Biblical Paradoxes #10

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are often beyond our comprehension. Yet God has communicated His thoughts and ways through His Word, written in the Bible. God’s ways are so different from ours, they often appear as logical paradoxes to our finite minds. True paradoxes are two statements that appear to be logically contradictory, and yet both are nevertheless true. It is important to our study of the Bible to be aware of these paradoxes and to confess them according to God’s revelation.
God Doesn’t Need Our Service; Still He Uses Us to Proclaim Christ
Late in the night, under a sky filled with stars, one shining brighter than all the rest, shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks. Suddenly, the sky opened and an angel appeared right in the middle of the sky. The angel proclaimed Good News of great joy, “‘which shall be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.’ Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men’” (Luke 2:10,11,13,14).
It’s very obvious that angels are an efficient means through which to announce the Gospel. They never get the message wrong. They attract and hold attention. They travel more efficiently than we do. We could go on about potential advantages.
And yet God only used angels as messengers on very few, select occasions—such as at the birth of Jesus. Within an hour or so of that majestic announcement, we hear that God has reverted to the standard method of sharing the Gospel—through the human voices of ordinary believers: “And when [the shepherds] had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds” (Luke 2:17–18).
We might wonder why God chooses not to use angels to proclaim the Gospel. For one thing, they always needed to calm their listeners down by saying, “Fear not!”
Meanwhile St. Paul, acknowledging his obvious human weakness as God’s messenger, said: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak” (2 Corinthians 4:7–13).
It is so obvious that God could get all His work done without us. But like a tender father who has his little boy stand between his arms and push the lawn mower or snow blower and then gives his son credit for his great accomplishment when the job is done, God chooses to work through our weak human hands and lips to do His works and share His Word.
What an honor! What a high privilege! How wonderful it is for God to use us! How overwhelmingly tender of God to make our service valuable—the good works that He prepared in advance so that we “may walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). How fantastic to be allowed to give a cup of cold water to Jesus, to come and visit Him in prison and to give Jesus something to eat on earth, before He feeds us at the eternal feast in heaven!
But how foolish it would be to brag, as though God could not possibly accomplish His tasks without us. How offensive it would be to act as though our human strength and cleverness enabled God to get His message out. God wants us to use the gifts He gave us faithfully, and He makes use of our faithful labor. But it’s a relief to know that, when we are less than we ought to be, we are only God’s little boys and girls, “pushing” things along between His powerful arms that are really doing all the work. God’s Word is powerful. Our lips and throats simply vocalize the Gospel that God compels us to speak.
And when all our work—empowered and used by God—is done, He will generously bestow on us the honor of hearing Him say in loving, fatherly tones: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23).
Timothy H. Buelow is pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Carthage, Missouri.