Daily Devotion – March 4, 2021 – Pastor Erick Thompson
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
In the Southwest Minnesota Synod, you were required to read the book, “The Hammer of God” when you started the journey to become a pastor. In this book, one of the stories tells about a young pastor who goes to minister to someone who is very sick. The pastor doesn’t know what to do, so an older woman steps in to minister to the person. This tale turns on its head the conventional wisdom about who is wise and who isn’t. This lesson can be very valuable to young pastors, and actually to pretty much everyone.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gets right to it: if you think you’re smart, you’re wrong. Paul calls those who think they’re wise, “perishing,” since the cross doesn’t make sense to them. They are so focused on the wrong things that it’s the same as if they were dying; as if their lives were forfeit. As a pastor, this talk of wisdom can be a double-edged sword. If we don’t listen to the wisdom of the people we’re ministering to, we will miss important details and threads that will help the ministry of a church. Yet, in pretty much any church, there are times when people don’t want to listen to the wisdom a pastor may bring, preferring to do it “the way we’ve always done it,” and missing the larger ministry of the church.
The reality is that we may think we have it all figured out, but “Life” will soon get in the way. Whether it is a lost job, a cancer diagnosis, a pandemic, or the death of a loved one, our supposed wisdom will be destroyed by things out of our control. No matter how wise or rich or powerful you are, you cannot escape the realities of life. God made the cross for precisely these moments. Christ bursts into our realities promising God’s love, grace, presence, and eternal life. God never promises to make everything perfect, rather, God promises to accompany us along the way. This means that there are not perfect answers, just the promises of a loving God. This is a God that understands that we like to boast and think we’re invincible, but this God knows that it is when we are most weak that we will need God’s tender care.
Prayer: Loving God, you promise to be with us always, help us when we think we are strong and wise to constantly hear your words that lead to eternal life. Amen.
