Sermon -- 3rd Sunday in Lent (March 7, 2021)

1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-25

POWER AND WISDOM ARE IN GOD’S WORD.

 In the name + of Jesus.

            When Jesus grabbed a bunch of cords to drive the animals and merchants out of the temple, those who were expelled were understandably surprised and upset.  Jesus had disrupted business as usual.  They demanded answers: “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” (John 2:18)  A miraculous sign was one of the ways a prophet of the Lord would prove his authority, just as it was with Moses and Elijah.  However, not every prophet is recorded to have done miraculous signs.  Neither Nathan nor Jeremiah nor John the Baptist did a miraculous sign, and each of them was recognized as a prophet.

     Still, the Jewish religious leaders demanded Jesus prove himself with a miraculous sign.  What they missed was the true authority Jesus claimed.  Jesus had said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:13)  In that short comment, Jesus had quoted both Isaiah (56:7) and Jeremiah (7:11).  This was not about Jesus being in an ornery mood or acting on impulse; this was about Jesus being zealous for the house of the Lord.  It was about Jesus holding God’s word to be both dear and true.  It was about God’s people having sacred space for prayer.  The authority Jesus invoked was the word of God.  Power and wisdom are in God’s word; and they still are. 

     St. Paul emphasized that in his letter to the Corinthians.  He wrote, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)  To those who are perishing, the word of God is foolish, unreasonable, and worthy of scorn.

     To you, however, the word of God is both wise and powerful.  It makes you wise for salvation.  You know where to find the forgiveness of your sins.  You cling to the promises of God which were fulfilled by Jesus and which are applied to you by the word and sacraments.  The Gospel is the power of God which releases you from the grip of the devil, the threat of hell, and the fear of the grave.  God’s power to save is found in Jesus as he was nailed to a cross, beaten, bleeding, naked, mocked, shamed, and died.  What appears as weak and pathetic is the glory and power of God; for that is where sin, death, and the devil are all defeated.  These things are not automatically known; they have to be proclaimed.  These things are not automatically believed; faith must be granted to you.  God’s word has been put into your ears and into your heart so that you receive God’s grace.  Power and wisdom are in God’s word.

     To you, it is also remarkable that so many would despise God’s word.  But that’s how it always has been.  St. Paul remarked, “Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” (1 Corinthians 1:22-23)  The Jews who challenged Jesus in the temple were not swayed by God’s word when Jesus quoted it.  They demanded a miraculous sign before they would believe Jesus.  Ironically, Jesus did give them a sign: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19)  The temple is where God dwells with his people.  Jesus is God who dwells with his people.  He foretold that they would kill him, but that he would raise himself from the dead.  He did, and they still did not believe.  Whoever does not believe God’s word will not believe even if miracles are presented as evidence.  The power to save is not in miraculous sings; the power is in God’s word.

     Greeks, on the other hand, look for wisdom.  They want God’s word to be reasonable and subject to scientific formulas.  Or they may want a special wisdom that reads minds or predicts the future.  In either case, they want God to be restricted to their own wisdom and whims.  But God’s wisdom is not about telling the future for this life; it is about revealing salvation for eternal life.  True wisdom is found in God’s word.

     What was true in Paul’s day is still true today.  You and I are influenced by it too, for sin still clings to our hearts.  We still crave the signs.  We want God to prove his love by feeding our egos.  A loving God should always give us money, a clean bill of health, the downfall of our enemies, and honor, success, and popularity.  What does it say if we don’t have them?  Has God failed us?  Does he actually love us?  Our sinful flesh craves signs and questions or even despises God when he does not perform.

     Of course, we also look for wisdom.  Perhaps our greatest threat to our faith comes from our desire to be loved and respected by the world.  The world has its own wisdom.  That’s not to say it is entirely useless or evil.  Science has benefited us with medicine, homes that are lit and heated, personal computers, digital cameras, and cars that can parallel park themselves.  For these things, we give thanks.  But those blessings only help with this life.  They do not soothe a guilty conscience or comfort a fearful heart. 

     The world in its wisdom regards God and his word as foolish.  Science rejects God because God refuses to be reduced to formulas and equations.  College professors may hold many degrees and dazzle you with their intellect.  They have command of their topic, so it may feel like their arguments are undefeatable—even when they mock God’s word and calls God a liar.  Don’t think so?  Say that God created the world in six days.  State that God created man and woman and did not suggest any additional sexes or changing between them.  You will be mocked and ridiculed for believing what the Bible says about these things, and you will hear arguments which supposedly prove God’s word is wrong.  If you should have to suffer that, then listen to the word of the Lord: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

     Sadly, many Christian churches have abandoned God’s word and adopted this worldly wisdom.  It has been met with great applause from the world and with great pride from these churches.  But to adopt the world’s wisdom, these churches have had to dismiss God’s word and say that God’s word does not mean what it says.

     But now Paul would ask you: “Where is the one who is wise?  Where is the scribe?  Where is the debater of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20)  Which philosopher can release you from the guilt of your sins?  Which professor can outsmart the grave?  If the wisdom of this world is so brilliant, why aren’t people more honest, content, loving, chaste, and patient than they’ve ever been?  You who know and confess God’s word still have not overcome your own sins.  If God’s people are still sinners, how can it be better for those who mock God and his word?  All the intelligence and number crunching and technology in this world cannot take away a single sin.  No matter what your GPA was, all are going to die.  Where are the scholars, the wise men, and the philosophers to fix that?  Even if they reject God’s word and defy God himself, they are still condemned by it and accountable to him.  And they call you fools!

     Wisdom and power are in God’s word.  “It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21)  God chooses to use what is foolish to impart divine wisdom.  God does this to show you that salvation is his gift and his work.  You are not saved because you are strong.  It is those who confess that they are powerless whom God saves.  You are not saved because you are smart.  It is those who confess the foolishness of their sinful hearts that are saved. 

     The payment God made to save sinners was done on a cross some 2,000 years ago.  Jesus died in humility and weakness, forsaken and rejected by God, crushed and condemned for our sins.  But the benefits of that payment are delivered to you now.  It is not delivered by miraculous signs.  It is not granted through some divine insight from within you.  It is delivered with words.  It is given through preaching.  It is proclaimed by weak, sinful, flawed, and dying men who sometimes stumble over words or deliver it poorly.  It is unimpressive, isn’t it?  And yet this is where the wisdom and power of God are unleashed. 

     Wisdom and power are in the word of God.  For this is what the Lord says: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)  God delivers his wisdom through words.  God, who created the world through words, creates a new life in you through words.  God decrees you absolved of sin, declares your verdict of innocence, and pronounces your release from death and the devil through words.  The Holy Spirit who breathed into the apostles the very words of God breathes new life into you as those words are proclaimed.  And if the way God delivers his gifts to you is underwhelming in appearance, it is because God desires to use what is common and even despised for his glorious purposes.  This is to show that the wisdom for salvation comes from God and the power to save is God’s work alone.

     Wisdom and power are in God’s word.  “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)  Faith came to you through the word—whether preached or attached to the sacraments.  Faith continues to come, is sustained, and is strengthened through the word—whether preached or attached to the sacraments.  This word is where the Holy Spirit works to keep you in the Christian faith.  That is why we always gather around the word and sacraments.

     Be aware: You can forfeit the salvation God has given you.  The most common way that happens is that you to stop listening to the word of the Lord.  If you do, some other word will take its place.  You will end up embracing and believing what the world passes off as wisdom.  You might even feel proud that you are smarter than God, but you will forfeit the only deliverance from sin, death, and the devil there is.  You might still be a nice person.  But Jesus does not save nice people; Jesus saves only those who believe.  For, “it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21) 

     If you long to be wise for salvation, listen to the word.  If you want to know the power that delivers you from sin, death, and the devil, listen to the word.  The power to save and the wisdom for salvation are found only in God’s word.  All the wisdom, power, and glory of the world will pass away; but the word of the Lord endures forever.  So do those who believe it.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.