Photo Credit: Amber Sue Photography, www.ambersuephotography.com

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany: The World’s Foolishness

Reading

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Matthew 5:1-12

Devotion

Peace be with you!

Some stories and jokes are better told in certain groups than others. I poke fun at myself because I tend to knock over bookcases, put holes in walls, and break anything glass. I am an elephant in a China shop. A few friends worry when I post about my destructive accidents, while others just laugh with me over my Cerebral Palsy moments.

The resurrection story seems foolish to outsiders. A man crucified cannot be raised from the dead three days later. To a human mindset, this seems impossible. When you die and are buried, you stay dead. The resurrection story seems like a foolish fairy tale.

Paul explains how the resurrection story tells us about God’s power in the world. While some people look for signs and others desire wisdom, Christians look for God’s power and wisdom through the resurrection. God’s wisdom does not make sense in this realm, because it breaks all the physical rules. The world holds up victories and power and might. Jesus made Himself weak that we might be made strong.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus blesses the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and the hungry and thirsty. The people who the world leaves behind and ignores, God lifts up and makes his own. While the world would give you the cold shoulder and talk about you behind your back, God wraps a blanket around you, gives you food and water, and takes away your pain. There is nothing God would not do to save you from being persecuted by making you righteous and giving you the Kingdom of God.

The world desires and creates powerful leaders to conquer enemies. There is no need for weak individuals in a world that worships power. The resurrection story breaks down these perceptions and goes against them. Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of God, becomes weak when he hangs on the cross and dies for our sins. Nothing about Jesus Christ is definable in this realm.

As a disciple, you live in a different set of standards and rules than the rest of the world. You desire life with the Triune God—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. You look forward to eternal life in the Kingdom of God. You stand firm in knowing the crazy crucifixion and resurrection and are excited for Jesus’ Second Coming. You believe all of this because you know God can and will overcome everything in this world.

Thanks be to God!

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the crazy crucifixion and resurrection story and the promise of Jesus’ second coming. Help us to understand the resurrection story and to share it with those around us. Lead us to extend forgiveness to others and be compassionate to those who are on the outside. Thank you for your compassion for the broken. Amen.

Works Cited

Thanks to the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Reflective Questions

Please answer the following reflective questions in the comments below. Please agree to disagree and be respectful to each other. (If you have not already done so, please also take a moment, to sign the behavior covenant by commenting on it.)  You can answer as many questions as you would like.

  1. What about the crucifixion and resurrection story seem crazy to you?

 

 

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