April 27, 2014
We had a specific topic for this morning’s Coffee and Conversation. The foolishness of God as described in scripture, 1st Corinthians 1.18-31. Actually, this is what can be perceived as the foolishness of God through human eyes. Sure, God’s love doesn’t make sense; God’s grace isn’t logical; and God’s plan for restoring relationship through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is ludicrous. Those perceptions come, however, from the ways we often view God from our human eyes, with our human brains, and through our human perspective. What we call God’s “foolishness” is actually wiser than the deepest wisdom of humans. Because it’s all about unconditional love and a deep desire for relationship - God’s desire for relationship with us. Wrapping our minds around that can be tough. And even tougher to accept or live out in response.
Case in point. We flew across the country tonight. It was a bumpy flight, to say the least (the storms in the Midwest were challenging for the pilot to maneuver around), and a family of four near us was restless. I should say the young children, probably ages two and four, were restless - fussy, noisy, crying and chattering loudly. I’ll admit, it was annoying at times, but I can’t imagine how hard it would be to fly with little ones.
Anyway, as we tried to be tolerant, it was more than annoying to hear the passenger one row over complain about the children to the flight attendant. Then, when that didn’t get any results, he proceeded to complain to the parents, in a very disrespectful way. I was appalled. Where was an attempt at relationship? Where was an attempt at tolerance? Where was an attempt at empathy? In short, where was the love of Christ? Absent!
God can be tough to understand, I know, but God’s not foolish. God is amazing! And Christ’s love, Christ’s grace, is available for us, and new, every single day, for us to live out in response.
Blessings.
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