The text this morning is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the first chapter:
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
What is it that’s most valued today? Power? Prestige? Money? The number of followers you have on Twitter or friends on Facebook? It’s probably some combination of these things today. I suppose that over the course of human history, it really hasn’t changed a whole lot. Although, I will say this: when the culture is dictated by a specific religion or religious thought, that does tend to run desire.
Think of the Greeks. Probably many of you grew up learning the names Plato and Aristotle. We learned the Pythagorean Theorem in school, named for Pythagoras. Hippocrates, Archimedes, Socrates. These men influenced their world and everything in the world since because of their love of knowledge and wisdom. They were so ingenious in their approaches to medicine, philosophy, religion, mathematics, that theories, schools, and countless men and women have been named after them for thousands of years.
They were so influential that they shaped the culture around them, encouraging all the people, from the noble kings to the poorest peasants, to seek after wisdom all of the time. When Paul appears on Mars Hill in Athens, he speaks to those gathered, noting how they are always seeking to make sure to honor and worship the gods, even those they do not yet know. They would seek after new philosophies, gathering them together like a rock collection, showing them off to their friends and families. They would always seek wisdom. So, when Paul came preaching this “new” wisdom in the way of Christ, they were eager to hear about it.
And the Jews, well, they were different. Having been taught in the Pharisaical tradition for many years, they were used to the itinerant preachers that would wander in and out of the desert. And they would test them. God had been silent for 400 years. His last great prophet was Malachi, the last one to warn the Israelites to repent before the Messiah would come. Then came John onto the scene. Now, it’s not as if there were not men who would speak the truth of God’s Word to the people, but when John appears, he comes with great preaching, but also a prophetic word, even to point his finger at Jesus of Nazareth and marking Him as the Messiah.
They were used to strange men around them; that’s why they weren’t scared of John or why they didn’t reject him. But then, when he could follow up his preaching with signs pointing to his being sent by God, when he instituted a baptism for the forgiveness of sins, when he pointed to Jesus, people truly understood who he was. Then, when Jesus followed His preaching with signs, healing the sick, raising the dead, making the blind see and the lame walk, people were apt to believe Him.
But, in the case of both the Jews and Greeks, once Jesus, this wise philosopher, this great prophet, was lifted up on the cross, neither group wanted to pay much attention. For the Greeks, no one who was tortured on the cross was any good. Only criminals were placed up there. No one wanted to hear the ravings of a man who got Himself killed. And for the Jews, there was no greater dishonor than the cross for it literally stripped a person naked, and nakedness was something to cover over, all since the days of Adam and Eve. Nakedness was shameful outside of the bedroom, and even there is was to be treated with great care.
So, you have a naked criminal who has been put to death on the torture stick of the Romans, and people are supposed to believe in this guy? This would be akin to electing Kim Jong Un to be the president of our denomination. This would be like bringing a post-WWII Hitler to teach on morality. This would be like having Planned Parenthood tell about the benefit of bringing babies into the world and having them adopted. These things just don’t fit.
But that was God’s plan all along. The word of the cross is folly, it’s foolishness. We’re all perishing, we’re all dying in our sins, unless the cross makes it way to us, being a gift of the Holy Spirit and bringing us faith. Then we are alive in Christ. But the world is dying, and the cross seems like the worst trick in the world. God’s strength, however, is in foolishness, it’s in weakness. You think you’re strong? Die for the world. You think you’re wise? Teach about the One who died on the cross. You think you’re all that good? Compare yourself to the Innocent One who gave His life for all.
This is God’s plan. Jesus told parables throughout His earthly ministry. If you’ve ever had a pastor who told you that Jesus told the parables so that He could relate heavenly things in earthly means, you had a pastor who didn’t know his Scriptures all that well. Jesus tells us why He used parables: “To you [who believe in Me] has bee given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that “‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” Our Lord purposefully hid His teaching behind hard to understand parables.
Our God delights in the hidden things. When God hides something away, whether it’s Moses in the basket, the neighbor who needs your help, the divinity behind the flesh of Christ, the new life in Christ behind the sinful self, the secrets of the Kingdom, He delights to pull back the curtain and finally reveal it to those who await it. It doesn’t mean that everything God has hidden will be revealed. The secrets of God, what was He doing before creating the earth, why did He create us if He knew we would sin against Him, what plan does God have for my life, may never, ever be revealed to us, even in the day of the resurrection. But what God has revealed to us has been hidden since before the foundation of the earth, and it pleased God entirely to reveal these things to those who await from the Lord great and abundant mercy.
God uses the foolish things of this world to bring about His wisdom. He uses unworthy men like myself to bring you His Word and Sacraments. He uses men and women of the Church to comfort those whom He loves. He used the cross, the most brutal and ingenious torture device the world had ever seen, to bring about His salvation of all mankind.
It wasn’t through a display of power that we would expect to see from Zeus. God wasn’t hurling lightning bolts or tornados or whatever else we might expect to fulfill all of His purposes for His creation. He used that which was meek and lowly. He used the flesh of man and wrapped it around Himself, binding it to the person of Jesus, the Son of God, forever. He used wood and iron to crucify the Son. He used men and women to go around the world and preach the Gospel. He uses water and words to wash us clean of all of our sin. He uses mere bread and wine to accomplish the strengthening of faith until life everlasting. He uses the One who the world would despise to elevate you into glory forever setting you up to rule over the entire world with Him as the proud and noble people look on from the gates of hell.
Because you are in Christ, the humble one, you are brought up to where God is, not by your own merit, but by His action. And though the world would hate Him for His teaching, for His holiness, for His shameful death, and though the world would hate you, too, because of that, you shall inherit all that He has been given. If He is despised, so, too, are you. If He is martyred, so, too, shall you. If He is killed, so, too, shall you. Yet, if He has resurrected life, so, too shall you. If He rules over the earth, so, too, shall you. If He is in right relationship to the Father, so, too, are you. If He is holy and righteous and sanctified, so, too, are you.
God chose that which the world would scorn to reveal His love and salvation to the entire world. The world would reject that. But, because you have been given the gift of faith, you can see the work of God in Jesus Christ for what it is: beauty, wisdom, a sign for all to flock to Him. Jesus is the only wise thing in the world. Money, power, beauty, prestige, Facebook friends, they all pale in comparison to what you have in your Savior, Jesus, the Living One. And though you are lowly, though you are a sinner, though you have broken every Law of God, though you are dirty and unclean and impure, God has chosen you to reveal His love of the world to the world. God uses that which the world sees as foolish because then we look like Jesus. We look like His Son, His only Son, His beloved Son. And God loves us, then, too. In that, you may take all the pride in the world as you share the love of Jesus. Boast that the Lord loves you and that He has saved you and that He uses you, no matter how foolish you are. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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