{"id":1459,"date":"2021-03-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1459"},"modified":"2021-03-11T10:25:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-11T18:25:09","slug":"third-sunday-in-lent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/07\/third-sunday-in-lent\/","title":{"rendered":"Third Sunday in Lent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Third-Sunday-in-Lent-03-07-21.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>1 Corinthians 1:22-25<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We Proclaim Christ Crucified!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified:&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; For the foolishness of God is wiser than man\u2019s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man\u2019s strength.(NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the purpose of the church?&nbsp; While I personally believe that is an extremely easy question to answer, I have learned that if you ask five different people that question you could easily get more than five different answers!&nbsp; Some people look at the church in the same way that they look at a social agency.&nbsp; For them the purpose of the church centers on helping the less fortunate by providing them with the basic necessities of life\u2014 food, clothing, and shelter.&nbsp; For others the purpose of the church is to help foster change in society by supporting certain political candidates and by promoting certain social causes.&nbsp; For still others the purpose of the church is to serve as a place where you can go to interact with other people and maybe even do some networking for your job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is the purpose of the church?&nbsp; That is one of the underlying questions that the apostle Paul was asking the Christian congregation in Corinth.&nbsp; This congregation was one of if not the most richly blessed congregations we read about in the New Testament Scriptures.&nbsp; Paul says that they had been&nbsp;<em>\u201cenriched in every way\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and that they did not&nbsp;<em>\u201clack any spiritual gift.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; (See 1 Corinthians 1:4-7)&nbsp; And yet, the Christian congregation in Corinth was one of if not the most troubled congregations that we read about in the entire New Testament Scriptures!&nbsp; They were troubled by factions and cliques (See 1:10ff), they were weak when it came to exercising church discipline (See chapter five), they were confused when it came to the estate of Christian marriage (See chapter seven), and they were mishandling the Sacrament of Holy Communion.&nbsp; (See chapter eleven)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In preparation for addressing the difficulties that were plaguing this congregation God the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write the words that serve as our sermon text for today.&nbsp; These words focus our attention on the correct answer to the question:&nbsp; What is the purpose of the church?&nbsp; That answer is summarized in the statement:&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><em>We Proclaim Christ Crucified!<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp; As we look at this answer we will focus on two things.&nbsp; First, let\u2019s see how that proclamation applied to God\u2019s people in the days of Paul.&nbsp; Then, let\u2019s see how that proclamation applies to us, God\u2019s people today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The city of Corinth was a very important and a very cosmopolitan city.&nbsp; Situated on a piece of land that connects the lower peninsula with the mainland, Corinth was a hub for shipping and trading.&nbsp; Estimates say that in Paul\u2019s day, Corinth had a population of about 250,000 free people and almost double that number of slaves.&nbsp; Included in that number were Greeks and Romans, Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor.&nbsp; The diversity of people in the city of Corinth helps us to understand why Paul says in the opening words of our text,&nbsp;<em>\u201cJews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout Jesus\u2019 public ministry here on this earth the Jews demanded over and over again that Jesus perform some kind of miraculous&nbsp;<em>\u201csign.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Only then would they believe His message.&nbsp; Only then would they even consider His claim to be&nbsp;<em>\u201cthe Christ,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;the long-awaited Promised Messiah.&nbsp; For example, after Jesus had healed a man who was blind and mute and possessed by a demon, Matthew tells us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cThen some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, \u2018Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you\u2019\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Matthew 12:22ff).&nbsp; After Jesus had fed over 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two small fish, John tell us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cSo they asked him, \u2018What miraculous sign then will you give us that we may see it and believe you?&nbsp; What will you do?\u2019\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(John 6:30)&nbsp; Even as Jesus hung suffering and dying on the cross, Mark tells us,&nbsp;<em>\u201cIn the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves.&nbsp; \u2018He saved others,\u2019 they said, \u2018but he can\u2019t save himself!&nbsp; Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe\u2019\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(Mark 15:31).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This demand for&nbsp;<em>\u201cmiraculous signs\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;continues right down to this very day, doesn\u2019t it\u2014 although it does take a slightly different form.&nbsp; Instead of staying focused on God\u2019s message as it is recorded for us in the Scriptures, people today often demand&nbsp;<em>\u201csigns\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>\u201cmiracles\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;from God.&nbsp; Miraculous healings, speaking in tongues, a personal spiritual \u201cexperience\u201d or an inner religious \u201cfeeling\u201d seem to be put on a higher pedestal than God\u2019s holy Word and Sacraments.&nbsp; The \u201cprosperity gospel\u201d with its promise that success and wealth, health and happiness are &nbsp;\u201csigns\u201d that God is pleased with you, is swallowed hook-line-and sinker by way too many people today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The flip side of&nbsp;<em>\u201cJews demand miraculous signs\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<em>\u201cGreeks look for wisdom.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; The ancient Greek culture was saturated with the quest for&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; The great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle were the \u201cinfluencers\u201d of Greek society.&nbsp; There were a variety of philosophical schools that included Platonists, Stoics and Epicureans\u2014 each of which claimed to possess the ethical \u201cwisdom\u201d that was the \u201ckey\u201d to life.&nbsp; In our day and age the ancient philosophers have been replaced by things such as science and humanism.&nbsp; Many people today maintain that mankind is the measure of all things and science will solve all of our problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In sharp night and day contrast to&nbsp;<em>\u201cJews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;Paul sets before us the central purpose of the church as well as the guiding principle of the life of a Christian.&nbsp; He says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cBut we preach Christ crucified:&nbsp; a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Very literally this reads,&nbsp;<em>\u201cBut we are proclaiming Christ crucified, to Jews a scandal, to Gentiles foolishness.\u201d&nbsp; \u201cWe&nbsp;<strong>are proclaiming<\/strong>&nbsp;Christ crucified.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Not only is this the ongoing purpose of the church, but this is also the ongoing purpose of each and every Christian!&nbsp; In reality&nbsp;<em>\u201cproclaiming Christ crucified\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is simply proclaiming the message that God Himself has revealed to us.&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>\u201cProclaiming Christ crucified\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is to&nbsp;<em>\u201cproclaim\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;the message that works, the message that saves, the message that answers the \u201cbig questions\u201d of life!&nbsp; We don\u2019t need to spend\/waste our time searching through the writings of the \u201cgreat philosophers\u201d of this world.&nbsp; We simply&nbsp;<em>\u201cproclaim\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to others what they&nbsp;<strong>need&nbsp;<\/strong>to hear:&nbsp; Christ was crucified&nbsp;<strong>for&nbsp;<\/strong>you!&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we are&nbsp;<em>\u201cproclaiming Christ crucified,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;however, we need to understand, and we need to be prepared for the fact that this proclamation will not always be well-received by others.&nbsp; Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth that the proclamation of&nbsp;<em>\u201cChrist crucified\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is a&nbsp;<em>\u201cscandal\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to many Jews.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Because tragically, many of the Jews in Jesus\u2019 day were looking for a \u201csavior,\u201d a \u201cmessiah\u201d who would provide them with&nbsp;<strong>both&nbsp;<\/strong>political freedom&nbsp;<strong>and&nbsp;<\/strong>religious freedom.&nbsp; As far as they were&nbsp; concerned Jesus of Nazareth&nbsp;<strong>failed<\/strong>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<strong>both&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;of those fronts.&nbsp; And when Jesus of Nazareth ended up nailed to a cross, they considered that a&nbsp;<em>\u201cscandal\u201d<\/em>! &nbsp;They considered that a \u201csign\u201d that He had been&nbsp;<em>\u201ccursed\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;by God.&nbsp; (See Deuteronomy 21:22, 23)&nbsp; What they refused to see, what they refused to accept was Isaiah\u2019s prophesy that the Messiah would suffer and die in our place so that He could endure God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201ccurse\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<strong>for&nbsp;<\/strong>us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paul also reminds the Christians in Corinth that the proclamation of&nbsp;<em>\u201cChrist crucified\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;was&nbsp;<em>\u201cfoolishness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to the Gentiles.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Because according to the&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of the Greek philosophers it was utter&nbsp;<em>\u201cfoolishness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to even think of a \u201cgod\u201d taking on a true human body and becoming one of us.&nbsp; It was utter&nbsp;<em>\u201cfoolishness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to even think of putting your faith\u2014 much less your eternity\u2014 in the hands of someone who had been crucified.&nbsp; The Greeks and the Romans reserved crucifixion as a method of capital punishment for the most heinous of crimes committed by the most despicable of criminals.&nbsp; In their eyes the cross depicted the utmost disgrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then why does Paul emphasize that,&nbsp;<em>\u201cWe&nbsp;<strong>are proclaiming<\/strong>&nbsp;Christ crucified\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; The glorious answer to that question is found in verse 24 of our text.&nbsp; Paul writes,&nbsp;<em>\u201cBut to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Through the power of God the Holy Spirit we have been&nbsp;<em>\u201ccalled\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;out of the darkness of sin and unbelief and into the wonderful light of faith!&nbsp; (See 1 Peter 2:9, 10)&nbsp; With the eyes of faith we are able to see and to understand that the proclamation of&nbsp;<em>\u201cChrist crucified\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is the proclamation of God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201cpower\u201d\u2014&nbsp;<\/em>God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201cpower\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to forgive us, God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201cpower\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to justify us, God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201dpower\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to redeem us from sin, death and the devil, God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201cpower\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to save us for all of eternity!&nbsp; Every time we lift up our eyes to the cross, every time we see&nbsp;<em>\u201cChrist crucified,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;every time we&nbsp;<em>\u201cproclaim Christ crucified\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to others, we see and we proclaim the&nbsp;<em>\u201dpower\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of the Almighty God Himself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the very same time, with hearts that are filled with the gift of saving faith we are able to see and to understand that the proclamation of&nbsp;<em>\u201cChrist crucified\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is the proclamation of God\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Through the&nbsp;<em>\u201cfoolishness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of the cross we have the&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of knowing that through faith in Jesus we have been given true&nbsp;<em>\u201crighteousness, holiness and redemption.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(See 1 Corinthians 1:30)&nbsp; This kind of&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;cannot be acquired through human reason or strenuous intellectual exercises.&nbsp; This kind of&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;is hidden from those who are \u201cwise\u201d by the standards of this world but revealed to&nbsp;<em>\u201clittle children\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;\u2014 purely by the grace and power of God.&nbsp; (See Matthew 11:25, 26)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the eyes of faith and with the gift of saving faith filling our hearts we say \u201cAmen!\u201d to Paul\u2019s proclamation found in the closing verse of our text,&nbsp;<em>\u201cFor the foolishness of God is wiser than man\u2019s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man\u2019s strength.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; From a purely human perspective the cross on Calvary\u2019s hill embodies&nbsp;<em>\u201cfoolishness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>\u201cweakness.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; To this very day the world considers it untenable and inconceivable that God would willingly become a man, that God\u2019s plan for our salvation would require this perfect, innocent God-Man to be crucified to pay for our sins, that simple, humble, child-like faith in&nbsp;<em>\u201cChrist crucified\u201d&nbsp;<\/em><strong>guarantees<\/strong>&nbsp;eternal life in heaven.&nbsp; From the perspective of this world the&nbsp;<em>\u201cfoolishness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<em>\u201cweakness\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of the cross makes absolutely no logical sense whatsoever!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Praise God for that, my friends!&nbsp; It reminds us that even with the collective&nbsp;<em>\u201cwisdom\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and the collective&nbsp;<em>\u201cstrength\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;of all of mankind we&nbsp;<strong>could never<\/strong>&nbsp;and we&nbsp;<strong>would never<\/strong>&nbsp;have come up with this (Pointing to the cross) as the Solution to&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>of our problems\u2014 both in this life as well as the next!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So let me ask you once again:&nbsp; What is the purpose of the church?&nbsp; What is&nbsp;<strong>your&nbsp;<\/strong>purpose in life?&nbsp; By the grace and power of God we know that the only&nbsp;<strong>correct&nbsp;<\/strong>answer to&nbsp;<strong>both&nbsp;<\/strong>of those questions.&nbsp; The answer is found in Paul\u2019s inspired words:&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>\u201cWe&nbsp;<strong>are proclaiming<\/strong>&nbsp;Christ crucified.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 Corinthians 1:22-25 We Proclaim Christ Crucified! Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified:&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; For the foolishness of God is wiser than man\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-service-podcast"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1460,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions\/1460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}