Christ Crucified is the Wisdom and Power of God - 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Preached to the saints at Grace Lutheran Church in Marble, MN and Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Bovey, MN on July 4, 2021.
22For Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified; to the Jews, a scandal and to Gentiles, foolishness, 24but to those being called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:22-24).
Though powerful nations rise and fall and the wisdom and knowledge of the world changes, the church and her proclamation of Christ Crucified for the forgiveness of sins remains. For almost 2,000 years now, the message and purpose of the church has not changed one bit - and this is extremely comforting. You are given the calmness of mind in knowing that the eternally living and reigning Son of God, Jesus Christ, has purchased you with His own blood shed upon the cross; that He is the risen Lord and with all authority in heaven and earth, he has forgiven you of all of your sins. As the living Crucified One, he bears your burdens and sorrows, completes them, and gives you rest in his accomplished work. This will not ever change, regardless of how much everything else in the world and in your lives shuffles about. God loves you. He loves you today, He will love you tomorrow - and the Church’s word of Christ crucified will never weaken or be irrelevant. Isn’t it nice to be able to cling to something that you know will last for eternity?
But many people in our world don’t know this. There are times when even you Christians are numb to it, question it, or wonder if there is more. Our sinful minds, like the Greeks of Acts 17, love to hear whatever is new. We want to see something amazing. We want to feed our desire for excitement. But nothing in this world seems to be able to grab our attention for longer than the next news cycle - or you feel foolish for not being able to answer someone else’s questions. Have you felt like a “lower” Christian, or doubt your faith because you don’t “know it all,” and you can’t “demonstrate it all?”
Take heart, for the word the Holy Spirit gives to you today from St. Paul says that’s okay. It’s not about what you know or what you can demonstrate, it’s about what God has given to the world through His Church. Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Christ is the power of God and the Wisdom of God. God was pleased through the foolishness of our preaching to save the ones believing. Being called by the Holy Spirit into the fellowship of Christ, rest in the certainty of God’s Work in sending His only Begotten Son into our flesh, whose Cross is the Power and Wisdom of God.
As we think on Paul’s words, we must realize that we are the Jews who demand signs and we are also the Greeks who try to make sense out of all things under the sun.
In one sense, this is okay. Like the worship practices of the Jews that recited the great signs and wonders of God who carried them out of Egypt, led them through the Red Sea, fed them bread from heaven, and brought them to the promised land, so we gather in this place and recite the great sign of the Cross of Christ and receive His gifts for our care. His is the great wonder that has freed us from slavery to sin, death, and the devil. Yet your wavering hearts always desire more. Sadly, we get bored of the same old story and, like the people of Israel, the greatness of God’s majesty fades in our minds and we fall back into old practices. Even as Jesus was healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and raising the dead, the people kept asking him: “what sign from heaven do you give that we may see and believe?!” The euphoria and excitement given by signs lasts for only a little while. Signs cannot bring lasting change to your hearts.
Wisdom doesn’t do the trick, either - for what was known for certain yesterday has been replaced by other ideas. There was once a time when people believed that the sun revolved around the earth. There was a time when illness was attributed to an imbalance of chemicals in the body and healing came in bloodletting. Foolish ideas today, but at the time it was wisdom. In a strange turn of wisdom, our day claims that men can be women and that love is subjective. I wonder what idea of wisdom will be replaced tomorrow?
Demands for signs, and demands for new ideas only feed the sinful desire of your own hearts which will also one day stop dead. As Paul says: God will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent, he will nullify. God is much stronger and wiser than we could ever imagine, and to desire more than what God has given is a danger to the church and a danger to your faith. It is a terrible thing to think that God is wrong.
When the desire for signs, wonders, wisdom, and knowledge comes nipping at your conscience, fall back on the Church’s proclamation of Christ Crucified. The church doesn’t exist in the wonder and wisdom of the world, but in the company of the heavenly hosts as heaven meets earth in His Word and Sacraments. The preaching of Christ Crucified - to the Jews a scandal and to the Gentiles foolishness - but to you, this preaching is the Power and Wisdom of Salvation for all who hear and believe.
Only in the Church are you granted certainty of God’s continual working in the One who was Crucified and yet lives. Think back to our Old Testament Reading: The power and might of the Lord was not in the great and strong wind that tore the mountains; it was not the earthquake or the fire - but in the sound of the small whisper. It was this simple word of God that touched Elijah’s heart. Still today, the same God who cared for Elijah and the 7000 who never bowed down to Ba’al, sends out the soft voice of Christ Crucified to open the hearts of all to pay attention to His love, care, and confidence. It was at the Word of Jesus in our Gospel Lesson that moved Peter to let down the nets, filling both boats. It will continue to be the Word of Christ, crucified and risen, that fills the kingdom of heaven.
This isn’t to say that signs and wisdom don’t happen in the church - they do! You know they do! Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek wisdom, and we preach Christ having been crucified.
The Word of the Cross is the great and powerful sign given to you that you might believe - for God’s Blood shed on the Cross is the only thing powerful enough to blot out your sin. His empty tomb is the great sign that proves his power over death, the devil, and hell itself. Baptism is that sign given by God - though the world only sees a person getting wet, your eyes of faith see the great miracle of God to drown sin, connect you to the cross of Christ, and to raise you up with him to a newness of life. This bread and wine look simple - though the world sees only some ritual, your eyes of faith see the great miracle of Christ’s cross. Receiving this sacrament according to God's Word, you proclaim the Lord’s death, you eat and drink the very same body and blood that died on the Cross, and you receive the forgiveness of all of your sins and the everlasting life that he has won for you. Simple to the world, foolish to the wise, but for you who are being saved, it is the power and wisdom of God.
We do not ask for signs - yet he gives them to us, showing in his power, love, and continual care. We do not seek wisdom - yet he gives it to us in the pure Word of Holy Scripture that proclaims Christ Crucified on each and every page, teaching you of the power of God to kill sin and grant life. This is the wisdom of God to answer the question of life in a sinful world - that In His Son, there is confidence of forgiveness and certainty of resurrection. With joy we continue this message - though the world passes off into despair - for this is the Lord’s Church, and we are His people, under his gentle and powerful care. Amen.