Wisdom is Justified by Her Deeds
St. Matthew 11:12-19
October 25, 2020 – Anno Domini
Lutheranism is not sexy. Now before you wash my mouth out with soap and holy water for putting Lutheranism and sexy in the same sentence, don’t get mad at me. I’m simply quoting Pastor Tysen Bibb of Holy Cross Lutheran in Saint Cloud. I steal all my good stuff – or at least the stuff I want to say and it is easier to say if someone else said it first.
This text from Matthew appointed for Reformation is filled with riddles (or to use the church word – mysteries) There is a kingdom suffering violence, a children’s taunt, a call to hear with your ears (like what else would you do with them), and then that last little sentence, “Yet, wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
Those last few words are the text for this morning’s Reformation sermon. They are the text because they always bothered me. I have enjoyed preaching this text over the years but I never understood those last few words, “Yet, wisdom is justified by her deeds” until Pastor Bibb said, “Lutheranism isn’t sexy.” And then riddle was solved and the mystery became clear.
In Proverbs chapter 9 Solomon depicts wisdom and folly as two different women. Wisdom isn’t sexy. Folly is. Wisdom calls her guests away from the world; away from the high places (the high places of worship in the Old Testament had names like Pure Pleasure, Sugar Daddy’s, Grand Casino and Las Vegas). Wisdom doesn’t compliment people for their choices. She isn’t pro-choice. She’s pro-life. She calls them away from their simple mindedness and deadly choices to wisdom and life.
Folly on the other hand is sexy. She is fun, loud, and boisterous. She is seductive. She sits herself right on the high places, the places of pleasure. She does not call people away from their sin and simple desires. She encourages them to indulge themselves even more. “Stolen water is sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” she says and she holds the door to her house open. Folly is great at advertising, but she’s running the classic bait and switch. You think she’s promising life and fun, but on the other side of her door all you find is a cemetery and an eternal fire that makes downtown Minneapolis look like a peaceful protest.
In the middle of Proverbs 9 Wisdom speaks, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.” (Proverbs 9:10–11, ESV) The fruit of wisdom, the result of wisdom is life, the multiplication of your days, years added to your life. The heart of wisdom is knowledge of the Holy One.
That Holy One is Jesus Christ. He is the Wisdom of God. In the text from Matthew 11 the people don’t find John the Baptist or Jesus to their liking. John the Baptist called people to repent, to turn from their pleasures and preferences from their sin and self-service, to be ready for Christ’s arrival. John played a funeral dirge. He wanted the people to mourn their sins, to die to themselves but they would not mourn. Repentance isn’t fun. Confession of your sins ranks on the pleasure scale worse than a colonoscopy or a root canal. In confession you expose your heart. You reveal your warts and uncover your rottenness. It’s painful. It stinks. It’s not sexy.
No one beats down the door to the confessional, but we all should. I can remember one time in 30 some years, where a member was excited to come to confession. She drove 8 miles in a snowstorm to confess privately the filth of her life. She walked out of church that day like she had been raised from the dead – which she had been by the forgiveness Jesus won for her on the cross and delivered into her ears by her pastor. But that’s rare – John the Baptist played a dirge, but the people didn’t mourn. How much fun is it to confess your sins? Wouldn’t you rather your pastor justify your sin or excuse your sin?
After John played the funeral dirge Jesus came along to finish God’s symphony. Jesus played the flute – the light and sweet music of forgiveness. He ate with sinners and tax collectors. He made 180 gallons of wine at a wedding and catered meals all by Himself for the thousands and there were always leftovers. What you are lacking God in Christ will give you. But the people would not hear it. They would not dance at the wedding of Christ and sinners. They were too good for Jesus and His chosen bride was too filthy.
The wisdom of God is John the Baptist and Jesus, sorrow for your sins and the joy of Christ’s forgiveness, death to yourself and resurrection in Christ, confession and absolution. You are dying and there is no pleasure in this world, no medicine or vaccine, no person or experience that will give you life. Sure, all those things will tingle your senses – your eyes are going to start seeing Christmas sales and your stomach is going to crave a thanksgiving feast and your heart will be captivated by some pursuit or person or purchase. That’s all exciting, fun, sexy, but should you put your faith in any of your senses you will walk through folly’s door to death and hell. You will not be saved by your eyes, mouth, stomach, or heart, but by your ears, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:15, ESV)
Hear the dirge of John the Baptist and repent of your sins. Let the word in your ears come out your mouth – I have sinned against God and against my wife, my children, my congregation, my pastor. Hear the flute of Christ and receive the forgiveness Christ won at the cross. In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Then dance because you are alive. This wisdom proclaimed in Scripture, the justification of the sinner by grace for Christ’s sake, through faith, is still the proclamation of those Lutheran Churches who aren’t sexy, who hold to God’s Word, who go with the wisdom of Jesus instead of the flirting with the folly of the world. It’s not attractive and seductive to the world. It is life for sinners, for you.
It is an unspoken rule that you cannot have a Reformation sermon in the Lutheran Church without mentioning our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. They provided us with a great example of wisdom and folly this past week. Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett is being villainized for adopting children from Haiti, for not aborting her down syndrome child, for having seven children, and for being part of an order within the Roman Catholic church that holds to the bizarre notions that sex should be reserved for marriage, marriage should be between a man and a woman, and husbands are the head of their wives (all of which we agree with, since Jesus says the same thing). Meanwhile Pope Francis is being lauded for publicly endorsing a biological impossibility – that homosexuals should be entitled to families. Two homosexuals cannot be a family because two males cannot reproduce and neither can two females. Pope Francis is speaking folly and the world is tingling with excitement. Meanwhile Amy Coney Barret is living wisdom and the world is repulsed.
God’s Wisdom will never look sexy, but Wisdom works. It works life. Wisdom is justified by her deeds. On the last day Wisdom will be shown to be right by what she accomplished. When you stand in the resurrection, with a straight back, a clear mind, perfect hearing, no sin, and your mouth opens to sing with the company of heaven praise to the Lamb who was slain and now lives, then everyone will know and see and feel that the Wisdom of God worked. It isn’t sexy. It is life for you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.