A Psalm for the Journey
November 07, 2024
I am writing this blog entry on April 1, 2024. Not only is this the day after our great Easter celebration, but it is also known around the world as “April Fools’ Day,” a day of mischievous jokes, pranks, and hoaxes to make someone “play the fool.” Various tales and legends seek to explain the origins of April Fools’ Day, but no one seems to know exactly how it got started.
If we’re honest, we don’t like to be the fool. Fools are either laughably or tragically ridiculous. For example, we laugh at the fools in comedies. However, our hearts break for the one who has been made the fool in tragedies. And, if we are being truthful, at some point or another in life, we’ve been played as a fool. We’ve fallen victim to some act of deception or scheme by another. Let’s face it: no one wants to be fooled or to be a fool. We want to be wise. Afterall, Jesus told his disciples to be “as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16).
However, being wise in the eyes of God does not mean you will be considered wise in eyes of the world. Paul makes this clear in his writing to the followers of Jesus at the church in Corinth:
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. … 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. … when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 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. (1 Cor. 1:18, 21, 23-25, NLT)
Okay, you’re reading this and saying to yourself, “I’m not a preacher.” And yet, our lives are always giving witness to someone or something. Our lives are always proclaiming a story about what we believe. Therefore, our lives preach. What our lives proclaim will either be wise or foolish in the eyes of the world, and the dividing line is the cross of Jesus Christ. According to the wisdom of this age, the cross will be seen as foolish. Those who embrace the foolishness of the cross, will be considered weak, foolish, and offensive.
I think the reason the Apostle Paul knew so well about the cross being perceived as foolish is because he once considered it foolish himself. After all, there was once a time in his life when his energy was bent on destroying those who embraced the foolishness of the cross. But when the crucified and risen Lord met Paul on the road to Damascus, it was the dividing line of his life. Everything he knew before, all his accomplishments and accolades, he compared to sewer stuff (see Phil. 3:8). He reevaluated everything in light of the cross of the crucified and resurrected Savior. He became an “everyday fool” for Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to be everyday fools for Jesus because in doing so, you are living into the wisdom of God.
We, too, are called to be “everyday fools” for Jesus trusting that God’s wisdom is wiser than human plans and stronger than the greatest of human strength. This is foolishness that leads to life. This is not a foolishness to be ashamed of. This is a foolishness we should embrace!
