New Thoughts (10/9/04-10/10/04)
The thing that strikes me strongest in this passage is that they went home. They had left home seemingly as a matter of compliance to the demands of Rome, but as they traveled it became evident that they were on God's journey. They left Nazareth a young couple betrothed, a source of speculation for the townspeople. They would return as married parents, already confirmed in devotion to one another, God having put an end to any speculations they had about themselves.
Having learned that their journey was a matter of God's purposing, they pursued His purpose until they had done all that was required. They fulfilled all that had been commanded. They had even taken the step of dedicating this Child to the Lord, although God had declared the Levites as a substitute for this dedication. Being several days from home, they had had to resort to the pauper's offering of two pigeons, but the substance of the offering wasn't really the point anyway, it was the obedience to God's purpose, the heart's desire to obey perfectly, that was a pleasing aroma to God.
Because they were faithful to fulfill what He was commanding, the couple was witness to the fulfillment of promises made both to Israel at large, and to specific Israelites as well. They were witness to the public fulfillment of a private word to Simeon. They were witness to Anna's recognition of the Promise. Yet, the time came when all that had been commanded of them had been done. What was to come next? Well, for them, the next step was to go home.
I can imagine that this was a rather difficult choice for them. I wonder if this, too, was a matter of commandment. Knowing a little of Jewish custom, I realize that Joseph would have already prepared a home for them. He would have established a means of supporting this one he would wed. Returning home, then, had the positive aspect of returning to a certain degree of security in terms of supporting their life together. On the other hand, home also represented living in the midst of that speculation that had to have been swirling through the streets. It meant choosing to face the questions of Mary's motherhood. It meant a lifetime of hearing the whispered gossip. They were settled in their own minds, and in their own relationship. Within this new family unit, there was no question of fidelity, but that certainty would never still the tongues of the neighbors. This may have been the most difficult choice they had made yet! After all, both in Bethlehem and in Jerusalem, there had been sufficient anonymity to set aside the questions, and there had been not only acceptance of this Child, but celebration of Him! Here, the Babe was something special, something wonderful. Back home, how would He be seen? He would be a Question, a reminder of all the stories, and because He was a Question, His parents would doubtless hear the charges over and over again.
They fulfilled what was commanded, though, both in doing as they did in Jerusalem, and in returning home thereafter. In this they displayed not slavish obedience, but trusting faith. They could do as He required because they understood who He is, that He is good, righteous, holy, faithful, true. If He was requiring this thing, then there was in that simple fact sufficient reason to do what was required. As the command of a Good and Merciful God, the result of obedience could only be good, as well.
There is a second aspect of this point that caught my mind yesterday, and that is the way this matter of returning home fits the missionary's life. They are sent with a purpose. They are sent with a command, or a set of commands to complete, but what is to be done when all is completed? I think this verse gives answer, at least in part. Return home. To stay longer is, I suspect, to risk tearing down the work that has been done. To continue working when the work has been declared finished suggests a lack of trust in Him who calls the shots. It's as though we dare to tell the Potter that He hasn't quite finished the vessel He was forming from our clay. Oh! For shame! He is a Master Craftsman, a Perfect Artist, who plans His works, though done through our hands, with Perfect Wisdom and Knowledge. He had us to work for a reason, and He has us to cease from our work for a reason.
Hezekiah insisted on lengthening his stay in the position God had given him, and God allowed him his willful request. It was the greatest punishment that unbelief could ask for. In a brief sixteen years, he brought to ruin the bulk of the good he had done during his reign of obedience. A missionary who insists in remaining in the field when God has said, 'go home,' risks the same result. Yes, and it needn't be restricted to the missionary effort. Even in the church, if we insist on holding on to our position, continuing in our work after He has said, 'enough,' we can only expect to make things worse again. We have left His will, and chosen our own. We have taken what was good and made of it an evil. We have taken the pleasing sacrifice of obedience, and converted it into the vile stench of rebellion. We have shifted from fulfilling His commandment to commanding His fulfillment! We have once more decided to be god over God.
Lord, have I been guilty of this? No doubt. Forgive my presumption. God, protect me from turning Your direction into dead religion. Forgive me for slipping from obedience to Your voice into insistence on my own way. In this last week, how You have shown me this! You have shown me the poisonous effect of remaining in a position You have said to vacate. Oh! Such pride still remains in me! How sure I am that I alone know the right way. Wrest that pride from me, Lord. Let me not be found again standing in the place You bade me leave.
Such sweet contrast, though, today, God. Such sweet contrast when any ambition is set aside in favor of submission. What wonders You have done in that space, Lord! Yes, and so timely, too. Pastor has been speaking on envy, and what is envy but another disguise of pride? How long did I allow envy to poison my view of those You were positioning? How long? Nor is there any thanks to me that the poison has been drawn off. No, You showed me that it was one Spirit actuating both myself and those You have stationed around me. You have shown me repeatedly that when I am listening to Your voice, heeding Your words, rather than pursuing my own agenda, the unity that is Your desire becomes visible.
Father, where I have caused hurt by outstaying my call, I pray for so much more than forgiveness. God, bind up what hurts I have caused, repair the damage I have done. Empower those You have now called to that particular position to fulfill it beyond my own ability. Give me the peace, the wisdom, and the grace to stand aside from it, to offer only such advice as is requested, and to insist on nothing until and unless I hear otherwise from You. Teach me, Lord, when to go home.
This really has been the pitfall of many a move of God. Men have heard the instruction given for a season, and made of it a rule for all perpetuity. I suspect this is a large part of what had happened to the Pharisees. They heard a call. I have no doubt but that they started from a solid, Spirit-filled, godly motive. I can imagine that first of Pharisees hearing the call to holiness. But, the call became twisted. It became all about holding to that first directive, and none could be bothered to listen for any further directions. What began on a well-charted course went horribly off course because nobody was listening to the Navigator any longer. It is not to be believed that He simply stopped calling out warnings. God never ceases to warn His children of the dangers before them. God never ceases to bring course-correction. Sadly, we are all too prone to ignoring the warnings. No, we heard from God to go this way, and this way we shall go. That is not God's way. That is not how Israel was led through the desert. There is a time to go, and a time to remain. There is a time to march eastward, and a time that the march must turn. Had a single direction been enough there would have been no Pillar of God's presence to guide the way. But, Moses understood. "Unless You move with us, God, we go nowhere."
Yes! And, God, if You say turn aside here with Me for awhile, may we be instant in turning aside. And, Lord, when we have completed all that You have set for us to do, may we return swiftly home. Oh, but there is more than direction in this, isn't there? This is promise! This is the promise to every child of God! When we have completed all that has been commanded of us, when we have fulfilled the purpose of our creation, You will indeed bring us home! In the immediate, then, and in the long-term sense, Father, may we hear with open ears the call of the Holy Spirit, showing us the next step and the next stop. And, may we be faithful to go no farther than You have commanded - only fulfilling Your command and then returning home.
Having covered this first month of Jesus' life, Luke now provides a bit of a gloss. In the next two sentences, he leaps a period of twelve years. In this portion, the focus of that telescoping view is Jesus. What is said of Him here will be said again, but it bears looking upon. He grew and became strong. In this, He but followed the typical course of human development. Since my wife and I have been pursuing a study in 1John of late, I am brought to mind of the passage we have been looking at there. In it, John writes of his reasons for composing this letter of his. Those reasons, it turns out, lay out the stages of spiritual development which, in turn, echo the stages of physical development. Children know that sins have been forgiven because of Jesus. Young men are powerful to overcome the evil. They are powerful because the Word abides in them. Fathers, having once been young men, have moved beyond power, and come to the place of intimacy, come to know Him, know Him for real (1Jn 2:12-14).
Luke's account is moving us from those very earliest stages of Jesus' life, a period of total dependence upon Mary and Joseph for every physical care, into a new stage. Jesus is becoming a young man. His body is attaining to a physical power able to overcome many of life's obstacles. More than this, His mind and spirit are growing as well. Both of these aspects are borne out in the declaration that He was increasing in wisdom. Wisdom encompasses knowledge. Without it, knowledge is useless. Facts on a page are nothing but a jumble of letters without wisdom to put the knowledge to proper use. The Law of righteousness is no more than an opportunity for sin until wisdom gives it proper shape in our lives. That He was growing in knowledge attests to the sharpness of His mind. But, the knowledge that wisdom encompasses is more than a quick grasp of the facts. It is the knowledge of experience. Wisdom is the power that shapes learning and experience into real knowledge. Wisdom is the power that shapes knowledge into an applied skill. Wisdom not only puts a real grasp of Truth to work personally, it also entails a developed ability for imparting Truth to others in a fashion that they can lay hold of.
Knowledge can be obtained in many ways. We can learn things by rote, develop an arsenal of facts that we really know little about, and are of little import to us. We can learn from a teacher, from a book, or some other form of instructional aid. These things, we will doubtless know more about, and we will likely have pursued them because they were already at least of interest to us, and therefore of some import. We can learn from experience. Nothing teaches a lesson quite like mistakes! Yet, none of these will ensure us of the wisdom to apply what has been learned. Wisdom, unlike knowledge cannot be taught, cannot be garnered from experience. Wisdom must come from that which was upon Jesus in His youth. Wisdom must come by the grace of God. It is His grace that changes Truth into Life. It is His grace that allows us to not only hear the words of His instruction, but to put them to work as principles.
Grace, in turn, though it remains the free gift of God, comes to the place prepared for grace. It is as we rest in His Presence that His grace is bestowed, is fed that it may grow. The grace that brings salvation to us is, in a way, a child-like grace. Like the physical child, or the spiritual child, it must grow and become strong. That growth, though, is not something that will happen unless it is properly fed and cared for. What feeds grace is time in His Presence. The grace of God was upon Jesus, and He increased in wisdom. The grace of God is upon us, if we will but be still long enough to experience it, to allow Him to feed us grace upon grace. As grace grows stronger, we will be empowered to act upon what He gives us to understand. We will be empowered to walk in the ways He teaches. Victory in resting! Who would imagine such a thing!
