Faith and Wisdom

Background Scripture: James 1:1 – 11 Lesson Passage: James 1:1 – 11 This series of Sunday School lessons closes out the summer quarter by examining the letter written by James, the Lord’s brother. Although Jesus’ siblings did not follow him during his earthly ministry, at least two of them, James and Jude, became leaders among the first century Christians. In fact, James was considered one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church. As such, he was part of the group responsible for establishing and defending the doctrine of the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul looked to James and the other apostles in Jerusalem for guidance whenever a matter concerning church doctrine arose among the Gentile congregations. In the letter James wrote to the Jewish Christians who were scattered away from Jerusalem by the early persecution, he had a lot to say about faith, money and prayer. This lesson presents some of his words of wisdom about faith. James began by equating a Christian enduring trying times in life as a result of their spiritual conviction to a test of their individual faith. In this context, he defines faith as patiently relying on God in difficult situations. Difficult situations can be used by God to help a person’s patience develop into Christian maturity. Christians who demonstrate extreme patience in difficult life situations probably are not facing their first trial as a Christian. Previous trials have helped their patience mature. Simply put, they have learned to trust God by trusting God. It is a person’s faith in God that allows them to develop such steadfastness of character. Those who have lived a few years as a Christian can attest that this is not an easy process to go through. Spiritual maturity that is manifest through patience results from practice, practice, practice, and more practice. The more a Christian endures patiently the more they can patiently endure. James implied that the results of the trials justify the process used by God to achieve those results. Put another way, although suffering is not desired, Christian maturity is desired. Therefore, God may choose to use suffering as a process for spiritual maturation. When one can see the end results, then going through the process gets a little easier. For this reason, James declared that Christians should count all trials of their faith as something to rejoice in. Our joy is not in the trials but in the end results of them. Our faith in God must be sincere and not wishy-washy. True faith stands up during times of trials and doesn’t fall apart. Divine wisdom allows us to understand this. James’ letter declares that God gives wisdom to whoever ask Him for it in faith. In other words, if you don’t really want to receive this type of wisdom, then you should not ask God for it. To do so shows spiritual instability and not steadfast faith. Although it might not feel like it at the time, trials of faith benefit Christians. Next, James addressed how a Christian should respond to changes in their personal station in life. We readily understand the first part of this. When a poor person is elevated, or given things of value in this life, then they should glorify God for it. Ultimately, God is the one who promotes individuals in life. On the other hand, when the rich or wealthy are demoted or humbled in life, then they should likewise glorify God for it. Taken together, these perspectives allow all Christians to understand that God determines a person’s station in life. It also is a reminder that everything in this life is temporary. Never treat that which is temporary as though it is permanent and never treat that which is permanent and eternal as though it is temporary. We can learn from James that faith and wisdom are both virtues developed within believers by a loving God. Robert C. Hudson July 20, 2020

Wisdom to Follow

July 26, 2020 Background Scripture: Proverbs 3:17; 8:32 – 36; John 14:1 – 14 Lesson Passage: John 14:1 – 14 Just when you finally start to get used to something, then everything changes. After three years, the disciples had grown accustomed to following Jesus around. They watched him perform many miracles. He had the answer for every dilemma they encountered. He even gave them authority over demonic spirits and allowed them to cast them out and heal the sick. The disciples began to argue as to which one of them would become the second-in-command to Jesus. The life they were getting used to was not the life that Jesus was preparing them for ultimately. Jesus was preparing them for eternal life in the presence of the Father. Jesus’ ministry in the world was coming to an end and their ministry was about to start. Jesus was returning into eternity and preparing eternity for their subsequent arrival. After preparations are made and the time is right, Jesus was going to return to receive them and carry them into eternity. That was the message Jesus gave his disciples on the evening that he was betrayed and arrested. This message brought sadness and grief to them. Jesus seemed excited about it, but it was not exciting for his disciples. Oh, the questions they must have had that evening. Why can’t things stay the way they are? Why do you have to go? Can’t we just continue to do what we are doing, and you remain with us? Three of the disciples saw pass their grief and therefore had questions for Jesus. Jesus stated that they knew where he was going and the way to get there. Thomas was confused by that statement. He did not know where Jesus was going and therefore, he could not know the way. Jesus’ response reduced every other spiritual pursuit to an exercise in religion that is devoid of eternal salvation. Jesus is the only way to reach the Father. There are no alternate routes. Jesus and the Father are one. To know Jesus is to know the Father. This statement confused Philip. Philip’s request was very simple: Show us the Father and that would suffice. Jesus reiterated that there is complete oneness between the Father and him. All that Philip could see in the Father he had already seen in Jesus. All the miracles were evidence of the oneness between Jesus and the Father. The miracles of Jesus should be accepted as evidence of the presence of the Father in Jesus. Furthermore, the disciples who trusted Jesus would do greater miracles than the ones Jesus performed. This would be possible because of Jesus’ return to the Father in eternity. Just as the Father did the miracles for Jesus, Jesus would do the miracles for his disciples. Everything Jesus did in the world was to represent the Father to the world. The Father responded to Jesus’ needs in the world because Jesus represented Him. As the disciples represent Jesus in the world, Jesus would respond to everything they need. “Asking in his name” was not a formula appended to prayer requests. “Asking in his name” is equivalent to “asking as a representative of his”—or better yet, asking on Jesus’ behalf. When we act on Jesus’ behalf, Jesus does whatever is needed to support the effort. When we act on Jesus’ behalf, we follow Jesus’ example and instructions to us. We don’t get what we want by adding “in Jesus’ name” to the end of our prayer requests. We get what we need when the world sees Jesus in us. Follow Jesus’ example and then we can ask for whatever is needed to do so. Robert C. Hudson July 6, 2020

The Wisdom of Jesus

July 19, 2020 Background Scripture: Mark 6:1 – 6; 7:1 – 23 Lesson Passage: Mark 6:1 – 6 Many young adults have been frustrated while trying to lead ministries in congregations they had grown up around. The members of those congregations were initially very complimentary of them. However, when they attempted to show some true leadership of the ministry, they were quickly reprimanded and reminded that the older members remembered when they were born. They didn’t mind cheering you own for getting involved in some church work, but they were not about to let you tell them how to do it differently. They knew your place and they expected you to stay in your place. They were happy that you “went off to college and graduated” and came back home. They don’t know why you are acting different now and appearing to know more than they know. Many young adults were frustrated to the point of either giving up on ministry or finding a totally different church to join. They could not continue to do what they were doing without some answers to their dilemma. What they needed more than anything was the wisdom of Jesus. It is difficult deciding where to start when it comes to talking about the wisdom of Jesus. Everything we think we know about salvation is because of Jesus’ teaching. Certainly, everything we know about God is based on the knowledge Jesus shared about the Father. We didn’t even know that we could call God “our Father”. Jesus taught that a person’s connection with God should not be a religion but rather a personal relationship. Yes, it is difficult for us, and yet, this is the only way we have known Jesus. What about those who knew Jesus “back in the day”? How about the ones who saw him growing up as a boy? Our lesson’s text gives the answer to those questions. People who knew Jesus as a boy could not readily accept him as a man. The wisdom he shared with them while he taught astonished them. The problem was they could not receive his wisdom because they thought they already knew him. And the Jesus they knew did not have this type of wisdom. They knew everything there was to know about him. They knew his daddy, momma, brothers, and sisters. Where does he get off acting like he’s somebody else? Sadly, they were so familiar with the boy Jesus in Nazareth that they could not accept the man who was teaching an uncommon doctrine and working miracles. Before Jesus’ trip home, he had healed a woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years and raised a little girl from the dead in Jerusalem. But after he arrived at home, he could only lay hands on a few sick people and heal them. There was too much doubt and mental rejection of his ministry for the homefolks to receive the miracles that perfect strangers had glorified God for in Jerusalem. This prompted Jesus to say that a prophet is honored except at home and among his relatives. It requires wisdom to know that there are some people who cannot bring themselves to allow you to bless them. It requires wisdom to be able to help a few people when so many need it but will not receive it. It requires wisdom to know when it is time to move on to other places where your gifts will make room for you. Jesus demonstrated that type of wisdom. Robert C. Hudson June 29, 2020

The Boy Jesus

July 12, 2020 Background Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 15; Luke 2:39 – 52 Lesson Passage: Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7b; Luke 2:39 –52 Luke was the historian among the four writers of the Gospel accounts. Today’s lesson is an example of why that is important. Luke, more so than the other three writers, humanized Jesus for us. He provides more details about his family life and social interactions. In the lesson text, we have the only recorded glimpse of Jesus as a pre-teen boy. The text opens and closes by emphasizing Jesus’ growth in wisdom and God’s favor throughout his childhood. The body of the text helps us to understand this. God entrusted Jesus’ upbringing to godly parents, Joseph and Mary. Although they were poor, they did what the Law required of them every year. They did not send Jesus on the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem; they carried him there. They demonstrated respect and adherence to the Law of God as an example Jesus and his younger siblings could follow. The family traveled with a larger family group for the pilgrimage. This reinforced the principle of the Jewish tribal alliances—or better known today as “the village”. A trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem would have required several days of travel. This was very likely a fun trip for the young people in the extended family. This would have very tightly interwoven the family’s tradition with the family’s religious faith. This is one of the reasons it is very difficult to separate some families’ heritage from their religious faith. Jesus was obviously raised in such an environment since the family made this journey every year. By the age of twelve, although Jesus was reared in Nazareth, Jesus is comfortable enough moving around in Jerusalem that he doesn’t feel the need to be within sight of his parents. That’s remarkable seeing that we are talking about a twelve-year-old child. Even more remarkable is that this twelve-year-old boy is comfortable being inside of the temple without his parents being present. And it gets better. At the age of twelve, Jesus placed himself amid the teachers and was asking them questions as he listened to them. Apparently, what they taught from the word of God and the oral traditions of the Jewish people piqued his interest. The questions Jesus asked would have indicated his level of understanding of what was being taught. But the teachers were also astonished at his answers. I don’t know if he did this for three days but that is how long it took his parents to locate him. They had looked for him among the extended family after traveling a day’s journey from Jerusalem. Again, this indicates their level of comfort within their extended family that they could go a day without seeing their twelve-year-old boy without worrying. This also suggests that he was the type of twelve-year-old boy that they did not have to worry about. They missed him after one day and then sought him for two days. Jesus went three days without seeing his parents and survived it without panicking. He was not found on the trail leading back to Nazareth but rather in the temple in Jerusalem. He did not ask them why they had left him. He wanted to know why they were looking for him. He thought it would be obvious to them that he would be in the temple learning about his Father. Jesus submitted himself to his parents and returned to Nazareth with them. Thanks to Luke, now we know about the boy Jesus! Robert C. Hudson June 22, 2020

Vindicating Wisdom

July 5, 2020 Background Scripture: Matthew 11:1 – 19 Lesson Passage: Matthew 11:7 – 19 Oh, how often I have laughed at the question posed by a missionary on a popular sitcom in the past, “Are you ready for Jehovah’s return?” It is not the question that is humorous, but the character portrayed by the person asking the question. The character presented herself as a pious believer who cared about the welfare of others’ souls. However, you didn’t want to rub her the wrong way! You would soon learn that piety for her was a very thin veneer that covered a streetwise fighter who could hold her own in a “knock-down drag-out”. The pious missionary wanted people to respond to her in the same manner she presented herself to them. That’s not how the world works. In our text, Jesus criticized the pious religious leaders for their behavior towards servants of God. Like the character from the sitcom, those religious leaders wanted others to respond to them in ways that they would specify. Note, I did not say “specified” but “would specify”. The difference is in whether they would be consistent in their character or fluid. Jesus pointed out that they had chosen inconsistency. No matter what manner of person God sent to help them, the religious leaders rejected them. God sent John the Baptist to them. They sized John up and decided that he was possessed by a demon. John must have appeared to be quite antisocial to them based on how he dressed and what he chose to eat. Furthermore, John did not become one of their own, but stood in stark contrast to them. John did not wear fancy robes and clothes and yet he had the audacity to criticize them publicly for being hypocrites. John spoke the truth of God’s word with boldness. He was one of the first persons recorded to have spoken truth to power—both religious and political. John’s words were heeded mainly by the least, the left out, the left behind, and the socially overlooked. They hungered and thirsted after God, and John provided the spiritual nourishment they needed. Many of the pious religious leaders saw it as a sideshow. They went out to investigate but only as an attempt to uncover something to criticize John for. John did not appear to have eaten or drank with any of the people. It was easy to see him as an unsocial person with a big mouth. In contrast to John’s character, God sent Jesus to the same people. Jesus proclaimed the same truths of God that John proclaimed. Jesus was much more social. He was invited to eat with many—Pharisees and publicans alike. Jesus accepted their invitations and he sat with them at the table. Jesus noted that some criticized him as being greedy and a drunkard. Because the pious religious leaders criticized Jesus’ character, they also rejected his message—as they did with John. God sent the same message by two persons with contrasting social styles. The message was rejected in both cases by the pious religious leaders who wanted to decide the “proper” character of the messengers rather than accept the content of the message. However, in both cases, the message was received by the least, the left out, the left behind, and the socially overlooked. These recipients became the offspring, or children, of Wisdom. Although the pious religious leaders would not accept the wisdom God sent them through the message, Wisdom demonstrated her righteousness through her children who received her. Robert C. Hudson June 22, 2020