"I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man's understanding.  I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.  Who has gone up to heaven and come down?  Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?  Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak?  Who has established all the ends of the earth?  What is his name, and the name of his son?  Tell me if you know!"  Proverbs 30:2-4

His name is Agur.  We know so little about this guy except his name really.  We know his dad's name is Jakeh, and that he is probably from Massa.  But that's about it.

Agur collected some wise sayings known as "proverbs."  He didn't collect all of the proverbs - there were other collectors and authors of the proverbs like King Solomon - but Agur did collect (or author) some of them.  Proverbs 30 is the bulk of that collection.

I'm not sure what was going on in Agur's mind when he wrote the first few verses that I noted above.  Clearly, the later verses (like verse 5 of that chapter) indicate that he deeply believed in God and that God was a shield to those who took their refuge in Him.  It also appears that Agur has no problem believing that God is huge.  Gathering wind in the hollow of your hands?  Gone to heaven and come down?  Wrapped the waters in his cloak?  Established the ends of the earth?  Yep, that's huge alright.

Yet, Agur says that he is incredibly ignorant of God, and even asks His name, and the name of His Son.  While this may be an interesting OT prophecy related to the Messiah (the Son of God), I am thinking more about why he felt he was so ignorant of God - to the point of not even being sure of His name.  I guess that Agur knows God's covenant name, so I think his statement about not knowing God's name is hyperbole related to how he feels increasingly ignorant in His knowledge of God.  At least, I think so.  But this kind of statement - that this huge God is blowing my mind to the place that I feel ignorant of Who He Is - seems like something that strikes a chord with me.

I sometimes think about how long I have journeyed with God.  It's really been 20 years now for me.  In that time, I have answered God's call to serve Him vocationally in ministry, I have completed Master's and Doctoral degrees in the study of Him, I have preached hundreds of sermons from a deep study of His Word, and have spiritually led thousands of people in that time.  Yet there are some mornings - even like today - that I don't think I know God very well at all.  It seems that the more I know, and the older I get, God seems to get even larger than I imagined.  Far from getting a handle on God because of my study and years of knowing Him, it actually seems the opposite most days.

This obviously was something that must have registered with the great author, C.S. Lewis as well.  In Prince Caspian, one of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia, the young Lucy returns to Narnia and finds Aslan (a lion that is representative metaphorically of Christ).  When Lucy sees Aslan, she seems amazed because she perceives him to have grown since the last time she saw him.  But Aslan replies, "I have not [grown]...Every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

That, it seems to me, is quite true.  Maybe that's the sentiment Agur was aiming at - that the more we get to know God, the bigger He appears to us; big to the point of having to try and get to know Him all over again.

"I am the LORD; that is my name!  I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols."  Isaiah 42:8

Ok.  You've seen the title of this entry and you have just looked at the verse I offered up, and you are thinking "I can see where this train is headed."  You are probably right (being as bright as you are), but I hope you sense an evenhandedness in the thoughts I'm presenting.

First things first.  I was actually pretty bummed upon hearing of Michael Jackson's death.  I grew up with Michael.  I wanted to dance like him (though I didn't really have a desire to sing like him b/c I was counting on my voice changing at some point, and the thought of being able to sing that high as an adult worked against my childish ideas of manhood).  His death was felt the world over.  As pop icons go, his death in my generation is like Elvis's death in my parents generation (except for technology that exponentially increases the influence of Michael Jackson's death over Elvis's).  His talent was unquestioned, and he was an artistic and movement genius.  He really was a true pioneer, entertainer, and artist whose contributions to the shaping of pop music culture will never be underestimated.

Like the rest of the world, I was curious as to the way the public memorial service would proceed (but, I didn't see it live - I watched later that night).  It was about what I expected - part reflective, part inspirational, part weird, part celebratory, part celebrity driven.  No real big surprises really.  But there were a few things I was curious about.

First, when his body was brought in to the arena, it was carefully timed to this lyric, "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, we are going to see the King."  For those familiar, this is a Christian song by Andre Crouch titled "Soon and Very Soon."  The song is about Jesus - The King of Glory.  For a moment, though, it seemed that the lyric was for the King of Pop.  That was a bit confusing - and disturbing.

Then, toward the close of the service, after hearing many a singer and speaker, a video rolled with a corresponding "heal the world" type song that had images of virtually every world religion.  A star, a crescent, a cross, and many others.  Also confusing - and just as disturbing.  It was the classic "embrace whatever and be nice to one another" kind of sentiment.  Maybe it was just the outgrowth of a very confused man - Michael Jackson - who grew up Jehovah's Witness, later spent some time observing Judaism, and ultimately connected Himself to Islam.

One of the crowning moments (over which Michael Jackson had no control) of this whole week long frenzy were the comments of the family spokesman, Ken Sunshine.  He said to Meredith Veira on one of the morning programs the following:  "Talk about a worldwide figure of love.  Michael Jackson is the biggest figure and person emitting love...ever!"

Uh oh.  It seems that Mr. Sunshine has gone from eulogy to deification in one breath.  I guess Michael Jackson, in his view, is more loving than Jesus.

This is a microcosm of the problem - and the inevitable sadness - of the whole situation.  No person was ever meant to have this much glory.  All of Michael's problems weren't always Michael's doing (though some were).  Nobody can ever live with that much glory.  It's just too superhuman - too transcendent - too godlike.

The memorial service was proper in that people had a chance to honor the life and contributions of Michael Jackson to the music world.  And, it is also true, that he engaged in many humanitarian efforts that brought much good.  All of these should be properly honored and admired.  But, when one of the pastors that spoke uses words like this, "As long as we remember him, he will be there forever to comfort us," it seems that we, even maybe more than Michael, have lost our way.

Jesus Christ is love.  Jesus Christ is life.  In Jesus all of life exists, and all things are held together by Him.  Exclusive or not - politically correct or not - it matters not.  There is One God, the LORD is His Name, and He will not share His glory with another - not you, not me, not Michael.