Month: December 2016 (Page 2 of 2)

Feeling Forsaken

December 11, 2016 / Allan Babcock

I admit it. Not infrequently these days I feel as if our Father has forsaken me. I believe in my head, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). But that’s not what I feel.

No need to detail the symptoms of my Primary Lateral Sclerosis. Suffice to say it’s a progressive, incurable neurological disease. Symptoms are inability to walk, swollen and aching feet, terrible body weakness, and a foggy headache that makes clear thinking nearly impossible. There are more, but that’s enough. I’m mostly confined to a wheelchair and can’t do virtually anything physical. Prayers have been answered, “No” or, at least, “Not yet until the resurrection.”

Writing my blog has become a battle, every sentence, it seems, squeezed out of a groggy, hurting head. And this my only ministry since PLS forced me to retire from pastoring after 44 years.

I’m dragging my way through Timothy Keller’s excellent book, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering. I hope to eventually write a blog series about it. But I came upon a valuable insight he noted as I thought about the now-limited effect of my life for the Lord.

Keller refers to Joni Ereckson Tada, who became a quadriplegic as a result of a diving accident at 17 years of age. She was later devastated when a friend died after a bout with multiple sclerosis which had left her paralyzed from the neck down. How, Joni, wondered, could such a life meaningfully glorify God?

Another friend pointed her to Luke 15:10 where Jesus tells of angels in heaven rejoicing over a repentant sinner. Then to Ephesians 3:10—“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.”

Joni realized her friend’s life wasn’t a waste: someone—a great many someones—was watching. Keller concludes: “There is an unimaginable but real spiritual world out there. Everything you do is done in front of billions of beings.”

I can’t pastor any longer. Some days I can’t write my blog. But what I do and what I say is being seen and heard. Within my limitations, I can bring glory to God in the heavenly realms.

Still there are people who see and hear me: my wife, my children and my grandchildren. Do I glorify God in my suffering before them? To be honest, I’m aware of what I do and say before my children and grandchildren. I don’t want to wound their faith by my unfaithfulness. So I’m “up” for them. It’s not hypocrisy; it’s a genuine attempt to glorify God before them. I want to fortify their faith for their suffering. I want to be an example the Holy Spirit can use and they can emulate. For good or ill, my life still influences my most-loved family.

I must remember that when it comes to Lois. She gets me unvarnished. Have I wounded her faith with my complaints? I pray not. She encourages me, prays for me, waits on me, loves me unconditionally. But I want to glorify God before her. I pray he will strengthen me to strengthen her.

I don’t want to end this implying I’m doing fine. Often I’m not. Often I’m feeling forsaken. I ask “why, God?” knowing he’s already answered in Scripture. I just don’t like his chosen path for me. And some days I do feel forgotten by him (though I know that’s not true).

So my “revelations” written here (that I can glorify God before billions of beings in the heavenly realms and I can glorify God before my family and for their highest good) are weapons for my fight of faith. Not two pills that relieve my emotional pain. Weapons to fight against the lies of the evil one and of my sinful nature and its corrupted feelings.

I share this with you because you suffer too, or will. Maybe you’ve already learned what I’ve written here. But if not, I want to be honest about my struggles, so that you know Christians have them too. (No “triumphalism” here!) But also that you might learn from them and be equipped to fight the fight of faith when you feel forsaken, when you feel that your life has little significance for God’s glory. So, there’s my heart.

I finish with a promise to which my sometimes-feeling-forsaken soul clings . . .

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41:10).

Christmas: Let It Happen

December 10, 2016 / Allan Babcock

During World War 2, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are sent from London to an old professor’s large country house. A rainy day leads to an inside game of hide-and-seek. Lucy hides in a large wardrobe. Pushing through winter coats, she finds herself in winter outside the wardrobes’ missing back wall. A talking faun tells her wonderful tales about this strange land of Narnia. Finally, realizing she’s been gone a long while, she retraces her steps to the wardrobe and tells her older brothers and sister about her adventure. They don’t believe her (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis).

Luke’s Christmas Story reminds me of Lewis’ Narnia. Both open to me a world of wonder and call me to be a trusting child again (quite desirable for a disabled 73-year-old!). Here’s part two of Luke’s story. (You can find the first at https://theoldpreacher.com/christmas-old-empty/.)

In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee named Nazareth. He had a message for a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of King David. Her name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!” Mary was deeply troubled by the angel’s message, and she wondered what his words meant. The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end!” Mary said to the angel, “I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God’s power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God. Remember your relative Elizabeth. It is said that she cannot have children, but she herself is now six months pregnant, even though she is very old. For there is nothing that God cannot do.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary; “may it happen to me as you have said.” And the angel left her (Luke 1:26-38, GNT).

“God sent the angel . . . to a town in Galilee named Nazareth” should spike our curiosity. Galilee in Nazareth are real places. This isn’t a “once upon a time in a land far away” story. But “God sent the angel”—that’s, well, fairy-tale-like. Don’t doze because God sending angels happens in the Bible. Luke is telling us God sent an angel to a real town and at a particular time (“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy . . . “). A strange mix of the historical (see Luke 1:1-4) and the wonder-ful!

The angel had a message for a young woman named Mary. What surprises me is how she responds to the angel’s greeting. I think angels appeared as men, unless Scripture describes them otherwise. No wings. No holy glow. Maybe that led to Mary’s response. She’s not afraid of the angel, just “deeply troubled by the angel’s message”— “The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you.”

The angel tells her (a talking angel, like the talking faun) she’ll become pregnant and birth a son whom she’ll name “Jesus”. A common name. But his next words must get Mary tingling. Her son will be great, will be called “the Son of the Most High God” and God will make him king of Jacob’s descendants like his ancestor David and his kingdom will last forever.

It’s been said that every pregnant Jewish woman wondered if the child in her womb was a son, and if he might be the Messiah. Mary must have thought the same at the angel’s words. She must have known prophecies like these . . .

At the time of those rulers the God of heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever. (Daniel 2:44)

During this vision in the night, I saw what looked like a human being. He was approaching me, surrounded by clouds, and he went to the one who had been living forever and was presented to him. He was given authority, honor, and royal power, so that the people of all nations, races, and languages would serve him. His authority would last forever, and his kingdom would never end (Daniel 7:13,14).

The angel practically quoted them of her son! So it’s understandable that she didn’t ask the angel for some identification. This was every Israelite woman’s dream! Ah, but, she’s got a problem. She’s a virgin!

Turns out the angel’s ready with the solution: The Holy Spirit will come upon her and conceive the holy child in her. Did Mary’s face show a twinge of doubt? In any case, the angel told her that her barren relative Elizabeth is now six month’s pregnant. See: God can do anything!

Mary’s final response stuns me still. “I am the Lord’s servant; may it happen to me as you have said.” She just accepts it. She submits to it. No more questions. No arguments. No thought of personal cost. (A promised-to-be-married pregnant woman!) Just, “I serve the Lord. Let’s go for it.”

Mary is one special young lady because the Lord has specially favored her. The Greek word, charioto–o, means “kindness with the implication of grace on the part of the one showing kindness.” That grace, I think, was not merely in the Lord’s choosing her, but in enabling her trusting response.

So the scene ends. If we’re child-like enough to believe it really happened, we might ask, “So what? So 2000 years ago in northern Israel an angel appeared and told a virgin she’ll give birth to Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. What’s that to me? Mary’s son, according to the angel, will be king of Jacob’s descendants. Far as I know, I’m not on Jacob’s family tree. And that he’ll be king forever, well, there’s a lot of such talk in the Old Testament and it could be a metaphor for a long time, or it could mean he’ll reign “forever” in his descendants; you know, a Jesus-dynasty.”

We could explore the rest of the New Testament to learn what this wonder-ful message from angel to young woman means to us. But let’s check out just one place. The angel said Mary’s Son would be king of Jacob’s descendants forever, right? Well, here’s what the apostle Paul wrote of him later . . .

“[Christ Jesus] being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11, NIV).

There it is: “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord . . . “ Turns out he’s not just Israel’s Messiah; he’s the world’s Lord. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will acknowledge him as King.

See Mary bowing before the angel? Every one will take Mary’s place. Either compelled on Judgment Day. Or willingly now. How much better to become like a child today and step into the wonder-ful Christmas Story forever!

Preaching Fools

December 8, 2016 / Allan Babcock

The ancient Greeks spread their philosophies (“wisdom”) through itinerant orators. We do it through the media.

“Collateral Beauty” is a soon-to-be-released movie about a man (Will Smith), “retreating from life after a tragedy, [who] questions the universe by writing to Love, Time and Death. Receiving unexpected answers, he begins to see how these things interlock and how even loss can reveal moments of meaning and beauty.” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4682786/).

A philosophy of life. That’s what this movie offers. We might mindlessly absorb it (hopefully not!). Or we might, as the Corinthian Christians did, boast that Christianity is the superior philosophy. Paul argues that Christianity isn’t a superior philosophy. Rather Christianity stands in a wholly other category than human wisdom.

In 1:18-31 Paul explains that “the message of the cross” isn’t superior human wisdom; it’s foolishness to those who are perishing”. Further, those who believe that message aren’t “wise” but, according to human standards, fools.

In 2:1-5 Paul continues. Gospel preachers aren’t the wisest orators; measured by human standards, they’re “fools”. As an example, Paul points to himself.

And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God (1 Corinthians 2:1,2, NIV).

By “eloquence or human wisdom” Paul means he didn’t come to Corinth to distinguish himself. Eloquence (Greek huperoxay) refers to “excellent” or “superior” words. In this context, it implies superior words intended to impress. Paul, on the other hand, simply “proclaimed . . . the testimony about God.”

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling (1 Corinthians 2:2,3, NIV).

“For” introduces Paul’s reason for not coming “with eloquence or human wisdom”: he had determined to know only Jesus Christ and him crucified. As this letter will show, he did preach other truths about Christ. But Christ-crucified was his focus and his passion.

“I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.” While asthenia is often used of physical illness, it seems best to connect “weakness” to “great fear and trembling.” What could have so shaken Paul? He doesn’t explain. Perhaps the challenge of evangelizing such a big city corrupted by such dark immorality and idolatry. Whatever the cause, Paul knew the Corinthians (who were boasting about their “great preachers”) needed to hear this. His success in Corinth didn’t stem from his powerful oratory skills.

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power (1 Corinthians 2:4,5, NIV).

Paul reminds the Corinthians he didn’t preach his message with persuasive words of wisdom. What marked his preaching “was a demonstration of the Spirit’s power”. The Corinthians were converted. They experienced the Spirit, evidenced by spiritual gifts. That was “a demonstration of the Spirit’s power”.

Why did God choose to work through a weak and fearfully trembling preacher whose oratory lacked the wisdom and persuasion of “wise philosophers”? “ . . . so that you might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”

I’m reminded of Tim Keller. In 1989 Keller started Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City. Today, Redeemer has more than five thousand regular attendees and has helped start almost two hundred churches around the world. Some time ago I watched one of their worship services online, expecting “something special”. Instead, I heard them sing hymns. I watched Keller preach conversationally. The service order was ordinary. And I realized what God was doing: “ . . . so that [the people’s] faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power”.

Dr. Gordon Fee comments on 1 Corinthians 2:4,5 . . .

“The message of the cross, which is folly to the ‘wise’, is the saving power of God to those who believe. The goal of all the divine activity, both in the cross and in choosing them, and now in Paul’s preaching that brought the cross and them together, has been to disarm the wise and powerful so that those who believe must trust God alone and completely” (The First Epistle to the Corinthians, p. 96).

“Collateral Beauty”. The movie, if the trailer is any indication, packs a punch. It draws us in. As crazy as Life, Time and Death personified may be, we identify with Smith as he searches for beauty and meaning, even in life’s tragedies. Subtly, a philosophy of life unfolds. It’s deceitful, however; because it argues that a tragedy-weakened man can fight back, can rise above his defeat, and can find meaning in life.

Christianity, on the other hand, declares humans weak. Meaning is found only in the message of Christ crucified. Believers in that message don’t become movie stars; they’re fools in the world’s eyes. Even their preachers are inferior without bragging rights.

But into the weakness of that message, faith comes. That faith is a demonstration, not of their power, but the Spirit’s. And with the Spirit comes conversion and the presence of the Spirit in the converted evidenced by gifts. And so they sing . . .

“’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
And, O my God, it found out me.”

And so they humbly confess . . .

“It is because of him that [we] are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God– that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:30,31).

We’re one of those “fools”, right?

Weapon-Words

December 5, 2016 / Allan Babcock

Someone, undergoing tests for possible cancer, recently asked me for Bible verses. I hunted up the ones through which the Lord spoke to me when I was facing anxiety-producing surgery. Here they are in the “no-particular-order” I first wrote them . . .

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6,7).

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you (Isaiah 26:3).

“Peace I [Jesus] leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

” . . . God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews13:5b,6).

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9,10).

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11b-13).

Now, what to do with them? I found memorizing best. Memorizing helped me think deeply about the words, not simply skim them. (A special problem with familiar verses.) Memorizing forced me to think word-for-word. Work? Yes. But worth it!

Memorizing also let me take God’s words with me wherever they took me for surgery-prep (and where a Bible or even piece of paper was verboten). Mostly, they were waiting-for-the-next-step times. Especially before my first surgery. In “the holding area.” A dozen of us lay there. Strangers. Waiting to be knocked out and cut up. A great time for anxious thoughts. But with words like these–the very words of God–in my head, I could fight the good fight of the faith.

Lois and I have a niece who’s suffered through literally dozens of surgeries, all major. I remember assuring her once, “The Lord will be with you. Not only that, he’ll be waiting for you in the operating room.” She told me later how much peace it gave her knowing Jesus was waiting for her there.

That’s true for all of us who are his, whether it’s an operating room or whatever suffering we face next. The Lord is not only with us, but waiting for us as we step into the next “whatever”. With Scriptures like these we can add one more promise of the Lord-with-us: with his specific words in our minds and the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we bring him with us.

“God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'” (Hebrews 13:5b).

Christmas: Old and Empty

December 4, 2016 / Allan Babcock

Today we celebrate the second Sunday in Advent. I missed the first. Maybe because we never put it on our church calendar when I was growing up. (Too Roman Catholic-like for the Assemblies of God.) Or maybe I missed the first Advent Sunday just because Christmas snuck up on this old guy without breaking a sweat!

All that to say, I’ve got some Christmas posts to write along with a lot else during December. Luke 1 and 2 fascinate me. They’re so “Narnia-like.” You know, C. S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia”. London children get magically transported to the land of Narnia where animals talk and “the deep magic” overcomes dark evil and Aslan the Lion appears just in time to rescue his people. It calls me to be a child again. Luke’s Christmas Story is like that.

Luke, however, wrote like a historian, not a fairy-tale-teller. His Christmas Story happened . . .

Dear Theophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message. And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught (Luke 1:1-4, GNT).

Underline these words: “the things that have taken place among us” . . . “what we have been told by those who saw these things” . . . “I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning” . . . “I . . . write an orderly account . . . so that you will know the full truth . . . “ Brush this story off as childhood fantasy if you will, but you’ve got to admit Luke wrote it as reality.

So there was this Jewish priest . . .

During the time when Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife’s name was Elizabeth; she also belonged to a priestly family. They both lived good lives in God’s sight and obeyed fully all the Lord’s laws and commands. They had no children because Elizabeth could not have any, and she and Zechariah were both very old (Luke 1:5-7, GNT).

Zechariah, as far as we know, though he and his wife “lived good lives in God’s sight and obeyed fully all the Lord’s laws and commands”, was just another priest. Ordinary. Stand him with all other Jewish priests, and he’d be lost in the crowd.

Childlessness humiliated his wife, Elizabeth. (Children being a sign of the Lord’s approval.) Plus “both were very old.” No chance now of having a child. No chance of achieving importance. Just an ordinary old couple.

One day Zechariah was doing his work as a priest in the Temple, taking his turn in the daily service. According to the custom followed by the priests, he was chosen by lot to burn incense on the altar. So he went into the Temple of the Lord, while the crowd of people outside prayed during the hour when the incense was burned (Luke 1:8-10, GNT).

It was an honor to burn incense on the Temple altar. Also a stroke of God’s blessing, because there were more priests than opportunity. The priests were chosen by lot. Zechariah must have thanked God when the lot fell to him. But he also must have feared. To enter the Lord’s Temple was risky. To misstep could mean death in the Lord’s holy presence. So, probably with mixed emotions, when the day came he entered the Temple while a crowd gathered outside to pray for God to fulfill his messianic promises to Israel (and perhaps for Zechariah’s service to be acceptable).

An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar where the incense was burned. When Zechariah saw him, he was alarmed and felt afraid. But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You are to name him John. How glad and happy you will be, and how happy many others will be when he is born! John will be great in the Lord’s sight. He must not drink any wine or strong drink. From his very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and he will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go ahead of the Lord, strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah. He will bring fathers and children together again; he will turn disobedient people back to the way of thinking of the righteous; he will get the Lord’s people ready for him” (Luke 1:11-17, GNT).

Well, of course the old priest was “alarmed and felt afraid”. The Holy Place was semi-dark. Zechariah’s carefully following the ritual. And suddenly “an angel of the Lord” appears! He tries to calm the priest. Then, of all things, tells him “God has heard your prayer.” His wife will bear a son! And not just any boy. One who will be great in the Lord’s sight. One from birth filled with the Holy Spirit. One to return many Israelites to the Lord. One “strong and mighty like the prophet Elijah” who will go ahead of the Lord to “get the Lord’s people ready for him.”

Did you hear? It was almost laughable. (Remember how old Sarah had laughed when the Lord told her she’d bear old Abraham a son?) But Zechariahs’ and Elizabeth’s son would be more than a child of their old age. He would get the people ready to receive Messiah! “Messiah’s about to come, old priest! And your son will be his prophet!”

Now it’s one thing to read about Abraham and Sarah. Quite another when an angel comes to you.

Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know if this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is old also.” “I am Gabriel,” the angel answered. “I stand in the presence of God, who sent me to speak to you and tell you this good news. But you have not believed my message, which will come true at the right time. Because you have not believed, you will be unable to speak; you will remain silent until the day my promise to you comes true.” In the meantime the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he was spending such a long time in the Temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them, and so they knew that he had seen a vision in the Temple. Unable to say a word, he made signs to them with his hands. When his period of service in the Temple was over, Zechariah went back home (Luke 1:18-23, GNT).

Gabriel expected Zechariah to believe. When the priest asked for evidence, he got instead a broken tongue—silence until the boy’s birth. Why not blind his eyes or cripple his legs? Perhaps so unbelieving Zechariah wouldn’t convey unbelief when he blessed the crowd once he finished in the Temple. Or perhaps the Lord was making for a greater miracle when he freed the priest’s tongue. In the end, we don’t know. But that’s how it is with the wonder of God’s ways: sometimes we just don’t understand. And that’s part of the fear of being caught up in his wonders.

Some time later his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and did not leave the house for five months. “Now at last the Lord has helped me,” she said. “He has taken away my public disgrace!” (Luke 1:24,25, GNT).

Messiah stands on the threshold. But Luke tells us the story of Elizabeth’s joy. For a moment, his story is all about a priest’s old barren wife’s fat tummy. She knows it’s the Lord’s help (at last). She rejoices that her public disgrace is removed.

But, you see, this is how the Christmas Story works. It’s all about Messiah. But little ordinary people aren’t overlooked. In fact, for no reason other than mercy (God could have had John born ordinarily to young parents) the Lord catches up little ordinary people (like you and me) in Messiah’s story. And he blesses us. He gives us joy. Out of hopelessness, he brings brighter light than we can imagine.

Even if, at times, our faith needs a sign.

Foolish Wisdom

December 3, 2016 / Allan Babcock

My family lived in a lake community during my high school years. Not an impressive lake, but okay for summer swimming and winter ice skating. Friends and I occasionally played hockey, but first checked the ice for cracks. Cracks could signal thin ice. And we weren’t there to swim.

“Cracks” had appeared in the Corinthian church—“cracks” over which preacher was the “wisest”, “cracks” that ultimately corrupted the gospel. Paul set out to repair them.

APPEAL FOR AGREEMENT

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas ”; still another, “I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:10-12, NIV)

We can’t be sure who Chloe was or how her household informed Paul in Ephesus about what was going on in Corinth. But we can be sure the Corinthians were divided and quarreling over preachers. Some favored Paul, others Apollos, others Cephas (Peter—though we have no record of him being in Corinth). and others Christ (the truly spiritual ones who needed no human preacher!).

Paul urges them to agree “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Not only does this give his appeal authority; it makes his appeal christological. He is “our Lord Jesus Christ.” He must be glorified, not his messengers.

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power (1 Corinthians 1:13-17, NIV).

Paul asks these three rhetorical questions to show the Corinthians the absurdity of their quarreling over preachers. Christ is one. Christ died for them. They were baptized in the name of Christ. And, as for Paul, Christ sent him to preach the gospel of Christ. The gospel is the message of Christ, not of his preachers.

When Paul writes Christ sent him “to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence . . . “ he hints at what lies behind the “preacher-preference” quarrels. “Culture” is “the sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another.” The culture of Corinth was Greek. And Greeks lauded “wisdom” (sophia), especially on the lips of polished orators. Such men were superstars. Itinerant rhetoricians (traveling wise men?) drew enthusiastic ears. Unfortunately, a speaker’s “charisma” was often more applauded than his substance. This culture seeped into the church and influenced Christians’ view of preachers.

Not only did it divide the church; it corrupted the gospel. Paul warns: I was sent “ . . . to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” The message of Christ-crucified possesses inherent power. But the Corinthians are enamored with the preacher’s “wisdom and eloquence.” Therefore, they’re allowing the substance of the message (Christ crucified) to be overshadowed by the style of the messenger. Fascinated by the preacher’s power, they virtually ignored the power of Christ’s cross.

In the gospel, the Corinthians presumed to have found a new “wisdom”. But the “wisdom” of the Greek orators and that of Christ-crucified lies worlds apart. Paul begins to highlight the differences . . .

THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE CROSS

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 person? Where is the teacher of the law? 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 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 human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength (1 Corinthians 1:18-25,NIV).

The message of the cross is “new wisdom”. To the perishing it’s foolishness. No one who prizes sophia could dream up a crucified Messiah! But to us being saved the message of the cross is God’s power. It’s through believing that message that we experience God’s powerful work saving us from sin and all its consequences including death.

With “it is written”, Paul sees God fulfilling in Christ what he intended all along—namely, to destroy human wisdom. The citation is from Isaiah 29:14—“Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” It’s a warning to Old Testament Israel not to try to “outthink” God whose wisdom reduces man’s wisdom to foolishness (though apart from God’s grace, man presumes to be wise!).

God, by Christ’s crucifixion, has made the world’s wisdom foolish. For the world’s wisdom cannot save us from sin and its consequences. Humans, with all our “wisdom” cannot accomplish what God has done through the cross. Before God, all the world’s orators will stand speechless. God, through the weakness of Christ crucified, has powerfully saved his chosen.

The “wisdom” of the Greek orators and that of Christ-crucified lies worlds apart. Paul highlights a second difference . . .

THE FOOLISHNESS OF GOD’S CHOSEN

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31, NIV).

Look whom God has chosen to save! The Corinthian Christians are largely “nobodies.” By human standards not wise or influential or of noble birth. Many, as we learned earlier, are freedmen—former slaves but socially almost the same. By the standards of Greek culture they were foolish, far inferior to the “wisdom” of the upper social classes. They were weak (at least in influence), not strong. The “movers and shakers” considered them lowly and despised them. Yet God chose to save them!

Why? Here God’s wisdom shines through the “foolish” message of the cross. “ . . . so that no one may boast before him.” What do believers in the crucified bring to God to merit his approval? Nothing.

Yet ego lurks always. By exalting Paul or Apollos or Cephas as “the wisest” preacher (“O, I just love to hear the way the words flow from his lips!”), they were “boasting” that they “had” the wisest orator. Thus the power of the cross was overlooked. And thus they forgot that “it is because of [God] that [they] are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

WISDOM, SCHISMS AND US

We don’t usually accord superstar status to preachers. More often to Christian bands or singers. Though rarely do we quarrel over “the best”. Nevertheless, we do love having Christian celebrities. Like the world. And we’ve heard rebukes about the church become more like the world. We have our Christian version of music stars, for example. And that’s okay—unless subtly we’re more into our Christian celebrities than we are into Christ.

I think we become more like the world with our fascination over church buildings. Who can build the biggest, with the flashiest technology and stunning “campus”?

Maybe I sound like an old curmudgeon. I’m not against good, Christ-exalting contemporary music. The folks who meet in a store-front aren’t holier than those who meet in a cathedral. But let’s remember: neither our music nor our buildings save and sanctify us.

And our Savior didn’t wear stylish suits and flashy jewelry. The world didn’t welcome him. It executed him. Our Lord and Savior was judged guilty of treason and died a criminal’s death. If he came today as he did 2000 years ago, we’d do the same.

This is the One we follow. This is how God saves us. Not through what seems intellectually wise, but foolish. And the intellectual “giants” look down on us as stupid for believing such nonsense. We shouldn’t nurse a “persecuted me” mentality. But, we must never forget, the word’s “wisdom” contradicts God’s. And we must never forget, that we are “in Christ Jesus”, not because of our “smarts”, but God’s grace.