Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "Called to Foolishness and Weakness"

Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

Fundamentally, American culture values money and power over poverty and powerlessness. In the process, we have come to abhor poverty and even to blame it on the poor themselves. But we also recognize that the rich and the poor always are in tension. As one of America’s most profound social critics, W. C. Fields, once remarked, "A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money." And another well-known critic, Marshall McLuhan, argued that "Affluence creates poverty." After all, how could you know that you were really rich if there were no poor folks against whom to measure your wealth?

Two thousand years ago, in his letters to the Christians at Corinth, the apostle Paul dealt with this same issue. The Corinthians were invested in the wisdom of the world and the power that accompanied that wisdom. Paul sought to convince them that God had provided a different way to salvation – and that this different way required a radical re-orientation in their worldview and in their relationships with God and with one another.

In this morning’s epistle passage, we hear Paul proclaiming his familiar message about the cross. But before we deal directly with this proclamation, it may be helpful to back up and provide a bit of context to Paul’s message.

This first letter to the Corinthians, along with its canonical companion, represents a collection of one side of a series of letters that must have passed between Paul and the members of the church at Corinth. In this first chapter, after the standard salutation (vv. 1-3) and thanksgiving (vv. 4-9), Paul makes an opening appeal for harmony in the face of the Corinthian quarrels that have been reported to him. The closing verse of his appeal is striking:

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power (v. 17).

Doesn’t this sound odd? Paul says that he is sent to proclaim the gospel, but not with "eloquent wisdom." Instead, Paul wants to use ordinary language that anyone could understand. His purpose is to lift up the message that real power is not to be found in words of wisdom, but in the cross of Christ.

This morning’s passage, vv. 18-25, further develops the contrast between human wisdom and the cross. In his usual dialectical fashion, Paul moves to connect the "message about the cross" to our salvation. He begins by dividing the world into "those who are perishing" and "us who are being saved" (v. 18). You will notice that these two populations are participating in two different processes. The former are perishing, while the latter are being saved. In effect, the ones who are perishing are actively involved in their process: the ones who are being saved are responding to a process beyond their control – namely, the "power of God."

This is a typically Pauline understanding of our situation as human beings. We cannot save ourselves, whereas we can contribute to our own downfall. Even if we are wise, or are able to write brilliantly or speak eloquently, our wisdom is "made foolish" by God. Paul declares to the Corinthians that it comes down to this: "God decided . . . to save those who believe" (v. 21).

Paul goes on to distinguish among the "Jews [who] demand signs" and the "Greeks [who] desire wisdom" (v. 22). In speaking of signs and wisdom, Paul effectively covers the two kinds of understanding that persist among human beings. On the one hand, to understand what we do not comprehend, we look for "signs and wonders" that warm our hearts. On the other hand, we want empirical evidence that can be measured in our minds.

Paul appreciated that the concept of "Christ crucified" is difficult to comprehend, both for Jews and for Greeks. He even described it as a "stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (v. 23). The choice of these words is very intentional on Paul’s part – and merits a brief comment.

The phrase "stumbling block" is a single word in Greek, skandalón, which serves as root for our modern English word, scandal. In ancient times, the term conveyed a sense of "enticement to un-belief, cause of salvation’s loss, or seduction" (Balz and Schneider [1982-1983], Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 3, p. 249).

According to Paul, the cross was "scandalous" because it turned upside down the conventional wisdom about power and authority. The cross provided a shock to the Jewish system of belief prevailing in the first century. What could be more unlikely, more "scandalous" than God choosing the cross as a sign of salvation? To believe that the "King of the Jews" could be crucified on a Roman cross and then resurrected on the third day was a transforming experience.

The word used by Paul to mean "foolish" – morós in Greek – is the root of our equivalent modern English word "moronic." "Believing in Christ crucified is foolish," says Paul. We might join the Greeks in saying, "Only a fool or a moron would believe in the cross – there’s just no proof!"

But Paul proclaims that "to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks" the cross is not a stumbling block and is not foolish. Instead, Christ crucified demonstrates the "power of God and the wisdom of God" (v. 24).

Now, we are getting somewhere. No longer is the distinction between sign and wisdom or between Jews and Greeks. Now, the distinction has shifted to be between those who are called and those who are not called.

But Paul is not finished with his argument with this singular transformation. To make his point more powerfully, he concludes this passage by proclaiming,

For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength (v. 25).

This proclamation seems unnecessary in the present context. What kind of God would be God if human wisdom could approach God’s wisdom? And human strength could approach God’s power? The effect of this final proclamation is, therefore, to remind the Corinthians just how powerful is the cross.

The Corinthians have witnessed God’s "foolishness and weakness" in the cross. Through Paul’s proclamation of the gospel, they are called to respond to the redemption and salvation represented by Christ crucified and resurrected. In the process, they are among the "us who are being saved."

And what of the rest of us? Can we believe in the sign of the cross and in its wisdom? Can we get past the concept of the cross as a stumbling block and as foolishness? According to Paul, this is possible only if we are called by the power of God.

It is tempting to think of the cross as a symbol of great power, for it has become the central symbol of our Christian faith. Here in our chancel area, in the PC(USA) banner handing above the door to the narthex, in the stained glass windows bordering the sanctuary, and even around our necks – the cross is an ever-present reminder of crucifixion and salvation.

In our reformed theology, we do not keep Jesus nailed on the cross. He is liberated from the cross. When we Presbyterians speak of the "empty cross," we do not forget the agony of Christ crucified, but emphasize the power of God in taking Jesus beyond death on the cross.

When God needs to deal with the pain and suffering of this world, God calls on us to be trustworthy stewards of God’s resources and faithful servants to those in need. Through our actions, we demonstrate our faith to the world. In working for social justice in a world filled with injustice, we keep alive the spirit of the cross.

We are not called to become rich and famous, or even wealthy and wise. We certainly are not called to be confined by our contemporary culture of consumption. Instead, we are called to proclaim Christ crucified to all. In this, we are called to foolishness and weakness. Amen.

© 2006 Van Kemper (e-mail: rkemper@trinitypresdallas.org)