction, without being distracted – having full devotion; being completely undistracted, without hindrance or reservation.
Mark 1:23-27 – 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching — with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” (emphasis added)
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Has anyone ever introduced a word of advice to you by saying “A word to the wise?” The entire maxim appears in the Talmud as, “A word to the wise is sufficient, but for a fool not even a stick helps.” Sometimes, perhaps in a social-media post or TV show, we see someone behaving foolishly and say “They walk among us” meaning that their brainpower is somehow less-than-normal. If we are honest with ourselves, we will surely admit that there are times when we substitute poor judgment for rational thinking. If you’re nodding your head right now, you’re probably remembering a dark moment or two in your past; me, too. If we take but a moment longer, we may be able to recall several such times of poor judgment.
How is it that we know what is right but still do what is wrong? Is it not true that many of the times when we fail most miserably, it is because we are being prideful – which is a form of selfishness – and we are self-certain that what we are doing is right? Now, it is also true that sometimes we truly are ignorant about a certain situation, but act on what we reason to be right – only to find out our reasoning is flawed. And sometimes, Belovéd, we just don’t know what we’re into and shouldn’t be into it because we are ignorant about how to proceed. Imagine trying to bowl overhand because it seems more efficient. If we can judge among ourselves – or indeed within ourselves – about what is right and what is wrong, what is prudent and what is foolish, then how much more must we turn to God to obtain his judgment, his Wisdom? If we catch ourselves out as being foolish, should we not know that God sees it infinitely more clearly? Let’s look at a couple of examples. Some of this may require a quick off-the-page excursion as in this example from Numbers 12. In this account from the Journey in the Wilderness, Miriam and Aaron are angry because Moses has married a Cushite (Ethiopian) woman. God overheard them (of course!) and called them out. He told them that when he calls Prophets, he speaks to them in visions or dreams, but not so with Moses. He tells them he speaks to Moses face-to-face, not in riddles, and Moses can even behold his form – something no one else can do without dying. Because Miriam – Moses’ sister – spoke out against him, she was covered with leprosy and cast out of the camp for seven days. Though that was harsh in that setting, she actually got off easy. You don’t dis God’s friends and expect to get away with it. Sometimes we forget that good advice. What, then, shall we do?
“If today you hear his voice, (↔ Music Link) harden not your hearts.” When we hear that line of poetry, we recall Moses and the Hebrews in the desert when God brought forth water from the flinty rock. That was in last week’s post. Here is an excerpt from that episode: Exodus 17:7 – 7 He [Moses] called the place Massah [Test] and Meribah, [Quarrel] because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” The Apostle Paul echoes that in the third chapter of his letter to the Hebrews, especially starting a Verse 7 where The Apostle Paul warns against unbelief. He clarifies that those words were spoken by the Holy Spirit. That seems like a Source to whom we should also pay attention! After all, the Hebrews had seen when God sent plague after plague on the Egyptians, then the Passover, crossing the Red Sea, manna and quail miraculously supplied, the renewal of the Covenant at Moab, and the Bronze Serpent which prefigured the “lifting up” of our Lord at Calvary.
There’s a great verse in the book of Wisdom about that episode in the desert: Wisdom 16:11 (GNT) [1]– 11 They were bitten** so that they would remember your commands, but t
hey were quickly rescued, in order to keep them from forgetting you completely and depriving themselves of your kindness. ** By the seraph serpents. This refers back to Numbers 21 (↔ Learning Link) and the story of the Bronze Serpent where the Israelites rebelled against Moses and against God. God sent the “fiery (seraph) serpents” and many people were bitten and died. Moses – at God’s command – made a “bronze serpent” on a pole and whoever Looked on the icon in faith, God would heal them. They had claimed God’s Gifts of manna, quail, and water were “miserable.” Can we imagine anything given by God as being contemptible? Wouldn’t we look at that and say, “What were you thinking?!?” More appropriate, perhaps, would be “How can you think that?” The obvious answer to that question is, “That’s just wrong.” There is a follow-up on that story of the bronze serpent. Years later, the Israelites forgot that God did the healing when they looked at the serpent in faith. instead they started worshiping the lifeless metal serpent and believing IT healed them!! King Hezekiah was forced to destroy it so quash that foolishness.
In our Key Verse from 1 Corinthians 7 (← Read this), The Apostle Paul has 
been telling the Church in Corinth about love and marriage. He counsels that whatever we do with regard to celibacy, abstinence, or matrimony, we should do it in, with, and for the Lord. He expressly says to consider carefully how to live with or without a spouse so that our devotion to Christ may be unhindered. I put a note there about the Greek word he used – ἀπερισπάστως (ap-er-is-pas-toce’) – because it means having full devotion; being completely undistracted, without hindrance or reservation. Matrimonial and family life can be distracting, but TOGETHER (husband, wife, and children) we are to give our full and undivided devotion to God; it’s like J.O.Y. – Jesus, Others, You. To do otherwise would be foolish. That is why God consistently and constantly gives advice to the unwise – that’s all of us y’all – and it’s up to us to heed his advice. Since we have Scripture that is from front-to-back and top-to-bottom inerrant, we can conclude that God is serious about forsaking Wisdom in favor of Folly. If a word from Jesus can cast out a demon, resuscitate the dead, make the blind see and the lame walk, or cure a leper who asks to be made clean, then we must also listen when he – through ALL of Scripture – tells us to be faithful, thankful, joyful, prayerful, and dutiful to God in and through Christ Jesus. Would it not be foolish to hold forth that “he didn’t really mean that.”? God says differently. Here’s a look at something from the beginning of The Book of Proverbs:
Proverbs 1:30-33 – (GNT) [Wisdom speaks] 30 You have never wanted my advice or paid any attention when I corrected you. 31 So then, you will get what you deserve, and your own actions will make you sick. 32 Inexperienced people die because they reject wisdom. Stupid people are destroyed by their own lack of concern. 33 But whoever listens to me will have security. He will be safe, with no reason to be afraid. Now, doesn’t that sound like something a loving father would say to a rebellious child? That is Our Father, God, speaking to us! Note that we say he is OUR Father! That was a way of seeing God that was considered blasphemous at Jesus’ time. Our Father wants us to listen to him, not to our minds, not to our hearts, not our Aunt Suzy, not some guru, but to God and God alone. “Who is God that I might listen to him, and where can he be found that I might see him?”
God is our Creator, and he is Spirit and Truth. He listens to all our prayers as well as everything else we say. He also speaks to us through his Creation, through his Word, through his Church, and in our own hearts and minds we can hear him directly – if we only listen. That he listens and speaks to us incessantly is incomprehensible to us as humans, but that’s because God as Divine is incomprehensible. His Word is not like that. It is in and through his Word that we see, feel, know, and even understand God’s place in our lives. The demon said “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” We know who he is too, so if we wish to truthfully and spiritually claim that we recognize Jesus as the Holy One of God, well, … “What we do says who we are. Actions speak louder than words.” That’s a genuine Word to the Wise. The best Word to the unwise in this essay is “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” We’ve just got to be somewhere listening (↔ Music Link), and that “somewhere” can be anywhere (↔ Music Link) and any time (↔ Music Link). After all, we have been told “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a Prophet.” So, with a Song in the air, (↔ Music Link) God sent his Son. Jesus is the archetypal Priest, Prophet, and King. We heed him. We need him. We can choose to be wise, and not unwise, by heeding whatever fools ignore. Never fear. Jesus is near. There is work to be done for God’s Only Begotten Son. He has called us by name. He has chosen us. (↔ Music Link) John 15:16 – 16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. Only a fool would not answer the call.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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[1] Passages marked (GNT): Good News Translation (GNT) Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)© 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
