Saint Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Lent 2 March 23, 2003 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

 

            Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to 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.

 

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


            There is no end—to the creativity of people—when it comes to doing hurt and harm. We are poor students of history—doomed to repeat the painful mistakes of the past again and again if we don’t learn! Did you know the Japanese were terrorists during World War II? Did you know that they attempted terrorist attacks all along the west coast during WWII? They did and it was exceedingly clever! They made balloons—huge balloons—gray or white or greenish-blue balloons made of silk paper—some 35 feet across. Balloons big enough to fill our sanctuary! They would send these balloons up into the jet stream—25,000 to 35,000 feet—where they traveled about 125 miles per hour—in the breezes that keep blowing from west to east. It would take 3 ½ to 5 days for the balloons to travel 5,000 miles from Japan to the west coast of the United States. Each time the balloon sank to 25,000 feet a neat little control would drop a sand bag weight—and the balloon would rise. When the last sand bag fell a new control would repeat the process only this time what dropped would be incendiary bombs. The idea was to set the great forests of the coast on fire. Remember the forest fires of last summer? That was the plan. And if it wasn’t for God’s grace the plan would have worked! The balloons got here—in the fall—in the autumn when it always rains on the west coast—soggy balloons failed to set soggy forests on fire. It was by God’s grace alone—that the clever plans of the enemy failed and we were spared—we were saved! It is by God’s grace alone that the clever plans of the enemies of our soul and heart fail. It is by God’s grace alone that we are saved for eternity! This third Sunday in Lent God’s Word is law and gospel—warning and encouragement:


We Preach Christ Crucified and Risen!

  1. The Gospel is God’s wisdom
  2. The Gospel is God’s power

Sunday after Sunday during the season of Epiphany—7 Sundays leading up to Lent—we had readings from 1st and 2nd Corinthians. We do again today—and with Jesus’ permission the readings scheduled for Maundy Thursday and for Easter Sunday—include readings from 1st Corinthians. That tells you something about how precious and instructive the Scriptures are that were first written to believers in the powerful and important place called Corinth. The Apostle Paul goes to the heart of the matter when God’s Word says, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified—a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” Greeks look for wisdom. The Greek word for wisdom here—is the word from which we get our English name Sophia—wisdom. It’s a word rich in meaning. You have to kind of figure out what kind of wisdom they are talking about—from the context. It can be the wisdom people have—insight and understanding that can be had from acuteness—being sharp—paying attention—learning by doing—learning from experience. The word for wisdom here—includes the concept of understanding and being able to boil all kinds of information down into something that you can repeat and share. That you can boil down to a proverb or something brief and memorable and to the point! It can be the wisdom that results in a godly God-pleasing life. It can also mean the craftiness of envious and quarrelsome people. It can mean being good and being bad—professional criminals that don’t get caught—organized—not unorganized crime! The Greek word for wisdom here can be the most precious wisdom people can have—the wisdom that is a gift of God—understanding the mysteries of the Kingdom of God! This happens when God is gracious and good and gives us His Holy Spirit so that we can understand the Scriptures. The ultimate wisdom is God’s wisdom. This is a knowledge that we will never fully understand. Not in this world—and not when we are in Heaven. God will always be far beyond our puny earthly minds to understand. When we are in Heaven we will join the angels giving glory to the greatness of God!


Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Greeks look for wisdom. The Greeks pursued wisdom—insight—understanding. There were great teachers like Socrates. Socrates was not puffed up or arrogant or proud. He didn’t consider himself a great thinker. He simply called himself an “inquirer”—someone who wished to ask good questions! Socrates engaged in informal discussions—spent time visiting with people who had insight and understanding—so that steel might sharpen steel. Socrates was concerned about growing together—encouraging the kind of thinking and discussion that would be for the common good. He liked to ask lots and lots of questions. Why have we always done it that way? Is the way we always did it because that’s the best way—or not? There is a very famous painting of Socrates—surrounded by his students. Socrates is about to drink a cup of hemlock—a deadly poison. Socrates drank the hemlock—administered capital punishment to himself—because a corrupt government and a corrupt trial condemned him. Oh, people said—you can run away. We can bribe people and have your verdict overturned or your sentence reduced. There are all kinds of ways around this. But Socrates said—bribery is always wrong. Running away is always wrong. Bending the rules and breaking the rules is always wrong. When people disobey the law or disobey the government you have chaos and anarchy. He would do the right thing—even when everyone else wasn’t. Socrates drank the hemlock. Socrates’ student Plato thought and discussed and questioned and debated. Plato wrote about beauty and love. For 40 years Plato sat in a garden and taught. He was exceedingly wise in the world’s estimation. Plato’s greatest student was a man named Aristotle. Aristotle taught about logic and natural science and metaphysics and moral philosophy and rhetoric and poetry. He was a wonderful teacher—after spending 7 years tutoring Alexander the Great! Here is wisdom in this world’s estimation too. The Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.


The Greeks look for wisdom. The smart thing—the wise thing—the right thing to do isn’t always obvious. I heard the other day about the Korean War. A general had come to visit a front line unit. He was inspecting—checking things out—when there was rifle fire—a sniper trying to shoot the General. He quickly got behind cover—and shouted to the local commander to take out that sniper. We will—if you insist—said the commander. The fact is—we’ve had this sniper here for 6 weeks now. He hasn’t hit anyone. We are afraid—if we take him out—he may be replaced by someone who can actually shoot. So we thought the wise thing to do was leave him alone! When it comes to the right thing—the wise thing—the smart thing to do—it isn’t always clear. Jesus takes you sins away—so we are saved by grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone? That never changes—not ever! You can bet your immortal soul on God’s Word—God’s Truth!


Jews demand miraculous signs. Jesus performed miraculous signs. He did. Jesus and his disciples went to a wedding at Cana in Galilee. When they ran out of wine Jesus told them to fill 6 water jars—each holding 20 to 30 gallons. They filled them to the brim. Then—very carefully—they took out some of the water and took it to the master of the banquet. The water was turned to wine—some 180 gallons of the finest wine! Jesus gave sight to people born blind—and in moments not only healed their eyes—but booted their minds to process what it had never processed before. Minds that had never processed such information now were able to calculate that trees had trunks and branches and leaves all connected—branches that swayed and leaves that fluttered—all part of the same miracle that is a tree. Jesus took people who were dying by inches from the cancer of leprosy and made them well and whole—their skin softer than that of a little newborn baby. Jesus took arms and legs that were withered and stiff and cold and made them stronger than an athlete’s. If the Son of God told some part of your body to be healed—how wonderful and complete would that healing be? What muscle—what veins and arteries—what bone—what skin would dare to be less than wonderful? Jesus raised the dead! He took a little girl—cold and dead and lifeless—and woke her up. He pried her free from the cold and icy clutches of death and handed her back to her parents. Jesus stopped a funeral procession on the way to the cemetery. Death collided with the Lord of Life! Jesus gave back to a poor widow her only son. Jesus called his friend Lazarus back to life. And he had been dead for 4 days! Jesus worked miraculous signs—and still they would not believe. Jesus asked the people who came looking for him with torches and clubs to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus asked them, “Who is it you want?” They said, “Jesus of Nazareth!” “I am he”, he told them and they all fell backward! Jesus knocked them all down! Did they back off? Did they leave him alone? No—they arrested him—because this was God’s plan—God’s only plan to save us from all our sins! We preach Christ crucified!


For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. Man’s wisdom—what is that? There was a snowstorm this week in Denver. It was the biggest snowstorm there in almost 100 years! Did they know it was coming? Some people did. It was in all the Denver papers for the better part of a week—that this blizzard was coming! And yet all morning—the day the blizzard struck—air planes flew somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,000 people into Denver—just before it got so bad—no one could fly in or out! 4,000 people—and less than 1,000 cots. Cots on a first come—first served basis went to people on Spring Break—and not to grandmas and grandpas—handicapped people and crippled people. Man’s wisdom—the roof of the airport—designed to look like mountain peaks—is made of canvass. The mountains and valleys of this roof filled with snow. Some of the canvass tore. There was genuine fear that the roof of the terminal would collapse. So they closed off the food court. The concourse restaurants had lines that meant waiting in line for an hour and 48 minutes to buy a Quarter Pounder with cheese. Early on you could buy a sandwich—but they were out of ham and turkey—so you got lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and cucumber slices. Man’s wisdom—people lined up at 3:30 in the morning—to go through ticket lines that didn’t open until 5:40—so slow that by the time you got through security the plane had already left—a huge jet liner with only 20 people aboard—and more snow coming. People grounded last Tuesday—perhaps not getting out until the day after tomorrow? Weather forecasters in Monterey, California—can tell you when the winds will blow in the sands of Iraq—cannot keep people from being caught in a blizzard in Denver? Man’s wisdom? Doctors that tell people tell women to take hormone replacement therapy for the last 10 years—and now say—maybe—just maybe it is hurtful and harmful to take these pills? Man’s wisdom is always changing. God’s Word—God’s truth—Jesus the only way to heaven never changes. It never did. It never will. It’s always the same.


It was May 5th, 1945, Pastor Mitchell and his wife were taking five children on a picnic 16 miles into the mountains. The Pastor let his wife and five children—one eleven, two twelve and two thirteen out of the car. They would hike through the woods while he drove around on the road—to park the car and bring the lunch. The Pastor had just parked when he heard his wife and children shouting that they had found a huge balloon. He shouted to them—don’t touch hit. But somebody tugged—tugged at the balloon—and the explosives—the firebomb went off. They were all killed—his wife and all five children—huddled beneath that balloon. Don’t touch it! Don’t touch what is sinful and hurtful and wrong! Stay far far away from the devil’s horrible hurtful attacks! Hold on tight to Jesus who will in fact hold onto you with his nail marked hands. That’s what we preach—what we come here to hear—Christ crucified and risen—the wisdom of God and the power of God—nothing more and nothing less. Amen!