3rd Sunday of Lent, 2022 - Foolishness

 “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,” 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Foolishness — that which doesn’t make any sense, that which doesn’t work, that which is so outside the norm that it makes the other laugh or scoff, that which looks and sounds crazy. Only a fool — one without any sense or understanding — would do such a thing.

The ways of God, symbolized by the cross, look like foolishness in the eyes of the world. The cross expresses self-giving love. It portrays the ultimate self-sacrifice for the good of another — the way of the servant. It demonstrates the refusal to use power to harm or destroy the other, even to defend or protect oneself. It displays love for one’s enemy, refusing to exclude, reject, give up on, or abandon anyone. It proclaims forgiveness that extends even to those killing him while they are killing him. In the eyes of the world, the grace the cross represents doesn’t make sense. There is no way it can work. It sounds so ludicrous, no one gives it a chance. It is nothing but foolishness.

While the cross looks like foolishness in the eyes of the world, the cross reflects the foolishness of the world. It is the end result of how the world thinks and operates. The underlying spirit of the world is an anxiety-driven, what’s-in-it-for-me, self-serving spirit. It is a competitive spirit that views the other as a threat — one who will destroy me, one who will take what is mine. Its us-them thinking creates polarization as we only associate with those like us while segregating ourselves from those who are not like us. The world operates out of merit-based thinking that is quick to judge and condemn those who are different from us. The cross is the ultimate expression of how the world uses power — over, down against another for personal benefit at the other’s expense. The anxiety that drives the way the world thinks leads us to use our power to protect ourselves, our identity, our status and standing, and our way of life from those who are different, going so far as to destroy them if necessary. The ways of the world produces the cross.

The ways of the world do not work. The what’s-in-it-for-me spirit pits individuals and groups and nations against one another. Its us-them thinking produces polarization and division, conflict and war. The inherent “I’m right, you’re wrong” mentality allows us to scapegoat those we consider “less than” and underserving. Position and power are exploited for personal gain at the expense of others. Profit is generated on the backs of those who labor. The underlying anxiety that drives the world’s thinking leads to the amassing and hoarding of wealth while multitudes of others suffer want of the basic necessities of life. The world’s way of thinking and operating only works for those who have access to power and wealth.

In the eyes of the world, the cross looks like foolishness. In the eyes of God, the ways of the world look like foolishness.