God's Foolish Plan

Introduction

How would you define success? The definition is very personal and based on one’s beliefs about life. Listen to some of these responses:

success is being able to do what one really loves to do and enjoys for a living. How does this strike you? Does this seem to be a relevant definition? So the opposite then would be unsuccessful. If you are not able to do what you love to do and enjoy then you would be unsuccessful. To put it another way then, success is whatever makes you happy.

ii. success is fulfilling a goal that you have set for your self/selves in any sphere of your life. Success is achievement. Lack of achievement would be defined as failure. But what about the value of achieving in the struggle if is one did not reach the goal? Eric Heiden was the best ice speed skater in the 1980 Olympics. He won 5 gold medals—an achievement that has never been equaled before or since for his field. What is not known is that every skater who placed second in those five races also had personal bests. Silver medals do not get the recognition of gold but surely no one denies success in the struggle even though ultimate achievement failed.

iii. Success is wealth. Billions are not successful based on that definition but then that is the core of the definition—elitism in some way measures success. Our world evaluates success based on the haves and the have nots.

iv. If winning isn’t everything, then why do they keep score? This quote is attributed to Vince Lombardi, head coach of the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s. To put it succinctly, we all know people are keeping score and success is measured by how often you beat your opponent. Life is about competition and we have to win more than we lose. That is success.

We hear these views over and over again. The influence of our own culture is ingrained in us. We cannot escape it. There is a constant battle to prove ourselves. We are told to “toot” our own horns because no one else will. We are told to allow no one to disrespect us. We are told that having more will make us happier. We are told that following our heart is better than our head. On and on we could go. Human wisdom is ingrained. Our text today presents an alternative view that appears foolish. It is God’s view and it is counter to our culture’s view. It also challenges us to rethink our own commonly accepted practices and attitudes. What matters most will be challenged.

Foolishness

Attitudes in Paul’s world were not significantly different than in ours. Winners and losers were largely predicated upon status and power. Even among the winners there was a distinction made between those who won over generations of winning and those who had to work their way up into the world. Just like our day and time, distinctions are made based on those who have long term family success versus those who have new money. A hierarchy of success existed in Paul’s day as well. Competitiveness was rampant especially among the wealthy and powerful. Influence mattered. Those who knew others of power and could use that knowledge for gain mattered. All of this spilled over into congregational life.

House churches were the norm for Paul’s day. There were no “church” buildings. Only the wealthy would have had houses big enough to host a group. That would give the wealthy undue influence in regards to status and power. It is no wonder that divisions occurred. By the time we get to chapter 11, we will find that the haves and the have nots are divided and the haves are making it difficult for the have nots to be accepted into fellowship. This competitive worldly spirit was being utilized in congregational life by judgments made in terms of knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual gifts. Instead of denial of self, love, and understanding the equal worth of each one, the believers were still competing for spiritual domination even as they competed in the social and political world.

In our text, Paul lays the foundation for how God’s people are to think. This foundation will be the basis for building a series of specific actions and attitudes that follow in later chapters, but he is starting the application with a firm base—the cross. The cross demonstrates weakness. The crucified person did not win or succeed. The crucified person died in shame and humiliation. Naked on the cross exposed to ridicule and the abject demonstration that Rome was far greater than any political or social threat, the cross represented utter defeat.

God used the cross to prove that his thoughts and ways are far different from the conventional earthly wisdom. The Jews look for a sign. They wanted proof in order to believe. They needed to be convinced through a demonstration of the miraculous. But even when the miraculous was given, Jews largely rejected Jesus because the cross destroyed their sensibility of what a conquering Messiah was supposed to be like. The Greeks wanted proof through words. Philosophies could be argued and through words and logic, a person could be convinced that God should be followed. But there was no way to argue that the cross was victory. How did one logically win the hearts of people through words like serve, be humble, give away your wealth, and lose? The cross caused the Jew to stumble and proved foolish to the philosophers.

Paul doesn’t mention the resurrection until chapter 15. Why? The point is to reveal that the cross does not attract. The cross and its shame doesn’t convince and yet it is the means by which God showed the truth of his world. To win is to die. To succeed is to lose. Power is revealed when Jesus is nailed to a cross. Hope comes from defeat. Is it no wonder that the world looks at us as those who are to be pitied at best and demonstrably ridiculous at worst? And yet whenever the cross appears, it stands as a sign of danger. For even in our own world, the cross represents something to be afraid of. If it had no power then it would be ignored just as flat earth people are. If it had no ability to persuade, then it would not draw the attention of so many who ridicule our Jesus. We are hear today because we believe that the cross speaks loudly about the love of God and His desire to bring all people into relationship with Him. Let’s share the supper together.

No Status

So Paul presses the point about God’s foolishness by reviewing the status of those who follow Christ. While there are wealthy believers notice that most of these before they became followers had no status or power. They were politically and socially marginalized. They were lacking in influence. They were poor. They had nothing to offer. The gospel offered something that this world could not offer—holiness, righteousness, and redemption. There was no room for bragging before their response to the gospel and there is certainly no place for competing now that they were followers of Jesus.

The nature of competition is to compare ourselves to another. There is no place for comparing ourselves to each other. We look at another and think their lives are better than ours. Such thinking diminishes what God has already accomplished in your life. We look at another and think we have it better than they. Such thinking diminishes what God has done in the life of another. To compare ourselves with each other in terms of wealth or skills is to diminish how God has blessed each of us as was his pleasure to do.

The cross binds us together. We are held together by Jesus who died for us. This Jesus gave himself in serving others. He showed us how to love. He denied himself in order to lift us up. Too many selfishly push their own agendas without recognizing the importance of love and serving others. Let us find ways to boast about Jesus. Let’s lift up his name. Let’s make sure that we do not compare ourselves to each other but instead find ways to encourage.

Jesus provides our righteousness. When we are brought before God in his court we are not judged on the basis of what we are but on what Jesus has done. There is no room to boast. Jesus provides our holiness. We cannot boast about our holy acts and attitudes. Only Jesus makes us holy. There is no room to boast. Jesus delivers us from sin and its penalty. There is no room to boast. Every person in this room who has named Jesus as Lord and Master were in the same predicament. Jesus is the one who changed things. Only in Him can we boast. Our different positions in this life mean nothing for the things of this life are foolish. They are temporary and meaningless compared to what we have experienced in Jesus. Invitation.

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