Download 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Wisdom and foolishness. A theme that runs

1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Wisdom and foolishness. A theme that runs throughout the bible, especially the book of
Proverbs, and here Paul too uses this theme in his letter to the Corinthians. Both writers urge us
to be wise, but only according to God’s wisdom. If we read the book of proverbs, the teachings
and wisdom in it make a lot of sense to us. It provides a lot of practical “tips” on living a
righteous life so that you don’t get in trouble and be blameless before God. This is essentially the
law in a general term in theology. The law is anything that we humans are to do, whether for
ourselves, for our neighbors, or for God. And so, most people, including non-Christians will
have no problem reading the book of proverbs and will agree with it.
When one sees Christianity as a religion of “law”, that is, a religion which tells us what
we can do and not do, then we are no different from any other religion on this earth. Many who
thinks this way still considers Christianity as a better religion because it has greater influence and
inspiration on people than most other religions. But it all boils down to the same focus – man
must do something to help himself, whether it’s his sins spiritually or the troubles of this life. As
such, we will find many “enlightened” and “wise” people from other religions because through
their efforts and good works, they have attained a high standard of morality and ethics. They are
seen as great leaders that can improve, influence, and inspire humanity to make a better society,
and finally, a better world.
This is Christianity, a very wise religion, helping people to improve themselves, but this
is only true if we stop here, with only the law. But a greater word from God is the cross of Jesus
Christ, which, paradoxically and ironically, becomes foolishness to those who seek to be wise
according to the law.
The cross of Jesus Christ is “moron” to those who don’t believe in it. This is actually the
original Greek word that Paul used, and the same English word is also from the Greek. The cross
is foolishness! This foolishness has 2 levels, one according to human reason and the other
according to the heart, the most inner part of the self. Paul writes that the cross is a stumbling
block to the Jews and folly to the Greeks. To the Jews this is a hindrance in their faith because
they judge according to reason and to the externals. They see Jesus, not as the most holy God, a
lamb without blemish, but the exact opposite. They see him just another mere human being, in
fact, they consider him a sorcerer, an agent of the devil. Therefore he deserved death and the
cross is most perfect for him. According to their reasoning, only sinners deserve to die, and there
he is, on a cross, obviously God doesn’t love him. If Jesus is truly God, or at least a holy man
from God as he claims to be, then God would certainly save him from his pains and sufferings,
but he didn’t, obviously, he’s a false teacher.
What about the Greeks? The cross is even more ridiculous! A God that willingly suffers
and dies for sinners? This is unheard of, it’s the last thing a wiseman would ever do. Suffering is
nothing noble, nothing wise even for us today. Sure you will find lots of Greek stories and myths
about sufferings and death, even gods, but they are the result of punishment by their own fault.
You will never find a story where a perfect righteous being taking the place of a perfectly
unrighteous being. As I said earlier, religion’s purpose is to remove suffering and pain, why
would God embrace it?And so for the Greeks, they just can’t understand nor accept such a
foolish thing.
And when we compare ourselves with these non-believers of both past and present, we
tend to think highly of ourselves. We think that we are saved because of something we have done,
something we accepted, something we deserved. It doesn’t matter what that something is, it is
nevertheless something inside of us. But the word of the cross denies all of the above, and this
becomes completely nonsense and foolish according to the heart, according to our human nature,
which applies to all people, Jews, Greeks, gentiles, including all of us. Why would our human
nature consider the cross to be foolish? Because the cross tells us that we ourselves are foolish in
trying to climb up to God with our piles of good works and righteousness. It’s like building the
tower of Babel upwards, except that our so called righteousness is made of mud. We pile it up as
best as we can, and we try to reach heaven by standing at the top, not realizing that we are
actually stuck in it AND sinking at the same time. This is what the cross is telling us, that we are
so lacking in righteousness, so weak, so poor, so lowly that it required God’s help to save us
from our mess.
Naturally, the old Adam would reject that because of pride and sin. The “I” is always at
the center (sIn, prIde). Our natural hearts and nature will think that the cross is stupid because it
attacks our pride. We want to be at the center, we want to have all the credit, we still give praise
and glory to God, but we deserve some of it just for doing that.
What then is the remedy to this? I’ve heard sermons where the preacher was telling the
people how they are unable to do any good, that they are corrupt through and through, therefore
they should humble themselves in order to accept the gift of God. But how can we become
humble, which is something good, when we can’t be good? You know, the best way of removing
someone is not to debase or dishonor him, you kill him.
Once again we come to the cross. This is where we begin, not in ourselves, not in our
hearts or what we do, but in God’s heart and will, and what he had accomplished for us. It was
his will that we are children of God as John says in chapter 1 of his gospel, we are born, nor of
blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And again in chapter 15,
Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you…” And Paul too says the same thing. God
chose the weak, the lowly, the foolish in order to save them. These are the same kinds of people
described in our gospel text today: the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness. These are the people who know that they have nothing to
offer God, but simply looking to God’s free offer of the forgiveness of sins, where? In the cross.
Therefore in verse 29 Paul says that no human being might boast in the presence of God by his
own might, power, wisdom. But seeing Jesus on the cross, seeing his blood and mercy
overflowing, covering us and washing us clean, our old selves are crucified with him. This is not
an act of the will, it is an act of faith.
That’s why in the Lutheran churches, there are still many who do the sign of the cross.
For some people who are not familiar with the tradition, they may think that this is a “catholic”
thing. According to my reliable source, the sign of the cross was used as early as 200 AD.
Apparently there are many symbolic meanings on how the sign of the cross is made. For
example we use three fingers to represent the trinity, the other 2 fingers are the 2 natures of
Christ. The usual form is from the forehead, which represents heaven, then the chest,
representing earth, and then the shoulders, which are symbols of power. Another form is crossing
on the forehead, the lips, and the heart with the thumb, while saying “May Christ's words be in
my mind, on my lips, and in my heart". Whatever the symbolism is, the main thing obviously is
the cross. Luther encourages the use of the sign of the cross. He says, “in the morning when you
get up, or when you go to bed, make the sign of the holy cross and pray…” Of course, I am not
making a rule that you HAVE to do this all the time, but what I am saying is that Luther had it
right. Everything in our lives start with the cross. How often we forget or neglect this! Making
the sign of the cross has a practical benefit, it reminds us of who we are: sinners who truly
deserved the cross, but at the same time, forgiven through the same cross because our old selves
are nailed with Jesus. This is a daily exercise for our old Adams clings to us so strongly that as
we rise with Christ, he seems to rise also with us. This is what it means to carry our cross. It does
not mean that we should carry a burden. What’s the point of becoming a Christian when we are
still carrying a burden? The purpose of the cross is to kill. Carrying your cross means that you
can kill yourself anytime you want, or anytime you NEED.
Is this foolishness? Yes it is for those without faith. The Christian religion is not about
how we do or what we do. It’s about what God has done and how he has done it. AND that he
continues to do in and through us. When people hear this, they will think this is non sense,
because it sounds like Christians are nothing. This is most certainly true. We must become
nothing because God is everything. And even many Christians will think of this as foolishness.
They do acknowledge the importance of the cross and the gospel, but in the end, it’s all about
what we are to do now to prove our faith. They will think that the cross and the gospel is the
basics of Christianity, once they are past that, they are now empowered to do all sorts of great
things for God. It is as if the Christian life is a linear journey until we reach heaven. But not if we
are to carry the cross. The Christian journey is a constant return to the starting point. Certainly
this makes no sense if we apply our reason. It’s like playing snakes and ladders, the board game.
Your goal is to reach the end and win. Certainly there are certain squares where it help you
advance or move back. Many see the Christian journey like that, up and down, up and down,
until finally we reach the goal. Well, the truth is that all squares have a snake that brings you
back to the beginning. Yes this sounds stupid, but that’s where you will find the cross. That’s
where you will receive the power of God to advance once again. Where then is the goal? It is
never apart from the cross. Our goal in square 1, in the cross. Our life is never apart from the
cross.