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18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:18-25 NIV)
A blessed and terrific Tuesday for you, dear Friend. May this time with God and this devotional bless your life and your walk with God. Please be in prayer for Mrs. Allison Davis. She will be having surgery this morning to remove two parathyroid glands. They are enlarged and malfunctioning. Please pray for everything to go as planned in the procedure and for her complete recovery. Prayers for Nellie and me, as we have colds again. Therefore, there will be no video or audio devotional readings today.
The cross is an instrument of painful torture and death. The Romans used it to instill fear in criminals by holding crucifixions along their roads. It was recorded that the roads into Rome were lined with criminals slowly dying their excruciating death. The cross was the instrument used to kill Jesus and the Christian Church took the cross and adopted it as a symbol of pride. The very first verse is so very true. Even today there are those who mock the cross and label it as a loser's symbols. My sociology professor once feigned his confusion about the cross and asked the class, "If Jesus had died on the electric chair, would Christians be wearing little electric chairs around their necks?" The class laughed.
The second part of the verse is what is truth for us; "But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." That's what the cross represents to us: Power. God's power. It is the power to save. The cross saved us from death and saved us to a new life; the life in abundance; the fullness of life. Through Jesus' suffering we were led to a higher and better path. Of course, the path of wisdom as offered by the world will offer answers and easy ones at that, but we cannot be led astray by that. I heard it even in my seminary calls on the New Testament, where the trend at the time was the demythologizing of the stories of Jesus; seen as myths, folk tales, parables or metaphors for things that could be, but hadn't been. And even the professor when we were studying the Resurrection, he called it a "faith event," that the objective eye of a camera could not capture. It was mass hysteria that allowed those who claimed to have seen Jesus to "see" someone who was not there. Sigh. I realized that I had to have a strong faith to be a preacher of the "foolishness" that the world would reject claiming to be wise, but the ones who found salvation would join the fool's team in having the fullness of life.
A recent article on why the American Church is dying had these figures: "About 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, the last year data is available, with about 3,000 new churches opening, according to Lifeway Research. It was the first time the number of churches in the US hadn’t grown since the evangelical firm started studying the topic. With the pandemic speeding up a broader trend of Americans turning away from Christianity, researchers say the closures will only have accelerated." Pastors and church leaders are having to face some tough decisions about the future of some churches. Also, "But while Covid-19 may have accelerated the decline, there is a broader, long-running trend of people moving away from religion. In 2017 Lifeway surveyed young adults aged between 18 and 22 who had attended church regularly, for at least a year during high school. The firm found that seven out of 10 had stopped attending church regularly." I graduated from high school with many who thought they had also graduated from church, and that trend still continues, graduation brings a certain freedom that young people take to mean freedom from God.
Dear ones, we still believe (or should) that "The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." We, as the Church, are called to welcome all people with a love like has never been seen before, to all people. The days of you go to this church, and you to that church, are over. God's kingdom has as its welcome mat, "All are welcome," reflecting what is in God's heart and what should be in our heart; divine, agape, love. Our marching orders do not come from Washington, New York, Los Angeles, or Florida; they come from God and God only. The gospel message of Jesus is serious, though seen as foolishness by those who are perishing; but we must take up the mantle and serve Him to save our brothers and sisters.
PRAYER; Loving God, to You be all honor and glory; here on the earth and there in Heaven. Make us truly be the fools that we need to be to share with those who are dying; help us truly be the Church that attracts those who have wandered off, and those who no longer care. Le us be a blessings to all people, in Christ Jesus' strong name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Share the foolishness of Jesus with the wise.
Receive my blessing of hope and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
The article I quoted is from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/22/us-churches-closing-religion-covid-christianity
