Sermon by Pastor Robert Green, Third Sunday in Lent, 3/11/12, Yr. B, No. 928, Ascension Evangelical Lutheran Church, W.E.L.S., Harrisburg, PA, based on 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
“Have you emptied the Cross of Christ of its power?”
The section of First Corinthians that includes the reading for today engages the read with the thought“Have you emptied the Cross of Christ of its power?”The question naturally arises from Paul’s discussion showing how the power of the Cross of Christ derives from the gospel message of Christ crucified. Paul’s discussion is critical for the heart of what we believe and confess is Christ crucified to save us from all our sins. Paul begins his discussion of the power of the Cross of Christ, saying, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
By these words, God calls all believers to find the real unity that avoids all divisions that comes from being perfectly united in mind and thought.The only way for there to be perfect unity in mind and thought is for there to be a clear and common confession of what is believed about God in all matters of doctrine and practice. The only way for there to be a common confession of what is believed about God is to base all that we believe on God’s Word so that the Word of God serves as the norm or standard of truth. God issues this appeal out of his grace and concern for he knows that there will be divisions amongst believers, as is evidenced by the endless divisions made manifest in the many denominations among us.
Doctrine is simply a statement of what one believes and solid doctrine based on God’s Word serves believers well, but doctrine based on personal opinion or mere human wisdom must by nature lead to division. Denominational walls serve to recognize divisions among believers that arose from deriving different doctrines by allowing human wisdom to hold sway over the divine Word of God. If believers based all doctrine on God’s Word being the final authority over personal opinion or human wisdom, then there would be no doctrinal division among us. That is why Paul said in this section thatChrist sent him “to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”If you do not want to empty the Cross of Christ of its power all you have to do is base what you believe and proclaim about the Cross not on human wisdom, but on God’s Word.
The word to preach simply means to proclaim or teach about something. Christians preach or proclaim the Gospel message of Christ crucified whenever they share the message of Christ. Take heed of God’s warning that we can empty the Cross of Christ of its power, when that message rests on human wisdom and thinking rather than on God’s wisdom. The only way you will avoid basing what you believe and proclaim on mere human wisdom is to know God’s wisdom and make it the absolute standard of truth to test all you profess to believe. Have you emptied the Cross of Christ of its power by relying on your personal opinion or wisdom to share what you believe?
Paul defines the power of the Gospel message of Christ crucified saying in Romans 1:16–17 (NIV84) “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” The Gospel message is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe for through faith in Christ all sins are forgiven and the believer is credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ. Believe and proclaim this and you will not empty “the Cross of Christ of its power!”
Paul explains why some turn to human wisdom and so empty the Cross of Christ of its power, denying Christ crucified, saying, “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.” The message of the cross is foolishness to the ones perishing, the unbelievers who, being spiritually dead, must rely on sinful human reason to figure out God. Human reason rejects the notion that God would become a human being at all, let alone to do so and then suffer and die to save us from sin and death. The reasoning is that if a mere human can forgive without demanding a bloodbath, then God who is greater would also forgive without blood. Are you prepared to defend the Cross of Christ in the face of such foolishness, or are you not so sure about what you believe so that you remain silent, slowing emptying the power of the Cross/
The foolishness of allowing human wisdom to guide what is believed traps believers as well. Many who claim the Christian faith have argued that it is foolish to say that God hates sinners and will punish all who do not believe in hell forever. The argument is that a mere human would rarely demand eternal punishment even for his or her worse enemy, therefore neither would God. Our job is to hold onto God’s eternal truth that in his justice the wages of sin is death, physical and eternal, but in his mercy and love, he met his own justice by turning his wrath over sin from us to his Son.
Christians fall for human wisdom that says there is no such thing as a free lunch, there is always a catch. Nothing is ultimately free, for you get what you deserve. Such human wisdom wraps itself around the Cross of Christ and empties it of its power to save completely and utterly by faith alone and so suggests we can merit forgiveness by living a good life, or at least a life better than some! Daily do your sins drive you to your knees as you ask God to have mercy on you a sinner, or have you grown comfortable before God as you consider yourself one of the good guys, and thus empty the Cross of Christ of its power.
How else can you empty the cross of Christ of its power? Consider how there is a narrow road the Christian is to walk believing and proclaiming Christ crucified. On one side is the ditch of despair in which a Christian can fall whenever he or she commits a sin for which he or she thinks God could never forgive. In the despair of giving up on forgiveness, such a person has emptied the Cross of Christ its power to offer free and complete forgiveness for all sins. On the other side of the road, is the ditch of presumption thatsince God forgives us no matter what sins might engage we can sin as we please as often as we please. Believing this we have less and less reason to be concerned about sin so that finally we give no heed to sin at all. Thus, we empty the Cross of Christ of its power to lead us to repentance, which is not only sorrow over sins but also a turning from sin to Christ trusting in him for forgiveness.
We also empty the message of the cross, Christ crucified, of its power each time we fail to proclaim the good news to someone because we are not so confident Christ died for the likes of them. Have you emptied the Cross of Christ of its power by not bothering to share the gospel with this person or that one because of their sinful life style or heritage? Have you ever walked by a person wearing filthy clothes without a thought about stopping to share Jesus with them? Have you wished you could move just to get away from a belligerent neighbor rather than to take the time to talk to them about Jesus? Have you celebrated the execution of a wicked man without giving thought to whether or not he knew about Jesus?Is this not emptying the Cross of its power by failing to make use of it.
While humans by nature think rather highly of human wisdom, God has a very different opinion of human wisdom saying, “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 man? Where is the scholar? 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.” God frustrates human wisdom for he does not save us by the use of human wisdom, but by his wisdom, which he calls the foolishness of the Cross.
This is where the reading for today begins in which Paul says, “Jews demand miraculous 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 man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
The ancient Greeks, known for their philosophers and wise men, highly prized human reason. Indeed, they developed rather sophisticated systems of thinking and logic. Many even today considered the ancient Greek philosophers to be great debaters. The Greeks were always looking for a new idea, but would reject ideas that made no sense to them. No wonder they rejected the Cross of Christ for even for us the thought that a man dying on a cross two thousand years ago could take the sins of today, makes no human sense whatsoever. We believe Christ crucified only because God declares it so.
Thus, the message of the Cross and Christ crucified is powerful not because it makes sense, but only because God has said it is so. God has declared his Word to be powerful and effective and that it will not return to him empty but will accomplish its purpose. It has divine power and wisdom behind it and has no need of human power or wisdom. That is why Paul says in this reading, “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.”
The word for “stumbling block” pictures a trap for an animal that an animal springs by knocking over a stick holding the trap up. The gospel is such a stick to those who reject the Cross and remain in sin and death. While the message of Christ crucified is a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others, let us never forget it is the power of God to save every soul. Let us proclaim the gospel in its purity trusting in its power to save, but let us do this faithfully so that we are united in mind and thought, not relying on human wisdom, but on God’s Word, lest we empty the cross of its power.
“Have you emptied the Cross of Christ of its power in your life?”You will not if you cling to and proclaim God’s powerful message of Christ crucified in all its purity. But not one us will do this for we all sin. That is why we need to cling to the power of the Cross, for its power is that we have been forgiven even for those times we have emptied the Cross of its power. Now, let us go trusting in the power of the Cross proclaiming Christ crucified. To God be all glory, amen!