The Foolishness of Preaching

Paul writes to the Corinthians these words, ο λογος γαρ ο του σταυρου τοις μεν απολλυμενοις μωρια εστιν τοις δε σωζομενοις ημιν δυναμις θεου εστιν..

In English, For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Preaching is, for those who have not faith, pure folly.  The Greek word is the same from which we get our English word “moron”.  To the faithless, preaching the Cross is “moronic.”  Small wonder, then, that for people without faith sermons and worship and Church all make no sense at all.  Small wonder that, because they lack the faith by which to grasp the spoken truth of God’s word, they treat the sermon with contempt and disdain.  Indeed, oftentimes they behave better at the theater than they do in the Sanctuary.  The things they do, and allow, in Church are things they would never do, or allow, if they went to see a movie.

But to those who have faith, the preaching of the word of God is eminently significant.  Indeed, it is the very power of God displayed for human observation.  When the word of God is rightly received, by faith, it produces a powerful, meaningful response.  For people of faith, the sermon really is the power of God to transform and empower the believer.

There are, then, two sorts of hearers of the word of God.  Those who hear in faith are transformed by their encounter with it.  And those who lack faith have no use for it.  To say it another way.  Those who have no use for the proclamation of God’s word lack faith.  And those who are transformed by it have faith.