Sermonette: October 9, 2023

The Apostle Paul loved the church in Corinth. It was arguably his favorite group of people he led to faith. He opened a church there, with high hopes of their leadership in passing on the faith.

Corinth was a rich mixture of Greek, Hellenistic and Roman influences. Not only culturally diverse, but geographically in a location that connected mainland Greece with the Peloponnese. Many different cultures and people of different religious backgrounds lived there, as Corinth was a hub of commerce and innovation.

The gospel Paul brought there was wildly different. Remember, Paul had been a zealous Jew who murdered and persecuted Christians before his conversion on the Road to Damascus (Gal. 1:16). God used Paul’s natural zeal to preach a gospel of Christ and Him crucified.

In a world where education is revered, where gods were believed to control the natural world for reward or punishment, where wealth and power and status were of utmost importance, preaching a crucified God was a tough sell.

Throughout 1 Corinthians, Paul sells it with kernels of truth and wisdom Christians are still trying to unpack today … I am still trying to unpack today. This month we will explore these kernels.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18-21 (MSG translation), Paul writes to his beloved, cross-cultural, well-to-do congregation who are bickering and disagreeing and pulling away from each other: “The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,

I’ll expose so-called experts as shams.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered stupid – preaching, of all things – to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.”

Conventional wisdom says to win at all costs, to tear down another to win an argument, to exalt those with fancy wisdom. We humans do this so easily. Cross wisdom says to pray for those who persecute you, to let others win, to listen to people you disagree with, to forgive quickly, to put others before yourselves.

As we explore Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians this month, let us attempt to have eyes of cross wisdom. Amen.