Fifth Sunday after Trinity (2023)

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the symbol of the Church has been the cross for centuries. We are so used to it in fact that it does not phase us much when we see a cross, be it empty or with the body of Christ depicted upon it. But to understand and appreciate what the Scriptures say, we must put ourselves into the mindset of those people in Corinth, 2000 years ago who were under Roman rule, and remember that for them the Cross was not a symbol of Christianity, but a brutal and torturous death sentence to show the absolute power and authority of Rome, and to shame any who opposed them. Why do we focus on Christ’s Crucifixion?

The Folly of the Cross

Who wants to appear weak?

When we imagine God, we think of strength and power and majesty. We don’t expect to see him looking weak and frail, bleeding and near death. The world praises power, might, health, intelligence who on earth wants to appear as weak?

The Jews demanded signs.

They knew what GOd had done for them when he brought them out of Egypt, how God had brought an end to wayward nations, brought down the walls of cities and thrown the armies of pagan nations into disarray.

The Greeks sought wisdom.

They were a people that valued and loved intelligence. They are the ones who had the philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Engineers like Archimedes, and Mathematicians like Euclid. They wrote Epic poems, debates, plays. Even though they did not understand how to utilize electricity like we do, they devised a hand turned computer that would calculate out the position of the stars, and Euclid’s mathematics text was used for 1400 years.

Only a fool dies a shameful death.

Why is it that you could not save yourself or others if you could perform great signs, if you were so wise, why could you not outwit and escape your opponents as many greek heroes had? So why do we preach Christ and him Crucified?

Christ’s Victory Shames the World

God turns the world on its head.

God looks at everything the world praises and values, and shows his power in spite of everything they desire and treasure and value. He abandons the mighty works of men and shows to them what He can do.

Jesus lays aside divine power to save the unworthy.

He has the right to eternal life, He has at his command legions of angels, He has the power to cast down all of the mockery and insults that they are bringing against him. He has defeated them in debates numerous times. As Jesus is brought before Pilate he remains silent in the face of his accusers. Why???

Jesus took on the form of a slave.

THis is once again not how the world thinks, who forsakes absolute power and freedom to become a slave for unworthy and ungrateful people who have no care for you. It is far better to destroy them all with power.

God did this to shame the treasures of men.

To show that everything men put their hope in means nothing. For Jesus accomplished our salvation not in power, but in weakness, frailty and humility he reveals that He can throw away everything we value and think is important and win the day. For if this is what Christ can accomplish in weakness, then what is our wisdom, our strength, our might in the face of God?

The Cross is our Theology

There the Son of God suffers for you.

Here begins the scandal of the Cross. For the world tells us that the one who ought to suffer is the one who has done something wrong. It shouldn’t be Jesus there upon the Cross it should be the one who has committed sin. It should the greedy, the drunkards, the blasphemers, the idolators, the ungrateful, the disobedient, the thief, the abusers, the sexually immoral, those swindle and all liars. They should suffer, so why is Jesus, the Son of God, there?

There are two parts of the Cross.

You must understand both parts to understand why it has become the symbol of Christianity over the centuries, and why the Cross is our Theology.

We see the cost of sin and what terrible punishment awaits sinners.

It is terrifying when you consider the fact that it is the sinless Son of God who suffers there, that the wrath and fury of God against sin is so great, that when sin falls upon the head of his only-begotten Son, that he crushes him. So why did Jesus, descend from heaven, and allow your sins to be laid on his shoulders? Why suffer all of this?

At the cross, we see Jesus’ heart and it is full of love for you.

That’s why Jesus laid aside his heavenly power, and authority and came to earth. It was His love that motivated him to become a slave for you. It was his great love for you that motivated him to lay aside His glory, and take upon himself your guilt, your shame, your suffering and to save you for we chased after our own glory and riches and treasures, but Jesus laid those aside to save you.

That’s why this instrument of death and shame became a symbol of love.

For while the world recognizes it is an act of great love, we would only do this for people that we care about, a parent for their child, or a friend that we love and care about dearly, but for someone who deserves it? For someone who has it coming, or who hates his, or who will mock us while we sacrifice for them. The world would say it is an act of extreme folly.

The Stumbling Block

This is why the cross causes many to trip.

We want God to approve of the things in which we take pride. We want him to value our hard work, our intelligence, our abilities and our treasures, but the Cross shows they mean nothing.

You must abandon the treasures of this world.

Don’t hold on to them as though they will save you or impress God, or win you a place at the table. The only one who could welcome you to that table is the Son, and He has done that through the Cross. Lay aside everything else that you treasure for if you don’t you will perish.

This is why sinners flocked to Christ. They had nothing.

Here was one who gave to them everything they needed not based upon what they had done or accomplished, but based upon what Jesus had done for them. They had nothing in this world that the treasured, and so when Christ came to offer them gifts they received them with gratitude. Whereas...

Those who had magnificent works, hated Jesus.

For He showed that everything they done didn’t bring them closer to God. They see the cross as foolishness because they cannot believe that Jesus would really pay for all of their sins, there has to be something more for them to do to receive God’s approval.

Humility before God

We confess that we are sinners, which means we have nothing worthy.

The Scriptures tell us that all of our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. They have no value when it comes to our salvation, think about it for a moment. What can you do, that will match what Christ did for sinners? Are you so great that you can do better than Jesus? No. If you think you can, then you don’t believe He is God, and are no christian.

How do you know you are saved?

This is a big question, and a bit nerve-wracking especially if you have been relying on yourself for years. If you have been looking to your works, your powers, your wisdom, for you are laying aside all of those things as the basis of your salvation. How do you know that you saved?

I was baptized, I received the Lord’s Supper.

As though the cross wasn’t a big enough scandal to the world, we then are told to look to the Sacraments. For what does the World see? A bit of water, a bit of bread and wine, how is that better for my salvation than giving away all my money to the poor? How is that better than giving up my life for a friend? Because Jesus attached His promise to these ordinary things, and promised that whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, and whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood has eternal life.

This doesn’t mean we don’t do good works, we just don’t believe they will save us.

This is important, for those who have been relying on Good works to save them, will ask this question. However, it also reveals their hearts, for they never truly loved their neighbor or loved God, they only cared about saving themselves. But we are now free for the first time to genuinely love our neighbor. For paradise is already yours by what Christ has done, and God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does. So go out and love genuinely for the first time as Christ loves you.

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this is why the Cross is our theology, and why we have Crosses up throughout the church, and in our homes and why we wear them around our necks. They are reminders, first and foremost of the terrible cost of sin, and the how useless our works are for our salvation. The Cross also reminds us of our dear friend who loved us while we were yet his enemy and became a slave, dedicating himself in love for our salvation. We want to share that love with everyone we meet. We do so not only by helping our neighbors in this life, but also in telling them of Jesus, who went to the Cross that they might be saved. In Jesus name. Amen.