1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (Epiphany 4A)

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (Epiphany 4A)

St. John, Galveston 1/29/2023

Rev. Alan Taylor

+ In Nomine Jesu +

Grace and peace to you, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

What is your philosophy of life? I realize some of us think about such things. Maybe others of us don’t. Still, if you had to choose a phrase to sum up your philosophy, your overall view of life, if you will, what would it be? I’ve seen the saying on the bumper of many a car that says, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” But that’s not remotely satisfying and it’s completely false. 

Reese Bobby was the father of Ricky Bobby in the movie Talladega Nights. He frequently said to Ricky, “if you aren’t first, you’re last.” That little bit of fatherly wisdom no doubt came from Reese’s years on the pro racing tour himself. After all, that’s where wisdom, our view of life, often comes from, isn’t it, not from textbooks, or from coursework, or from any other such structured learning, but from experience, from the trenches of life? And so, according to Reese Bobby, if you don’t finish first, no one cares where you finish. Finishing first is all that matters in life.

I don’t know that very many of us would agree with that assessment, but it does highlight a couple of things about human wisdom. For one thing, it isn’t absolute, nor is it universally, or necessarily even widely held, although it can be. Perhaps most of us here today would find the words of Soren Kierkegaard more to our liking in terms of a broad view of life. “Life (he once wrote) can only be understood backwards, but it has to be lived forwards.” I get that. I think you probably do too. 

Eckhart Tolle is a popular spiritual guru of our time. His writings make the circuit from time to time through popular TV programs like Oprah Winfrey and the like. He writes, “Dogmas (meaning the teachings of the Bible) are collective conceptual prisons. And the strange thing is that people love their prison cells because they give them a sense of security and a false sense of 'I know.' Nothing has inflicted more suffering on humanity (he says) than its dogmas.”

And so, there you have it, a few philosophies of life, the wisdom, if you will, of Reese Bobby, Soren Kierkegaard and Elkhart Tolle. I’ve brought these three to your attention, if for no other reason, than to make the point that while human wisdom is sometimes good and even, well, even wise, other times it’s somewhat controversial and even at odds with the wisdom of God. In the end though, as St. Paul tell us in this morning’s Epistle reading, it is more properly the wisdom of God that is at odds with the wisdom of men. “The last will be first (Jesus says), and the first will be last.” “Blessed are the meek (He says) for they shall inherit the earth.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” Each those statements of Jesus proposes the opposite of what conventional wisdom tells us. And so, we come to understand that, in the kingdom of God, much of what we hold to be valuable and true is turned upside down for a greater wisdom, something of far greater value. “The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

So, the wisdom of God is often at odds with the wisdom of men. Even more, it’s evident in the Scriptures, that the wisdom of God is often concealed such that men and women see it as foolishness. He conceals His wisdom beneath what appears lowly and ordinary, perhaps what even appears to be against human reason and logic. And so, His body and blood, given for the forgiveness of your sins, is concealed, it’s hidden to our eyes in the elements of bread and wine. But it’s still very much there. His words to that effect are very clear and they’re true even though they transcend human logic. “Take and eat, (He says), this is My body.” “Take and drink, this cup is the New Testament in My blood.”   

You may think it foolish though for God to conceal His wisdom as He does. I mean, if He wants people to know His wisdom and follow Him, it seems that He would make what He wants us to know clear and obvious. But He doesn’t. When Peter came to confess Jesus as the Son of the Living God, it was a huge moment in the life of the church. In fact, Jesus said that He would build His church on Peter’s confession. And He told Him that, “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” 

The wisdom of God comes to us through the power of the Holy Spirit, who opens our hearts and minds to believe what we could otherwise never fathom. As the Scriptures say elsewhere, “the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” God’s wisdom is concealed so that no man who has come to faith in Him can boast in anything but the Lord. 

Nowhere is the wisdom of God more revealed in what appears foolish than in the cross of His dear Son. “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

On the cross, Jesus bares in His body the sin of the world. He appears weak and defeated. He’s been mocked and ridiculed. A crown thorns has been shoved down upon His head to identify Him as the “King of the Jews.” It was, of course, a jester’s symbol. Near the end, He even cries out to His Father because His Father has forsaken Him on the cross, left Him to bear the sins of the world abandoned and alone. 

There is a hymn in our hymnal titled “He’s Risen, He’s Risen.” It was written by C.F.W. Walther, the first president of our Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. In the second verse he highlights the foolishness of the cross from a human perspective.

“The foe was triumphant when on Calvary

The Lord of creation was nailed to the tree.

In Satan’s domain did the hosts shout and jeer,

For Jesus was slain, whom the evil ones fear.”

How could any sort of victory come to humanity from such a display of agony and shame. Beyond that, why would God choose to reconcile the world to Himself in this way? Why would it involve such torture and shame? Why would it involve even death?

Well, there is, of course, a lot that could be said regarding those questions, but one thing to take away from this message this morning is what Paul wrote in verse 28 of our text. “God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.” The Gospel turns everything upside down. What appears great and wise in life is often of little significance. What appears lowly and even foolish in the Kingdom of God is often of the greatest importance, conveying to us the greatest of God’s blessings.

And the cross speaks wisdom to us, not just to our salvation, but to the whole of our lives. If God would reconcile the world to Himself in what appeared to be such a tragic loss, a pitifully despairing situation, a foolish spectacle, what great things does He work in our lives in situations where we have considered Him to be unconcerned, or even uncaring? Ours is a cruciform life. A life lived out beneath the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Everything in our lives is viewed, even filtered through Jesus’ cross. We view life then as having purpose and meaning, and, therefore, hope, even when the suffering of the cross looms large.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +