Foolishness

Today's reading: I Corinthians 1-4

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. I Cor. 1:18 NRSV

Some of us have either been Christians for a long time or at least grew up in the church. We don't realize just how ridiculous our beliefs are to outsiders. We have faith in someone who died for us. Today, folks have faith in people who are powerful and do something for them. Most people look up to heroes -- real or imagined-- that can do super-powered type actions. Heroes don't die for them. Certainly no one looks up to anyone who has been brought to trial and executed. We don't realize how foolish our beliefs seem to others.

Perhaps this is one reason many people, including some archaeologists (although I would not dismiss all archaeologists), have spent their lifetime trying to debunk the belief that Jesus rose from the dead. It is foolish, they think, believing that someone completely recovered after such horrendous torture and death.  And no one is even considering the ascension.

But for us, just as for Paul, what we believe in has the power of life for us. In Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection, we are being saved. It is a foolish message but we know the true power it holds.

God, thank you for Jesus' death on the cross. For the world, it is a foolish message but we know that through his death we are being saved. Thanks be to God! Amen.

Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims