30.08 | Innocence & Wisdom
Acts 22:22-23:11
‘Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”’
Acts 23:6
The teaching of Jesus echoes through the activity of Acts.
Remember that Jesus spent three years forming the core leaders of this new community. Three years of teaching, modelling, encouraging, challenging, correcting, inviting, transforming. His sayings and doings set the backdrop for all church activity.
And there’s a line in the teaching of Jesus that echoes through today’s passage.
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”1
Wise as serpents.
Innocent as doves.
I’ve always found the second part a little easier. Doves are beautiful. Doves are gentle. Doves flutter with olive leaves in front of rainbows. Doves have an exemplary biblical record.
Serpents, on the other hand, are crafty. They are cold-blooded, venomous, and slithery. And their biblical record is markedly poor.
Be as wise as serpents.
The word ‘wise’ is not the regular word for wisdom (sophia). The word used is phronimos, which has the sense of being streetwise, intelligent or savvy. It has the sense of thoughtfulness combined with skilfulness.
Be as wise as serpents.
Paul’s conduct today is as innocent as a dove, and as wise as a serpent.
He is brought into the Roman barracks to be whipped. He’s done nothing wrong. He is as innocent as a dove.
And yet, he brings a savvy kind of wisdom with him. He knows that the whipping of a Roman citizen is illegal, and so he (truthfully) reveals his citizenship and escapes the beating.
Wise as serpents.
He’s then pulled before the Sanhedrin (the same Jewish council that tried Jesus some years before). He knows that the Sanhedrin is deeply divided on one key theological issue: resurrection. And so he introduces this theme to the room, creating a theological shouting match that stalls proceedings and wins half the room immediately.
Wise as serpents.
Paul is showing us something. He’s modelling the teaching of Jesus in a real way, in a high pressure situation. Because, while his agency is stripped as a prisoner, and he surrenders to the lead and will of God as a worshiper, he retains his agency and his intellect as a human.
It’s a good reminder to us. It corrects us, when we think that all God wants of us is blind obedience. In our zeal to be obedient, sometimes we can become passive—concerned that our actions will derail the purposes of God—that our acting or speaking without His invitation could be an act of disobedience. As Paul was stretched out for that whipping, or brought before the Sanhedrin, however, he doesn’t remain silent and passive: he speaks up; he challenges; he creates a ruckus. He puts to use his knowledge as a Roman citizen as his training as a Pharisee to interrupt proceedings, and in doing so furthers the purposes of God.
It is true that sometimes His call is to obedience beyond our understanding. Such moments greatly grow our trust. And yet, there are many moments in life when He withholds His voice to draw our participation and activate our will. When He wants us to use our learning and experience, our thoughtfulness and skill. To be a follower is not to be a passenger. To be a recipient of grace is to become a collaborator in the Kingdom. We are, as Paul elsewhere puts it, God’s coworkers; we are not His minions.2
Trust what God has given you: your experience; your learning; your humour; your wit; your intellect and your resumé are useful in His hands. God is drawn to the courageous. He is drawn to our movement.
For the Kingdom is advanced by such as these. Those who are as innocent, pure, trusting, and simple as a dove.
And yet, also, who are as savvy as a serpent.
Reflect:
Where am I being invited to the simplicity of trusting obedience?
Where might God be inviting me to utilise my intellect, experience, and ability?
Pray:
Father in heaven,
Make me a courageous collaborator with you.
Grow such trust in this soul,
That my obedience may be simple, trusting, and complete.
May my heart so know your goodness
As to hear your voice,
And simply obey.
May simplicity and peace mark this way of trusting obedience,
Unto beauty and life.
And Father,
Grow in much such wisdom in this soul,
That I may not become passive—
Like a horse tugged by a bridle,3
Or a dog on its leash.
Build in me wisdom, experience, knowledge,
And bless that which is already within me.
Grant me courage in the moments,
To use what I know,
Unto beauty and life,
And creating a ruckus for the Kingdom.
Father in heaven,
Make me a courageous collaborator with you,
In the Way of Jesus,
In whose Name I pray,
Amen
Old Testament:
For those also reading the Old Testament this year, your additional readings are here:
Job 22-24 | Proverbs 22:22-27
Matthew 10:16
1 Corinthians 3:9
This imagery is taken from Psalm 32:8-9, which gives a beautiful balance of trusting obedience with growing wisdom.