I Corinthians 1:18-25 * February 17, 2010 * Ash Wednesday * Pastor Pagels

In the name of Christ Jesus, who died so that we might live, dear friends:

If you look around you can see them carved in the woodwork and etched in the stained glass, on the altar and around my neck. Today there are even more of them, smaller ones hanging along the aisles and a large one standing next to the pulpit. Of course I am referring to the cross. The cross is Christianity’s most prominent symbol, and it also figures prominently in the theme for this year’s midweek Lenten devotions, We Preach Christ Crucified.

It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to see crosses in church, but how about outside of church? Did any of you see any crosses before you came to church today? Maybe at work or the grocery store or the gas station? Did you see a person with some black smudged on his/her forehead? And as you got closer to that person were you able to make out two lines, one horizontal and one vertical, in the shape of a cross?

Even though the imposition of ashes isn’t an Ash Wednesday tradition at St. John’s, you might still be familiar with it. Ashes symbolize repentance and sorrow over sin, and the cross reminds us of the place where those sins were taken away.

All of us know that today is Ash Wednesday, but what about the people who don’t? What about non-Christians? What about the average unbeliever? What do you think he thinks when he sees people walking around today with ashen crosses on their foreheads? Maybe he is confused. Maybe he thinks that it looks sort of strange…or perhaps even a bit foolish.

To associate the cross with foolishness is nothing new. Two thousand years ago the apostle Paul proclaimed that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (18), but he went on to call that same message a message of power and wisdom for those who are being saved. Tonight we will consider these different, divergent viewpoints, and with the Holy Spirit’s guidance the Lord will help us resolve the apparent contradiction that is…

THE FOOLISH WISDOM OF THE CROSS

The original recipients of Paul’s inspired words were Christians living in the Greek city of Corinth. Greeks valued wisdom. Thousands of years later ancient Greece is still associated with wisdom. Greece, the home of Socrates and Plato and Aristotle. Greece, the place where the foundation of western thought was laid.

Paul knew his audience and he knew how to get their attention. “Where is the wise man? (he asked) Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age” (21a)? Actually, these people weren’t very hard to find, not in Greece anyway. In Corinth there was no shortage of scholars and philosophers discussing the latest and greatest ideas.

But one doesn’t have to travel all the way to Greece to find worldly wisdom. We can find it just about anywhere. We can even find examples of it in the Passion story. Even though Caiaphas was the Jewish high priest he proved himself to be quite wise in the ways of the world. He was a powerful man, and he was supposed to be a deeply spiritual man, but the gospels paint a different picture.

Caiaphas was the one who declared that it would be better for one man to die than for the entire nation to perish (John 11:50). Caiaphas was only looking out for the good of the people. Caiaphas only wanted to preserve the future of his people. His words sounded noble, even pure, but his motives were pure evil.

When the plot to take Jesus’ life took shape, Caiaphas was the one who presided over the mockery that was his trial. He called witness and false witness to testify against Jesus. When that didn’t work, he charged Jesus under oath to declare if he was the Son of God. And when Jesus said that he was, the high priest charged him with blasphemy (Matthew 26:63-65). By condemning Jesus’ (alleged) sin, by condemning Jesus to death, Caiaphas was getting rid of his nemesis AND doing God’s will (at least that is what he led others to believe). How shrewd. How wise.

The man who presided over Jesus’ next trial was worldly wise too. Pontius Pilate had to be to advance to the position of Roman governor. But this particular criminal was different. The man who stood before him spoke with authority. He spoke of truth. He even made Pilate ask: “What is truth” (John 18:38)?

It didn’t take Pilate long to realize that Jesus was innocent. More than once Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but he never fully understood that Jesus was the one who could set him free. Instead of doing what he believed to be right Pilate did what he thought was necessary. Instead of standing up for the innocent he handed down a verdict of guilty. Pilate sacrificed Jesus to save himself. Humanly speaking, politically speaking, it was the smart thing to do. Some people might even say wise.

Why didn’t Pilate protect Jesus? Why did his own people reject Jesus? Why do so many people continue to reject Jesus? Paul explains why: “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (22,23).

For many Jews the gospel had become became “a stumbling block.” They desperately wanted a Messiah. Some of them were really pulling for Jesus to be that Messiah. And he started out so well. He had gathered a large following. He was performing all kinds of miracles. He was gaining momentum…

And then he was arrested. And then he was convicted. And then he was executed like a criminal, along with the worst kind of criminals. And many of his own people couldn’t get over that. Crucifixion didn’t fit into their picture of the Messiah. He wasn’t supposed to be killed by the Romans. He was supposed to defeat the Romans. He wasn’t supposed to suffer. He was supposed to free people from suffering. But he did suffer and he did die, and because he did many Jews came to the conclusion that he couldn’t be the one.

The Gentiles had a little different perspective. They didn’t need to be liberated. They needed to be convinced. And when Paul was given the opportunity to address the wise men of his day the best he could come up with was to tell them that the Son of God was born of a virgin and died on a cross and three days later rose from the dead to save the world from sin.

Does that make sense? Don't be afraid to say what you’re thinking. Don’t be afraid to admit it. It doesn’t. It doesn't make sense when we say that Jesus is true man and true God. It seems kind of silly to think that the all-powerful Son of God would allow himself to be subjected to unspeakable pain and suffering. It doesn’t make sense to believe that one person’s death can pay for another person’s (much less every person’s) sins. It goes against every logical bone in our bodies to believe that we receive Jesus’ body and blood with the bread and wine in communion, and even more, that in this little meal somehow God gives us forgiveness.

Worldly wisdom scoffs at all these claims, but what absolutely galls the sinful mind, what human reason can’t believe, what by my own thinking and choosing I will never be able to believe is that without Jesus I am without hope. There must be something I can do. There must be some contribution I can make. I can do more good than bad. I will try to do better. I can think of lots of people who are worse.

There is a word that describes this mindset. The Bible has a word to describe people who think this way. Foolish. We are foolish when we overestimate ourselves and underestimate our sin. The fool says in his heart there is no God. The fool thinks to himself: “I can help God," or worse, “I don’t need God.” The wise fool lives in denial and is destined to spend eternity separated from God.

If you want to avoid that fate, if you want to avoid being foolish in the eyes of God, if you want to be wise unto salvation, you don’t need to go back to school. You don’t need to get an advanced degree. You need to get down on your knees.

That is exactly what we did at the beginning of this service. We knelt down and confessed our sins. We confessed our unworthiness. We confessed our utter helplessness. We asked the Lord to hear our prayer and to come to our relief.

And he did. It was a pastor who was speaking, but it was the Savior's voice. It was Jesus who said: “I forgive you all your sins. Be assured that you are a dear child of God and an heir of eternal of life.” How are we assured? How can we be so sure that we are forgiven, that we are God's children, that we are heirs of eternal life?

Because of the cross. Because Jesus carried the sins of the world to the cross. Because Jesus sacrificed his life for you on the cross. Because Jesus paid your debt in full on the cross. We can't do anything to save ourselves, but we don't have to because God has done everything for us. Even if that doesn't make any sense to us, it made perfect sense to God to send his perfect Son to die in our place to make us perfect in the eyes of God.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that brings together two words that apparently contradict each other (an example would be deafening silence). The word itself is a combination of two Greek words that mean "sharp" and "foolish," so you could say that an oxymoron is an expression that is pointedly foolish.

Tonight’s sermon text is built around an oxymoron, and it even includes the word "foolish" in it. Paul called it the “foolish wisdom” of the cross. Normally people think of wisdom and foolishness as polar opposites, but there is a place where they go together. There is a hill outside of Jerusalem where they complement each other.

On Calvary the innocent died for the guilty. On the cross Jesus died so that we might live. We can't understand it. We can't explain it. But by the grace of God we believe it. We treasure it. And with Paul we boldly proclaim it. We preach Christ crucified. It's not just a slogan. It's more than a Lenten theme. It is a message of divine wisdom. In four words it sums up our hope of salvation.

As we embark upon our Lenten journey, we already know our final destination. We follow Jesus on the road to Calvary. We see his pain and suffering. We see our sin and shame. And yet we can rejoice. Even on a somber day like today, even on the day Christians call Ash Wednesday, we rejoice. We rejoice because our Savior has saved us from death by his death…on the cross. Amen.