Foolishness and consequences

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 man? Where is the scholar? 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 miraculous 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 man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

Brothers, 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. He 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 him who boasts boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).

At the edge of town, there was a mine. Every morning, people gathered at the top of the main shaft, waiting their turn to descend hundreds of feet into the earth. At the bottom, they set to work—cutting away at the rock in search of precious metals. It was hot, sweaty, dirty work. Thankfully, this was a mine rich with high-grade ore; when the workers collapsed into bed each night, they took pride in the piles of wealth they had dug from the earth.

Two miners deserve closer attention. Carl was a hard working man. He was dependable; when he made a promise, you could take it to the bank. He was careful with money, insisting on saving a portion of his income for the future. After supper he helped the kids with their homework, then discussed the day’s events while washing dishes with his wife. Carl also made time to serve on the school board; his was the voice of reason when discussions got heated. Carl was the kind of guy everyone in town respected and thought well of.

Evan was another worker at the mine. Evan was an easygoing guy. The quality of his work was often marginal. He had a hard time keeping promises; sometimes he overestimated his abilities, other times things would just slip his mind. His wallet must have had a hole in it, because he could never hang on to money for very long. Evan was scatterbrained, never finishing a project because something else new and interesting would come along and distract him. He liked a few beers in the evening, and sometimes needed a ride to get him home safely. Evan was a guy no one counted on, and most people pretty much ignored him.

One day there was a tragic accident at the mine; both Carl and Evan were caught in an explosion. When Carl came to his senses, he realized that Evan was no longer with him. Looking around, it became apparent that although it was still dark, he was now outside. He looked up, but no stars were visible. As a matter of fact, there were no lights to be seen in any direction; everything was hazy and details were hard to make out.

Out of the shadows, a figure approach Carl. A handsome face slowly became visible, but Carl was frightened by the man’s cold dark eyes. The stranger greeted Carl by name, then took him by the arm and started walking. Soon Carl saw that they were approaching a prison complex. On either side of the wide road leading to the gate were huge piles—but piles of what? Tugging free of the stranger, Carl went over to look at one of the mounds; to his astonishment, it was made up of gold nuggets! Carl examined the next pile—this one was a heap of precious gemstones! It appeared that the wealth of countless mines lined the road ending at the prison gates. Utterly confused by all this, Carl turned to the stranger and asked him, "What is going on here? Who are you, why are you leading me towards a prison, and why is all this wealth laying out here unprotected?"

The man’s face split in an ugly smile. He replied, "You really don’t know? You’re dead, dear boy—you perished in that mining accident. My name is Satan, and the prison over there will be your home from now on."

Carl shook with a mixture of terror and indignation. "What? I’m in hell? There’s gotta be a mistake! I lived a good life. I worked hard. I was a faithful husband and a good father. I volunteered my time for the good of the community. I don’t deserve to be here!"

Satan shook his head. "You are an ignorant lout, aren’t you? God sent you here because you deserve nothing better. For years your wife pleaded with you to go to church, but you weren’t interested. If she wanted to believe in Jesus, that was fine with you. But you had no need for religion. You were a good man. You took satisfaction in being decent and responsible and civic-minded. But being a good fellow doesn’t get you into heaven; only Jesus can get you inside." Then the devil pointed to the heaps of riches lining the road. "Do you want to know what all this is? These are the good deeds done by my guests while they were alive—acts of charity, promises kept, and the like. But hell has no need of such things; they are worthless here."

Carl soon began screaming, but Evan could not hear his anguished cries. Evan came to his senses in a sunny field, a warm breeze stirring his hair and the smell of flowers teasing his nose. Brightly-colored birds flew in lazy circles above him, and he could hear the splashing of a stream somewhere nearby.

As he looked around, Evan saw a pleasant (if ordinary) looking man walking up to him. "Hello, Evan—welcome home," the man said. He took Evan’s hand and shook it warmly, then put His other hand on the miner’s shoulder and started the two of them walking along a narrow road. Soon a magnificent city came into view, shining brightly with colors of every hue. As they got closer to the gates, Evan saw huge piles of something dark and ugly heaped along both sides of the lane. The mounds reminded him of tailings from the mine—but what would such waste be doing here? Evan looked at the piles with confusion.

The man guiding Evan stopped and looked him in the eyes. The face was kind, the eyes warm and comforting. "You’re confused, aren’t you?" the man said. Evan could only nod his head. "My son, you’re at the gates of heaven. You died in that mining accident. Although we have never met face to face, we’ve been friends for many years. I am Jesus, and I’m taking you to live in my palace."

Evan didn’t know what to say, so Jesus continued. "You are surprised at how I look. You shouldn’t be. The prophet Isaiah described me when he said, he had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." Then Jesus held up His hands and showed Evan the nail prints. "The only think remarkable about my appearance are these scars; they are the reason I became human. These marks are the evidence of my love for you and the proof that I have taken your sins away. You wondered what these ugly heaps are, lining the road to my home? These are the sins of every person in the world—broken promises, addictions, and every sort of failure. On the cross I took them from you and everyone else, but there is no place for these sins in heaven. So here they are left, forgotten by those who join me in paradise." Then, taking Evan’s hand in His once more, Jesus led the faithful miner into heaven, and Evan’s face broke into a delighted smile that would never end.

In our Epistle lesson, Paul says that the world looks at Christianity and sees only foolishness. Carl was a good man, yet in spite of all the wonderful things he did, he ended up in hell; Evan was a deeply flawed man, yet he was welcomed into heaven just because he believed in Jesus. Ridiculous! In the Bible, God promised to punish the sins of humanity, but on Good Friday it was His own Son who suffered and died. Idiotic! God promises to forgive any sin, no matter how awful, if a person simply begs Jesus for mercy. Sheer lunacy!

The wisdom of this world influences the way we think. We grew up believing that there is no such thing as a ‘free lunch’; if you want something, you have to earn it somehow. Life has also taught us to expect punishment when we screw up; every mistake has to be paid off, one way or another. But the teachings of Christianity defy conventional wisdom and fly in the face of good sense. For example: when somebody has wronged you, why on earth would you just forgive and forget? It is stupid to let others off the hook without demanding some kind of compensation for the hurt they’ve caused you.

But Scripture tells us that human wisdom is actually foolish. Human wisdom is the product of minds corrupted by sin. Human wisdom is faulty. Only God is without sin; it is only in God’s word that true wisdom can be found. It is because of God’s perfect wisdom that we have hope in the face of death. God has every right to send us to hell to suffer forever. God’s design for humanity was perfection, yet every one of us has made a complete mess of things by our misplaced priorities, thoughtless words, and impulsive behavior. Our perfect God cannot and will not tolerate sin; yet at the same time He loves us with a depth of commitment none of us is capable of. So in His wisdom, God did something absolutely amazing—He sent His Son to represent us at the place of judgment. At Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, Jesus was sentenced to death for our crimes against God and humanity. On the bloodstained cross, Jesus satisfied the requirements of divine justice on our behalf.

The sacrifice of God’s Son frees us from worry. We don’t have to agonize over sins we’ve done and can never take back—Jesus has taken them away. We don’t have to worry whether we have done enough good things to earn a place in paradise—when Jesus escorts you into heaven as His friend, no one will challenge your right to be there.

Are God’s ways foolish? Frankly, I don’t care if they are. His ways set me free—free from worry and doubt, free from guilt and despair. In His wisdom, God has seen fit to rescue me at the expense of His own Son, an exchange I don’t deserve and can never repay. When I look at all the good I’ve done with my life, the pile isn’t very big—especially when compared with the mountain of my sins. And so I treasure God’s wisdom, which fills Psalm 103 with hope: he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

God’s ways might seem foolish to a world blinded by ignorance and corrupted by sin. But human wisdom and conventional thinking can offer no peace when death lays its cold hand on your shoulder. In times of tragedy, the only words that can give you hope are the foolish words of Christ, spoken as He Himself was dying on the cross: I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.