Sermon on 1 Corinthians 1vv18-31 Southwood 6 May 2007
18 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. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." 20 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? 21 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. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. 26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no-one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." [NIV]
Introduction: Corinth & 1 Corinthians
This morning we begin our series on 1 Corinthians: the first letter in the Bible written by the Apostle Paul to the new church in the city of Corinth, on the Southern tip of Greece.
First I want to say a little about Corinth -because if we know the sort of culture and people Paul was writing to, then we will be better placed to grasp why he says what he says. This will prove important, because there is much in the way of thinking in Corinth which looks very like the thinking in our culture today: just like Ian and Brad Pitt, there are many parallels!
Next I want to say a little about the whole thrust and tone of this letter: how and why did Paul write it: what did God want said to this church, and so to our church?
A Little About Corinth
So, a little about the Corinth of Paul's day. There was a Greek expression of the time, 'to Corinthianise', which meant to be sexually licentious. But that expression described the old Corinth of over a hundred years before Paul arrived there and wrote this letter. The city Paul arrived at certainly had some pretty unsavoury behaviour going on -but there was much more to it than that. Corinth had grown, and was now a city of big business, top athletes (as the Olympics approach I'm sure we'll hear the commentators speak of the 'Corinthian ideal' -probably using that expression wrongly, but more of that in a moment). Big, business, athletics, and many, many leisure pursuits: the art of work hard, play hard was ingrained into this thriving, cosmopolitan economy.
And what philosophy underpinned this city? Answer: the cult of the individual: -men who recognised no God but their own desires: the merchant who gained wealth by any and every means; the athlete who would stop at nothing to win and revelled in his own physical perfection; the person of pleasure who indulged every conceivable lust. The cult of the individual. If it feels good, it can't be wrong. This was Corinth -does any of this sound like Britain?
A little about 1 Corinthians
And what of this church in Corinth -how were they fairing in such a prevailing wind? How were God's people to live in and bring the one truth of Gospel of Jesus Christ to such a city? What issues does Paul address as he writes? I think we could name 5 clear issues:
o First, the church risked slipping into not being distinct from the world around it: "if we're too different no one will like us" -how often do we hear that nonsense from some quarters of the church even today!
o Second, there were divisions in the church: this was a city in which every individual was used to being right in his or her view of the world: a single, unique truth of one Saviour, One God, one Gospel did not sit easily in this culture! People liked making up their own truth. Divisions.
o Third there was quarrelling -goodness knows what about, maybe everything from status to the role of gifts of the Holy Spirit, but it had to stop!
o Fourth, people were still enjoying the individualistic, self-centred, promiscuous lifestyles of the past: this had led to everything from incest to some pushing forward at the communion, stuffing themselves with all the bread, getting drunk on the wine and leaving none for anyone else! Do you get the feeling this church needed a letter written?!
o And fifth, all this had led to some real doctrinal and theological problems: wrong beliefs about Jesus and the Holy Spirit which Paul needed to clear up.
But amazingly, although there are grave problems in Corinth, it's not all bad: neither is there anything wrong in Corinth which cannot be cleared up by the truth about Jesus (the Gospel), correcting wrong belief and the appeal to the Gospel of Jesus who, because He loves us died on the Cross for our sins, so that we might be forgiven and saved to eternal life: that very same Gospel which we declared as we baptised Lauren this morning, nearly 2000 years after Paul wrote this letter. And we'll do well to remember this: The Gospel -right, Biblical belief about Jesus Christ- is THE answer to all pastoral problems, all quarrels in the church, all divisions. This is why Paul says on one occasion the church in Corinth (as you see there in the next chapter, verse 2):
"I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 Corinthians 2:2
Paul sums all this up, all these problems, as amount to one great problem: the 'body of Christ' (the church) which should be one -indeed Paul argues has been made one by Jesus- is being broken up: this church in Corinth has been made and called to be 'one' in Christ Jesus, but many are engaging in 'body-breaking' activities: and Paul is going to deal with this, with the Gospel itself as his one and only tool for the job: 'nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified'!
And so to verses 18-31...
So, that's all by way of an introduction to the series. Let's spend a little time then looking at 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 together.
What Doesn't Make You Believe:
The big point in these verses is that to some people, all this Jesus and the Cross and Christianity all makes sense, but to other people it's all nonsense.
Now, with many things which we understand or don't understand, it's all about our intellect. So, if Richard comes up and explains the chemistry of what happens when you throw baking soda into a bowl of highly concentrated Sulphuric acid, some will get it and some won't. Assuming Richard's explanation is a good one, we'll be divided according to our intellect.
In another case, say Comic Relief, you'll find that some are deeply moved to give, whilst others are left cold: in this case we could be divided by our heart: by our levels of compassion. (or maybe by whether we find the combined BBC news team doing the can-can funny or not!). We'd then be divided according to our sense of humour.
And then there's modern art: some people get it and love it, and others just think it's mostly rubbish. I wonder which camp you fall into. In the case of modern art it might not matter that much. We can de divided according to our aesthetic sensibilities.
What Does Make You Believe:
Now here in 1 Corinthians 1, in verse 18 Paul explains exactly what divides those who accept Jesus and the forgiveness and eternal life the Cross brings, from those who reject it all. Look at verse 18:
18 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.
Why is Christianity believed by some and not by others? Well, it's not about intellect: since some of the most brilliant minds ever have been Christians, whilst some equally consummate geniuses have rejected it. There are also some very daft Christians, and some equally daft atheists. No, it's definitely not intellect.
Perhaps then it's about love and compassion: all the loving, caring, gentle people become Christians, and all the nasty people are non-believers. Well, I won't insult your intellect by explaining why that argument doesn't stack up.
Maybe then, it's like art: all the aesthetic emotional, deep-minded souls become Christians, getting all excited about stained glass windows and organ recitals. Back that doesn't stack up either -I mean, look at this place: it's not exactly the Sistine Chapel is it?!
Or maybe it's just that the Christian Gospel is just all nonsense: miracles, resurrections, God, Jesus -'what a load of rubbish' some say.
But here, Paul tells us exactly what it is that divides the believer from the unbeliever, and why some think that this Jesus stuff is all rubbish. And it is NOT that the Christian Gospel is inherently foolish, or actually is made up or untrue. No! Look again at verse 18:
18 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.
Whether you believe in Jesus or not is NOT about intellect or whether it stands up to human forensic and philosophical analysis (which it does mightily by the way!): it's about whether or not God has called you to understand it! "Foolishness to those who are perishing" yet to those "who are being saved it is the power of God"!
How Is This Linked To The Cross Of Jesus?
When we baptised Lauren today, the washing with water was indeed a sign -a sign to you and to me-that God can purify us from sin in our lives and forgive us: the things we need to be back in relationship with God. And this can only happen by bowing the knee to God. Even miracles or clever thinking might not help you: Look at verse 22:
22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
And continues,
24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
You see, Christianity is NOT daft or foolish, it just looks that way sometimes to those who are not being called by God to be saved!
The only thing that divides believer from unbeliever is God Himself!
And praise be to Him for that, because if it wasn't that way, we preachers and teachers would get very big-headed, only preach the Gospel to clever people, and start obsessing more about our 'mission methodology' than about the simple 'foolish' Gospel of ' '
So once again, good for Paul, who kept his nerve and faith, who remained humble before God and, as we noted earlier "" [1 Corinthians 2:2].
Being clever or artistic or even loving and kind is not the reason you have become or not become a Christian. It's about whether you have recognised you are a sinner, bowed the knee to God and accepted Jesus' forgiveness, and are ready to let your life be changed by Jesus Christ -the evidence that he has called you.
Be A Fool For Christ!
We can't say, "oh, I've been saved because I'm posh" or "I'm a Christian because I'm VERY clever" no, an idiot can understand the Cross of Christ and become Christian, and believe me may have! Praise be to God! Maybe the church needs more idiots! Are you that idiot? You may laugh, but Paul who wrote 1 Corinthians ( and who incidentally clearly had a massive intellect!) wrote to this church: '' [1 Corinthians 4:10]
In other words, he was happier to appear foolish for Jesus and be saved to eternal life, that to appear clever to the world and perish in hell!
This is exactly Paul's point at the end of this section (verse 29):
29 so that no-one may boast before him.... 31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
An old non-Christian friend, Mark, once said to me during a long debate in the pub, many years ago, "only an idiot would believe in Jesus!" and I was so exasperated I gave up and walked out (I'm not proud of that, but there it was). Looking at this, and even though he didn't realise it, maybe Mark was on to something.
That's often the choice a Christian will face: the Gospel, the Cross is NOT stupid, but the world will often see it that way -it is " foolishness to those who are perishing" -and therefore you if you believe you will often be seen as being foolish, even by your own family.
It all sounds like a vicious circle: if I'm not a believer in Jesus, then it all seems stupid and foolish -how then can I be exacted to believe? But there is a way to break that circle. We've seen that trying to be intellectual, or even just 'loving' won't help. What's the answer? It is to take the step of bowing the knee to God, confessing to Him that you are a sinner, and in need of forgiveness and putting your faith and trust in Jesus to give it to you -and much more besides. That is the message of the Cross: " foolishness to those who are perishing, but to [those] being saved ...the power of God"!
Paul was happy to be a 'fool for Christ' and so should we be.
Amen.
*Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton, a member of the Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved. "NIV" is a trade mark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.