PEOPLE'S CHURCH OF DOVER

Matthew 11:16-19                                                                  NATIONAL  MATURITY

Sermon July 6, 2008:  People's United Church of Christ, Dover, DE:  The Rev. Dan Griggs

 

 

            An "aphorism" is a short, pithy saying that teaches a bit of common sense.  It's a proverb.  We have a lot of aphorisms in America.  "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"—although, sometimes you can.  "A stitch in time saves nine."  "Feed a cold, starve a fever."  "Fools' names and fools' faces, always seen in public places."  "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."  We know a lot of aphorisms because we've grown up hearing them—have heard them all our lives.  Nobody knows who made them up:  they belong to all of us. 

            I think the last part of the last verse in the Gospel Lesson today is an ancient aphorism:  "Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."  That's the way Matthew quotes it; Luke's wording is even more aphoristic:  "Wisdom is vindicated by all her children."[1]  It just sounds like an aphorism. 

            This paragraph comes just after Jesus talks about John the Baptist.   Here he contrasts himself with John; but the real issue is how the society of ancient Judea was or was not paying attention to the attempts God was making to get through to them.  Jesus calls them "this generation," and he could be talking about us, too.  "This generation" is like two gangs of children cat-calling to each other across the marketplace:

 

 

Then he says something like this as an application of the cat-calls: 

 

 

 

But in both John and Jesus, God was inviting "this generation" to a deep, rich friendship; and "this generation" never responded.  That wasn't very smart.  So—now the aphorism—"wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."  Which means, "wisdom is made clear by what a person does," or "your deeds reveal how wise you are," or "what you do shows how smart you are."  Jesus was telling them, "This generation has not shown itself to be very smart.  God came calling and they ignored him."  He said this about the people of his own culture—Judea and Galilee; and what he was saying to them is a lesson for us Americans as well:  he's talking about national maturity. 

 

            What did Jesus have to say about a culture and about government?  Well, not much—at least not directly.  But Jesus was no friend of government chicanery, and he shined the spot-light of recognition on mendacity—lies.  Once some people came to warn him to leave the territory because King Herod was planning to kill him, and he answered:[2]      

 

 

Jesus didn't expect emperors, kings, governors or judges to hold the correct religious faith—only that they perform their duties honestly, justly and unselfishly.  So we who would follow Jesus as his disciples must do our own thinking about culture and government, based on the essence of Christ's mission and calling—which is love.  And, inevitably, we will disagree about some things. 

 

Jesus was welcoming to everybody, so I believe he would approve a culture that accepts diversity, gives people as much freedom as will not hinder the freedom of another person or nation; and I believe he would urge that we follow the way of peace with justice.  I think he lays moral foundations for people to work, so business is not excluded; and he knew the importance of good boundaries for safety.  But most of all I think what Jesus wanted is for his disciples to have the wisdom to see what is right in front of our eyes—"Let those who have ears to hear, hear," he said.  Pay attention!  I think Christ's disciples can live and prosper in many different kinds of societies, under many kinds of government—we have certainly done so:  even under Communism.  I believe that national maturity has more to do with peace, justice, truth and acceptance of persons than it does with whether we have a king or a democracy. 

            This gets tricky sometimes.  I have a photograph from 1931, in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, of a church door; and coming out of the door, a cross in the background, is a government official.  His name:  Adolph Hitler.  Photo opportunities can tell lies and fool whole countries.  Now, of course, human government by its very nature will always be flawed.  What we must pray for is that the flaws will not violate our freedoms or the peace of nations. 

 

            Five hundred years ago, during the life-time of Martin Luther, there were two scholars who wrote books on government.  One of them was an Italian named Nicolo Machiavelli.  In his book The Prince Machiavelli described how to use propaganda, duplicity, force, charm and religious language to take over other people's countries and get rich.  People still read Machiavelli today—usually to learn how to spot a tyrant.  The other writer was the greatest of all Christian humanists the world has ever seen, the Dutchman Desiderius Erasmus.  Erasmus was a faithful Catholic and wrote clearly and logically against Luther and the Protestants; but he did so with such kindness and eloquence that even the Protestants could not but respect him.  He also wrote a book on government titled The Education of a Christian Prince, and dedicated it to Archduke Philip of Austria.  In that book Erasmus stated a view widely held throughout the Middle Ages:  that that person is most qualified to rule who does not wish to rule.  Think about that!  It's the beginning of humility.  The theory might not work well in a democracy, but the priority of humility might just be a great idea—even here.  But you know what it would require of America to choose on this basis, don't you!  National maturity. 

 

            "Wisdom is vindicated by its deeds."  What you do shows how smart you are.  God sent us a messenger from the heart, Jesus of Nazareth; and Jesus called us individually and collectively to friendship with God.  I'm not convinced that the current debate about whether or not America is a "Christian nation" will get us very far.  I am convinced that humility is a good starting place for national maturity.

AMEN