August 24, 2008 at Saint Mark Church Norman, OK
Isaiah 22: 19-23 + Psalm 138 + Romans 11: 33-36 + Matthew 16: 13-20
Through the verses of Romans chapter 9 to 11, Paul has conducted himself like an attorney. He set forth his position clearly and convincingly. Then he gives a powerful closing argument. We just heard it in these three verses that conclude chapter 11.
He did everything he could to convince his fellow Jews to accept Jesus as the Savior they had long waited for. He argued that God’s plan had started with them, and that through them salvation was extended to all the peoples of the earth. No results. So what does Paul do? He sits back to wait for God to do what Paul cannot do. He surrenders his will and his desire for his fellow Jews to God’s wisdom.
Hidden in this wonderful poetic acclamation is a truth we often fail to grasp; the truth that sometimes God uses negatives to accomplish the divine purpose – “inscrutable ways” Paul calls it. What Paul as awakened to in his struggle is that God can take bad things and use them for good, and that realization moves him to the poetic acclamation we had just heard. Paul has reasoned that Israel rejected Christ because of grace. What kind of thinking is this we might wonder. In having Israel refuse Christ ( a negative ), God opens salvation to others ( a positive )so that they might lead Israel to salvation. What Paul suggests is that only God could pull that off. Only God could think of such a plan.
This is the mystery Paul acknowledges: that God can draw good from evil; that God can take what seems to be bad and turn it into grace. This is inscrutable wisdom. This is deep knowledge. This is unsearchable. God can bring good from anything. The best example of this is the sacrifice of God’s own Son on a cross. The ultimate wrong becomes the ultimate good. The rebellious human heart hardened to the point of murdering an innocent and good man brings goodness and kindness by the depths of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God.
Rather than argue any further, Paul is content to celebrate what is incomprehensible. God is so unlike humans in every way that we are able to count on God being constant as we are inconstant and as faithful as we are unfaithful. At this point for Paul, theology turns to poetry. The seeking mind gives way to the adoring heart. Every one of us faces more often than we care to count situations and events that we cannot understand and cannot control: people we cannot sway with kindness or clarity; tragedies we cannot understand, avoid, nor change. What Paul teaches us today is that there are times when the human mind can only go so far, and when that limit is reached, there is nothing left but to accept and to adore.
Paul had battled with what for him was a heart-breaking problem with every resource he had. He never thinks he solved the problem, he simply knows that he did his best and is content to leave the problem unsolved to the love and power of God. It seems like a good lesson for us all. There is a time when only silence, praise, adoration, and faith will suffice. When believers learn this, they will attain great wisdom.