"The Wise Versus The Morons"
Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
1-29-2023
In the name of Him who is the Wisdom of God, dear friends in Christ. One of my all-time favorite cartoon characters has got to be Bugs Bunny. Maybe it's his witty phrases and sarcastic comebacks that attract me to him. One of his most famous lines is when he has duped someone and then declares in his heavy Bronx accent, "What a maroon!" The scriptwriters meant it as an irony. You see, Bugs Bunny was intending to insult someone by calling them a "moron" but by mispronouncing the word he’s indicting himself as one! Funny, huh? Well, maybe for a cartoon character, but not in real life. Calling someone a moron is rude and demeaning. So who in the world wants to be called a moron? Well, if you understand what St. Paul is saying in our Epistle, then we should all be thrilled if people call us morons. Because when it comes to spiritual things in the kingdom of God, everything is the opposite of what the sinful world believes and teaches. The supposed morons (who believe in Christ) are actually the wise ones, and those who think they are wise (unbelievers) are the real morons. Unfortunately, these definitions are topsy turvy because of the sinful corruption of our minds.
Now perhaps you're wondering where I'm getting this comparison of moron versus wise? I mean, the word moron doesn’t appear in the text, right? Well, not in the English. But in the Greek wherever you see "folly" or "foolish" the root word is the same as where we get the word "moron." And while we're at it, wherever you see the word "wise" or "wisdom" it's from the root word where we get the name "Sophia" and the words "sophist" and "sophisticated". Admit it, you just felt your IQ jump by 20 points with that newfound information, didn’t you? Seriously though, folly and foolish are fairly good translations but actually, they're too mild to convey the real point that St. Paul is making. So lets go with the word moron and I think you’ll get the full impact.
First, though, we need to look at the context and we’ll discover why Paul is introducing this strong language. He's writing to the believers at Corinth, and quite frankly, this newly formed Church had big problems. In the previous verses of this chapter Paul tells us they are fractured because their old ways of thinking are creeping in on their new faith. You see, back in the Greek world, which Corinth was a part of, people held the wise philosophers of their day in high esteem. Naturally, each person thought their teacher was smarter and better than the rest. The problem in Corinth was that they were applying this to the Church. As you heard last week, they were boasting that Paul or Apollos or Peter was their teacher. And others tried to trump everyone else by saying that Christ was their instructor.
I don't know how much hair Paul had on his head, but I can envision him pulling some of it out as he addressed this petty bickering which was dividing the Corinthian church. So he makes a strong point that Christ is not divided. The message of the Gospel is equally powerful regardless of who the faithful teacher was that delivered it to them. Think of it in terms of you folks here at Zion. Some of you were instructed by Pastor Hartmeister, or Pastor Johnsen, or Pastor Kamprath, or Pastor Eckhoff, or Pastor Wagner, and a handful of you by me. Some of these Pastors were more intense teachers than others and some were more eloquent speakers. But Paul is saying, what sense does it make to boast about this? It's the same saving Gospel that was delivered to all of you. Drop your human pride and rejoice in your salvation!
Those conditions are what led St. Paul to attack this human wisdom and pride in out text. Using that stronger word, moron, he says in verse 18 that the message of the cross is moronic to the unconverted minds of the sinful world. They look at the Gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as idiocy. Instead, they view themselves as being so wise because they analyze everything using their 5 senses. They pride themselves in using science and philosophy to understand the universe. Based on this so-called wisdom, they think they’re smarter and more sophisticated than you silly morons who believe in God. We have modern sophists like that. They mock Christians and consider us as morons.
Paul makes it clear that the reverse is actually true. He says that God has made the wisdom of this world moronic (foolish.) God intentionally chose the simple, seemingly moronic Gospel as the means to save us. All the wisdom in the world cannot fathom the depths of God's wisdom and His glorious plan of salvation. When a person tries to understand it with an unconverted mind, it makes no sense. It is only by the gift of faith that we can grasp it and believe. Think of it this way. If a scientist looked through a cheap telescope at a couple of nearby planets and stars, and then declared that he now understood the whole universe, well, you'd laugh at him. The label "moron" would certainly apply, and that's Paul's point. When self-proclaimed “wise” people declare that there is no God who created the world, and when they laugh at the cross as our means of salvation, they are showing their own damning ignorance. The wisdom of the sinful world is revealed as moronic.
So why did God choose this simple and seemingly moronic way of saving us? Well, in reality, it's not simple or moronic. In fact, it's so complex that we can't even begin to grasp it with human wisdom. And God did that intentionally so that no one could boast. You see, adding human wisdom to the message of the cross doesn’t enhance it. Rather, it empties and nullifies the saving grace that is there for us. Trying to make Christ’s death for our sins sound logical or more palatable is nothing less than adding human wisdom to the justification that was won for us by Jesus on the cross. If our works or wisdom, even in the slightest way, are what make the cross effective then we can take some credit and boast about it. Paul says you should instead boast about what the Lord has done for you by grace. Then you will truly be wise.
You know, there's a danger here of setting up straw men and knocking them down. In other words, it's easy to point a finger at unbelievers who choose to mock us and our faith. But they’re not the only ones who treat God and His Word as foolish. If you want to find out who else is a worldly wise-guy, just look in the mirror. How, do we allow our human wisdom to turn us into spiritual morons? Well, when was the last time you split hairs about sin? For example, you probably haven't gone out and murdered anyone. So your wisdom says you’ve kept the 5th Commandment. But Jesus says even thinking an angry thought violates this commandment. What about worship and Bible Class? Oh, sure, you agree that they’re good things. But your sinful wisdom says "Ya know, God never really says how often I need to be in Church, so I’ll be fine if I skip this week... or the next... or the next. It's those other people who need to come regularly. I just need a little tune-up now and then. And Bible Class? C’mon! I already know all that I need to know." You can be insulted if you want to but this attitude is nothing less than being a spiritual moron. And this kind of thinking, directed by human wisdom, is damning to our souls.
The solution to our dilemma is to become a "moron" like St. Paul describes in the text: Not trusting in human wisdom or power, but rather, trusting in the grace that God has given to us. Think about it for just a minute. Most of us were Baptized as infants when we were complete morons in human terms. A baby can't comprehend the Word of God that's being spoken to him or her. And yet they don’t require a philosophical debate about how Baptism works before they can receive this free gift of grace. What about Confession and Absolution? You are a blessed moron if you believe that God can speak His Word of forgiveness through the lips of your Pastor. You are a blessed moron if you believe that God's Word has the power to change and save you through Christ's atoning death on the cross. And you are a blessed moron if you believe that here in the Lord's Supper, Jesus is truly present with His body and blood for your forgiveness.
To be a moron in this sense is to be truly wise in God's eyes. Yes, the sinful world will still consider you a moron by their standards. But it's a label we can wear with pride for we are assured of our salvation by the grace of God that we received by faith and not by human wisdom. So rejoice and be glad for you are truly blessed and your reward is great in heaven. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!