Mt 7:6 These holy things that are entrusted to you: don’t give them to just anybody. If you try and force holiness on a dog, the dog will turn on you and assault you. If you attempt to force-feed holiness to a pig, it will just trample he matter underfoot.
Thematic Relevance:
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The crisis of the Gospel does not always yield a positive response. |
Doctrinal Relevance:
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Wisdom is made available to all, but not all will appreciate wisdom. The Gospel is available for all, but not all accept it. |
Moral Relevance:
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Given the setting for this verse, it acts as something of a counterbalance. Don’t judge, but don’t be foolish. Give of the good gifts, but only to such as might possibly appreciate the gift. |
Doxology: |
While the foolishness of God far outshines the wisdom of man, He does not require us to become fools. Faith is not the abandonment of wisdom, but rather the beginning of wisdom. How sweet the God Who does not require us to cease being human, only makes our humanity more complete! |
Questions Raised: |
Balance this with the parable of the Seed and the Soil? |
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I will begin my comments in something of an unusual place: by looking at the thoughts given in the Message. That text reads, “Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.” This is a marvelous corrective for the Church in our time, to be sure, but I have a hard time taking that meaning from this verse. By all means, we should resist the urge to treat the Gospel like advertising copy. By all means we should recognize that the Gospel is inherently relevant to all times, and doesn’t really need to be tinkered with in order to appeal to the current generation. That effort can only result in lowering the standard and the value of what God has spoken.
To arrive at such a reading from this passage, however, may be pushing the imagery too far. Yes, there is that sense, as Fausset’s points out, of the pearl looking so much like something more common that the commoner will assume that it is this more common item and react poorly on discovering something different. Were I to use a more crass example to illustrate the point: a booze-hound is hardly going to be appreciative of the nuances of a particularly fine wine. He is unlikely to take any great notice of the improvements of a well-aged vintage over the cheap swill produced last week and sold in a screw-top bottle. But, even this doesn’t quite do justice to the picture Jesus has painted with His words.
It might be a nearer comparison to suppose the case of handing this same booze-hound a wine bottle that in actuality contained cranberry juice. Now he is almost certain to notice the difference between expectation and reality, but he is most unlikely to be appreciative of any supposed improvement! In this sense, I suppose I could take the meaning suggested by the Message. If we try and dress up Truth to look more like what passes for wisdom in the world around us, they may be more willing to give it a look, but when they see the Truth behind the veneer, they’re only going to reject it more forcefully for the deception.
Listen! What business have light and darkness together? How can we suppose to make a partnership between lawlessness and righteousness (2Co 6:14)? Why would we think it wise to disguise Truth? Why would we think it needs a sugar-coating, or that anybody, upon discovering the bitter pill within, will thank us for our efforts? Who among us would take to a truth that was presented to us in a wrapper of lies? Of course, having recognized the external lies, the core will be assumed to be a lie as well! This is what comes of the efforts at ‘making church relevant.’ There can only be one of two outcomes to such an effort: Either we reduce church to the point that it no longer has any connection whatsoever with the Truth of God, or we succeed in convincing the world around us that the Truth of God is just another lie, just another emotional tug, another advertisement to be ignored.
As I say, this is a good point for the Church to hear, but I remain unconvinced that this is the point being made in the present text. The point, given the setting, and given similar comments from elsewhere in Scripture seems to me to be far more straightforward: Don’t just speak the wisdom of the Gospel to anybody and everybody. The fool, having been identified, need not be the continued focus of your efforts on behalf of the kingdom. He won’t accept it, will react violently to your every approach. You needn’t cease from praying for that one, but until and unless God has done a work upon him such that he ceases from his foolishness, speaking the Truth to him will accomplish nothing but harm.
That seems like a harsh message. After all, doesn’t Scripture say that God wants all to be saved? Why, yes it does. But, it also makes the very clear point that not all will be saved. The atoning power of the blood of Christ shed for mankind is sufficient for the salvation of all mankind. That is not the same as declaring that all mankind will be saved. The overarching truth of the Name of God continues to hold. “I will show mercy to whom I choose” (Ex 33:19). He Who declares His name, saying, “The Lord, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and truth. The Lord who forgives iniquity, yet does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Ex 34:6-7), is the self-same One who has said the choice is His. He is the self-same One who declares that even the stubbornness of Pharaoh was by His decree. All saved? What of Pharaoh, then? What of Judas? No, the power of God is limitless, and His power to save is limitless. His right to apply or withhold that power as He sees fit is absolute. As we saw in the preceding study, “Is it not lawful for Me to do as I will with what is Mine” (Mt 20:15)? As He chooses so He does, and who shall complain of it. It is His to do with as He pleases.
Now, whether the setting we have for this verse in Matthew is proper, I couldn’t say. Indeed, I have chosen to wrest it from that setting to begin this section of ‘collected sayings,’ more or less proverbial statements from Jesus that seem to more or less float within the text. That may just reflect my own incapacity to appreciate how this verse applies in its place, though. So, let’s consider that place for a moment. Jesus has just told His hearers to avoid judging, knowing that they will be held to the same standards they use in measuring others (Mt 7:1-5). He has pointed out our strong tendency towards hypocrisy in applying these standards of ours. He then turns to the topic of giving what is good, noting that even such evil men as ourselves will yet give to our children according to their want, not handing them dangerous gifts in place of healthful (Mt 7:9-11). The conclusion to this whole portion is, “Therefore, treat people the way you want to be treated” (Mt 7:12).
So, how does the odd business of pearls and swine fit, nestled in the midst of all this? Well, it surely stands as a counterbalance to the message against judging others. Don’t judge them, yet measure them, seems to be the sum. Don’t pronounce sentence, but if they are clearly opposed to anything resembling holiness, then it’s of no use trying to preach at them. They won’t hear it anyway, and they are likely to do you violence.
If I look to Paul’s example, when he came to a new stop on his journey, he did not automatically presuppose that the Jews would reject what he had to say. He would speak to them. If some heard to good effect, it was well worth it. If, however, their resistance to the Truth was evident, then fine, no further effort need be made in that quarter. He would take the Word to where it would gain a hearing. He would speak (if I look to Matthew 7:7-8), to those asking, seeking, knocking. He would provide the Answer to any who asked the question. But, where the Answer was already rejected? No more. Prayer, yes. A deep-seated desire that his fellow countrymen might be saved even yet? Absolutely! But, unless the clear direction of the Lord sent him back to such as these, then he would leave them to their own course.
That’s hard. That’s hard to hear. It’s hard to practice, particularly with those closest to us. If it’s our parents, our children, our spouses that are in question, the urge we feel is to keep shoving the Gospel at them until they take it. But, they won’t. Not by that approach. Oh! If only we could remember our former days a bit more clearly, we’d realize it! Nobody wants to be force-fed on this stuff. Nobody is going to respond well to the message that, “You need to do this,” unless and until the Spirit of the Living God has already achieved the inward change that leads to accepting that news. Until then, the Good News is foolishness. Until then, the Good News is an irritant.
So, while we must surely avoid passing judgment on those we encounter, we are called to wisdom in speaking the Gospel. This is no new message that Jesus has delivered. It is as old as Wisdom. Consider the Proverbs. Already, in that great declaration of Wisdom, we are being taught that if we labor to correct a scoffer, one with clear contempt for God, derisive of any reference to the same, and mocking of all who would be holy, then we only dishonor ourselves, for we earn nothing from our efforts but that one’s insults. Therefore, the wise man says, “Don’t do it! Don’t waste your reproof on the scoffer. Reprove the wise! The wise will appreciate the Truth you speak” (Pr 9:7-8). Save it for those who will profit from it. Save it for when the one you would reprove will profit from it. Know how to time your reproof. Know how to plant your seed for best results.
I confess that having come to such a conclusion, I find it hard to reconcile with the Parable of the Seed and the Soil (Mt 13:1-9). There, the whole lesson seems to be to preach the Gospel wherever and whenever. Some will accept, some will not. Some will grow in it, some will not. But, don’t worry about the response. Worry about the task of sowing. How, then, do I hear in this verse that our words are not to be wasted on those who clearly reject the King?
Coming at this fresh of a new morning, I find what may be an answer to this question. Where the Parable of the Seed and the Soil speaks of a first proclaiming of the Gospel, a planting of the seed of the Good News, this verse might be thought of as addressing the tending of that seed. In other words, we are indeed to declare the good news of the kingdom to one and all. But, when it is clear that the seed of the word has fallen on hard ground or rocky soil, then there is no amount of watering that is going to make that seed take root. Expending our efforts on trying to get the seed to take on the hard ground of the footpath is hardly likely to bring any good result. Here, we are given the balance of good stewardship over the task at hand, then. Preach to all, but when once it is made clear that the ears are sealed against you, the mind set against you, leave off. Realize, though, that the response is not a failure on your part, supposing you have spoken the Word and spoken it truly. The issue is with the soil, and as that other parable makes clear, the soil is no reflection on the sower.
Changing the topic, the natural processes that produce the pearl are well known, and the implications of that process as applied to wisdom well worked by many a sermon. The pearl is produced by the introduction of a foreign irritant. We might well look at wisdom in the same light. It takes an irritant to get us to wise up. Unless we encounter the hard spots in life, we will not develop the wisdom to overcome. Thus it is that Paul can write of rejoicing in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, character and hope in their turn (Ro 5:3-5). It is only as these develop in us that wisdom really takes root. The more worldly adage notes that our best learning comes from our mistakes, not our successes. Success is the result of learning, not the cause. It is failure that causes us to learn of a better way.
I find my mind going back to the previous matter of the soils. It is failure on the part of the hard place and the rocky soil that might just serve to bring the change. As the hard soil recognizes that the seed that has grown such beautiful fruit on surrounding lands fails to even take root in its own case, it may therefore be inclined to take to some tilling, that it’s own soil might receive the seed more readily. The sower will be back, then. Likewise, that rocky soil may find reason in the surrounding fruitfulness to see to it that those rocks are either removed or broken down into arable soil. Wisdom may yet come to even such places as these. But, it has become, in these cases, a work that only God can initiate. The soil may recognize its need finally, but only God can bring about the change in that soil’s condition. Continuing to ply it with seed otherwise is a waste of good seed. So, the wise sower will await the work of God before casting more into that region. That soil needs a foreign irritant introduced, whether it be the bit of the plow, or the tines of the rake.
There was something else said about the pearl, however, that really caught my eye. Reading the information provided in Fausset’s Encyclopedia, I came across this point: “A pearl is an abnormal shell, reversed.” Something about that just really jumped off the page. I cannot as yet even put into thought just why it is that this struck me so. But, that reversal of the abnormal is necessary to the beauty that results. The burl that results from such a foreign irritant introduced into the wood of a tree is not a beautiful object to behold. It looks deformed, because it is. The cyst that may form on our own body, as the natural defenses attempt to isolate that irritant is not a thing of beauty in our eyes. But a pearl? Yes! It is quite beautiful to us. I rather doubt the oyster sees it so, but we do.
Typically, I hear it said that the beauty of the pearl is the result of that slow accumulation of veneer. It may be taken as representative of the whole precept upon precept concept, or grace upon grace. These are fine applications, to be sure. But, here is a new key: It is the result of the reversal. Looking at the declaration that the first shall be last and the last first (Mt 20:16), the Message speaks of it being ‘the Great Reversal’. But, the whole business of the kingdom of God is a great reversal, when considered over against the ways of man. The economy of heaven is forever setting things on their head. What we tend to think of as important, is shown to be quite unimportant in heaven’s sight. What we think of as inconsequential, God considers of greatest import. We are not to look out for number one. We are to love those around us as well as we love ourselves, if not better. We are to do for others. We are to love and pray for our enemies, even giving comfort to them. How is this? The irritant leads us to that reversal, and it is only in the reversal that the ugly abnormality is made beautiful.
Wisdom is so closely related to irritation as to be inseparable. Much as we are told that we will have tribulations in this life, and yet we can rejoice as Paul did, knowing what tribulations lead to for us, so it is with the irritants. We can rejoice in the irritants of experience, knowing that they are producing a great pearl of wisdom in us. We may not like the irritant any more than we enjoy our tribulations. But, with eyes on the kingdom, we can learn to focus on the result rather than the process. That same God who has assured us that He is working all things for our good as we work in His purpose can be trusted to make this irritant a most beautiful pearl. From the pain of the present, He can produce for us an object of inestimable value.
“Acquiring wisdom is of greater value than pearls,” reads Job 28:18. So it is. Let us therefore look to the greater value as we go through the processes that bring it about. Let us, as it were, rejoice in the irritants of experience, knowing that they are producing in us a most valuable store of wisdom. Then, let us both avail ourselves of that wisdom which we have obtained, and seek to impart that wisdom to those around us who are of an inclination to hear it to their benefit. We shall not cast that wisdom foolishly before those who will only revile good sense. But, we shall gladly disciple any who are willing to grow in wisdom themselves. For, unlike pearls, the value of wisdom is not decreased by greater supply.
