God's self-disclosure
Communication students talk about self-disclosure as any act designed to reveal something about myself and my story to others. Here God says that any boasting of man should come from knowing Him. But note that He does not elaborate "knowing God" in the sense of an abstract theology, the ability to argue the finer points of omniscience or omnipresence or predestination. Rather, this is knowledge of God in the much more personal and practical sense of "things that God likes." And here again, it is not sacrifices, or complex rule-following, that are in view. He says, "loving kindness, and justice--these are the things I really like." This is consistent with His self-disclosure to Moses, when He hid him in the cleft of the rock and caused his presence to pass by, declaring, "The Lord, the Lord, gracious and merciful..." Those who boast in God are contrasted with those who boast in wisdom, power, and wealth. There is a relationship: God gives wisdom, power and wealth for the purpose of enabling those who receive it to practice loving-kindness and justice. When they boast in the gift, but do not know the purpose for which it was given, they demonstrate that they do not know the Giver. Now, in a self-deprecating way, we may imagine these verses don't apply to us. I am not wise, or powerful, or rich, I might say to myself. But don't think of these as states of being that you either have or don't have, but rather as qualities or attributes that you have to a greater or less degree. In other words, I should ask myself: what wisdom has God given me? what power has he placed in my hands? what resources has he entrusted to me? Whatever they are, do I know Him well enough to know what he wants me to do with those gifts? Have I really thought about how much he loves love, kindness, and justice?
Created about 2 years ago
