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Foolishness

In the Antigone, a play by Sophocles, contempt of death enables a weak maiden to conquer a powerful ruler, who, proud of his wisdom, ventures in his unbounded insolence to pit his royal word against divine law and human sentiment, and learns all too late, by the destruction of his house, that Fate in due course brings fit punishment on outrage. There is part of the play when Antigone ,the title character says, “Leave me my foolish plan; I am not afraid of the consequences. If it brings death, it will not be the worst of deaths- death without honor.” [1] Seems like Antigone’s foolish plans were truly not that foolish after all. In Margaret Wheatley’s book Turning to One Another there are two sentences that jump off the paper. The first one is: “Determination, courage, genius and foolishness all appear simultaneously when we care deeply about something.” Isn’t “foolishness” the oddest word in that sentence? When we care deeply shouldn’t we be MORE serious than usual? Doesn’t our seriousness signal to everyone that we actually DO care? What’s that “foolishness” doing in there?



 It’s foolish to believe, but it nurtures my hope.



 By the time I get to the end of the paragraph I remember why foolishness is in there. Wheatley quotes Bernice Johnson Reagon recalling the things that got her friends killed during the civil rights movement, “Now I sit back and look at some of the things we did, and I say, ‘What in the world came over us?’ But death had nothing to do with it…” And when I read the final sentence of the quote it still gets me every time: “When you know what you’re supposed to be doing, it’s somebody else’s job to kill you.”



It’s foolish to believe, but it sustains my discipleship.



It’s crazy to give up control, but it’s the only thing that will make room for God in our lives. The real foolishness is to seek our own security – whether it be short-term or long-term – believing that we can pull that off without God. Just read the book of Obadiah. His message in our times would be something like . . . you think that your 401K offers security, you think that with more missiles/tanks/guns/walls/fences/laws/police you will be more secure . . . there is no real security. The only real security is found in God.



It’s foolish to believe, but it saves me.



“The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) I can’t help but think that half the reason why we NEED to show up on Sunday is to look around the room and think – I am not crazy. The mission of reconciling the world back to God through Christ is crazy. It simply does not make sense. But we Christians are not a pragmatic people who look for more effective ways to live. For two millennia it has been the same thing: the gospel remains Jesus Christ crucified, resurrected, and coming again. Following Jesus, according to Hauerwas, should "scare us". It is the most demanding call one could ever heed: after all, the one we follow was killed for his mission!
What do you think?



SCRIPTURE: I Corinthians 1:18-25 (NRSV)



18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

[1] The Drama: Its History, Literature and Influence on Civilization, vol. 1. ed. Alfred Bates. London: Historical Publishing Company, 1906. pp. 112-123.

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