All These Demands Don't Make Sense, God
Sermon
Holy Email
Cycle A Second Lesson Sermons for Advent, Christmas, Epiphany
Object:
E-mail
From: KDM
To: God
Subject: Demands On God
Message: All these demands don't make sense, God. Lauds, KDM
"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). At first look, taking time to come to church on Sunday morning may appear foolishness for those who spend one or two lifetimes of work at one or two jobs in a single week. You figure that coming to church on Sunday morning uses up at least three hours you could spend resting your mind or exercising your body or doing Internet research or chilling out or otherwise sloughing the dead outer skin of the past week,
continual shedding until it dawns on you that there will be no end to this molting of stress,
that you need to replenish at the level of spirit, refreshing your soul by the God-connecting and people-connecting that can fill your soul,
so you can meet the point of emptying yourself of negative, depleting, and exhaustive stress with a refilling and sturdy source of sustenance,
so you will have something to offer Monday morning besides emptiness.
Stop. Pause. Take a breath. Be among the foolish.
"For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart' " (v. 19). Twice in this First Corinthians reading, Paul quotes from the prophets. This time it is from Isaiah. We wonder how the wisdom of the wise differs from the wisdom of the rest of us. How does the wisdom of the wise differ from the wisdom of the foolish? How do we know if we are listed as wise or as foolish?
We try to be as wise as possible. Then God turns us around saying God will destroy the wisdom of the wise. We are, God says, rather to be like the foolish ones. No wonder our e-mail acquaintance says to these words, "All these demands don't make sense, God. Lauds, KDM."
God uniquely adjusts our capacity to perceive. God has a way of turning us around. The teachings of Jesus throw us off balance. His answers to the questions of those around him surprise us with the unexpected. They jolt us. They make new demands. They invite us to look into our own way of living with new eyes.
Verse 20: "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?" These days, we play with conventional wisdom. This sport haws more of the cynical than of what is wise. Conventional opinions, established practice, and accepted standards are not necessarily wise. What we consider usual wisdom may become mirage.
Take another look at the so-called successful people around us. Much that appears wise seems foolish. The measure of wisdom remains a puzzle as we search for wise fools among us. When are you or I the wise fool? When do we reflect foolish wisdom? Although older folk have lived through much, many have repeated their mistakes and misjudgments. The longer we live, the less we view wisdom as an automatic accompaniment of age.
The inquisitive scholar within us wants to gain knowledge. The plethora of Internet data suggests that if we are informed, we will gain wisdom. If we can just fill ourselves with enough facts, our tired-eyed web cruises might quiet. Yet still another link beckons us to still another search. If we could just switch off the computer mind, we might come to trust and gain an intuitive understanding of what is true, what is right, what is lasting, what is prudent, and what is wise in the guise of foolishness.
Verses 26-29: "Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God." The glitter, noise, accumulation of wealth and things, advanced schooling, human standards, and all that is of pseudo-importance in our lives really do not matter if we miss the point of our being here.
You and I define ourselves by our actions. Our daily schedule reveals what we hold to be important in life. We have the charge as people who are trying to live a Christian life to look at what our day is about. We can discern what of it really does not matter. We need to listen for what of it tells of a quiet, inner wisdom. Let us ponder what speaks of foolishness in the present world until we think about its underlying importance. Let us discover what in the way we live echoes and remembers Christ's words, "Nevertheless, I came to be with you always."
From Christ's birth to the cross and beyond, God asks us to lay aside our usual methods of determining what is real, what is valid, and what is reasonable. Lay these aside and choose simple, inexplicable belief. God has decided to save those who believe. Foolishness? Wisdom.
To some, foolishness might be defined as balancing work with play or taking time for preventative or restorative self-care. Foolishness might be looking again at what honors our type of personality, seeking your unique "I am" in your career or sense of vocation. It might be weighing the work we do with the type of work that most suits or fulfills us. Foolishness might risk paycheck, seniority, or attainment of tenure for justice. It might be being rather than darting around with so much political positioning.
Consider the things you worry about and those you do something about. What do you put off and what do you take care of in matters of family, commitment, and relationship? Look at what propels you into action. Consider that foolishness might demand us to start over and discover the wisdom of the fool who appears deficient in judgment or understanding.
"He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord' " (vv. 30, 31).
Again, Paul reminds us through the early prophets, this time Jeremiah, that if we glory in our own wisdom, it probably is not wisdom at all. Signs did not persuade. Dotting an "i" and crossing the "t" led to a barrage of empty, legalistic gestures. That sort of wisdom did not work.
So God took all the multi-syllabic, distant faith words of the head -- righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and more -- and God made these words live in a new creation, Christ. God made the word into the close, heart words of being, living words.
Jesus became the wisdom God is talking about so God can get through to us at the level where it matters. Jesus became the standard we look to and, joining in the foolishness, measure everything by. Finally we, too, are drawn to proclaim the power of the new story that began with Christmas and find that we, also, are no longer perishing.
From: KDM
To: God
Subject: Demands On God
Message: All these demands don't make sense, God. Lauds, KDM
"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). At first look, taking time to come to church on Sunday morning may appear foolishness for those who spend one or two lifetimes of work at one or two jobs in a single week. You figure that coming to church on Sunday morning uses up at least three hours you could spend resting your mind or exercising your body or doing Internet research or chilling out or otherwise sloughing the dead outer skin of the past week,
continual shedding until it dawns on you that there will be no end to this molting of stress,
that you need to replenish at the level of spirit, refreshing your soul by the God-connecting and people-connecting that can fill your soul,
so you can meet the point of emptying yourself of negative, depleting, and exhaustive stress with a refilling and sturdy source of sustenance,
so you will have something to offer Monday morning besides emptiness.
Stop. Pause. Take a breath. Be among the foolish.
"For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart' " (v. 19). Twice in this First Corinthians reading, Paul quotes from the prophets. This time it is from Isaiah. We wonder how the wisdom of the wise differs from the wisdom of the rest of us. How does the wisdom of the wise differ from the wisdom of the foolish? How do we know if we are listed as wise or as foolish?
We try to be as wise as possible. Then God turns us around saying God will destroy the wisdom of the wise. We are, God says, rather to be like the foolish ones. No wonder our e-mail acquaintance says to these words, "All these demands don't make sense, God. Lauds, KDM."
God uniquely adjusts our capacity to perceive. God has a way of turning us around. The teachings of Jesus throw us off balance. His answers to the questions of those around him surprise us with the unexpected. They jolt us. They make new demands. They invite us to look into our own way of living with new eyes.
Verse 20: "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?" These days, we play with conventional wisdom. This sport haws more of the cynical than of what is wise. Conventional opinions, established practice, and accepted standards are not necessarily wise. What we consider usual wisdom may become mirage.
Take another look at the so-called successful people around us. Much that appears wise seems foolish. The measure of wisdom remains a puzzle as we search for wise fools among us. When are you or I the wise fool? When do we reflect foolish wisdom? Although older folk have lived through much, many have repeated their mistakes and misjudgments. The longer we live, the less we view wisdom as an automatic accompaniment of age.
The inquisitive scholar within us wants to gain knowledge. The plethora of Internet data suggests that if we are informed, we will gain wisdom. If we can just fill ourselves with enough facts, our tired-eyed web cruises might quiet. Yet still another link beckons us to still another search. If we could just switch off the computer mind, we might come to trust and gain an intuitive understanding of what is true, what is right, what is lasting, what is prudent, and what is wise in the guise of foolishness.
Verses 26-29: "Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God." The glitter, noise, accumulation of wealth and things, advanced schooling, human standards, and all that is of pseudo-importance in our lives really do not matter if we miss the point of our being here.
You and I define ourselves by our actions. Our daily schedule reveals what we hold to be important in life. We have the charge as people who are trying to live a Christian life to look at what our day is about. We can discern what of it really does not matter. We need to listen for what of it tells of a quiet, inner wisdom. Let us ponder what speaks of foolishness in the present world until we think about its underlying importance. Let us discover what in the way we live echoes and remembers Christ's words, "Nevertheless, I came to be with you always."
From Christ's birth to the cross and beyond, God asks us to lay aside our usual methods of determining what is real, what is valid, and what is reasonable. Lay these aside and choose simple, inexplicable belief. God has decided to save those who believe. Foolishness? Wisdom.
To some, foolishness might be defined as balancing work with play or taking time for preventative or restorative self-care. Foolishness might be looking again at what honors our type of personality, seeking your unique "I am" in your career or sense of vocation. It might be weighing the work we do with the type of work that most suits or fulfills us. Foolishness might risk paycheck, seniority, or attainment of tenure for justice. It might be being rather than darting around with so much political positioning.
Consider the things you worry about and those you do something about. What do you put off and what do you take care of in matters of family, commitment, and relationship? Look at what propels you into action. Consider that foolishness might demand us to start over and discover the wisdom of the fool who appears deficient in judgment or understanding.
"He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord' " (vv. 30, 31).
Again, Paul reminds us through the early prophets, this time Jeremiah, that if we glory in our own wisdom, it probably is not wisdom at all. Signs did not persuade. Dotting an "i" and crossing the "t" led to a barrage of empty, legalistic gestures. That sort of wisdom did not work.
So God took all the multi-syllabic, distant faith words of the head -- righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and more -- and God made these words live in a new creation, Christ. God made the word into the close, heart words of being, living words.
Jesus became the wisdom God is talking about so God can get through to us at the level where it matters. Jesus became the standard we look to and, joining in the foolishness, measure everything by. Finally we, too, are drawn to proclaim the power of the new story that began with Christmas and find that we, also, are no longer perishing.
