On one occasion after preaching the gospel, Jesus prayed to his Father in heaven, saying “I thank you Father, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” (Matthew 11:25) On the surface it seems to be an odd thing to say. Shouldn’t we aspire to be “wise and intelligent?” Jesus sometimes exaggerates to make a point, but there is usually a grain of truth in what he says. Jesus is, in fact, reflecting a reality of his (and our) time. 

Educated people often have the hardest time accepting the gospel. This implies that the less bright among us aren’t as discerning or as questioning. However, I don’t think this is a question of intelligence. After all, some of the greatest minds in history, such at St. Augustine or St. Thomas Aquinas, have been devoutly Christian. The problem occurs when the ego is placed in the service of a bright mind. 

One of the struggles of faith is to submit to Jesus as Lord. Indeed, Christians struggle with this requirement, and some Episcopal churches have misguidedly removed the word “Lord” from their liturgy. While an intelligent mind should be able to to grasp this, the ego will do its best to refute it. In our Western tradition, where emphasis is placed on empirical and analytic methods of understanding, putting one’s trust in an invisible God is especially challenging. 

Where does trust begin? That depends on where you look for it. “Trust” is an emotional as well as a rational action. Knowing God intellectually through books and philosophy may not be enough. God is within and without. The person of faith acknowledges that there are many ways of knowing God. Our aim is to see with the eyes of God and to discover the world as it really is, without our ego getting in the way.

One of the fruits of the spirit is joy. If I spend too much time on the internet, with my head looking down at my phone, will I find joy there? Probably not much. In fact, you may find the opposite: intolerance, prejudice and hatred. What the world wide web reinforces is our need for someone like Jesus to save us from ourselves.

There are two elements to Jesus’ prayer from the gospel of Matthew; the second part relates to children. How is it that they can understand something that is beyond the capability of the “wise and intelligent”? 

Last week my wife Ruth and I attended the UrbanPromise Banquet at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, Wilmington. UrbanPromise Wilmington is a non-profit organization that employs a mixture of paid staff and volunteers “to equip children and young adults through Christ with the skills necessary for academic achievement, life management, personal growth and servant leadership.” The banquet is an annual affair to showcase the work of the charity and to seek funding for the coming year. This year there were 630 attendees.

The theme of the evening was “joy”. There were many inspiring personal testimonies along with a series of videos featuring the children who benefit from the work of the organization. One of the videos showed children answering the question, “What is joy?” A boy, around ten years old, gave an answer so profound that I immediately wrote it down. He said, “Joy is when something is going wrong, but you’re still happy.” 

One of the blessings of faith is joy. This is not the same as happiness, which can be fleeting. The joy of faith is an assurance that God is in charge, and that even in our darkest hour God is not absent. The growth of joy is concurrent with our growth in faith. A deep rooted joy reflects not only the assurance of God’s blessings and care, but a love for God himself. God is the “without” in our search for wisdom, who becomes the “within” the more we worship and pray.

I salute the ten year old for having this insight and sharing it with us. How did God gift him with such wisdom? It is a mystery to adults perhaps, who are more likely to say, “God, why is this happening to me?” Children are used to having other people in charge. When things go wrong, they - the adults - are usually there to pick up the pieces. Sometimes children understand the world better than we do. 

Father David