The message of the cross is power that saves.

 

Sermon for Lent 3, March 3, 2024

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  All who do his precepts have good understanding.  Amen.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25  ¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.  ¹⁹In fact, it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nothing.  ²⁰Where is the wise man?  Where is the expert in the Jewish law?  Where is the probing thinker of the present age?  Has God not shown that the wisdom of this world is foolish?  ²¹Indeed, since the world through its wisdom did not know God, God in his wisdom decided to save those who believe, through the foolishness of the preached message.  ²²Yes, Jews ask for signs, Greeks desire wisdom, ²³but we preach Christ crucified—which is offensive to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  ²⁵We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (EHV)

The message of the cross is power that saves.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we study this portion of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we will be helped if we understand a little about the society in which those Christians lived, and the closer we look, the more it will seem like we are studying our own times.  The city of Corinth was somewhat of a melting pot of different cultures.  Because it was a major trade center, a wide variety of people passed through the city on their respective trade missions.  As much as two thirds of the population were slaves, taken from the scattered parts of the Roman empire.  Like so many of the major cities of its day, Corinth had many temples in which a wide variety of Greek gods were worshiped.  Corinth was especially known for its riotous living—as a destination for many sailors, it became a center of immoral entertainment.  In fact, the temple to the goddess Aphrodite had 1000 prostitutes mixing immorality with pagan religion.

Now, slavery is no longer allowed, and temple prostitution is unknown in our country, but with so many people of our times moving from one area to another, and with a high percentage of our population coming from varying ethnic roots all over the world, with different languages, and different religious backgrounds, and with the moral breakdown of our society, our own times have many similarities with Corinth.

The reason I mention this is because it makes me wonder if we, as a nation, truly do trust in the God of the Bible, or do we trust more in money, government, a generic god, or human wisdom and power?  The evidence suggests that most people have been trained to trust in human wisdom, scientific reason, political will, or perhaps military strength, all of which by themselves lead only to eternal death. 

Now, the Greek people always had a love for learning and debate.  So, if you mix that tendency with Corinth’s immorality and its many religions, then stir in a few ideas from other cultures, it becomes obvious that the Corinthian Christians were under attack on all sides by many who trusted in something far different than the message of the cross Paul had preached to them.  The Corinthian Christians needed to be reminded that the message of the cross was not an empty promise, but rather, for those called by God, The message of the cross is power that saves.

In many ways, we, too, are being hit with some similarly destructive influences.  As today’s melting pot of the world, we are often exposed to other religions, and the scholars, debaters, and lie-mongers of our world are continually trying to sway us with their godless arguments.  Immoral living is championed by most of our society as people advocate living in sin outside of marriage in both straight and gay relationships.  We are constantly buffeted by the immoral ideas and risqué images of our age.

The message of the cross that Paul preached was simply Christ crucified for sinners, but many who heard Paul scoffed at the message.  Christ crucified was a stumbling block for the Jews.  They had grown up expecting God to send a Messiah, but they just couldn’t believe this Jesus was the One.  He wasn’t glorious enough for them.  He hadn’t driven the Romans from their homeland.  He didn’t even look like a king.  He came from that little town of Nazareth. 

The Jews expected miraculous signs.  They wanted something spectacular—a sign from heaven no less.  All those little miracles like healing the blind, the lame, and the sick just weren’t good enough.  Even when Jesus raised several people from the dead, the Jews were not that impressed.  Besides, they argued, how could Jesus be God’s Son if He was willing to do miracles on the Sabbath Day?  How could Jesus have the audacity to oppose the teachings of the scribes and the Pharisees?  And most disturbing, how could He allow Himself to be crucified?  According to Jewish thought, if Jesus really was the Son of God, He should have destroyed the Romans with spectacular power rather than die on their cross.  Quite simply, Jesus was a major disappointment to the Jews.

But, are we sometimes just like the Jews who expected miraculous signs?  How often don’t we hear, “Well, if there really is a god, would he allow this or that disaster to happen?”  Do doubts creep in as we sometimes start to think, “Yes, I know all about Jesus, but what has He done for me lately?  What has He done to help me with my troubles with my spouse, or my kids, or my boss, or the government?  Where is He when I really need Him?  When will He answer my prayers?”  And there we are, looking for miraculous signs, instead of seeing all the miraculous blessings God pours out on us everyday.  Therefore, just like those Corinthians, we still need to hear of the miracle that The message of the cross is power that saves.

On the other side of the coin, the Greeks looked for wisdom.  For many of them, the message of the cross sounded like a tall tale.  Why would God come down from heaven to become human?  Furthermore, if God did become human, why in the world would He allow himself to suffer and die on the cross, and what good would that do us?  Looking at it through Greek wisdom, a god that would allow himself to be killed really wasn’t much of a god at all!  And everybody knows that you can’t raise yourself from the dead!  The Corinthian Christians were surrounded by wise debaters who would taunt them with human experience as if that was wisdom; which is very much like what we face today.

The popular culture in which we live has made a sport of mocking Christianity.  The philosophers of our age fight against any use of God’s Word, and the scholars of our age tell us that there is no room for Christ in our schools.  We live in a country where the majority of people call themselves Christians, yet, more and more, those same Christians question whether the Bible even is God’s Word.  Much of our nation is looking at Jesus as perhaps a good teacher or maybe a mythological example for us to imitate rather than as the Son of God who gave His life to take away our sins.  Just as tragic, we are told by many that the Bible is just the religious imaginings of ancient men.  Because they have no faith, many others simply don’t care what the Bible says.  Some even call it hateful.

But, how much do those pop philosophies influence us here in our midst?  Does it perhaps make us question whether we can trust the Bible to tell us the truth?  Does it make us wonder if God really expects us to obey His commands, or is He satisfied merely for us to feel happy even as we sin?  Does it make us question whether it is worth our time to come to church to hear about Jesus?  How often do the questions in our minds, and the sin in our hearts, make us rebellious, unloving, and uncaring?  The truth is: all of these things are just the vain wisdom of those who are perishing.  If we listen to Satan’s lies and the whispers of those who don’t believe, we will perish right along with them. 

On the other hand, our faith is built up when we listen to the good news as Paul reminds us that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”

Paul wrote, “God in his wisdom decided to save those who believe, through the foolishness of the preached message.”  What was preached sounds like foolishness to the sinful human nature.  Yet God used the message of the cross, that Christ was crucified for our sins, to work faith in Him in us.  The Holy Spirit uses the power of that message to give us a new spiritual life that will last for all eternity.  The devil and our old man fight against that message at every opportunity, but God still keeps building us up in the faith as He has His Word preached to us.  And what a joyful message we have in the message of the cross: our sins are forgiven!  We are reconciled with our Creator!  Through faith in Christ, we are prepared and welcome to meet God face to face and to live with Him forever in heaven!

Having been brought to faith through the work of the Holy Spirit, we no longer see just the beaten, bloody, pierced body on the cross.  Through faith in Christ as our Savior we now recognize the glory of the Son of God—risen from the dead, alive, with a glorified body, and ruling all things at His Father’s right hand.  Through what was preached, we have been given the gift of eternal life.  Through the message of the cross, we know that the blood that ran from Jesus’ pierced side now strengthens us in the Lord’s Supper.  Through the message of the cross, we learned that Jesus’ flesh didn’t decompose in the tomb, but He rose from that grave triumphant over sin, death, and the devil.  Thus, in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus gives us His flesh and blood as the physical evidence that we are saved by the message of the cross.

Paul wrote, “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  In His great love for us, God has overcome the foolishness of our sinful nature that would lead us to eternal death, and He brought us to faith in His Son.  Jesus had the power to overcome the temptations of the devil and this world.  Jesus had the power to live the perfect life that the Law demanded, and He did it for you and me.  Jesus told His disciples, “The Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.  I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again.” (John 10:17-18)  Jesus had the power to conquer death as He paid the price of death that we deserved for our sins, and Jesus demonstrated His divine power, and His victory, for all the world to see when He rose from the dead on the third day.

Jesus is the wisdom of God, because no human could devise this plan to save sinners.  In Jesus Christ alone we have salvation.  In no other name is salvation found.  No human wisdom will ever give eternal life.  No human strength can conquer the devil and the temptations of this world.  In His wisdom, God saw what needed to be done to save us from the death we deserved, so in His love, He sent His Son to be the final, one and only, sacrifice for our sins. 

Because of His mercy for all mankind, God has given us important work to carry on.  Along with Paul “we preach Christ crucified:” a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others.  Yet, as “we preach Christ crucified,” the Holy Spirit is working with us to give eternal life and salvation to those who hear the message of the cross and believe it.

Dear Christian friends, in spite of all the nonsense and mockery we face in this world, today, we can rejoice.  Though our own wisdom and strength would send us to eternal death, we have been restored to life everlasting; “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”  Because God caused the message of the cross to be preached to you and me, and by its power turned our hearts to believe it, we can sing with Isaiah, “Surely God is my salvation.  I will trust him and will not be afraid, because the Lord, yes the Lord, is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation.” (12:2)  My friends, fight off the cacophony of the world and keep your trust in Christ Jesus, alone.  The message of the cross is power that saves.  Amen

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless in the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all time, now, and to all eternity.  Amen.