The Grand Paradox

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness. Isaiah 5:20

A "paradox" is defined as "a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a truth."

Lutherans love paradoxes. And there's an important reason. Real life, as I have experienced it anyway, exists mostly in the gray area between the black and white extremes.

Our world thrives on black-and-white, either/or thinking...because it is easier to put into a sound byte.

Think about all the ways you hear this on a daily basis:

You are either a Republican or a Democrat.
(If pressed, though, most of us would find we don't fit either extreme on this spectrum)

You are either "for us" or "against us."
(Except...people change. Situations change. And former opponents can become allies...and vice versa).

You are either rich or poor.
(Except most of us are neither).

You get it. We are surrounded by "binary" thinking...and it has dominated the public face of religion as well.

You are either a sinner or a saint.
(Except we are all a messy mix of both).

You are either a churchgoer or "unchurched."
(Except at various points in our lives, we have been both of these).

Here's the point: In his "Heidelberg Disputation" of 1518, Martin Luther dismantled our easy dualistic thinking and reminded us that a theology of glory will call the things we do good, and call suffering evil.

And yet, here's the Grand Paradox:
In real life, it's much messier than that. Many of the things society would want to call "good" lead us to rely on our own strength...while many of the things we say we would want to avoid (failures and sufferings that are just a part of life) actually lead us to find a source of strength in God.

Our good works and attempts to be good people, if seen as an end within themselves, only make us more arrogant and certain we can do this "life" thing without God's help.

At the same time, our performance-driven society would say that "failure" and brokenness are BAD. Except, any time we are reminded that we aren't in control, it leaves room for us to rely on a source of grace bigger than us.

So, paradoxically, our good works ultimately lead us to self-righteousness...meaning they aren't actually good. And our sufferings, simply a part of life that seem bad at first, can actually lead us to rely on grace, mercy and truth in a way that brings us life.

Today, let's not call evil things good and good things evil. May we let go of those easy and lazy categories, recognizing two important paradoxes:

1. What we think is good (money, power, fame, "success," attempts to prove our worth to others) - these things often lead us to despair.

2. What we think is bad (hardship, "failure," mistakes, imperfections) - these things often drive us to the river of life that flows from God alone.

May our day today be rooted in God's strength, not our own; and may we learn to live in the grey area between the easy categories.

PRAYER:
God, help us to let go of the easy labels and call life what it is. Give us the strength each day to do our best to live as your people; and then give us the grace and mercy to accept ourselves and others when we fail to do so perfectly. Amen.