Sunday Link – Pointing to The Way of The Cross – 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 |SL20260201

OPENING SONG   

 

 

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SERMON   

Pointing to the Way of the Cross   

Our text for today …

1 Corinthians 1:18–31 (NKJV)	1 Corinthians 1:18–31 (NRSVue)
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, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”	18 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. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?    21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.	20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe.
22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;  23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,	22 For Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom,  23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.	24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.	25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.	26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;	27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,  29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.	28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are,  29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness and sanctification and redemption — 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”	30 In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Introduction: Fads, Fame, and the Search for Wisdom   

Every generation has its trends.  Maybe you remember bell bottoms, shag carpeting, oat bran, heavy metal, or hot yoga.  Maybe you remember when we all thought oat milk would save the world, or when kale was the answer to every health problem known to humanity.  

Fads are funny because they’re universal.  They promise the change we want — better health, better looks, better living.  But like other things shiny and new, they pass.  Andy Warhol famously said that everyone would get fifteen minutes of fame.  That might be generous in today’s world of 10-second viral videos.  

Even the Church isn’t immune to trends.  We get excited about new books, new worship styles, new movements, new “keys” to success.  Some of these are good gifts; others are just noise.  But underneath all of them lies the same human impulse: we want to be well and live a good life.  We want to belong.  We want to matter.  

The apostle Paul knew that impulse well.  The Church he was writing to in Corinth was swept up in its own cultural whirlwind.  Corinth was a city addicted to being clever, relevant, and admired.  

And into that whirlwind Paul writes about something that sounded absurd and not popular.  He writes about a crucified God.  (Note 1 Corinthians 2:2)  

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 (NRSVUE)     

 

The City of Corinth: Where Everything Was New and Nothing Lasted   

To understand the church in Corinth, you must understand the city itself.  Corinth was the definition of a start-up town.  It was rebuilt from ruins, thriving on trade, bursting with new money.  It was the Las Vegas of the ancient world — a place of opportunity, ambition, and self-promotion.  

Philosophers and religious entrepreneurs flocked there to peddle their ideas.  You could get your fill of whatever new “wisdom” happened to be trending that season.  Everyone was trying to sound deep, look enlightened, and get followers.   

You could call it the first-century version of social media.  People were constantly posturing, endlessly debating, marketing their own brilliance, and preserving one’s honor.   

So, when Paul preaches Christ crucified in this city of winners and people striving to be on top, his message sounds like nonsense.  Crucifixion was the ultimate mark of failure.  It was Rome’s way of saying, “This person doesn’t matter.”  

The Corinthians wanted success, sophistication, and status.   And Paul gave them a cross.  

 

The Foolishness of the Cross   

Let’s pause and remember what the cross actually was.  

It wasn’t jewelry.  It wasn’t art.  It was the tool of state execution — public, brutal, humiliating.  It was designed not just to kill but to shame.  You didn’t speak of the cross in polite company.  

And yet Paul can’t stop speaking about it.  Repeatedly, he centers the gospel not on Jesus’ miracles or teachings, but on the cross.  

Why?  Because the cross is where God reveals who he is.

For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.  1 Corinthians 1:25 (NRSVUE)  

That line flips everything upside down.  Paul isn’t just saying that God outsmarts us; he’s saying that God’s way of love  looks like foolishness to a world addicted to power.   

When we look at Jesus on the cross, we see a God who wins by losing, who rules by serving, who conquers by dying.  That’s not a clever philosophy.  That’s not a trend.  That’s a revelation.   

The cross is not our idea about God; it’s God’s self-disclosure.  It’s what happens when divine love enters human sin and refuses to retaliate or get even.  It’s the Trinity’s love exposed in human history — the Father sending the Son, the Son offering himself, the Spirit sustaining him in obedience.   

In other words: the cross is what the triune God looks like when he saves the world.  (By the way, when we use the word “triune” to describe God, that word means consisting of three in one.)  

 

God’s Agency: The Power that Comes from Weakness    

Paul says, 

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.  1 Corinthians 1:21 (NRSVUE)   

Notice the subject of the verb: God decided.

It’s God who decides.  God saves.  God chooses.  God acts.  The gospel is not a new human insight.  It’s not a spiritual improvement plan.  It’s God taking the initiative  to rescue us from the systems we’ve built around pride and control.   

At the cross, God refuses to play by our rules of success.  He undermines the logic of empire, the logic of domination, the logic of honor and shame, and the logic of winners and losers.  

In Christ, the power of God is displayed not in crushing others but in healing their wounds.  

The Incarnation — the eternal Son, taking on flesh — reaches its climax at the cross.  The One who made the universe becomes the One who is crucified by it.  The infinite God chose to limit himself to love us from within our brokenness.  

This is why Paul can say that “God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”  What looks like defeat is actually divine victory.  It’s love stronger than hate, forgiveness stronger than violence, life stronger than death.  

 

Pointing to the Way of the Cross   

So, what does it mean to witness or to point to the way of the cross?   

• For Paul, it means living as people whose whole identity has been redefined by Jesus’ crucified love.

In Corinth, everyone was trying to climb the ladder — socially, intellectually, religiously.  But Paul says God turns the ladder upside down:  

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world … so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NRSVUE)  

When we live by the way of the cross, we stop boasting in ourselves and start boasting in God.  

• That doesn’t mean we glorify suffering or romanticize weakness.
• It means we learn to see God’s presence where the world least expects it — in the broken, the ordinary, the overlooked.

To point to the way of the cross is to let our lives point to the self-giving love of the Trinity.  The Father gives the Son; the Son gives himself; the Spirit gives life and comfort.  The entire movement of God is outward, sacrificial, and relational.   

The Church is called to mirror that same movement: not to seek power, but to serve; not to dominate, but to love; not to climb higher, but to kneel lower.

 

When the Cross Confronts Our Culture   

The Corinthians were fascinated with wisdom and rhetoric or persuasive arguments. They wanted a gospel that impressed people.  

Today, our culture isn’t much different.  We chase relevance, popularity, and influence.  We measure success by numbers, reach, and likes.  Even in ministry, we can fall into the trap of thinking that bigger and louder is better.  

But the cross whispers a different word.  It says: You are loved, not because you are successful, but because you are mine.

The cross exposes our idols — not just the obvious ones like wealth or fame, but the subtler ones like self-reliance, human reason, cleverness, and control.  It asks us: Will you trust the wisdom of God even when it looks foolish?  

That’s what witnessing or pointing to the way of the cross means.  It means trusting that God’s redemptive work is happening even when the world calls it failure.  It means believing that love — not dominance — is the true power that heals creation.

The Trinity and the Cross: God’s Love in Motion

Let’s step back and see how the cross reveals the triune God.

• • The Father is not an angry judge demanding payment.  He is the one who sends the Son in love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16).   
  • The Son is not a victim of circumstances.  He willingly enters our condition, saying, “No one takes my life from me; I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18).   
  • The Spirit is not absent.  The Spirit is the One who empowers Jesus to endure suffering and who raises him from the dead; the same Spirit is poured out on us (Romans 8:11).   
    • Editor’s note: I think this is mentioned here to address some concerns about the popular doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA).  Please see comments in the Small Group Discussion section below for more comments about PSA.

At the cross, the eternal love that has always existed within God’s own life breaks open into the world.  The Trinity is not a theory; it’s the beating heart of the gospel.    

When we speak of God’s power, we’re talking about that love — the kind that risks everything to restore communion.

So, the message of the cross is not merely that Jesus died, but that God himself has entered our darkness and filled it with divine life.   

 

The Cross and the Church: A Community Formed by Grace    

The Corinthians’ problem wasn’t just bad theology; it was bad community.  They were dividing into factions.  “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas.”  Each group thought they were superior.  

Paul’s response?  “Is Christ divided?”  

The cross dismantles our hierarchies.  It brings us to level ground.  None of us stands above another because all of us stand beneath the same mercy.  

In a culture obsessed with status, the Church is called to be a community of grace. Not a gathering of the elite, but a fellowship of the forgiven.   

Paul reminds them — and us — of who we are:  

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  1 Corinthians 1:26 (NRSVUE)  

We didn’t get here by merit.  We got here by grace.  The thing about relying on merit is I might be tempted to believe I earned all the good things in my life.  So, when I see suffering or misfortune in others, I might be tempted to believe that they deserve it.    

The cross shapes a new kind of community — a people who embody the humility and generosity of the triune God.  This is what makes the Church missional: we exist not to draw attention to ourselves, but to reveal what God has done and is doing in Christ.  

 

The Paradox of Power   

The world tells us that power means control, domination, and visibility.  The cross reveals a different power — the power of love that yields, suffers, and transforms.  

When Paul says, “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,” he’s not being metaphorical (1 Corinthians 1:24).  In Jesus’ crucifixion, the true nature of divine power is unveiled.  

That’s why Paul can say, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  Because the only thing worth boasting about is what God has done through the weakness of love as exemplified by the cross.  

In the Church, every act of service, every gesture of compassion, every word of forgiveness is a small participation in that same power.  We become witnesses to the cross not by winning arguments, but  by living cruciform lives — lives shaped by the self-giving love of Christ.  

 

The Cross as the End of Self-Boasting   

At the heart of Paul’s argument is the destruction of boasting in self.  

Boasting is what happens when we try to define ourselves apart from God.  It’s when we think our worth depends on our achievements, knowledge, or morality.  The cross ends that illusion.  

The Son of God hangs there stripped of everything we normally boast about: status, strength, success.  And yet, in that very stripping, the glory of God shines brightest.   

The Incarnation means that God is not too proud to enter our fragility.  The cross means he refuses to leave us there.   

So, when Paul says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord,” he’s inviting us into freedom.  The cross frees us from self-promotion and self-protection.  The cross declares:  You are already loved beyond measure. 

 

A Modern Witness    

Few modern voices illustrate this better than Henri Nouwen.  A world-renowned priest and professor, he taught at Harvard and Yale.  He had everything Corinth would have admired — intelligence, success, acclaim.  

And yet, late in life, he left academia to live in a L’Arche community, a home for adults with developmental disabilities.  There he discovered a different kind of wisdom — the wisdom of love.  

He once wrote, 

When I came to L’Arche, my whole life was tired.  But God said, ‘I love you.  I want to hold you.’  Finally, God had the chance to really hug me and lay divine hands upon my heart through this community.  

In that community, people didn’t care about his books or credentials.  They loved him simply as Henri.  And in that simplicity, he rediscovered the power of the cross — the foolishness of love that expects nothing and gives everything.    

 

The Missional Call: Bearing Witness to the Crucified Christ   

When Paul says, “We proclaim Christ crucified,” he’s describing the ongoing mission of the Church.  

Our task is not to impress the world with our intelligence or relevance.  Our task is to bear witness — to point to the God who saves through love that suffers and redeems.   

This witness takes many forms:

• • showing compassion where others show contempt or hate   
  • forgiving where others retaliate or seek vengeance   
  • standing with the vulnerable rather than siding with the powerful  
  • offering hope where despair has the last word.   

Each act of cruciform love proclaims the gospel.  To witness to the way of the cross is to live as if resurrection is real — because it is.  

 

Conclusion: Boasting in the Lord   

Paul ends this passage by pointing us back to the source of everything.  The source of your life is in:

Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 1 Corinthians 1:30 (NRSVUE)  

Notice again: He is the source.  
We didn’t engineer our salvation.  We didn’t reason our way to it.  We received it.  (through faith, not by faith ~ Ephesians 2:8)

In Jesus Christ, God himself became our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption.  Everything that matters has already been given.  

The cross is not a temporary strategy; it’s the eternal character of God revealed.   

And so, Paul ends with this benediction of humility and joy:

“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  

 

The Invitation    

The gospel is not another trend that will fade when the next one comes along.  It’s the enduring reality of a God who became human, entered our suffering, bore our shame, and turned it into glory.  

The way of the cross will never be fashionable.  It will always look like foolishness to the world.  But to those who have seen its power, it is the wisdom of God.    

So, the invitation today is simple:   

Come and see.  
Come and see the power of love that looks like weakness.  
Come and see the wisdom of God that confounds the proud.  
Come and see the crucified Christ —  
the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world,  
the Son who reveals the Father’s heart,  
the Spirit who makes all things new.  

This is the way of the cross —  

the way of life,  

the way of peace,  

the way of the triune God who has chosen to save the world through love.  

May Jesus’ Church point to the way of the cross.  Amen.    

CLOSING SONG    

 

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Small Group Discussion Questions