You never know what a day will bring. A good friend has said that to me many times
since I have known her and it is clearly true.
We live in a world full of surprises, betrayal by friends, calamities,
death and destruction. All of these
surprises in life are caused by human sin.
Proverbs is always a difficult book for me in writing this blog on the
lectionary. There isn’t a consistent
thread in a given passage and finding focus is hard to do. Is the writer here commending prudence or
simplicity in the last verse? In some
things it is good to be prudent and in others it is good to be simple, times
when suffering is the right choice. We
need wisdom to know the difference and wisdom to live in a world broken by
sin.
Peter chooses to be prudent and avoid potential
suffering. His denials of Jesus are
painful to see and hear and they are completely based in his fear for his own
life. Jesus warned the disciples “do not
fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can
do.” Peter heard that teaching and saw
Jesus submit to the soldiers who came to arrest him, surely knowing what would
come next. Peter, however, hadn’t
overcome his fear of suffering and death.
That would wait for two things, the resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The
boldness and courage Peter wanted in his life became real in those two things,
he became the man he wanted to be. The
idea of being simple appeals greatly to me, to regain an innocence long lost,
simplicity is truly a gift of God.
You lost me at, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or
conceit.” I wonder what percentage of
what I do has those two motives at its root.
I can consider others more significant than myself but at some level I
do so because I want them to like me, selfish ambition. Jesus was truly a simple man, not looking out
for His own interests unless we count as His interests, but it didn’t benefit
Him in any way other than knowing the pleasure of the Father, to die on the
cross. He was willing to suffer for our
sake when the prudent thing would have been to remain with the Father and turn
His back on us. Because He chose not to
be prudent, He is exalted above all Names.
The simple life isn’t always the quiet and comfortable life.
Make me to know your
ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth
and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Remember your mercy, O
LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins
of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember
me,
for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!
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