A Foolish Word?”
A Sermon by Brent J. Eelman
I Corinthians 1: 10-18
Now I appeal to you, brothers and
sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in
agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should
be united in the same mind and the same purpose. For it has been reported to me
by Chloe’s people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters.
What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul’, or ‘I belong to
Apollos’, or ‘I belong to Cephas’, or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been
divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God* that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no
one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the
household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone
else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and
not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of
its power. 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.
“Don’t
be a fool.” How often have we heard that
admonition? “Don’t be a fool.” We heard it from our parents. We heard it
from teachers and coaches. We heard it from friends, colleagues and
advisors. “Don’t be a fool.” One of the things that I know about myself is
that when I am in a strange or new social situation, I am very concerned about
not appearing foolish. No one wants to
be a fool. No one wants to appear
foolish in the presence of others. No one wants to suffer the consequences of
personal foolishness. Yet here we have
the statement from Paul the Apostle that the message of the cross appears to be
utter foolishness to a great many people.
Paul
wrote those words to Greeks in Corinth.
The Greek culture valued wisdom and eloquence. The word philosophy
is a Greek construction which means “love of wisdom.” The women and the men whom Paul addressed in
this letter appreciated eloquence and well-reasoned argument. They were the heirs of Socrates and
Plato. They were schooled in the
arguments of the Epicureans and the Stoics.
They were reasonably sophisticated for their day. But what was the fruit of their
sophistication? It was division, argument and conflict.
Today,
I want to do something, just a bit different in the sermon. First, I want to look at legacy of worldly
wisdom through an historic anecdote.
Second, the legacy of history’s foolish Christians, And finally the power of the foolish cross.
I
Edward
Everett was the most celebrated American intellectual in the 19th
century. He was the valedictorian of his
Harvard Class. He was a congressman and
senator from the state of Massachusetts. He was a Unitarian pastor and the
first American ever to receive a PhD degree. He was also the governor of the
state of Massachusetts and Secretary of State for the United States. Later in life he assumed the presidency of
Harvard University. The town of Everett,
Pennsylvania is named after him. He was
president of Harvard when the first African American was admitted as a
student. In face of the opposition to
the student’s admission, Everett said:
"If this boy passes the examinations he will be admitted and if the
white students choose to withdraw, all the income of the college will be
devoted to his education."
Most
importantly, Everett was known as a brilliant orator. He was one of the great speakers of his age. When an inspirational speaker was needed, the
brilliant Edward Everett was the first choice.
He represented the wisdom of his age and he represented it well. Everett gave a speech in Pennsylvania that
was hailed by newspapers and pundits as brilliant. It was given at the dedication of the
cemetery at Gettysburg. Everett was
asked by the committee that was preparing the dedication of that cemetery if he
would be willing to be the keynote speaker at the dedication. He wrote back and said, that the date they
picked would not give him enough time.
The committee agreed to set the date back two months, so that Everett
would have adequate time to prepare his speech.
Almost as an afterthought, David Wills, the president of the committee,
asked President Abraham Lincoln to make a "few appropriate remarks." Lincoln agreed. Everett’s speech was a masterpiece, according
to those who heard it that day. He spoke
for two hours, and people hung on his every word. After that great speech, Lincoln spoke for
two minutes. The newspapers hailed the words of Everett as brilliant. But let
me read a few of the reactions to Lincoln’s words:
Chicago
Times: "The
cheeks of every American must tingle with shame as (Lincoln) reads the silly,
flat, and dishwatery utterances."
Harrisburg
Patriot and Union:
"We pass over the silly remarks of the President; for the credit of the
Nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and
that they shall no more be repeated or thought of."
That
two minute speech, the “silly
remarks” the forgettable, “silly, flat,
and dishwatery utterances,” were the Gettysburg Address. It is recognized today
as one of the greatest pieces of oratory in American history. No-one quotes the words of Everett, however eloquent,
has become a question for trivia games.
To his credit, Everett recognized the brilliance of Lincoln and wrote to
him, "I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to
the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two
minutes."
The
wisdom of our age, is often the trivia of future ages.
II
The
foolishness of the cross has shown itself to be powerful and continues long
after the fall of monarchs and empires.
Consider the impact of this foolishness.
Many
of the early Christians were regarded as fools because their affirmation of
faith often led them to suffering and martyrdom. The crazy emperor Nero used Christians as
human torches to light some of his garden parties. Early followers of Jesus were thrown into
stadiums and provided entertainment for spectators as they were mauled by
beasts or gladiators.
They
were fools, but here is the power of their foolishness: If Nero and the other persecutors of
Christianity could return to Rome today and look for the Vatican gardens where
the Christians were burned, they would find in their place an enormous church,
named for Peter who was probably one of their victims. When Rome fell in the 5th century,
the Christian Church remained and continued.
The foolishness of the cross has outlived the wisdom of the
powerful.
Or
consider the German church in the 1930’s and 40’s. Some of the best theologians and scholars lacked
the moral courage to resist the racist ideology of the Nazis and capitulated to
the wishes of the German Reich. They allowed the state to appoint bishops,
control and censor the message of the church. It was the “wise and expedient”
thing to do. A small group of women and men
began a confessing church in response to this.
They were regarded by many as foolish Christians. Most of them would be imprisoned or executed,
because they dared to foolishly oppose one of the most powerful regimes of the
20th century. Armed only with
words and ritual (the truth!) they
foolishly dared to say “no” to the lies of an oppressive state. History has judged both groups. Today, we remember the names of Bonhoeffor,
Niemoller, and others. We admire them
for their faith and conviction. We read
their words today, and we know that these foolish individuals understood the
power of the cross.
Then
there is the 20th century fool, Albert Schweitzer. He earned a PhD in philosophy. He was one of the most celebrated organists
of his day. He was a biblical scholar
whose work, The Quest Of the Historical
Jesus, is still read today. He could
have settled into a comfortable life as a professor and musician. At the age of 30, in 1905, he answered the call of "The
Society Of The Evangelist Missions of Paris" who were looking for a
Medical Doctor. He
spent the next 8 years of his life, studying medicine, and devoted his life to
serving as a physician in the Congo.
What a fool! Thank God, what a
fool!!
III
Following
Jesus Christ, in our day and age often appears to be foolish.
·
How
foolish it seems to some in our busy society to spend Sunday morning, a time to
catch up on sleep, with others, singing and worshiping and enjoying fellowship
together.
·
How
foolish it seems to share wealth, time and talent for the benefit of others,
when we could be investing those resources in ourselves and our own futures.
·
How
foolish it must be to believe that we are created by someone who loves us, and
wants us to live and enjoy life together…
·
How
foolish it seems to believe that this same being, God, loves others and values
them, even when we don’t.
·
How
foolish it seems to forgive others when they do us wrong.
·
How
foolish it seems to believe that human beings were created to live together in
harmony and peace, and not in a state of conflict, war and destruction.
·
How
foolish it seems to believe that one individual, a Mediterranean peasant, who
lived 2000 years ago, in an obscure part of the world… who allowed himself to
be captured and executed, could be the one who holds the future to life, and
the purpose of our existence.
·
How
foolish it must seem in our sophisticated age to hold on this… this power of
the cross..
Yet
when I ponder these assertions, (and they are often made by the wise and
sophisticated), and I reflect on the history of humanity, it becomes apparent
that the foolishness of the cross, is indeed wiser and more potent than the
wisdom of our age and any age.
Are
my words this morning foolish? Perhaps…
but it is a foolishness that offers hope, and history has vindicated that
hope.
The
challenge for us today is to have the audacity of the fool;
·
to
proclaim hope in the midst of despair;
·
to
see opportunity and promise in the midst of chaos;
·
to
see the hand of God in times of trouble;
·
to
pursue the peace of Christ, when others want to fight;
·
to
share and serve others in a world that proclaims “me first!”.
The
challenge for us is to embody the foolish word of our Jesus Christ in our lives
today. Amen.
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