Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Ecclesiastes 10.1-20, John 10.1-21 - Lectionary for 6/2/10

Today's readings are Ecclesiastes 10.1-20 and John 10.1-21.

Ecclesiastes 10.1 (ESV) "Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."  How much folly do we need?  Not much.  Yet notice how often we try to do a balancing act - a little folly, a little wisdom, a little evil, a little good - let's see if we can make the equation work out.  What we see today is that the world doesn't work that way.  A little folly, a little evil, is plenty to ruin a lot.  It makes great mischief.  So what do we do?  First off, we forget about trying to earn our own merit.  I know that i have plenty of folly, plenty of evil, to cause harm to a great number of people.  I probably have plenty for the whole world, especially if I trust my heart and act on my own inclinations.  No, that won't work, will it.  What does our Lord say?  He says he has appointed an order and that we live within that order.  And what is that order?  The world is evil but Christ has overcome that evil on our behalf.  We live, not by trust in ourselves, but by trust in him.  That's the good order we need.  And in accordance with that good grade, we can live in God's wisdom, God's righteousness, the only wisdom and righteousness that ultimately matter.

May the Lord give us his wisdom and honor.


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