Sermon Notes for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

The Day God Died: Paul's Theology of the Cross
1 Corinthians 2:1-10
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 6, 2011


Epiphany is all about seeing the reality of Jesus, of having our blind eyes
healed and opened to his majesty. Yet I wonder if we might yet be as ignorant of
his identity as the rulers of the age who condemned and crucified him. I wonder
if we might be just like the Corinthians. Do we recognize him? Do we seek to say
of him something other than who he is, curtailing the scandal and folly of his
saving person and work? Paul's very approach to his work revealed his commitment
to the authentic message - 'we preach Christ and him crucified', he wrote. But
who is Christ and why must his crucifixion be our message to all, while
remaining the central message continually set before us, and the chief
characteristic of our testimony? 'Eye has not seen nor ear heard', Paul writes,
but the Spirit comes to make known the revelation which was hidden for so long.
Has he done this for you?

I. Who Christ Is - 1 Corinthians 2:8
A. The Mystery of the Person: Incarnation
- Fully God and Fully Man, United in a Single Person, God the Son
- Behold the Lamb: Wounds still visible above; from Jordan's Banks to Heaven's
Courts.
B. The Mystery of the Crucifixion: Atonement
1. Propitiation - the 'blood of God';
- The sacrifice God commands is the sacrifice God will provide: Abraham to Isaac
2. Reconciliation
- The gift offered will establish peace and bring us face to face: Jacob and
Esau
3. Rescue - like us, he aids us in our temptations
- Hebrews 2 and 4

II. What He Makes of Us - 1 Corinthians 2:1-7; Matthew 5:13ff
A. The Strange Wisdom of Weakness
1. The 'weak' Pastor
2. The 'weaker' brother
3. The 'weak' church
- the servant of all, tender and approachable
- is this our identity?

B. The Strange Message of the Cross
1. Rescue
2. Redemption
3. Reconciliation

We are people of the Cross. This is must be our message in word and deed. To the
degree that we seek to be revealed as strong, to advertise ourselves as the
answer, or point to a God other than the God revealed in Jesus Christ and his
Cross, we deny the Savior who bought us with his blood and rob ourselves of the
true power of the Holy Spirit. We do not simply begin life at the Cross; we live
continually from the cross and proclaim faithfully the Crucified One, dying in
weakness, raised in power, ever living to intercede.