What, Exactly, DID You Expect?
Today, let's take just a few moments to look at what is to be truly wise, not only in a time of pandemic, but a time where things are a little more normal. No matter whether it's on a personal level, a local level, a national level, or international level, it is acutely obvious, we have a great desire to know what is right, as well as a desire for everyone to do what is right by themselves, those they love, and the larger community.
And what's known as Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, starting at verse 18, we are given a bit of understanding about wisdom from the perspective of faithfulness to Christ. And maybe we might find something to hold on to, not only for times like ours but for all time. We read in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, the following:
"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the lies, and the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart.' Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where's the debater of the 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. God decided through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs, and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles."
"But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength. Consider your own call, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human 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, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. In order that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'"
Just a few things that I think we need to consider as we go through and we see these words, is, "For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." I think sometimes, especially in times of crisis, we could look at our leadership on whatever level and say, "Well, everybody knows they ought to do this. It should be obvious we need to do this. Why are they wasting their time doing this, that, or the other?" And I'm not saying there isn't a space for constructive dialogue and accountability among those who are in authority, and toward those who are in authority. But I think sometimes as people of faith, we need to stop for a minute, and be reminded that we profess a faith that looks at the world, not through the eyes of human wisdom, but looks at the world through the eyes of divine grace, and maybe we should take a moment to be reminded that God does not operate according to what would be conventional wisdom either. I'm not making excuses for anyone, but I'm saying, let's be careful before we start jumping into, "It should be obvious."
And later on, he says, "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?" The second thing I think we could look at as we get into this passage, is very simply this: we must ask ourselves through which lens are we looking at everything in life? Through which will set of lenses do we approach every situation? Because sometimes, being people of faith, means to do not what is conventional, but to do what is unconventional.
And I want to spend a moment there just saying, look, there's been a lot of discussion amongst many a Christian circle, and beyond the Christian circles, about the behaviors and habits of certain pastors and certain churches. And I will say this, I think sometimes the most unconventional thing the Christian Church can do at a time like this, is to go in a different direction, and instead of allowing ourselves to get trapped into what people may think we should or shouldn't do, maybe we should be foolish enough to say, "You know what? Maybe part of how God is revealing himself to the church is through what is going on, and maybe part of how God is revealing himself to us is through those men and women who are in positions of authority when it comes to public health. Maybe that's part of us making a statement."
You go on the third and last thing that I want us to look at here in this passage is that "God chose what is foolish in the world, to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world, to shame the strong." If you go back and you look at the events of this week from a biblical perspective, and you go back and you explore the events of Holy Week in the gospels, heck, if you go back and you start with Matthew 1 and you look at Jesus' genealogy, there is no way in the world that Jesus Christ should have been the one who would be a savior, because he didn't come from the right family. He didn't come from the right background. He didn't have the right stature. He didn't have the right army. He didn't have the right political connections. He didn't rule his kingdom through sword and spear, and yet, here we are almost 1,000 years later celebrating his work.
And Jesus, his way of living was so profound and had such an impact, that even the nonbelievers are influenced by his work, simply every time they fill out a check, and for anybody who fills out a check anymore. And we know that our calendar is divided into BC and AD. Why share all this? Why bring this out of this passage? Look, I get it. We can put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do this or that or think this or that, but let us in the midst of all this, understand that God works in so ways. Let's not be foolish enough to buy everything that we're being sold by the world, but neither let us be so arrogant and selfish to think that God can't work through all, for as we see, in this: Paul wrote, "We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God."
Let us be sure to focus on what is the wisdom of God. Understanding that chances are good the wisdom that God is showing us is not going to come with the message you expect, it's not going to come through the vessel you expect, but it is going to be the work of God through Jesus Christ.