Get Used To It – 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

A text – 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

1:18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
1:20 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?
1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom,
1:23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
1:24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1:25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

A reflection:

What does this famous passage from the Apostle Paul mean for us? What is he trying to teach us? Paul is writing to a congregation of Greeks, not Jews. You and I, people who have been born and raised in the western world, are a lot like Greeks. We are cosmopolitan, we know a bunch of stuff, we consider ourselves to have studied certain things, to be able to predict certain things, and to have grown into responsible, capable adults. Paul says Jews demand signs before they will accept something, and Greeks demand wisdom (a solid argument).  But belief that Jesus is the son of the God who created heaven and earth, that he is and always was part of a Triune God – this isn’t about signs or solid arguments. To believe in that just defies logic. It seems like foolishness.

What is more, to believe that Jesus came to earth to show the true love of God to human beings, to say that no matter who you are or what you have done wrong, if you believe in his power to forgive you, you will live eternally with him in heaven, this seems like madness to many. Many of us humans would like to earn our way into heaven by our own good deeds, and we will really resent it when God also redeems into heaven bad sinners right alongside us. That very redeeming act of a loving God feels like an outrage to some human beings, who have been trying to be good their whole lives and just hate those people who are NOT behaving. It is even likely that we will resent the mercy of God poured out for others. This kind of God behavior IS foolishness in the extreme. It’s not fair and it’s not logical. It’s different from almost anything “good” that we have ever heard of in this world.

Well, get used to different. God is unimaginably good. God is the ultimate forgiving parent who still adores the child who goes astray. God is the shepherd who goes after the single wandering sheep. God isn’t logical. God is good; God is bountiful in mercy and love. God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. And we’d better thank God for it. Thank God that God is forgiving and welcoming and loving. When we are caught up in trying to be right all the time, we don’t think we will need that ultimate love and forgiveness. But God has got us covered. So do not fear. You are loved, no matter what. Just accept it. Get used to that kind of love and that kind of God.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for sharing your generous love and forgiveness with us. The moment we think we’ve been good enough not to need it, help us to see that we can relax into your loving arms and accept it anyway. Our life will be calmer, richer, and freer living in God’s abundance.  Amen.