Last week, we looked at discipleship and saw that it is not going to be an easy road. Discipleship is a long journey on a road full of bumps and potholes; however, it is also the only viable road that we can take in our lives. Jesus says that he is the Way, not one of many ways. If we truly want to be disciples, then we need to follow Jesus’ teaching to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. While the path of discipleship is not easy, it is worthwhile.
In the midst of last week’s message, I mentioned the crazy paradox of faith. It’s the idea that we have to let go of our lives if we truly want to live. Eternal life comes through dying to the self and being raised with Christ. It seems at times that the Christian faith is full of paradox. The things that seem to make the least sense are the things that are most sensible.
At the beginning of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he is addressing some divisions that have taken place among the Corinthians. Apparently, the Corinthian Christians were taking some pride in the fact that they were followers of the different people who had come to share the gospel. There were apparently some who boasted about following Paul, others about following Apollos, still others about following Peter, and finally, a group that claimed to be above all of it and followers of Christ. In following the particular preacher of the gospel, they lost sight of the larger purpose, which was to follow Christ, and to do so in a spirit of humility. Paul is not worried about who is preaching the gospel; he wants them to simply follow Christ. And whether the gospel is shared eloquently or plainly, it doesn’t really matter, as long as the gospel is preached.
He says, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” What we have to remember here, again, is that the cross is not a great symbol of salvation for the everyday person in the first century. Even after Jesus was crucified and rose again, regular people in the first century wouldn’t have seen the cross as a symbol of redemption, but as a symbol of humilitation and destruction. To praise God for the work that he accomplished through the cross would sound absolutely ridiculous to those who do not understand it. And that’s why Paul says what he does in verse 18.
The cross was not something that was typically discussed openly, and to talk about it in a positive way was unthinkable and foolish to those who had not heard or did not accept the gospel. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. Why would God use the worst manner of death in the history of humankind to bring glory to His name? I don’t know for sure why God did this, but I can say two things for certain: God doesn’t make mistakes, and He doesn’t do things on accident.
Perhaps the reason why God used the cross as a symbol of humanity’s redemption is to drive home the point that death, even the worse type of death that humanity has ever come up with, does not have a hold on Him. If Christ can rise again from a crucifixion, there is nothing that we who follow Christ have to fear when it comes to death. Death, no matter how awful, cannot hold him, and we who are raised with Christ can rejoice that death cannot hold us either. It would seem foolish to those who are unfamiliar with the story that Christians would even speak about something as despicable as the cross. But for those that know the story, and believe it, the cross is the power of redemption for all humanity. I also think that in using the cross. God shows his ability to take the absolute worst that the world has to offer, turn it on its head and make it the best that God has to offer.
Paul goes on to quote from the Old Testament book of Isaiah when he says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” That comes from Isaiah 29. Some of the commentary that I read regarding this chapter believes that Isaiah is speaking about Hezekiah’s dependence upon the wise men and false prophets of his day instead of listening to the advice of Isaiah. These wise men recommended Hezekiah join up with the Egyptian army to defeat the Assyrians who were pressing in upon Jerusalem. Isaiah told him to trust in the Lord and not form this alliance, but he did not listen.
Politically, it would have made sense for Hezekiah to join up with other countries in order to face the Assyrian army. After all, you know the saying, “Two heads are better than one.” Well, the same could have been said about armies as well. Had the Jerusalem army met the Assyrians head-to-head, they would have been wiped out in no time, but by joining up with the Egyptians, they at least had a shot. At least, that’s what the political advisors would have suggested.
But Isaiah warned him against joining with the Egyptians and to trust in the Lord. Eventually, Judah and Egypt did work together, but it did them no good. The Assyrians crushed the Egyptian army and laid seige to Jerusalem. What made sense politically was proven to be a misguided strategy. All that was left was for the people of Jerusalem to rely on the Lord. Hezekiah finds himself facing a very difficult situation. And what does he do? He relies on the Lord, and the Assyrian army is devastated overnight by a plague. In doing what made the least sense, Hezekiah saved the people of Judah from the Assyrian army. The wisdom of the wise certainly was proven to be folly in light of God’s greater plans.
But that wasn’t the only place in Scripture where God does the unthinkable, even the unbelievable. Abraham and Sarah are close to 100 when they have their first child. Joseph is sold into slavery and ends up as second in command in all of Egypt. Moses speaks with a studder and leads the Israelites out of 400 years of slavery in Egypt. The seas part, the people cross on dry land and watch from the other side while the mighty Egyptian army drowns behind them. The pagan prophet that was supposed to curse Israel blesses them instead. Jesus doesn’t pick the religious elite, but a ragtag group of everyday men, to be his closest disciples. A man who was such a strict Jew that he was persecuting Christians is writing this very letter that we are reading from today. God has a history of doing the unthinkable and making it work out for His purposes. How God accomplishes things may not always make sense, but we must learn to trust Him, even when everything else around us seems to be off.
In the same way, the message of the gospel doesn’t make sense. How could the eternal, almighty God be born as a child on this earth? And not just any child, but the child of an unmarried couple of no particular means? If the Creator of all things was going to come to earth, we would expect him to come in power and glory. That would make sense. And what about the idea that we have to let go of our lives in order to live? That doesn’t make any sense either. And the cross as a means of redemption? People weren’t redeemed by crucifixion; they were destroyed by it. Fishermen being the source of the most powerful religious movement in the history of the world? Doesn’t make sense.
The story of Jesus and the redemption of humanity may not make sense to us when we explore it through the eyes of the world, but God is bigger than our understanding. Reason is an important component of being human, but let’s not make it out to the be the highest achievement on the planet. As Methodists, we have a history of valuing education and the use of reason and logic, but reason by itself will never produce faith. I’ve never heard anybody come to faith in Jesus Christ because of philosophical proofs about the existence of God. These proofs can get us going in the right direction, but they will never produce faith. We will never fully comprehend God. If we think we can, we are deluding ourselves. If we think we have, then our view of God is too small.
What Paul is telling us here is that we need to be able to think beyond ourselves. The challenge that we have before us is to figure out how we do this in our current context. What are the needs in our community? What can we do to meet those needs? How can we share the gospel by living it out beyond these walls? Our focus doesn’t need to be, “How can we get more people in here?” But, “How can we be more active out there?” How can we share the gospel with those who may never walk through our doors?
It may not make sense, but let me share with you a vision for ministry. I envision a church where people are active, growing in their faith and are unafraid to share it with others. A church where people come to be filled on Sunday morning and then pour themselves out into others during the rest of the week. A church that works with other churches to accomplish greater things in the community for the sake of the kingdom of God. A church that displays an unbelievable sense of hospitality when a stranger comes to visit. A church that worships from a heart filled with the love of God. A church that sets an example for individuals and other churches of what it means to be generous with our time, our talents, and our resources.
I envision a church filled with people who take some time out of their day to read Scripture and pray. If you’ll remember at the beginning of the year, I challeneged everyone to spend 15 minutes a day reading Scripture. And I’ve already heard stories about how this has been affecting people, and I want to encourage you to keep it up. If you haven’t done this yet, start this afternoon. Time spent listening to God is time that is not wasted.
I can see small groups of people who get together to read and study Scripture with one another, but then also share what they are learning about God and about themselves with their friends who may not have a relationship with Him. People who are excited about their faith, and don’t see worship on Sunday morning as something to check off of their “To Do” list.
I’ve seen glimmers of all these things already, and it gives me a great deal of hope for what we can accomplish as long as we keep our eyes set on God and what He has laid out before us. So I want to encourage you to continue heading down this path, and also challenge you to go one step further than you think you can. It may not make sense that a small church can make a major impact in this world, but I believe we can if we only follow Jesus. If we are obedient to the calling that he has placed on us as individuals and as a congregation, then we can make a major impact in our area.
Paul goes on to say in verses 28-29, “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.” I’m not saying that small churches are low and despised, but they are frequently overlooked, and many don’t think they can make an impact. If we can focus solely on bringing praise to God, and not to ourselves, then we can make a major impact in the lives of those around us. It doesn’t matter that we are a small congregation. Nothing is impossible with God.
I want to be sure that I am very clear on this. We do not do ministry as a means of increasing our attendance, as a way to pad the bank account, or to be recognized by other churches around us. We do ministry out of obedience to the calling that God has placed on us, to reach others for the sake of the gospel and to bring glory to God. That’s it. I don’t have a hidden agenda of increasing attendance for the sole reason of making us look good on our conference statistics. If we are obedient to God’s call of making and growing disciples and not a single new person enters the building, then I will still be pleased. It’s when we shut ourselves off to growing and reaching out that we will find ourselves in trouble.
In Field of Dreams, Ray hears a voice that says, “If you build it, they will come.” People have taken this to be a sign from God that if you build a new church building, people will fill it up. Or if we take part in the latest ministry gimmick, that people will be beating down the doors to get in. The bottom line is this: that’s all false. However, that doesn’t make the saying wrong, just the interpretation. If we focus on building the kingdom of God, people will come. Because there is something powerful about God’s kingdom that draws in people. If we are obedient to God’s call, people will come. The numbers will take care of themselves. We don’t need to figure out ways to get people in the door, we need to figure out ways to share Christ and be Christ with other people.
Doesn’t seem to make sense, does it? Seems a little foolish. If you tried that for a retail store, it probably wouldn’t work. But then again, God has a way of taking what seems foolish to the world and using it to glorify His name. Let’s pray that we have the wisdom to trust that God will work through us even though what we need to do may not make sense.
0 comments:
Post a Comment