“The Foolishness of Faith”

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

In 2004, a very controversial movie hit the big screen. Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of Jesus Christ” created more discussion among both Christians and non Christians alike, than any other film in recent history. The financials were astounding – the film cost $30,000,00 to produce, and it grossed over $370,000,000. But just as amazing was the controversy that arose from it.

With The Passion, everyone had an opinion and was willing to share it. Conservative Christians supported it because it looked like a blow against secular Hollywood. They said the uproar over the movie proved once again that there was an anti-Christian bias in American culture.

Liberal Christians on the other hand, denounced The Passion as manipulative, violent and dishonest. They said the movie proved once again that a streak of anti-semitism and an obsession with violence are never far from the surface of American religion.

Based, in part, on Ray Waddles journal, April 2004, The Voice, Synodoflivingwaters.com.

The Passion raised provocative questions about the circumstances and meaning behind Christ’s death. But was the controversy really about the accuracy of the film? Was it all about the violent nature of the storyline? What was there about the movie that created so much havoc both inside and outside of the church?

Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-20

I believe that the opening verse in this passage is the central focus of “The Passion”s controversy – in the name of polite society, we have sanitized the cross of Jesus Christ to the nth degree, and in doing so, we have sterilized the message of salvation that it bears.

Scholars and philosophers try to convince us that God’s willing participation in such a travesty is pure foolishness. After all, isn’t God pure love? And if so, how could a loving God use such a violent and self condemning process to redeem the world of its own violence and sinfulness? It just doesn’t make any sense! At least it doesn't make sense to them!

Verse 19 is based on Isaiah 29:14, but let me read 2 verses from Isaiah 29

Read Isaiah 29:13-14

Why would the Good Lord take away the very wisdom and intelligence that He has given to us? Simply because we have chosen to use it for our own gain, and not for His glory! All too often, we go through the motions of worship without a speck of faith, we speak the words of praise and petition by rote without any feeling or spirit. Conventional wisdom would have us know that scripture is merely a collection of stories and fables that without any basis in fact. And while society would have us believe that the cross is pure foolishness, the apostle writes that it is the wisdom of the world that is foolish.

Read 1 Corinthians 1:21-25

I want to tell you about my Bible. I’m sure that you have been wondering about its condition, and why I would continue to use it in such a dilapidated condition. When I went on my Emmaus walk, and began to unpack after I arrived, I found this Devotional Bible sitting on the top of my clothes. When I opened it up, I discovered that it was a gift from my wife and both of my parents, and the cover page had been signed by all of them. When I opened it up later that evening, I turned to one of the devotionals, and read this:
Give me courage Lord to take risks – not the usual ones – respected, necessary, relatively safe – but those I could avoid, the go for broke ones. I need courage, not just because I may fall on my face or worse, but others seeing me a sorry spectacle if it should happen, will say “He didn’t know what he was doing” or “He’s foolhardy” … When it comes right down to it Lord, I choose to be your failure before anyone else’s success. Keep me from reneging on my choice.
- Joseph Bayly

1 Corinthians 1:25 was one of the central verses that this is based on, and that weekend would turn out to be one of surrender of all of my wisdom and strength in favor of the foolishness, so to speak, of God. It would be the beginning of my Christian walk.

My wisdom had served me well in matters of the world. My business career had had its share of ups and downs, but when I used my abilities in the ways that I was supposed to, things went fairly well. But in matters of faith, wisdom and strength were constantly letting me down. I could never quite get a grip on what the Lord really wanted from me, and therefore, I never quite followed Him in the way I should have.

But now, whenever I pick this Bible up, especially when I see its worn binding and loose pages, I remember that God will always be able to do His best work through me when I acknowledge my brokenness first.
Now, the “foolishness” of what I have received in the Word truly means something to me. Now, what I had once perceived as foolishness in God is an overpowering wisdom. What I had once seen as an inherent weakness in faith has now become the centrality of my salvation. Is the cross of Jesus Christ really foolishness? Or is it simply the faithlessness of the world that makes it seem to be foolish?

Read 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

“Think of what you were when you were called.” Without going into the details of “what I was”, let me just say that I certainly wasn’t worthy to be called by the Lord! And I very quickly discovered that He didn’t call me because I was so wise or strong! He called me because I gave any wisdom or strength that I may have had to Him.
Verses 28 & 29 are important – “He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.” If I had come to stand before the throne in those days, I would have been ready to give an account of all the things that I had done. But now, I can truthfully stand there and give praise for all the things that God has done through me and in spite of me!

Life in this plane isn’t easy. The messages are constantly in conflict; the truth is up for grabs; one person’s trash is any person’s treasure. Who knows what is right and what is wrong – is truth really a relative matter? Society wants us to know that we must be strong, but faith tells us that we must give up all strength. Commonsense would tell us that wisdom should be highly prized, but faith shows that God’s wisdom is far better. We are told to take pride in what we have accomplished, but then we discover that God has already gained the very best for us!

The cross of Jesus Christ is not only the stumbling block to the world, but it is also our symbol of power and righteousness and holiness and redemption.
But we have to look at it with Godly eyes, not our earthly ones. We can’t see the cross simply as a bloody and vicious stick (even though it was!). For those in Christ Jesus, it is the fulfillment of the saying that “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8-11)

So what was the message of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion”? As the story goes, the scene in which Jesus is being nailed to the cross, the hand that holds the hammer is Mel Gibson’s. And it is our hand. And it is the hand of every person who has ever lived and who ever will live. The lies told in the trial are ours, the pronouncement of the death sentence is ours, the blinding pain of the whipping is ours, and the slow and agonizing death of a criminal is ours.
The “foolishness” of the cross tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, God of all creation, made the personal choice to take our condemnation – all of our condemnation - onto Himself, that we might be spared, that we might be given an unquenchable hope, that we might have a real chance at eternal life.

If that is foolishness, then it sounds pretty good to me! How about you?