"GOD'S FOOLISHNESS"
Presented - January 30, 2005

(Mic. 6:1-8; 1 Cor. 1:18-31; Mt. 5:1-12)

In the Bible, many times, we hear of God's wisdom, along with other God's power, knowledge, etc. We hardly ever hear of God's foolishness. In fact, 1 Corinthians 1:25 is THE PLACE to find that attribute. What Paul wrote is that "God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength." Even at God's MOST foolish, God is wiser than we are, and God's very weakest moment is stronger than our highest fantasy of power.

I have found that, sad but true, we often times we label the things we do not understand as foolish (or worse), and that's what happened when Jesus came along. As we read last week: "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching…proclaiming the good news…and curing every disease and sickness" (Matthew 4:23). And, what he preached, according to each of the Gospel writers and according to Paul, was, in one way or another, considered to be foolish by both Jews and Gentiles. To be foolish meant, either that what Jesus said was so different that it did not fit into the ready made categories that were familiar, or led to socially embarrassing outcomes. In Jesus' case it was both. His ministry of word and deed led him into deep conflict with both religious and political leaders and systems. In the end it brought him to his death on the most despised instrument of execution the Romans had to offer: a cross. Why should anybody follow after one whose teachings were so different as to be impossible to "fit in" and whose outcome was a criminal's death? In the words of the contemporary hymn by Brian Wren, based in part, on the 1 Corinthians 1 passage:

Here hangs a man discarded,
A scarecrow hoisted high,
A nonsense pointing nowhere
To all who hurry by.
Can such a clown of sorrows
Still bring a useful word
Where faith and love seem phantoms
And every hope absurd?
(Brian Wren © 1973, 1995, CCLI 2621605)

As Matthew's Jesus begins to preach his inaugural address (the Sermon on the Mount), the preface certainly looks like that foolishness we've been talking about.

How blest are those who know their need of God; the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
How blest are the sorrowful; they shall find consolation.
How blest are those of gentle spirit; they shall have the earth for their possession.
How blest are those who hunger and thirst to see the right prevail; for they shall be satisfied.
How blessed are those who show mercy; mercy shall be shown them.
How blest are those whose hearts are pure; they shall see God.
How blest are the peacemakers; God shall call them his children.
How blest are those who have suffered persecution for the cause of right; the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

Who really wants to BE or DO any of these things? They are the way to the grave or the scrapheap. Most cultures, since Jesus' day, do NOT value people of this kind, and consider them weak, indecisive losers. Dozens of volumes line the Self Help section of bookstores urging us to find true happiness by being the opposite of these people. Need no one or nothing but yourself. Be happy all the time and do what you need to in order to see you are. Be aggressive to see that your advantage and that of your friends prevails. Don't worry about your motives, no one can figure that out. Make war while talking about making peace. If anyone threatens you, make sure you "take them out" so as to avoid a problem later. This even inveigles itself into literature about leadership in the church.

What all the kinds of people Jesus calls blest have in common is that they are not self-centred, but centred on God and others. They have received God's love and grace right in the midst of life, even difficult life. Jesus is obviously talking foolishness. God's foolishness.

Foolishness was also spoken by one of Jesus' great predecessors, named Micah. Micah lived about 700 or so years before Jesus. Micah was a literary artist who created a mock trial scene in which God takes Israel to court for finding fault in the Divine Majesty. The court case comes down to the question, what is good for us to do to live in God's presence? What is wise and what is foolish?

The question comes, "Is it wise, is it good, to come into God's presence by offering sacrifice, if not little, then big, if not big, then huge and immensely costly?" Is what God wants from you and me just that we be religious and give lots of time, talent, and treasure? Is that what gets us in good with God? Is that wise living? Now Micah knew, and we know, too, that giving to God's work is not a bad thing, but it is not that which brings us into God's presence. That shows we're already there.

In Micah's drama, God responds in three ways. In the common translation: "Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." But bringing out the meaning in the Ashley revised paraphrase: "Do that which makes real in your life and relationships the grace and love of God in tangible terms in your own time and place. Loving mercy means acting in ways that make for community solidarity, and walking humbly with God means, first, understanding that it is God who calls the shots, not us. Second, it means walking CAREFULLY so as to walk the way God is going. Each one of these things means living for the good of others more than ourselves. And this, too, is judged to be foolish, and liable to lead to low salaries and being walked on in the world. Foolishness! Yes, it is, but it's God's foolishness!! Now nobody can live in this way alone because being a person for others requires others. Nurturing a life of self-giving requires continual practice together with other people who are also practicing it. (And I mean PRACTICING.) I am describing God's vision of how the church works.

God's foolishness, which is wiser than the greatest human wisdom, actually does work when it is applied. I don't know whether you know the name of Jean Vanier here in La Crosse. Most people in Canada would know it. Jean Vanier is a Canadian, born in 1928. He was the son of a former Governor General of Canada, Georges Vanier. Jean was a successful naval officer and had earned a Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Aristotle, when in 1964 he was convinced that life could be better lived in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount than any other way, including valuing those who were devalued in society, looking at the Beatitudes, and working as best one could, to make sure that such people as Jesus called "blest" would experience life as, indeed, blest.

In that same year Vanier took two men with developmental challenges to live with him in his home, believing that, if he treated them as blest, they would become so. He founded the community he called L'Arche, which is French for The Ark (as in Noah's boat), which provides a safe, warm, family environment for developmentally challenged people. In the past 40 years or so well over 100 communities have grown up in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

The foolishness of God is not just theory, even in this wonderful story. We were active in the L'Arche community in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. For a time Maxine was the president of the Board of the local houses in which caregivers lived as family with developmentally challenged adults - doing things that families do, and caring on a full time daily basis for these lovely human beings. Maxine and I have a wonderful friend, Dr. John Sumarah, who has written a little book about Homefires (as it is called) in Wolfville called BECOMING A COMMUNITY. It all began when Jeff and Debbie Moore caught Vanier's vision and brought John McNeill and Keith Strong to live with them and their kids. The vision grew until several other house-fulls of families were doing the same. A few of our seminary students were spiritually strong enough to live and work at the houses in Wolfville. We watched what happened in the lives of both the residents and our students, as they were remade by living out God's foolishness. We watched little miracles like Suzy, who, when she came, had to be tied in a chair because she was unable to sit, or stand, or walk, or to communicate in any way. She had been institutionalized her entire life, and was gong nowhere. We watched as she slowly began to blossom, and, eventually could both stand and walk, and even communicate some. We watched Ron, who had been tossed from one institution to another, and was violent and aggressive, become a sweet and lovely person who loved nothing more than a good time. Worship services in this community were special. They depended upon multiple senses because it was not possible to do as we often do in worship. Candles were very important, as was music. Mealtime was chaotic, but a celebration of God's goodness beyond belief. Foolishness? Yes, but God's foolishness. It was not that all these were huge things in the lives of the residents of these houses; they were small things in which the caregivers were more blessed by being in the presence of Christ than those to whom they supposedly gave care.

Dr. Vanier, who wears flannel shirts (and did so, even when he received the Order of Canada, the highest award in the land from the Governor General), as recently as last December, wrote this:

L'Arche is a sign and a paradox. We are discovering more and more that those rejected by society because of their weakness and apparent uselessness, are a presence of God. If we welcome them, they gradually lead us out of the world of competition and the need to do big things, into a world of communion of hearts, a simple life of joy, doing little things with love. They become a path to peace.

As I read these words I cannot help but thinking, once more, of our crucified Lord's words, to those damaged, wounded disciples of that distant day: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

AMEN.

Sermon created by Rev. Dr. Timothy Ashley

return to top of page