Models of Foolish Wisdom

MODELS OF FOOLISH WISDOM

(1 Corinthians 4.6-13)

New International Version

6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.

7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!

9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.

10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honoured, we are dishonoured!

11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

E x p o s i t i o n

I entitle this sermon “Models of Foolish Wisdom” because I fully realise that the world despises the true doctrine. Christ has been rejected; the apostles persecuted; and a number of believers are excluded from the society affairs. Even, your Christian neighbours will look down on you. By this sermon I hope that you will stand firm on the only true hope and take courage in your youth life, for the strength of your future.

I

The fellowship of believers is called the Church. Some people say that the Church is only a visible fellowship of believers. These groups believe that the church may not be abstract. To be a church means to follow Christ in actual lives. Yes, they are right. But our Reformed heritage teaches us more than that, that the Church is both visible and invisible.

The church is visible since (or, because) wherever God’s people, the believers of Jesus Christ, have fellowship, there must be blessings and fruits to bear. Wherever the Word is preached truly and faithfully, and where the holy sacraments are being rightly held, the risen and ascended Lord shines his face upon them, his people. He blesses them. He is pleased by the acts of His people.

Yet, in other hand, the church is invisible, because the true people of God is as God sees it. The Church is the sum of believers—“those who have been adopted as sons of God and made true members of Christ by the sanctification of the Spirit” (Calvin, Institutes IV.1.7) She comprises of the saints of the earth and all the elect who have lived from the foundation of the world.

So, the members of our church is not naturally (or, automatically) the members of the true Church. Why? As St. Augustine said more than a millenium and a half ago, “In regard to the secret predestination of God, there are very many sheep outside, and very many wolves inside.” God knows who belongs to Him! God knows, and has His seal on those who don’t know who actually are all the people of God. But, of those who wear His badge, his eyes alone can see the truly holy ones, those who will persevere to the end, to complete His salvation that has been begun by the divine election! I don’t know exactly who among you, and many, many people out there, who have been foreknowledged and predestined to be God's people. But at least I can ensure myself, by the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit, that I am His! And I do hope so with you. I would like to persuade you that the doctrine of predestination is not as horrible as some people have thought. We have comfort in this life and the life to come. We are standing on the solid rock of salvation, the unshakable foundation of hope, the full wealth of grace.

II

But, having recognised ourselves to be God’s riches, let us now learn from our passage to be the visible body of Christ. Look that the apostle Paul goes further after confronting people who don’t regard his ministry! I have explained to you last September about this.

What has happened? Oh, the taking pride in one man over against another (v. 6). Do you understand this? Let me explain. The church in Corinth has been divided by like-dislike mentality. Some people prefer Cephas or Peter. Some prefer Paul. Some prefer Apollos, and some would like to be the most super spiritual among others, they prefer Christ! Paul insists that the mentality is truly wrong! Think of this for our days. People go to church just because they want to hear their favourite preacher! They just want to hear what they want to hear! They like to pay high price the preacher who may fulfil their interests. For Paul, this must not be the case. Let God’s servants be judged not by any human standards, but only by Him (v. 4).

So first, the true church may not be divided. There will never be justification for those who provoke division in the church. Be they the so called God's servants, pastors, elders, deacons, or laypersons, God forbid! Let them divide not the body of Christ! The Church must be One! Do you know why? Calvin explains this truthfully and beautifully. The visible church is depicted our Mother. God is Father yet the Church must also be a mother. God predestined us, Yes! But the Church conceived us, and brought to birth and then gave us her milk! (IV.1.4) There is no other way of entering new life without understanding that the Church is our Mother. So, abandoning the Church is always fatal, says Calvin.

Second, the true church is built upon the one foundation, Jesus Christ, as brought out by His apostles. Paul insists that the Lord’s apostles have been put on display before the world, even the whole universe. They are “at the end” of the procession—that is the least in social ranking. They are like “men condemned to die in the arena.” You know, here is the image of gladiatorial combats—the condemned must fight against wild hungry beasts (lions, etc.) or gladiators—or from Roman triumphs in which the prisoners of war were dragged through the city in a parade and executed in the end.

What would you then conclude? The apostles are those sent to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, far from giving them crowns to wear, God determined that the apostles should suffer like Christ and be indistinguishable from the abject (or, miserable) poor. But remember what St. Paul says in other place, the church is “fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2.20). None of the three parties enjoyed wealthy lives. The Gospels is thus paid by blood. The Kingdom of God is built on the precious historic blood. Truly this is what the church Father, St. Tertullian says in the 2nd century, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church!” As heirs of apostolic teaching, please, please, please . . . Do not despise the true faith that we have received by every single moment as the word of God preached. Remember at all times that the word you listen to is a bloody message. That is why I in many times insist that YOU HAVE TO STUDY THE SOUND DOCTRINE!

III

Our teen commission, METANOIA, declares that we are Reformed, not because we worship or adore certain saints nor theologians. We are Reformed just because we affirm that:

(1) Ecclesia reformata ecclesia catholica est, the refomed church is the catholic church. The true Church is One and catholic. By this we mean that we are affirming the same points of ecumenical beliefs, or dogmas. We are affirming the One God of covenant, the One Lord—risen and ascended—Jesus Christ, the One body, the One baptism and that we are given meals from the same table. We are affirming the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene-Constantinople Creed, the Athanasian Creed. We are pursuing church unity by these true teaching, therefore we reject any opinion that the sound doctrine divides Christ's body. The keepers of true doctrines do strive for the the visible unity of Christ's Church.

(2) Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda est. The reformed church is always reformed. That is, we are always willing to be reformed by the truth of the Gospel, not by human superstitions or intelligence. Our present knowledge is not absolute, yet we commit ourselves to it as we believe that that is what God currently reveals us to know.

(3) Ecclesia refromata super fundamentum apostolorum et prophetarum interfectorum superaedificati. The reformed church is built upon the apostles and prophets slain. The precious blood of the apostles and the prophets had been shed for the foundation of Christ's Church. Therefore, we commit ourselves to nurture our spirituality, our values and our actions in accordance to their teachings which bear witness to the embodiment of the eternal Logos in the Person and Work of the Messiah Jesus, our Saviour and Lord.

God be Praised!

Delivered at the Teens Saturday Prayer Fellowship, November, 4th, 2006

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