Matt W Cook

You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not made me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

Webb once mentioned that we see things upside-down.

What looks like failure is success.
And what looks like poverty is riches.
And what is true looks more like a lie.
It looks like you’re killing me, but you’re saving my life.

What look like weakness can do anything.
What looks like foolishness is understanding.
When what is powerful has not come to fight.
It looks like you’re going to war, but you lay down your life.

Oh, what looks like torture is a time to rejoice
And what sounds like thunder is a comforting voice.
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed.
I say I don’t know you, but you say ‘It’s finished’.

To live the true life of devotion to Christ we need to break the way that we look at things. We see things upside-down. The fall corrupted our minds so that we cannot understand things properly. Think of your childhood and all the things you were convinced were right and true that now can be seen as folly. We are still in a sort of childhood and will be so long as we remain in our earthly bodies. Christ demands that we turn things around, even when that looks like foolishness from the point of view of the world. And indeed, much of his serious commands look incredibly foolish.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.
Do not resist the one who is evil.
If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Of anyone would sue you and take your shirt, let him have your jacket as well.
If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
Give to whoever begs from you.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, drink or wear.
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Foolish. Beware of softening these passages and twisting their meaning to fit with our personalities. Perhaps it seems that following his commands here will turn us into doormats. That’s foolish. But the foolishness of God is wiser than all the wisdom of the ages. Let us be wary of trusting in our own wisdom and accepted values of common sense. Instead let us trust the one who by wisdom founded the universe with its rolling spheres. Don’t look to yourself for guidance. Look to him who carved man from the dirt and breathed life into him. We are dust, and when was the last time you saw dust come up with a good idea of its own?

And sorry about the pics…I don’t know what happened…