THAT MAKES NO SENSE

DAY 174: Have you ever noticed how many nonsensical circumstances exist in our world?  Day in and day out we live with these conundrums and rarely stop to ponder their deep irony. On one level they make no sense, yet to most of us they are intrinsically understood. That may actually be the greatest irony. 

Consider these:

-Why does sour cream have an expiration date? Doesn’t “sour” say it all?

-Why are they called buildings, when they're already finished? Shouldn't they be called “builts”?

-Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

-Why are there 5 syllables in the word "monosyllabic"?

-When it rains why don’t sheep shrink? My wool sweater did.

-Whose idea was it to put an "S" in the word "LISP"?

-If money doesn't grow on trees then why do banks have branches?

-Why do you have to "put your two cents in"... but it's only a penny for your thoughts"? 

-How come we choose from just two people for President and fifty for Miss America?

-If you expect the unexpected, wouldn't the unexpected be expected?

-What happens when you get scared half to death -twice?

-Why do teachers need answer books?

-Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds?

-Why do people yell heads up when something is flying towards your head? Wouldn’t duck be more helpful?

           

Admit it, these are baffling questions. Yet, in a strange twist of irony each is also an established and accepted part of our reality.  So why do we have such a difficult time accepting some of the ironic, yet far more essential Christian truths that God has established. Ironies like:

• A Christian is strongest when he is weak, and he is weakest when he considers himself strong (1 Corinthians 1:25)
• When we are poor we are actually rich, and when we trust in our riches we are actually poor. (Matthew 5:3; 2 Corinthians 6:10)
• We have to lose our lives to find it and if we try to find our lives we lose it. (Matthew 16:24, 25)
• When we “die” to ourselves, it is then that we truly “live in Christ,” and if we “live” for ourselves, we are truly spiritually dead. (Romans 8:13)
• It is in giving that we receive the most blessing. (Acts 20:35)
• A leader must be a servant of all, and to be first one has to be last.(Matthew 20:26; 23:11)
• If you want to be exalted, you must humble yourself. (Luke 14:11, 18:14)

A Christian will always be most at peace and most effective when we embrace what is perhaps the greatest of all paradoxes, found in our scripture reading today.  I am sharing it in the New Living Translation because I think in this case, it speaks our language.  

^{1 Corinthians 1:18} The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. ¹⁹ As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
    and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”^[e]

²⁰ So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. ²¹ Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. ²² It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. ²³ So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

²⁴ But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles,^[f] Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
AHH…. But before we “Amen” and judge the foolish wise people around us for not realizing what we realize……
²⁶ Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy^[g] when God called you. ²⁷ Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. ²⁸ God chose things despised by the world,^[h] things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. ²⁹ As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

Might it be an even greater irony that we, the weak, foolish, clueless and previously also lost, now mock those we ourselves were once a part of? Our very nature of foolishness is what God chose to shame those who think they are wise, like we did, so that they too might become "un-wise" by the world's wisdom.  If we are to brag, we must brag in our foolishness… somewhat ironic, don’t you think.  But REMEMBER THIS:

³⁰ (It was) God (who) united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. ³¹ Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”^[i]

Ironically, it is when we have nothing to offer that God finds us the most desirable. I can live with that paradox. So let me be the first to boast: Hello, my name is Kim and I am a fool for the Lord!!!

Today's 365 Daily Reading Plan:

Ezra 1:1-2:70 

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5

Psalm 27:7-14

Proverbs 20:22-23