Stumbling Blocks

March 4, 2018

Helen Jacobi

Lent 3     Exodus 20:1-17     Psalm 19     1 Corinthians 1:18-15     John 2:13-22

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The people who lived at Corinth in the first century thought they were pretty cool. Corinth was a relatively new city having been destroyed in 146BC and by the turn of the first century it was well established again, but without the ancient feel of some other Roman cities. People were pretty upwardly mobile and the city was expanding, bigger houses being built. Corinth was a commercial trade centre, a port with goods coming in from all directions. It was a centre for banking; and for regional government. People travelled from all across the known world to Corinth and there was a sizeable artisan community selling fine pieces of art and household items. [1] It was cosmopolitan, educated and exciting; Jews and Gentiles lived alongside each other; slaves and free; all sorts of people living in this vibrant city.

I have never been to modern day Corinth – but the city is still there in southern Greece. The descriptions of ancient Corinth sound a bit like modern day Auckland to me.

Paul establishes a Christian community in Corinth, about the year 50 and then writes letters to encourage and admonish the community there. The piece we read this morning is hard core Paul and pretty essential to our Christian understanding.

The Christians at Corinth thought they were pretty cool too; they were into this new faith, this new way of thinking; something new to get excited about. But Paul’s teaching about everyone belonging and being equal – “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, man nor woman” (Gal 3:28) struggled to take hold as the community lapsed back into their ways of being a fairly stratified society of separate classes. And they seemed to be following Jesus like any other wise teacher or philosopher. It was all a bit in their heads, all a bit intellectual.

So Paul brings them back to the cross. The cross – a bloody instrument of torture and oppression; not to be talked about in nice company. A dark side of Roman rule.

The idea of the cross – even with the resurrection – was “a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.” A stumbling block to the Jews – the Messiah when he came was definitely not meant to die. The Messiah was to be the one who would save Israel (Lk 24:21) – throw off the Romans and bring about a new world order. And foolishness to the Gentiles – Greek wisdom, was all about philosophy and higher thought – not death and suffering. Paul says “Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom.”

In our gospel reading when Jesus disrupts the Temple the leaders say “what sign can you show us for doing this” – what can you do to show us you have the authority to come in here and turn us upside down? Paul does not offer signs or conventional wisdom – but foolishness. Only the paradox or contradiction of the cross. Definitely not the way to found a new religion. Paul was not really trying to found a new religion.

He simply wanted people to engage with the transformative power of this cross. This understanding that God is not separate in heaven, but here in the nitty gritty, hard stuff of life. In the cross Jesus faces into the suffering of each of us and does not flinch; takes it on; and stays the course.

Jesus died on the cross because of the way he lived – full on love and life and hope – and the dark side of our humanity cannot deal with full on love and truth and so we crucified him. And he did not flinch. And God’s love embraced us anyway and so resurrection happened and the cross becomes the turning point, the centre. And still a stumbling block and still foolishness. And we are called to embrace this foolishness as best we can.

Today in our after church discussion for our Lenten programme we are talking about this middle part of our liturgy – the ministry of the word – the bible readings, the sermon, the creed and the prayers.

As we weave our Christian identity as we worship we listen to scripture and reflect on it and try and make sense of it. Thinking about how we approach the Bible today is a bit like the challenge of the cross for the Corinthian Christians.

It is not really the done thing to admit to reading the Bible in 21st century NZ. Like the upwardly mobile, intellectually superior Corinthians we think what good could there be in reading an ancient text which we know contains some things we don’t agree with like “women should keep silent in church” (1 Cor 14:34) or outdated rules like the prohibition on wearing clothes that were a mix of wool and linen (Dt 22:11).

How do we unpack what we read? how do we decide what is useful to guide our lives and what is ok to set aside? What do we believe about the Bible?

We know the Bible is described as “the word of God” but what does that mean? Well it does not mean that it was dictated by God. The Bible is the story of the people of God, in the words of the people of God, and as heard and understood by the people of God. It becomes the word of God for us in our context and time and place when we allow ourselves to engage with it.

So today the richness of concepts and words and experiences from our passages could engage us and stay with us (or not, as the case may be). Which words will stay with you? which words echo in your hearts and minds as the week unfolds?

the cross

foolishness

wisdom

discernment

signs

proclaim

power

weakness

strength

the Temple

people selling

money

overturning the tables

my Father’s house

disciples

signs

three days

body

raised from the dead

they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

One word or line is enough – allow it to echo within you during the week; puzzle over it; pray/ meditate on it. See what it shows you. Then the word of God is alive, and at work within us.

Paul invites us to engage with our scripture, to lose a bit of our 21st century superiority, to take a risk in believing that this ancient text might offer a window for us into God’s heart; even though it goes by the way of the cross.

“For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”

[1] The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity Gerd Theissen 1982 pp99-102