1 Corinthians 1:10-25

“Christ, The Power and Wisdom of God”

Sermon by

Mark A. Horne

     Have you ever been reading the Bible and came across something that bothers you? Chloe has been one of those people who have bothered me. I have often wondered what she was doing telling on the Corinthian church. There have been several explanations for this.

     The first believes that Chloe was apart of the Corinthian Church – possibly prominent – and allowed use of her house for the church to meet in at times. She had seen what was happening in the church and didn’t know how to handle the situation. So, she sent some household members to “tell” on the church to Paul. She may have been one of the one’s who said; “I follow Paul.” If this is true, she probably had a reckoning to deal with when the church found out what she did.

     Another explanation places Chloe in the Ephesian church. Some believe that maybe some of her slaves were passing through Corinth and visited the church. When they returned home, they told Paul what was going on.

     F.D.R. Hitchcock has an unusual analysis of Chloe that seems to make the best sense but it doesn’t mean its right. He says Chloe’s name in Greek means “verdant” or “green with vegetation.” Her name could associate her with the cult of Demeter – the Greek god of agriculture. Remember that Corinth was full of all kinds of pagan worship. Because of this, the members from Chloe’s household were not Christians but people from her cult. And they were in Ephesus mocking Paul and what his church was doing. In other words, they were not paying Paul a friendly visit. They were there to put Paul down and make fun of him publicly. Instead of pulling Paul to the side and whispering to him what was happening, they were trying to publicly humiliate him. Probably something like this:

“Paul, I can’t believe you are still preaching Christ. You know your church back in Corinth is falling apart. Some say they are following Apollos who was a wimp. He could not put up with the pressure. Some say they follow Cephas. Some claim they follow you, you of all people. And then some say they follow Christ.”

Whether any of these scenarios are the way it happened, we don’t know. But what is important is that Paul appeals to them that if they are to survive in a very pagan world they need each other. They can’t go on being divided. He appeals to them that in the “name of our Lord Jesus Christ…be perfectly united in mind and thought.” Repeat. What does this mean, especially in light of verse 17 where he says he “did not come to preach with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” We see what human wisdom can do in the previous verse – Paul can’t even remember who he had baptized. Look at the analogy: human wisdom-> divisions, the wisdom of God-> the power of the cross.

The church at Corinth probably was not the way it was because a few people had gone astray. From Paul’s perspective the whole body had been infected. The Corinthian church was not dealing with one kind of sin, but they had many. They were not dealing with light errors; they were dealing with frightful misdeeds. The moral corruption led them to corruption of doctrine - which we will study later. And what does Paul do? Does he listen to his informants and tell proclaims no hope. No. He proclaims them to be the Church of Christ and they must be “perfectly united in mind and thought.” He tells them being “perfectly united” is not quarreling over its ministers. For who are they? What “power” and “wisdom” do they have, other than possibly being at the root of these divisions? What we have to offer “empties the cross of its power.” But what we preach, you and me, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, is that Christ is Redeemer.

Look at verse 18. The message of the cross is foolishness for those who are perishing, but we know it as the “power of God.” How do we know? Is it of us? It can’t be. Paul lays this out very specifically in the rest of our passage this morning. The Kingdom of God is only open to the ones whose mind has been made new by the illumination of the Holy Spirit (2:14). Paul here is condemning any that think it is by their own insight and reason that they are saved. Remember that the Corinthians were not only very pagan, but they were still very Greek in nature too. They loved to go to the Bema, the center of town, and have philosophical discussions and legal trials.

Paul is telling his church, “don’t allow yourselves to fall back into this way of thinking.” Look at where it gets you. It not only makes divisions among you, but its foolishness is not of God and is a sign of those who are perishing. By believing the foolish God’s grace is imparted to us and we are called child.

We have been discussing the Greek way of thinking because of the Corinthian culture. Here Paul addresses the Jewish way of thinking as well. Paul tells them they aren’t excluded from this by any means. I think what Bud has been preaching on, that is the “I am” sayings ties into this very well. The Jews were very pious and were always looking for signs to usher in the Kingdom. Whether they were zealots who by this time because of their political revolts, had gotten Jerusalem destroyed, or the Pharisees who tried to do it by their righteousness: their eyes were always looking for something that showed the Messiah was on his way. Bud has been preaching the “Seven Signs” of John to us. John obviously trying to teach his Jewish brothers that Jesus is the messiah they had been looking so long for.

However, Paul shows us that the signs can not be seen by demand. The signs are freely given. And the sign that is greater than all is not a miracle that strikes Rome down. It is a miracle that strikes death down. It is the power of the cross. The Greeks thought that this was a crazy notion, a man committing suicide to save me. The Jews on the other extreme could not believe God would do it this way. They would not allow themselves to be teachable. And to be teachable is to be called. Are the Jews banished from being called? No, it is extended to “both Jew and Greeks.” God’s mercy has never been intended for one people. That was apart of the Jewish stumbling block. God’s mercy is extended to all people, races, and cultures. And it is by God’s grace that an individual can see that it is God’s “foolishness that has been preached to save” him or her. “Christ is the power and wisdom of God.”

What comfort it is to know that “God’s foolishness is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” Can you see what Paul has done? He has taken the Corinthian church at their lowest level. They believed in people and were divided. They had no hope to survive because they relied on what people thought and puffed themselves up with pride following behind their leader. Paul wants to take them out of that and said this is what “perfect unity” looks like: “Preach Christ crucified.” That knowledge is all there is. Therefore, be united with one another preaching to the world that Christ allowed himself to die, and he rose again to be the Redeemer for his chosen.

From this the Hymn “O for a Thousand Tongues” come to mind (#76).