Simple Solutions

Simple Solutions

Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah 40:9-11

“For every human problem there is a solution that is simple, neat—and wrong.” 

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956), “the sage of Baltimore,” was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, critic of American life and culture, and a scholar of American English.  With that resume it’s no wonder he scoffed at simple solutions to complex problems. 

Faced as we are with problems even more complex than those troubling his generation, we’re still tempted to opt for simple solutions.  Whether we approach those problems from the left, right, or center, we’re sure if our leaders would only…, everything would be fine.  It’s easy to forget that many of the situations troubling us were caused by adopting too-simple solutions—solutions that failed to take into account all the ramifications of applying a too-quick fix.

Lest we think the simple solution mentality is a modern failing, a look at Genesis should convince us the urge to oversimplify is as old as humanity.  Adam and Eve tried to achieve god status by eating forbidden fruit.  Cain figured if he got his brother Abel out of the way he’d gain God’s favor.  The people of Babel thought a tower would bring them into God’s presence.  In each case (and many others) people sought an easy solution.

This was the case in first century Judah.  Since Samuel, God’s people had tried to achieve the status of Important Player in the Middle East.  They thought a king would do it, and for a while it worked.  Under David and Solomon Israel became a mighty—if small—nation, exerting influence far out of proportion to its size.  Solomon thought he could do even better if he added the gods of his foreign wives to the mix.  His descendants moved even farther in this direction, resulting in defeat, captivity, and the almost complete destruction of the nation. 

Having discovered that kingship didn’t make them great, Israel tried another direction.  In Isaiah’s prophecies they saw the promise of a messiah, a leader sent from God.  This messiah would right all Israel’s wrongs, make her politically and militarily important, and bring her to the leadership position God’s people deserved.

And so they waited, and prayed, and hoped, longing for the day God would redeem them from insignificance.  But the promised leader didn’t come, and things got progressively worse, culminating in oppressive dominance by the conquering Romans and the puppet kingship of Herod —and still no messiah, no savior sent from heaven.

Is it any wonder they missed a baby born in a manger?  Is it any wonder they missed an iterant preacher whose followers were common folk?  Is it any wonder they missed a man executed by the Romans as a common criminal, dismissed by the religious leaders as a rabble rouser and trouble maker?  Yet this baby, this preacher, this thorn in the flesh of the religious and political elite was the Messiah for whom Israel had been praying all those years.  They wanted one who would conquer Israel’s enemies.  God sent One who would conquer death and sin.

Are we any less short-sighted today?  We say, “Christ is the answer” with all the glibness of first century Pharisees quoting the law.  Yes, Jesus is the solution for all the world’s problems, but that solution is not a simple one.  Applying Jesus’ message to the world’s problems is a complex task.  As Jesus called Israel to repentance, so he calls us to work for him wherever it leads.  When we commit ourselves to his service, it’s the beginning of a lifetime of discovering how difficult it is to follow him.