Lord, As we look to Your Word today, guide our words and our thoughts that we may understand what You need us to understand. Through our study, we pray that You help us know what You are telling us and need us to hear in what we study today. Teach us what You need to teach and help us understand what we need to understand. Amen
Christ the Power and the Wisdom of God 18 For the message about Christ's death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God's power. 19 The scripture says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and set aside the understanding of the scholars.” 20 So then, where does that leave the wise? or the scholars? or the skilful debaters of this world? God has shown that this world's wisdom is foolishness! 21 For God in his wisdom made it impossible for people to know him by means of their own wisdom. Instead, by means of the so-called “foolish” message we preach, God decided to save those who believe. 22 Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom. 23 As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles; 24 but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For what seems to be God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God's weakness is stronger than human strength. 26 Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. 27 God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful. 28 He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. 29 This means that no one can boast in God's presence. 30 But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free. 31 So then, as the scripture says, “Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.“
Where this passage talks about being foolish, it can also be interpreted as being innocent - childlike and welcoming and trusting. God is all of these things, and needs us to be to fully react as God would. Whilst God is foolish in trusting in mere humans who have faults, God also in a childlike innocent manner believes the best in us - God trusts us to do the right thing, whether that is through foolishness or merely innocence as we humans see it. Like Paul since he was transformed from Saul knew to trust in God as he was the greatest of sinners but because God saved him, God believes we can trust in God. Where the passage says “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise”, this suggests that as humans the knowledge you think you have is wrong and you pay attention and learn the wrong things. The wisdom God wants us to have is things what we ignore, things we don’t see as wisdom and good knowledge. God will destroy the wisdom of the wise to re-focus us on that which is really important. In Corinth there was a so called wise man on every corner, which is why Paul included this passage in his letter to the Corinthians. Even today, there are many people who think they know more than they do, and therefore this lesson is still very important today to help people understand that human knowledge isn’t always the knowledge God needs and wants us to have. It doesn't matter how you worship, as long as you are accepting of the forms - we can't be a solitary Christian alone - we go for the fellowship. There may be someone who is more receptive of one form of worship than another, and they are no more or less valid than someone who is more receptive of another style of worship. People learn in different ways, people worship in different ways, and as a church we need to understand that and be willing to assist the various different forms of worship people need. Some are more receptive to being preached to, some need lively worship, some need lots of interaction, some need to be able to share their thoughts. Sometimes we see what we want to see and need to be reminded to see what we need to see and what God sees. God sees us all as Gods children - we are all made in Gods image which means we are all equally valid in Gods eyes. We must all look at life, ours and everyone else’s, through heavens eyes. Part of God’s foolishness is that God trusts in and puts a spark into someone who society would discard - an old feeble person, an outsider. God believes in everyone, no matter who they are.
God our Father, As we close our study of Your Word for today, we pray that Your glory will shine on us. We pray that Your Word will continue to move in us as we go about our daily lives. By Your grace we move into the rest of our week and remember Your love. Let us continue to learn what You need us to learn and understand what You need us to understand Amen