Boasting in the Cross

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
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. 19 For it is written:

    “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
       the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

20 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? 21 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. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

26 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. 27 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. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 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. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:18-31, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
In the wider context of the opening of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we have to remember that Paul is also talking about being united in Christ. So if the scandal of the cross exposes the world’s wisdom as folly, then it is essential for those who live according to the scandal of the cross to bear witness to the unity found through Christ’s self-emptying love. 

When we look at how to “do justice,” we look only to Christ. The ideas of the wise, the scribes, the philosophers, and the debaters of this age are not good enough; likewise, the visions of one Christian versus another Christian cannot be good enough. God called us in our weakness so that none of us would be able to boast in his or her own achievements. Our ideas, our strategies, our good intentions cannot achieve what the foolishness of God has already achieved—namely, reconciliation through the cross of Christ. 

Our work then is to boast in the scandal of Christ and his cross alone. I have a friend named Dave who lives in Denver. He has made this his life’s work through teaching history. History, as a discipline, tends to rehash justice narratives that assume the wisdom of the world is true wisdom. However, my friend teaches history in a way that questions these narratives against the self-emptying scandal of the cross. He teaches his students to question what a scandalous allegiance to the cross of Christ might say about those moments of power display. He imparts to his students the ability to think outside the box about many themes but especially about justice. 

God’s justice differs from that of the world. In another place, the prophet Isaiah declares: 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
       neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are my ways higher than your ways
       and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

In a similar manner, God's justice operates on a different plane from the world's. What seems wise and powerful in the eyes of the world is really foolishness. What seems foolish and weak in the eyes of the world, is really powerful.

The cross stands as the ultimate example of God's other-worldly wisdom and justice. As those who have embraced this message and been reconciled to God through Christ, may we joyfully live by the power and wisdom of the cross.


PRAYER:
God of justice, give us a sense of oneness in the call to show that the wisdom of this age is foolishness compared to the scandal of the cross. Amen.


WHO AM I?
I am Tres Sansom, and I so incredibly grateful for the wisdom and power of the cross! It's amazing to know that, because of the cross, we've all been loved and accepted by God—no matter what our background, no matter where we have come from or what we've done.