I feel sometimes that we in the church get too serious. I know that most of the time it’s a serious matter-a matter of life and death literally. But its ok to smile in church! Its ok to laugh in church! Its ok to tell jokes in church! Years ago the popular pass-time was telling jokes. This practice seems to have diminished somewhat due to the fact that we have so many other forms of entertainment to occupy our time. Do you remember the "elephant" jokes? (How can you tell if an elephant climbs in bed with you? You can smell peanuts on his breath!); the "knock-knock" jokes? How about “a man walks into a bar” jokes? Then there were the "Moron" jokes: Three morons were sitting on the bench outside the ’funny farm’. A policeman happened by and noticed that the man on the left was going through the motions as though he was holding a fishing rod, casting, and hauling in fish. The man on the other end of the bench was doing the same thing. So the policeman leaned over and whispered in the ear of the man in the middle, "You’d better get your friends out of here, I think they’re crazy". The man in the middle immediately started pulling on his imaginary oars! Of course now we say that such jokes are not "politically correct". And we probably do need to be more sensitive.
But let me tell you about this word, "moron". It comes directly from the Greek word "moros", which means "fool", or "foolish". Do we have any sophomores here? High school or college? I’m sorry to have to inform you that the "more" part of your class title comes from this word meaning "fool". On the other hand "soph" comes from the word which means "wisdom", or "wise". So a sophomore is a "Wise Fool"! And that’s a device of foolishness that we like to call an oxymoron which I’ll get to in a second.
Our lesson for today is from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. He reminds us that while the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, it is the saving power of God to anyone foolish enough to believe it with their life. And when you look at it, our faith is foolish in three respects: its oxymoronic. Its counter-intuitive, and its counter-cultural.
First, our faith is oxymoronic. By definition, an oxymoron is self-contradicting term. The word oxymoron is a combination of the Greek words “oxys” meaning sharp, and “moros” meaning foolish. So, an oxymoron then, is pointedly foolish. Its almost ridiculous and calls into question possibility. Same difference? How can some something be the same and yet different? Pointedly foolish! ? That’s pointedly foolish! Cruel kindness? That’s pointedly foolish! Cruelty serves a hurtful purpose and kindness, and helpful one! Working party! Virtual reality! Some of us are virtually praising God today! God doesn’t want a virtual praise! You can keep your virtual praise! He didn’t virtually wake you up this morning!… I’m gonna praise him for REAL because he’s REAL in my soul…
In the 23rd verse, Paul forms an oxymoron with the words “crucified Christ.” You see, crucifixion was a shameful way to die. The parents and siblings of crucified men hid that circumstance in much the same way that some today hide the suicide of a relative. Crucifixion was a social disgrace. Crucifixion was a family secret! Crucifixion was an emblem of suffering and shame!
On the other hand, the word “Christ” is the exact opposite of crucifixion! Christ, which is from the Greek word Christos meaning the anointed, and from the Hebrew word for Messiah, all of which have the Indo-European base ghrei which means to spread over, smear! So where as I would hide crucifixion, I spread Christ! Where as crucifixion is a family secret, I’ve got to tell it!… Its pointedly foolish for me not to!
Yes, our faith is oxymoronic! We worship a crucified Christ! We are called to be servant leaders! Many Christians are found missing among the body of believers! We lead some pretty ugly lives! We go up in some churches and hear deafening silence! And the last shall be first!
Second, I want you to know that our faith is foolish because its counter-intuitive. That sixth sense-intuition, is real, but God has not left us to undirected intuition. He has given us the holy spirit to lead us, guide us, direct us!…
The Bible says in Proverbs 14 “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is a way of death.” The intuition of youth tells us that we will live forever! Well, at least til 50, which to a 20 year old is about the same thing! But such thinking leads to decisions that lead to acts that lead to consequences that cannot be undone! Consequences that may cost you your life! May cost others lives!…
The intuition of middle age tells us that our successes impress God; that our good deeds earn us facetime with God! Our intuition and our experience tells us that the poor receive nothing; mourners have no comfort; humility is for losers; and to show mercy is to reveal weakness!
But Jesus, in a counter-intuitive sermon from the mountaintop said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted! Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth! Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled! Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy! Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Our faith is indeed oxymoronic! It is counter-intuitive! It is also counter-cultural. In the 8th century BC, the prophet Micah proclaimed God’s word to a culture that didn’t much care for what he had to say, because it was counter-cultural. The culture of Micah’s time encouraged sacrifices for wrongdoing, but Micah echoed his contemporary Amos, who said: “let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream!”
To do justice is to do what is right! What do we say when others in our culture participate in the so-called “moment of hate?” What do we say when others promote dirty jokes? What do we say when every radio station is playing songs by Eminem that glorify hatred of women and disrespecting parents?
God says to do justice! Do what is right; take a stand! Standing is risky! Not everyone who stands wins the battle, but without such people there is no chance of winning the war! Jesus says this about standing: “blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven! Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake! REJOICE! And be EXCEEDINGLY GLAD! For GREAT is your reward in Heaven! For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you! Stand! For what is right! Stand!…til hell freezes over! And then, stand on the ice!
With the exacting requirements of justice, we are also told to love mercy! We become what we love! If you love attention, everything about you will be about getting in the spotlight! If you love sex, everything about you will be about sex! If you love to eat-I mean I love to eat-but if you LOVE to eat! If you love money, everything about you will be the almighty dollar! I read somewhere that the love of money, is the root of all evil!
To love mercy is to do unto others not as you would have them to do unto you, but as they would have you to do unto them! To love mercy is to know that in your hour of need, the mercy account is adequately funded! As Jesus said, “blessed are the merciful! For they shall obtain mercy!” If I love mercy I can obtain it! Its there! Its in my reach!…
God also requires that we walk humbly with him! To walk humbly with God is to let go and let God! Let God take the lead 100% of the time! 100% of the way! God is not my co-pilot! He’s the whole car! He’s my pilot! Helping me mount up on wings as an eagle! He’s my steering wheel! He steers me down the paths of righteousness for his namesake! He’s my ignition! He ignites a fire in my heart to do his will! He’s my alternator! When I’m doing wrong he comes and switches me to doing right! He’s my distributor! Christ “spreads over” all of my strength and power! He’s my accelerator! He speeds up my healing when I’m sick! He’s my brake! My brake from sorrow!….My brake from sin!
T-shirts with messages on them are pretty common now. When I walk around in the mall I’m intrigued by those that have a message on the front and then a punchline on the back. One such shirt said “I am a fool for Christ;” then on the back it continued: “whose fool are you?” No doubt about it, we have a foolish faith! But as far as God is concerned, its genious is in its foolishness! Its accessible to all! Its wildly radical! It is the power of God to live life in all its fullness! So knowing that, I’m not afraid to act a fool! I’m not afraid to lose my mind cause its not mine to begin with! Paul says let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus!
