Scripture Reflections

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute… We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. (I Cor. 4:8-13)
 
When we read this passage on Sunday, I couldn’t help but wish that I had met Paul. Mild-mannered theologian? Hardly! Paul’s frustration with the Corinthian church spills over in one of the most sarcastic passages in the Bible. The Corinthians think HIGHLY of themselves, and Paul, through holy sarcasm (is that a real thing?) brings them down a notch or two. He asks them, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (v. 7) They thought that they were exalted, and they thought that they deserved their high status. That attitude flies in the face of the Gospel, so Paul lets them have it!
 
When Paul calls the apostles “fools for Christ’s sake,” he is using the tradition of the “holy fool.” Throughout the Scriptures, the prophets frequently look and act like madmen. John the Baptist dining on grasshoppers is barely weird when compared to Jeremiah hiding underwear in a cave (Jer. 13), Ezekiel playing with models of the city of Jerusalem and eating bread cooked over burning dung (read Ez. 4!), or Isaiah running around (nearly?) naked for three years (Is. 20). Even David, dancing before the ark in a sacred shirt (II Sam. 6), fits this category. God encourages his prophets to act very strangely, at times!
 
The true “holy fool” is Jesus, who emptied himself of dignity for us. He became a laughingstock, a fool, out of love. All of the prophets who were asked to act like fools set the stage for the most absurd act of all—God, the Majestic Creator and Lord of Heavenly Armies, became a frail creature and chose to suffer for those he knew would reject him. In love, he became a laughingstock.
 
God’s ways don’t make sense to the world. Human pride is deflated when we see the King of the Universe submitting to mockery and death. He becomes a fool to get our attention—our boasting is foolishness, our pride is ridiculous. What are our achievements, in light of God’s self-chosen folly? Human goals and pursuits become emptiness, folly itself, next to a suffering God.
 
Each of us harbors desires for recognition, status, and achievement that are revealed as ashes and nothing in light of Jesus’ self-emptying. As you wait for our King this Advent, consider the High and Holy One who was willing to become a fool for you. Don’t be afraid to follow him on his path of divine wisdom, even when it seems like folly to the world.
 
Steven+