St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Lent 4 March 18, 2007 1 Corinthians 1:18-25


For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.


People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

I was at a men’s retreat last Saturday at St. Paul’s in Muskego. A very young pastor there told the story of a man named Joshua—some 29 years old—in the Twin Cities the other day. Joshua had way too much to drink. About 1:30 Saturday morning—he got off the elevator in his hotel—on the 17th floor. That’s when Joshua—a pretty substantial sized guy—decides to go running down the hall way—as fast as he could. Joshua crashed into this really huge window—and the glass gave way. In an instant—Joshua was falling through the air. Physics teachers figure he was going about 69 miles per hour—falling some 16 stories—before he crashed into an awning—that saved his life. Joshua didn’t hurt his back or his neck or his head. That is nothing short of a miracle. What he did hurt was one of his legs. Doctors put a steel rod in his leg—a reminder from now on—of the foolishness—the near fatal foolishness of drinking too much. Interviewed about a week later—people asked Joshua what he had learned from this experience—he said—he is trying to figure out—why was he still here? Why did God spare his life? What is it—that he is still supposed to do? Do you know how that feels? Do you sometimes wonder—why am I here? Why did Jesus make me strong—to wake up this morning? Sometimes it’s hard to know—difficult to understand why we are here and where we are going. This morning the apostle Paul talks about finding purpose for your life—sharing Christ crucified and risen. The apostle Paul lived a purpose driven life.

We Preach Christ Crucified!

1. To unbelievers a foolish stumbling block

2. To believers the power and wisdom of God.

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on today is part of Paul’s letter to the believers in the Greek city of Corinth. Corinth was a city of international trade. You might compare it to the city of New York! People from around the world were there—buying and selling and trading—eating fancy food and drinking expensive wine. It was a place of pagan worship—fertility cult worship to the point that the name of the city became synonymous with being with someone who “sold hugs and kisses”! It was a place where new found Christians were very gifted—gifted with every spiritual blessing you could imagine. At the same time—they had lots of problems—people who were in all kinds of splinter groups—I like Paul, I like Simon Peter, I like Apollos, I like Jesus! There was quarreling and arguing. There was toleration of some pretty nasty stuff—all in the name of love and patience and gentleness—that was a big mistake, too! So—like most congregations today—the believers in Corinth had plenty of room to grow—to grow in grace and grow in fruits of faith!

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing… To people who are headed for eternal destruction—the message of the cross makes absolutely no sense at all. It makes no sense to them—that some 2,000 years ago—a little Jewish baby boy was born in a stable—in Israel—to a young girl who had never had “hugs and kisses”—yet had a baby in her tummy from God. That this little baby boy was worshiped by shepherds—then astronomers from the East. Then he was hussled down to Egypt until a king named Herod died. Then he came home to live in Nazareth. When he was twelve—he went to the Temple in Jerusalem. Then nothing else is known about him—until he is about 30 years old. For 3 years he teaches and preaches—heals the sick and raises the dead. On a Thursday night he has a supper of lamb and bread and wine. He prays in an olive grove—is betrayed, arrested, falsely accused—put to death by the Roman authorities on a Friday afternoon—when the sun stopped shining. On Sunday morning he is alive again. 40 days later he goes literally up into the clouds. And that’s the only way to eternal life? That makes absolutely no sense—to people headed for eternal destruction. To a stubborn unbeliever—spiritually plugging their ears—with a heart of cold dead stone—this makes no sense at all. It’s just plain dumb to them!

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing… Apart from Jesus people are perishing! In many ways it’s a slow bleed. They are dying by inches! Have you noticed—how it seems lately—that more and more people are having trouble sleeping? I know that there can be all kinds of causes for that—including side-effects from certain medications and all that. But I’m talking about the trouble sleeping that comes from stress—from this utter failure to follow the encouragement in Philippians—Don’t be anxious about anything—but in everything by petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God—and the peace of God—which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus. Part of the problem is obvious—I think—in the fact there are all new kinds of alarm clocks! There is a new alarm clock that is literally on wheels! The deal is—when the alarm clock goes off—it starts rolling—off your night stand—and it’s off to the races. You have to get up out of bed to find the alarm clock—to turn it off. They have another new alarm clock—that has a kind of helicopter top. It literally flies off the night stand—and crash lands somewhere else. Again you are forced to get out of bed—perhaps to pick up whatever your alarm clock knocked over in first morning light. If that isn’t good enough for you—there is even an alarm clock where each number comes in a little cube on a long wire. What you can do—then—is rearrange the cubes/numbers—to make them say what you want them to say. I think this is kind of sad—too—as you make this desperate effort to trick yourself into thinking it’s not really the time it is. You can pretend it isn’t really time to get up—but it is! How silly is that? It is only by the power of the Gospel—through the means of grace—that we can be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks under all circumstances—because this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus. This makes no sense at all. It is utter nonsense and foolishness to those who are perishing.

But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” The wisdom of this world—trying to explain and understand apart from God’s Word is surely and utterly doomed! This world cannot decide if we are warming up or growing colder. An expedition the other day planned to cross the north pole to look for evidence that the planet is growing warmer and warmer. Two Norwegian people set out. They planned to stomp across the North Pole—to find evidence of warming. They planned to share with school groups their first hand experience via satellite telephone and have online updates with photos that clearly showed the warming of the Artic. But they had to end their trek when it got just too cold. Temperatures fell to more than 100° below zero. Instead of being able to swim through melted polar ice in their wetsuits they found the batteries in their electrical equipment drained by the cold and the lady suffered painful frostbite to three toes. They were forced to turn back by the cold.

We preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. All that matters is the simple fact and truth that Jesus was crucified and risen to wash away all our sins. I was driving to confirmation class the other day—when I got behind a pickup truck of junk. It was a little pickup truck—so full the tailgate was open. Inside was a heap of junk—a deer hunting tree stand—a busted bicycle—a broken scooter—chunks of metal and chunks of wood and chunks of plastic. This little truck—had a busted tail light—broken brake light. It stopped—then without using the turn signal—rolled around the corner. And I thought o myself—this is the way lots of people are going through life—hauling this heavy load of things and stuff—breaking rules again and again—as they roll down the road. More than just on New Years—we need to stop and think about our life. What are we with God’s precious gift of time? What are my goals—my priorities—my needs and my wants? Why do I get up in the morning? What am I trying to accomplish? Am I trying to get more and more and bigger and better things and stuff for myself? Am I indulging myself—with Friday fish fries and weekend basketball and movies and Internet and pretty soon landscaping and redecorating and the Stock Market? Am I spending my life—trying to enjoy myself—or trying to glorify my Savior and serve him and share his forgiving love? Am I living for Jesus or for myself?

We preach Christ crucified… Do you read your Bible? Do you read God’s Word if you are a child—an 8th grader—a high school student? The 7th—the final Harry Potter book will be published this summer—what—July 21 ? They are planning to make some twelve million copies of the last Harry Potter book—12 million copies of the original printing. How popular is Harry Potter? The latest Harry Potter on the book shelves of stores today—sold over 7 million copies--within the first 24 hours it was on sale! Literally millions of young people will literally stand in line to buy this next book—the moment it is for sale. They will go straight home—and sit on their beds—and read that book—with only a few breaks for food and drink—until they finish it! Imagine what would happen—if people everywhere would read God’s Word! Oh, it’s wonderful that we come here—and hear God’s Word. But how much do we hear? We have an old Testament lesson—6 verses from Isaiah. We hear 8 verses from First Corinthians and some 25 verses—many more than usual from the Gospel reading—the parable of the prodigal son. We sang a hand full of verses from Psalm 32—and that’s it! That’s about 45 verses—once a week! Oh, you can hear about 40 more verses—double your amount—if you come to adult Bible Class this morning. Just think what would happen—if you would read your Meditations devotion book every day. That would be God’s Word too—a couple of verses every day would pretty soon add up. Think if you would come to Bible Class on Tuesday night—and read Scripture and devotions that Martin Luther wrote. Come to Perkins on Thursday morning—and go over the Scripture readings for Sunday—plus have a muffin or French Toast or oatmeal and coffee and juice. Imagine what would happen! You would sleep better—more and more confident that Jesus took all your sins away. You would get along better with your spouse—because you would be more patient and more forgiving. You would get along better with your children—because you would remember your Heavenly Father’s love and consistent discipline. You would do better at work—because you would be reminded to work faithfully—not really working for people—but working for Jesus! Read God’s Word and you will be stronger in the face of temptation. Read God’s Word and you will be stronger in times of painful trouble and testing.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. I heard the other day about a young lady—whose earthly father was very concerned that she learned to be very careful how she acted and especially how she talked—what she said. If they were in the church entryway visiting—and the conversation started moving toward thin ice—her father would very simply tap his finger on his lapel. This was the unmistakable signal—stop and think where this is going. Be very careful what you say and how you say it. If—heaven forbid—her father should tap his lapel with two fingers—this was the unmistakable—unspoken and yet sure and certain warning—whatever you are talking about—change the subject immediately! Talk about something—anything else. This is but a small example of sin—saying the wrong thing. We sin all the time—gossiping, grumbling and complaining, cursing, swearing, saying things that are thoughtless and hurtful and bitter and wrong! We sin if we argue with our teacher or talk back to our parents—or grumble about our boss or co-workers or customers behind their back. The hand we see is not the hand of an earthly father warning us—but the nail marked hands of Jesus—our Redeemer. Jesus’ hands were pierced with nails—because of my sin and yours. We preach Christ crucified—a foolish waste to those who refuse to believe. But to those who are being saved the power of God and the wisdom of God—our Salvation. Amen!


To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz