God's Fools

Sermon for 1/27/2008

Introduction:

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal they lay down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars.” Holmes asked, “What does that tell you?” Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is omnipotent and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.” “What does it tell you?” Watson asked. Holmes was silent for a minute, and then spoke. “Oh Watson, you fool, someone has stolen our tent.”

WBTU:

A. Song- When we in our foolishness thought we were wise, he played the fool and He opened our eyes. When we in our weakness believed we were strong, He became helpless to show we were wrong. And so we follow God’s own fool for only the foolish can tell- Believe the unbelievable and come be a fool as well.

B. Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5

Thesis: This morning we are going to talk about foolishness: the foolishness of the cross, the foolishness of preachers, the foolishness of the church, and the foolishness of the world.

For instances:

I. The foolishness of the cross

A. Vs. 18- Why is it foolishness?

B. A man who died thousands of years ago has an eternal impact upon my life now?

C. God came down to earth as a baby and then lived a perfect life as a man and then died on a cross and then rose again. This is unbelievable- Believe the unbelievable.

C. Jesus Christ was not a great man. He was just a carpenter’s son. Even his family said He was mad, and the priests said a demon’s to blame. But God in the form of this angry young man, could not have seemed perfectly sane. Especially when we consider this, (Gal 3:13 NIV) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

C. Now Paul is referring to more than just the cross. He knows that this same man rose from the dead and he talks about this later. Why emphasize the cross here?

D. What put Jesus Christ, the Son of God, upon that cross? It was the sin of mankind. More personally, it was your sin and my sin that put him on the cross. (2 Cor 5:21 NIV) God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

E. When we talk about the cross we have to talk about sin. That is not a popular topic with the world. (Rom 3:23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

F. This is a blow to their egos and pride. (James 4:6) But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

G. That someone would have to die and shed his blood for my sins is contrary to the world’s thinking. It is gross! Even some in churches try to remove the idea of the blood of Christ! We want the cross to be nice and pretty like it is in the church building. It is not nice and pretty and it definitely wasn’t in Jesus day. It was an instrument of execution. Like glorifying an electric chair or a needle full of poison!

H. (Col 1:19 NIV) For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

(Col 1:20 NIV) and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

H. The cross is a symbol of what a disciple of Jesus is to do. We are to die to ourselves and live for Jesus Christ. (Mark 8:34) If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.(Mark 8:35) For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

II. The Foolishness of Preachers

B. When an emergency medical technician arrives at the scene of an accident, he knows he may have only a few minutes to save a victim’s life. He will waste none of those minutes in combing the patient’s hair, brushing his clothes, or checking for marks of identification. He will move as swiftly as he can to the most critical wound and treat it with all of his skill. Something similar is demanded of the minister in the pulpit. I have 30 minutes to bring life to someone within my hearing, or let them remain spiritual dead maybe forever.