Where Is the One Who Is Wise? Not in the Stimulus Package

The big guy knows the ways of the world. He cuts to the bottom line. It all comes down to the bottom line.

My question is, if it's the bottom line, how did so many real people come to lie beneath it?

I wrote about Mary and the mystery of the incarnation yesterday. Let's go back to her for wisdom today.

Who goes to a pregnant teenager for wisdom? Well, um, God.

And boy, does she deliver.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Cast down the mighty, lifted up the lowly. In other words, God takes that bottom line and flips what is above and what is below.

Filled the hungry with good things. What is the means test here? Hunger. If you're hungry, you get to eat. Period.

The rich he has sent away empty. Whoa - this is a different universe.

People who say they struggle to live on $174,000 just passed a stimulus package and said that working families would find $600 to be generous. Too generous, in fact, to give to dependent adults - did you know that dependent adults, people who are disabled, get bupkis in this deal?

What does the stimulus package have to do with wisdom? Well, it depends on your timeframe. If you're playing the long game, then it is a negative example. It is the wisdom of a world that the Incarnation flips.

Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1:20)

So what's with the sketch of the onion? 

First, to remind me that the bottom line, the wisdom of the world, runs skin deep. For the wisdom of God, you have to peel some layers.

Second, to warn me that as I peel, I will weep.