Divine Nonsense

Introduction

Have you ever thought about how much in life doesn’t make sense? Why is it that when I transport something by car it's called a shipment, but when I transport something by ship it's called cargo? Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker? Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a race car not called a racist? Why is there no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple? Why is it that snowfalls, but raindrops? Why do we sing "take me out to the ball game", when we are already there? If "con" is the opposite of "pro," is Congress the opposite of progress? Isn't it a bit unnerving that what doctors and lawyers call what they do "practice?" Why are wise men and wise guys opposites?

We think we have things figured out, but the reality is that much of our life is nonsensical. There is a lot that doesn’t make sense. In our passage today, Paul begins discuss the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God contradicts the wisdom of man. For the world, God’s wisdom appears more like divine nonsense. But His divine nonsense is the very power we need for our lives to be changed. It is the power for salvation. Living in God’s wisdom means that we are living counter to our culture.

1 Corinthians 1:18 CSB

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.

Divine Nonsense Divides Humanity

The Corinthians were dividing themselves into four groups according to which man they followed. Last week we saw that Paul concluded that he was glad that he didn’t baptize many so that they could claim baptism in his name. He said he wasn’t called to baptize, but to preach. This leads into our passage this morning. What was Paul preaching? He said in v. 17 that he was preaching the gospel, which he connected with the cross. I ended last saying that the cross is the power to unite, but I should clarify: The cross is the power to unite those who believe the message of the cross. Paul went on to write that it divides all of humanity.

During the conflict of division occurring in the church, Paul brings this critical argument against such division because they are founded in boasting in men. In this one verse, Paul introduced three themes that we will unpack today. Paul continues with the theme of proclaiming the message of the cross, so we will see why it is necessary to preach the cross. Paul also mentions the triumph of the cross, which we will examine in just a moment, but first I want to point you to the responses to the message of the cross.

Remember that there were four parties mentioned in the church. People claimed to follow Paul, Peter, Apollos, and a special group that thought they had a special connection to Christ. Paul counters this with the idea that there are not many groups of people, but only two. As we live in a world marked by similar divisions, it also helps us to remember that ultimately there are only two options for mankind. God sees only two groups of people. Paul calls them “the perishing” and “those who are being saved.”

His description is looking at each persons’ present situation through a lens of their eternal condition. Either one is in the process of being saved or one is in the process of perishing. The term perishing comes from the Greek term meaning “to destroy.” Interestingly, it could be translated as either those who are being destroyed or those that are destroying themselves. Yet the term for those being saved is in the passive only. We will look at that more deeply in a little while. The main idea here is that there are only two groups: saved or perishing. Notice how Paul says that these groups are determined.

It is by their reaction to the preaching of message of the cross. Paul said the cross of Christ has an effect. It forces a choice. You must choose to believe it or reject it. Those who hear the gospel and hear nonsense and choose to reject it, those are the ones who are perishing. Why are they perishing? Because Scripture says that there is a literal place called hell, a place Jesus describes as full of weeping and gnashing of teeth. If you choose to reject the gospel of Jesus, the gospel of the cross, you choose to destroy yourself and to be destroyed for all eternity in hell. God desires that none should perish, but that all should be saved (2 Pet. 2:3).

Therefore, He sent His only begotten Son to live on this earth as a man, like us in every way but without sin. He willingly chose to lay down His life by hanging on a cruel Roman cross until He suffocated and died. His body laid in a tomb for three days until, by the power of the Spirit of God, the stone was rolled away and He walked out of that grave! If you believe this message, is it the power of God for salvation. If you reject it, you are choosing eternal damnation in the fires of hell.

But this message, although many of you may have heard it many times, is Counter-Cultural. It goes against the way and wisdom of the world. But Paul makes clear what becomes of human wisdom.

1 Corinthians 1:19–22 CSB

19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent. 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom,

Divine Nonsense Destroys Human Wisdom

The basic idolatries of our fallen world are that of knowledge and power. Men has always sought to make themselves more knowledgeable and to exert greater power over others. In fact, the two are twisted together. According to French philosopher Foucault, power is based on knowledge and makes us of knowledge. We have distilled this down into saying “knowledge is power.” Paul also seems to somewhat combine the two. Notice in v. 18 that he contrasts the folly, not with wisdom, but with power. In v. 17, Paul was concerned that the cross would be emptied of its effect by eloquent wisdom or clever speech.

Paul understood something that we need to: The wisdom of men has no power, but the wisdom of God has the power to save. God’s power is effective. Man’s power in ineffective. In fact, God has the power to destroy human wisdom and knowledge. Have you ever thought about how much human knowledge has changed?

God’s Wisdom Doesn’t Change

I have been listening to a series of lectures on the History of Science by Lawrence M. Principe. Human understand has evolved so much since the ancient Greeks. We understand more about our physical world today than anyone before us. We understand that all matter is made of atoms, small particles only seen with a powerful microscope. We understand the ways the planets rotate around the sun and not around the earth. We have a better understanding of how diseases can be spread and how to take precautions against spreading those diseases. The world has changed rapidly over the course of the last 2500 years or so. It has changed quite a bit just during my lifetime.

I am part of an awkward generation. I am a Xennial. This term was coined in 2014 for those between Gen X and Millennials. A recent post that went viral says about us:

People born between 1985 and 1995 are the most unique generation of all time. Here’s why…

They are in-between two generations: the one before the internet and technology took over and the generation after.

The generation before us was old school and believed in working hard. The generation after us believes in working smart.

We saw it all: Radio, TV, Mario, Waptrick, Nokia, Nintendo 64, Samsung, iPhone, PS4, Tape, CD, DVD, MIXit, MIG32, Netflix, Snapchat, Emojis, and Virtual reality…

The generation before us can be scammed with simple emails asking for money and offering love. The generation after us knows it’s better to have four emails: one for serious stuff, social media, financial transactions and one for experiments for things you don’t trust

We are the generation that knows tradition and question it… picking from it what makes sense to us. The generation before us knew no questions. The generation after us knows no tradition.

We are the gap between the industrial age and the internet age. We understand both sides from experience.

The point I am trying to make here is that human knowledge and human wisdom, it changes. But God stays the same. Paul quoted from Isaiah. Isaiah was written about 750-800 years before Paul, but God’s sentence against human wisdom stands the test of time. God’s mode has not changed. Human wisdom changes. God doesn’t.

A Different Worldview

Notice that Paul is no longer writing about a wisdom of speech, but about the way people think. Paul is challenging a worldview. We all have a certain worldview, a set of preconceived ideas that we bring to bear on events in our lives. Paul wanted to challenge the worldview. Look at the people Paul called out. He called out the wise. He called out the scribe. He called out the debater. He called out the scholars and the teachers. He called out those that are supposed to be experts. But notice the modifying phrase for all of these. They are experts of this age. For the Jews, there were only two ages: the present age and the one to come. These people Paul was calling out were experts in this age. Their wisdom is bound to the value system and motivations of the present world, not the one to come. Their values are different. They have a different worldview. But Paul says that God has made the world’s wisdom foolish. Foolish and weak. It can’t provide what we need.

If you look to every major world religion outside of Orthodox Christianity, do you know what you will learn? Every other religion says you must do something to get to God. You must work to earn your salvation. Islam is focused on the Five Pillars of Islam, all of which are things you have to do. Hindus believe everyone should work to achieve dharma (that is, doing the right thing.) Buddhists believe that to achieve Enlightenment, you must work toward it through practice and development of morality, meditation, and wisdom. Once again, what you do. Judaism believes you have to work to keep God’s laws and bring holiness into every aspect of your life.

Now God could have made it this way, but God’s way is to turn the tables on human wisdom. Jesus said the first shall be last and to live, one must die. In His wisdom and pleasure, God does not use the wisdom of the world, but instead Paul says the wise can’t find God by their wisdom.

Matthew 11:25 CSB

25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants.

The wise of this world say that you have to seek God through works. It’s like you are climbing a mountain, trying to reach Him. But God in His wisdom did not require us to work up to Him, but in His love He came down to us. The world says “that doesn’t make any sense.” And it doesn’t, at least by human standards. Instead, God uses that which is foolish to the world: faith. Faith stands in contrast to human reason. Humanity’s self-sufficiency and supposed wisdom doesn’t lead people to God, but rather away from Him. Listen to what Paul wrote in Romans:

Romans 1:18–31 CSB

18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error. 28 And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. 29 They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.

God’s way is a mystery. It is not understood by the world. Paul said the Jews were busy looking for a sign. They had heard stories of the ways God had worked in their ancestors’ lives. They were looking for a mighty messiah. The were looking for the conquering king who would come from the line of David and strike down their enemies. The Jewish leaders asked Jesus for a sign to prove that He was the Messiah, but He refused to give them any sign. They wanted to see the waters parted or plagues upon their enemies, but Jesus said the only sign they would receive is the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah lay in the belly of the fish for three days, so Jesus would lay in the belly of the earth for three days following His execution on the cross.

For the Jews, the idea of their messiah being crucified was extremely offensive. Not only does it fly in the face of their expectations, but it challenges their understanding of who God is. Not only is a crucified Christ the epitome of weakness and defeat, but it means that their messiah would be under a curse from God.

Deuteronomy 21:22–23 CSB

22 “If anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, 23 you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Yet Jesus was cursed. He took the curse that was on us, on all of humanity, and bore it on Calvary. He took the penalty for your sins and mine. He took our sin, though He was divine. He paid the price that was ours to pay, so that we could be united with Him one day.

The Greeks were renowned for the love and pursuit of wisdom. Principe’s lectures on the History of Science have been quite interesting and insightful regarding them. The Greeks were the first recorded to move from practical, directly applicable wisdom into hypothetical thinking. They were really the first to have true philosophers. They coveted honor, esteem, and success, much like our world today. In fact, much of Western society is based on Greek thought and beliefs. To the Greeks, the thought of a crucified savior wasn’t so much an offense as pure ridiculousness. Cicero called crucifixion a “most cruel and disgusting penalty.” Crucifixion was most often performed to dissuade its witnesses from perpetrating similar crimes. It wasn’t just an execution; it was also a humiliation. Crucifixion was intended to be a gruesome spectacle: the most painful and humiliating death imaginable. The notion of an executed criminal as the center of God’s wisdom was, to the Greek, sheer nonsense.

God’s wisdom and men’s wisdom are mutually exclusive. You can’t have a Christian worldview and a secular worldview at the same time. You must choose one or the other. And only one has power.

1 Corinthians 1:23–25 CSB

23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Divine Nonsense Delivers Salvation

“But we” is used emphatically here. Paul says that he and the apostles agree and preach the same message: Christ, the one who has been crucified. While this is foolishness and offensive to those in the world, it is the basis for all godly wisdom and understanding. The cross is the interpretive framework for Christian living. But most importantly, it is the power for salvation. The gospel of a crucified savior may seem ridiculous. It is a direct contradiction of human ideas of wisdom and power. Human wisdom says you must do something to earn your salvation, but God’s wisdom says everything that you need has already been done for you. All you need is to believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead to pay for your sins.

Paul says that the message he proclaims, this message of a crucified Christ is God’s wisdom and God’s power. The cross is God’s foolishness. The cross is God’s weakness. The cross directly contradicts what we would deem reasonable, but only the cross achieved that which human wisdom and power fail to achieve: our salvation. Only through Christ can any man, woman, boy, or girl be saved.

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

This undermines the Corinthians attitude of self-sufficiency. They didn’t need to follow men. They didn’t need to be divided by human wisdom. They needed to be united in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for only the cross has the power to save.

Thiestleton says, “Any version of the gospel which substitutes a message of personal success for the cross is a manipulative counterfeit.”

Conclusion

God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His way is better because His way works. The Corinthians thought eloquent speech and wise words would have power, but the only power comes from the cross. Only the foolishness of God has the power to save. Our culture says you have to work for your salvation, but true power comes only in surrendering in faith to God’s ways. Have you surrendered to Him?