In the Name of Jesus
1. Corinthians 1,18-25
5. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 049
Christina, Virgin, Martyr, beginning of the 3rd century
24. Juli 2011
1. O Heavenly Father, whose weakness is greater than man’s strength and whose foolishness is wiser than mankind’s wisdom, we gather here again this morning to worship and praise Your only Son our Savior and Redeemer. Make this church a house of prayer, a sanctuary of Your Word, and a temple of Your Sacraments, where the law and gospel are proclaimed in purity and the absolution is given out rightly for our eternal salvation and the blessings of our lives. Amen.
2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the First Epistle to the Corinthians where the Apostle Paul writes: 18For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written, »I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart« (Isaiah 29,14b). 20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. This is our text.
3. The word of the cross alone is God’s power which:
II. makes a person holy (Walther 266 § 12).
I.
4. The word of the cross alone saves, and it is the Word that has ultimate power and authority. In a court of law, the judge’s word alone declares whether one is guilty or not guilty. In the heavenly court, God the Father, the Judge of all people, has the only word that declares whether one is damned or saved. As such, therefore, human words, signs, and wisdom will not save. Only God’s authoritative word of the gospel saves, only God’s sign of Christ crucified saves, and only Christ who is the Wisdom of God saves. 5. It is the sad and unfortunate experience of the Church that the very sign and wisdom of God which saves is to the wicked world a stumbling block and folly. The Apostle Paul lifts high the cross as the sign of salvation, but the Jews stumble over this sign. In our 21st century not only do Jews stumble over this sign, but also many other unbelievers in this world, and surprisingly a number of Christians as well, for it is the very nature of the heart of sinful men and women to seek salvation in any thing other than the cross.
6. In Jesus’ day, the cross was a sign of death and despair. The Romans had perfected the art of capital punishment by using the agonizing torture of crucifixion so that people were shocked and terrified at the might and law of Rome. Rebel against Rome, and the cross awaits you. Commit a serious crime, and the cross will be your means of execution. Only crooks and law-breakers hung on the cross. Thus the average person views the cross as a means of capital punishment and humility. How can God use this cross as a sign of salvation? So people ignore the cross and the One who hung on it one Friday afternoon as an insignificant event, because surely God cannot use the cross to save anyone.
7. In churches throughout the land the cross has become just one among many objects in the sanctuary. Flags and banners overshadow the cross. The flag of Israel has replaced the cross as the center piece at Cornerstone Church, San Antonio and a huge globe of the earth takes center stage at Lakewood Church, Houston. The cross, to be sure, is found in almost every church, but in some churches the cross has become one decoration among many, and the crucified Christ is not preached from those pulpits. Instead a different Christ, one contrary and foreign, to the Christ given to us in the Gospels and the Epistles is preached.
8. Americans are fond of life coaches and self-help gurus. Their books line our bookstores, are found in Amazon’s Kindle pages, and they are welcomed into our homes through our HDTVs. One of the wealthiest Americans is Oprah Winfrey who pioneered and capitalized on the self-help program decades ago. Many American churches like to imitate American pop culture, so we have churches that offer up a smorgasbord of Jesus our life coach, Jesus our moral cheerleader, and Jesus our seven-step guide to a happy life. Inherent in all this is the false understanding that deep down inside each one of us is really a decent chap who just needs a little guidance to get ourselves walking down the right path again. We are taught by our culture that if we just curb our vices and accentuate our virtues, then we will be well on our way to being nice Christian ladies or gentlemen. We are told that if we stop smoking, moderate our drinking, and stop swearing so much that we will be the good little Christians Jesus wants us to be. Such churches who push such drivel won’t end up making you or me better Christians, but rather we will be little carbon copies of Mitt Romney and his nice-looking Mormon family with good manners, perfect teeth, well-groomed hair, a great smile, and no observable family issues or baggage.
9. The problem is: you cannot just undergo a little make-over, and poof, you are now the poster child for the ideal Christian. Your problem goes a lot deeper and it’s too corrupt to be fixed with a quick seven-step program to a better Christian you. Your problem is sin, and sin makes every man, woman, and child a dirty, rotten scoundrel, who is an embarrassment to both God and our neighbor. You don’t need life coach Jesus or moral improvement Jesus, but you need the crucified Jesus. This crucified Jesus tells you the truth: you are messed up, you are full of sin, you rebel against God, and you act like a spoiled child who believes the world owes you everything. Such is our state, and the crucified Jesus tells you: I am going to save you from yourself and your sin-filled life. The crucified Jesus suffered on the cross for you; He laid down His life and died for you; He did this to save you and forgive you. Therefore, the crucified Christ is the only Christ that is to be preached in His Church, and that is why the true Church lifts high the cross, is not ashamed of its simplicity and foolishness, and ensures that forgiveness purchased by Christ is given out to those who gather each week.
II.
10. The crucified Christ first justifies you and then He sanctifies you. It is Jesus’ will that you become better, moral people. Good fruit necessarily is born from faith. The preaching of the law does not produce these good works. The law only tells us what God expects from His believers; the gospel alone has the power to bring these good works forth from our lives. 11. „Therefore, my beloved, should a person truly become holy, then apart from his own human abilities he needs another. He needs a divine hand to help him with divine power. And this sanctifying power of God is nothing other than the Word of the cross. Every person must seek after holiness, as the Scripture says, without which no one will see God. But a person cannot receive this true sanctification until first he despairs of his own desires and abilities and believes on the crucified One“ (Walther § 28). „Finally [when people become] weary of their useless running and striving, weary of their powerless resolutions and vows, weary of their desperate striving and battling and suddenly [flee], despairing of everything, to the cross, learned of and believed the love which was offered there for them, and behold!, from that moment on they were freed of the rule of sin and the love of God and their brothers gushed out of them now as from a river in their hearts and they were made holy. Oh, holy, saving cross! Where this shines in the heart even the most ruined heart is brought to a holy place“(Walther § 28).
12. »Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.« By this proclamation, the Holy Spirit works to save you and make you holy. Amen.
13. Let us pray. O Holy Spirit, You have revealed Your righteousness in the sight of the nations. Make known to us, through this church, the salvation merited only by Christ alone so that our hearts are strengthened and our lives blessed. Amen.
One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, Luke © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
Walther, C. F. W. Treasury of C. F. W. Walther, Volume VI: Sermons on Special Occasions such as Weddings, Funerals, Dedications and Other Events. Copyright © 2008 Joel Baseley, Translator and Editor. 
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