For the message of the cross is foolishness 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; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
Evolution is based in many ways on classifications. By classifying creatures together and noting their similarities they try and deduce a common ancestry in the two. Paul takes an opposite approach. He classifies two different races of people; Gentiles and Jews and notes their DIFFERENCES; how they approach life in two completely different ways. Jews seek miracles and Gentiles seek wisdom. Both are wrong. Both however originate from the dead and hostile sinful nature. Christianity gives both of them something they are neither seeking nor desiring. It gives them a dead guy on a cross and says, “Here is your power and your wisdom.”
This is so contrary to today’s view of evangelism; to give people what they seek or desire and hide the cross behind it; sneak it in from behind. “You want good music; here it is. You want to laugh; here you go. You want success; we’ve got it. Oh, and by the way; we might try to mention that we have a few problems in life and that Jesus helped solve those problems. Jesus might offer a few solutions along the way; help you be a better you.” The solution tries to be both and.
The cross is not meant to be hidden under the guise of laughter or to come as an afterthought behind healing and success. The cross is meant to be the centerpiece of Christianity. It is meant to be a contrast to whatever anyone is seeking and give the people what they need; uniting them under one Person and one message no matter what their background or desire. This is why the theme of our Lent season and services focuses on Christ crucified. The crucifixion intertwines and overlays every aspect of life. It is our reason for repentance and our basis of faith and hope and love.
Lent: It’s All About Christ
I. For those who seek wisdom, we give them Christ
Paul first of all talks about the Greeks. In a general sense he classified them as people seeking after wisdom. Socrates started it all out, followed by Aristotle and Plato who had lived around 400 years prior to Paul’s arrival on the scene. These two were the ground breakers into Greek thought. One promoted the unseen ideal while the other promoted proven and scientific facts. Greeks loved to talk and contemplate over the latest theories. With their slave system the men were renowned for going to discussing all kinds of topics while their slaves and wives did a majority of the work.
This seems to remind me of the cultural elite classes of our day; those who love to gather around the universities and discuss what they consider to be the deepest thoughts. “Could God make a boulder too big for Him to move?” Nobody ever really wants an answer; they just want to “enter a discussion” or “open a dialogue.”
This intellectual culture has stuck its ugly head into religion where there is no right or wrong; but as long as we can talk about it; well, that’s the important thing. When the ELCA recently openly accepted homosexual preachers into its midst, the common people had an uproar; at least some of them did. The Bible seemed plain enough to the uneducated hoi polloi. Yes, it is a rather matter of fact thing. So the ELCA did what the elites love to do; send someone around to wring their hands and talk. “We need to discuss this and enter into a dialogue. Let’s start by discussing what love is and what is a relationship and how has God designed it. What REALLY is His purpose in it? Then maybe we can find some common ground.” In mathematical terms it means that 2 + 2 no longer equals 4. After all, “Who are the two and what are the other two? What do we mean by ‘equals’? And do we really need to reach four? Why is four the number? Does it have to be?” All of the while the basic people say, “What are we discussing this for?!?”
Luther had been brought up under an educational system that was driven by Aristotle’s philosophy. Everything had to make sense and line up under reason. It was thought that God could be taught through logic. Apart from being offensively blasphemous it is almost comical to watch how far astray the greatest minds of our times can go from the Biblical text. I can recall when I used to take the time to watch a show called “Ancient Mysteries of the Bible.” The show is constantly questioning every Bible story. Did a Flood really happen? Was there really a person named Jesus who walked and talked on the earth? If Jesus did walk on earth; how did it actually take place? Modern scholars have figured out a way that it could have appeared for this to happen.
We might laugh at such wisdom in a scoffing way. Yet stop to think about how your own intellect gets in the way of God’s Word. When God talks about giving your first fruits, do you intellectualize it? Do you say to yourself, “God is talking about those who have the money to pay their bills. God will surely understand my situation. After all, I do have five children! I’m just a student. I don’t make enough to make a difference.” When God says that hatred or even the desire for personal vengeance is a sin, how do you talk yourself out of that guilt? Do you say to yourself, “Oh, yes. This is God’s law. He is doing this to make me scared. He is doing this so that I cling to Christ.” So what we do with the law is to intellectualize it. Years ago I taught Latin to some sixth and seventh grade students. One student was particularly getting on my nerves, to which he decided to make a commentary. “Oh, I see you are getting angry now.” His commentary on my emotions in a cold and calculated manner made me even angrier. Do you imagine that our intellectualizing of God’s Word does the same? “Yes, I know that the law states that God gets angry at my lust. He hates lust. That is what the law says. Yet I wonder how God felt about David or Abraham when they committed adultery? Let’s talk about the theological ramifications of Solomon for a time.” Wouldn’t God’s Word to us be, “I’m serious here! I’m talking about YOUR sin! This isn’t just a theological or intellectual exercise you ignorant Greek! Repent now or die!”
Wisdom is not tantamount to faith. Think of Solomon. Even though God had given him great wisdom into running a kingdom; he used that wisdom to forge alliances through heathen marriages and so jeopardize his faith. Think of what Jesus said of little children; that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Paul told Timothy that it was from infancy which he had known the Holy Scriptures. God had eight day old infants circumcised in the Old Testament and in the New Testament he transferred that to the baptism of all nations; including infants. It shows us that faith is not always equal to wisdom.
It is the nature of wisdom to try and figure things out. Wisdom says, “If I can just figure out how it works then I can figure out how to fix it.” Just today I saw the television screen with pictures of Tiger Woods, Governor Sanford and Elliot Spitzer. I couldn’t hear what it was saying. But then it flashed up, “60% of men are unfaithful.” It then showed pictures of the brain with neurons moving back and forth. The idea of wisdom was portrayed and I’m sure spoken in an ad for Dr. Oz. If we can explain and discuss the reasons for unfaithfulness in males, then we can perhaps prescribe the right drug to keep men from running around on women. Instead of calling adultery a sin that needs to be repented of it can be called a disease or a genetic inclination; and so any disease can be cured. Perhaps Tiger Woods will be able to cured of his sexual addiction by talking him through the reasons for why he is doing what he is doing. Yet we don’t stop to think about the ramifications of this. If it can be cured through drugs then it really doesn’t ever need to be condemned or repented of. Even within Christianity Jesus Christ is pictured as an example through which we can learn to conquer sins and improve our lives.
Against all logic God provides a different remedy. God says, “I am not going to fix your sin by talking about it or talking you through it. I will actively do something about it. I will take your sin off of you and nail it on my Son. I will blame my only Son; God divine in the flesh; for what you have done. I will see look at Jesus as if He had committed every murder, every act of adultery, every perversion in the world; and I will punish Him with every bit of wrath I could muster. I will make Him bear the guilt of your sin so that you don’t have to. I will deal with every sin that is in the world and all of the guilt of every sinner at this one time and place called a cross. At this cross I will nail the sins of the world to a man on a tree. I will kill it. I will crucify it. I will bury it in the ground with my Son. This is my remedy.” The cross is more than a theory. It is the action of the Living and Holy and Just God against sinners and for sinners.
Logic tries to figure this out. Wisdom tries to get it in the brain. It says, “What? I don’t get it. Why would you punish your perfect Son for people you describe as rebels and filthy sinners? It doesn’t make sense. If you are really that angry and that demanding then surely you would make us do something or suffer something. If you really are God and you really can do anything, well then you can just ignore sin. Why would you have to punish your Son to forgive it?” God’s Word doesn’t care whether people think it is logical or not. The Holy Spirit buries our faces in the cross of Christ firmly plants itself at God’s throne of justice and says, “This is it. This is the way to salvation. Believe in Jesus. Trust in Him. Hide behind Him and be saved. Otherwise be damned.”
II. For those who seek power; we give them Christ
The other side of the spectrum shows us a group of people who are much more action oriented. They love glorious and powerful works! It is these types of people that are enamored with the Exodus! Look at the plagues that God brings down on the Egyptians! Now there’s some power! These people love how God brings fire down on the soldiers who come to arrest Elijah. They love to follow Jesus around as He heals the sick and calms the storm! They tenaciously cling to Jesus’ words when He promises them the ability to shut the mouths of lions and quench the flames!
Naaman
was such a man. He was suffering from
leprosy and he needed to be healed. He
was desperate. God’s prophet offered him
a simple remedy of washing in the
Simon the Sorcerer was another such man. For some time he was a tool of Satan; being used to produce evil works through magic arts. Yet God was merciful. He was brought to faith in Jesus Christ and baptized. But this wasn’t enough for Simon. He soon found himself seeking after power once again. He wasn’t satisfied with only knowing that his sins were forgiven. He wanted more. When Peter and John were able to give a special gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of their hands to believers, he also wanted such a power. Acts 8:18-22 says, When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.
This is how Paul characterized a majority of the Jews. They mainly sought miraculous acts from God;
such as those who followed Jesus around the Sea of Galilee so that he would
continue to miraculously feed them for 40 years as God did the Israelites
through the desert. This is the type of
God they wanted. Yet when you consider
what happened to those two million people who were led through the Red Sea and fed
in the desert and who saw those miracles, what good did those miracles end up
doing them? A majority of them ended up
dying in unbelief and rebellion. Miracles
didn’t do them any good in the end. Yet
that’s what the Jews seemed to constantly ask for from Jesus. The chief priests and teachers of the law
would sit at the foot of the cross and demand another miraculous sign from God
in order to give them “faith.” If only
Jesus would come down from the cross, then they would believe.
It is these same type of people that are constantly seeking signs from
God. They flock to Benny Hinn and treat
him as a prophet from God, even though he falsely prophecied that God would
send fire from heaven to completely destroy the homosexual community from the
United States in the 1990’s. They flock
to miracle healers and tongue speakers; people who make great claims about
visions and miracles and the ability to chase demons out of people and so many
other things. They want to see the Holy
Spirit; feel Him pulse through their bodies and work through their hands. They want to see and feel the miracles of God
and they will do anything they can in order to get this spirit. They love to hear how the powerful LORD can
change their lives and make them so much more successful in this world.
But what does the Holy Spirit say?
“Come here. Do you want to feel
my power? Look at this person here on
this cross. See the blood and water
pouring from His side. Hear him gasp His
last breath. Listen to His final cries. Watch him die for the sins of the world. Watch the Father punish Him for crimes He did
not commit. Can you feel me now?” Or the Holy Spirit says, “Come and take the
Lord's Supper. Listen to me tell you how
you are receiving the body and blood of the LORD.” The enthusiast says, “NO! That doesn’t excite me! That’s the same old boring message that I’ve
heard from childhood! Anyone can die on
a cross! Anyone can eat bread and
wine! There has to be something
more.”
Through eyes of faith we see more. We
cry, “You put him there! You caused His
pain! He is being blamed for what you
did! He is not just dying there! He is going through hell as the subsitute for
the world’s sins! He was put there
because of who we are! It is the God and
author of life that is dying here! If
you are looking for a miracle, then what could be more miraculous? What could be more miraculous and out of the
order of nature than for the eternal and living author of Life to DIE! What could be more powerful than Jesus
putting His very body and blood within the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper to
personally give us His forgiveness still today?
If that doesn’t move you; if that isn’t powerful enough for you, then
what is?” This is the most powerful thing that the Holy
Spirit has to offer a world seeking miracles; He brings them to the cross and
says, “This cross is my most powerful miracle.”
In general classifications we usually denote people as either being dominated by the left side of the brain or the right side of the brain. If I remember correctly, the left sided are more artistic minded while the right sided are more interested in mathematical figures and facts. Paul generalizes the world into two types of people Jews and Gentiles; miracle seekers and wisdom seekers. Where do you fit? Maybe you are a little bit of both?
Either way, it doesn’t matter. Instead of giving us what we seek God gives us what we need. God offers us His power and wisdom in what would appear to be the most foolish and weak place in the world; the cross. We come here and look at this God-man dying on a cross. God says that this is where we find wisdom and strength, so that God can make us strong and show us His remedy to sin, death and hell; through another man’s death for us. This is where we find forgiveness. This is where we find hope. This is where we find redemption. This is where we find power to keep on living even while we are dying; in Christ alone. It’s all about Him. Amen.