“The Foolishness of Preaching” March 2, 2025
“The Foolishness of Preaching”
(1 Corinthians 1:21-25 )
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 (1)
Luke 7:1-10
Luke 9:28-36, 37-43a
Many years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend what was called the Conference on Evangelism in Nashville, Tennessee. This gathering of well over 1000 people was held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville whose original construction began with Andrew Jackson. The Gaylord has grown over the years. It is now a sprawling and massive affair and, after all the additions, the Gaylord now covers some 3.3 million square feet, with close to 3000 rooms, and over 9 acres of indoor gardens. To give you some perspective, the largest ballroom can hold over 10,000 people. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time walking and trying to keep from getting lost.
All in all, it was a glorious event with all sorts of venues to check out. I attended as many break out sessions as I could, complete with a lengthy session with the graphics and media team from the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. It was almost too much for me to process.
But truth be known, I didn’t come to admire the hotel and I didn’t come to learn about building a web page. No, I came for the preaching, and there was plenty of that to go around. A few of the speakers in the program had even written books that I had read, so that was exciting.
I was even able to get the autograph of Robert Schnase in his book (2) The Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations , which we had been studying at my home church.
Now, is that a coincidence or what? Anyhow, I have to say that my time
at the Congress for Evangelism was an awesome experience, and the preaching was far more than I had expected.
There was high toned preaching, smooth relaxed preaching, and a few who reflected that particular preaching style that can only be found in the South. On a whim, I signed up to hear a theologian Who had just won a particular award whose name I can’t recall right now. But I thought it would be interesting. Looking at the program, I noticed that his lecture was going to last close to four hours, but I wasn’t worried. I figured that I would be so fascinated that the time would just fly by. That didn’t happen, however. The truth is, if it wasn’t for his delightful Irish accent, I would have been sound asleep within the first half hour.
(1 Cor 1:21) “In God’s wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn’t come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching.”
“God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching.” I couldn’t help but think back on the words of Maya Angelou who said, “People don’t remember so much what you say, but they do remember how you made them feel.” These words, to me, are a good start to understanding the foolishness of preaching. It was John Wesley who said, “Give me a man who is on fire for the Lord and people will come just to watch him burn.” We don’t need long five point sermons or lectures describing the eschatological nature and/or future of mankind .
When Jesus preached, he preached with stories . He preached with (3) parables and brought to us a message with words and examples that spoke to the woes and blessings that visit us every day. Foolishness? I think not.
So I’d have to say that Paul got it right in his letter to the churches in
Corinth. Folks don’t come to know the peace and the joy that comes from a life in the love of Christ from, let’s say, their neighbor who claims to have it all figured out. He or she has studied Biblical history and knows all the players. No fact or factoid has been ignored, and they have therefore come to the conclusion that this Jesus person was indeed sent from God. What they seem to miss is that God did this foolish thing for the love of us that if we believe, we shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Meanwhile, we continue to pursue earthly wisdom. We strive for it, we search for it, and all too often We begin to wonder If this is the way to go; that the words of scripture from so long ago are simply outdated or never that relevant in the first place.
Furthermore, folks don’t seek out a relationship with Christ because they have been told that it will change their luck or change their fortunes. Besides, if they were to do that it’s only a matter of time before they realize that yes, there are still false prophets in the world.
But give to me a scoffer, a doubter, or one who is so stuck in their ways and beliefs that they can’t see their way out. Give me such a person and place them in front of a man or woman foolish enough to truly believe that the unconditional love of our God is the real thing. Give me such a soul and expose them to grace and mercy and forgiveness. Show them that these foolish notions come from the heart and not from the intellect
Show them with your words, show them with your actions, and show them with a joy that seems to rise from your deepest place of peace and contentment. (4)
Such foolish notions can be contagious. Such silly ideas can change lives.
Our two readings today from the gospel of Luke are a
preparation for the upcoming season of Lent and Easter Sunday. The predominant theme seems to be one of faith: lack of faith and the abundance of faith. The tale of the Roman officer in charge of 100 men – thus the title of Centurion- has always been a favorite of mine. I mean, here is a man who is an officer of the Roman army. It seems foolish to think that a man of such stature and background Could actually believe that this Jewish troublemaker was really of God sent for the love of us. But he did. And what about the “respected Jewish elders” that he asked to approach Jesus that he might heal this particular slave that meant so much to him. Do you think that they were big fans? Don’t you think that they would have dragged their feet and held back for fear of getting in trouble for speaking to this bum from Nazareth? That seems likely, but great faith often comes from moments of tragedy. It is in these moments that we can drop all our fears and preconceptions and unfounded beliefs to simply believe- to believe in the power and the love of this man who stands before us and then, by believing, we do the foolish thing of asking for his blessing, fully assured that our prayers will be answered.
The story of the Transfiguration is just about mandatory to bring in the(5) Lenten season. If the disciples had any doubt as to the divinity of Christ, this display of glory should’ve cleared that up. On the other hand, this should have been one of those life changing events, but I have to wonder. I have to wonder why Peter’s first reaction was to insist they build 3 little shrines on top of that hill- one for Jesus, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Where did that come from?
And then, on the next day as they went down the mountain, Jesus , reprimanded his disciples for lack of faith because they were unable to heal a young man plagued with spirits, which sounds to me a lot like epilepsy. So, despite Peter’s foolish notion of building some shrines to commemorate the event and the rather unhappy ending as Jesus chewed out his disciples in front of the entire crowd, the transfiguration story is important because it puts the final stamp on the divinity of Christ. It is the perfect way to begin season of Lent Lest we forget the divinity of our Lord as well as the humanity and I’m not fooling. Welcome to the season of Lent.
Amen and Shalom
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