Sermon Talkback—March 15, 2009
Morons of the Cross—1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Who in our world today do we turn to for “wisdom” or wise counsel?
Paul’s Context
The Corinthians are caught up in rivalries because they glory in the superficially impressive human wisdom of this age. They are boasting about their own possession of wisdom and rhetorical eloquence—or at least they are infatuated with leaders who manifest these skills. God, however, has revealed in Christ another kind of wisdom that radically subverts the wisdom of the world: God has chosen to save the world through the cross, through the shameful and powerless death of the crucified Messiah.
Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.
Foolishness
Those who are being saved by Christ see the world differently now. But from those who are not believers, they see Christians fixated on the crucified Lord as the height of absurdity. They see not wisdom but “moria,” which means foolishness. The Greek root is preserved in the English word, “moron.”
Paul sees those who believe in the wisdom of the world will be destroyed and quotes, Isaiah 29:14 in 1 Corinthians 1:19.
See Isaiah 29:13-14:
The Lord said:
Because these people draw near with their mouths
and honor me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from me,
and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote;
so I will again do
amazing things with this people,
shocking and amazing.
The wisdom of their wise shall perish,
And the discernment of the discerning shall be hidden. (Italics added)
Isaiah’s point is that God-talk is cheap and that God’s action will shut the mouths of the wise-talkers. The Corinthians, with their prized-speech-gifts, make a show of possessing wisdom and honoring God with their lips, but their fractious behavior shows that in fact their hearts are far from God.
Who are “Morons of the Cross” today?
In the ancient Greco-Roman world, rhetorical eloquence was highly prized. Powerful orators were treated like movie stars and sports heroes today. But orators, philosophers, scribes, debaters have all been swept away by God’s shocking and amazing act of reversal: the cross.
Who might you name are “fools or morons of the cross” today?