Date: September 3, 2023 

Scripture: Romans 12:9-21

Sermon Title: “Fools for Christ”

Preacher: Rev. Dr. Bob Jon

You can also listen on Podcast from iTunes and Spotify. Search for “Podcasting from Rev. Bob Jon.”

Dirk Willems was a Dutch in the 16^th century. As an Anabaptist, he was rebaptized as a young man and even baptizing other adults in his home led to his condemnation by the Roman Catholic Church and arrest in 1569. It was a cold winter. Willems escaped the prison using a rope made out of knotted rags. He climbed out of the prison and landed on the frozen moat, water surrounding the castle. Willems was able to traverse the thin ice because he had lost so much weight as a prisoner. The guard noticed his escape and chased after him on the ice but he fell through the ice and screamed for help. What do you think Willems did? Continuing with his escapes? No, Willems turned around to save the guard who then captured him, leading to his martyrdom. 

In our society, many people want to be smart, successful, famous, and powerful. If you are a student, wouldn’t you want to be famous for being good-looking, funny and witty, charismatic in your leadership, being praised for your academic success, and competing in a sport, at a varsity level? If you have started as an employee, wouldn’t you want to be recognized for your hard work and wisdom, and later promoted as a manager with a bigger salary and bigger responsibilities? I don’t know about you, but it is often the case with pastors. Wouldn’t any pastor with a good education and excellent leadership desire to take a bigger church, or ambitious to be a district superintendent or bishop? 

In a world where people want to be recognized, appreciated, and praised for being smart, rich, and influential, who would want to be known as a “dumb”, “idiot,” or “fool?” And there is a group of people who are called just those: Christians who take their cross and follow Christ. It may not be all Christians. But if we are Christians who take our cross, the cross of sacrifice and humiliation, and follow the way of Christ, even if it means our own loss and demise, we deserve to be known as “fools” in the eyes of many in the world. However, God not only blesses people who may sound like fools, but also proclaims the healing, restoration, and transformation through such people. 

In his sermon on Mount, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” It is a common sense. Even when our children go to school, they come and tell us which friends they like and which friends are mean to them. One day, Joshua came to me and said, “Daddy, I like my friend Robbie, but I don’t like Isaac. I want to beat him up, but he is much bigger than me. What should I do?” Now I think, I should have told him, “Oh, Joshua. You should try to be his friend. What don’t you find something you can play together?” Instead, I told him, “Yes, Joshua. If you can eat the vegetables on your plate, you will be bigger than him.” I am a terrible father.

But isn’t that what many people or even nations do? We often quickly jump into identifying who is a neighbor and who is a stranger, who is an ally, and who is an enemy? We want to reward those who are good to us or support our agendas but are ready to go to war with those who are mean to us, or potentially pose a threat to us. If someone gossips about you behind your back, what would you do? If someone humiliates you, belittling you, how would you react to him or her? Wouldn’t it be natural for us to revenge, claiming eye for eye and teeth for teeth? Wouldn’t we want to repay evil with evil because that is fair and square? After all, that is how our judicial system operates, being called retributive justice. 

And yet, Jesus says, “But I say to you; Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? If you welcome only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:46-48). When Paul was writing his letter, he was addressing the hatred, tension, and disagreement between Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome. So, he repeats the teaching of Jesus, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them water; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” 

There is a story about the first missionaries who went to Alberta, Canada. They tried to teach the Bible and convert the indigenous people but were met with opposition from a young chief named Maskepetoon. Eventually, he responded to the gospel and decided to be a Christian. Not long after, however, a member of the Blackfoot tribe came and killed his father. The young chief rode into the village where the murderer lived and demanded the people to bring him to him. Maskepetoon, the young chief, confronted the murderer and said, “You have killed my father, so now you must be my father. You shall ride my best horse and wear my best clothes.” And this man said, “My son, now you have killed me.”

It may sound foolish to forgive someone who harmed and even killed his own family. But this young chief destroyed his enemy not with a weapon, not by retaliation, but by placing burning coals on his head with forgiveness, grace, and embracing. To other people, such an act might seem like weak, an act of a coward. But that is what exactly Jesus does on the cross. Looking at the crowd that was mocking him, spitting on him, he looked to heaven and said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” And this is the way of Christ, as shown on the cross. We are called to be fools for Christ by overcoming evil with good, not with evil. This is why Paul says, “the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” 

I have been in the full-time ministry for now 13 years. As I shared with you a few times before, the early years of my ministry were not all exciting and wonderful. I was in conflict with a group of people. Honestly, I do not even know how I got through the time. It was a time full of gossips, anger, and frustration. And I was not willing to back down either. I thought that I was doing the right thing for God by constantly arguing with others, correcting them, and using my theological education. But there was a woman who reminded me of Paul’s words. “If your enemy is hungry and thirsty, feed them and give them something to drink so that you place a burning coal in their heads. She would often come to me and say, “You know, I disagree with you on many accounts. But I still love you. And I made you some soup.” 

This spring, I connected with her after almost 10 years. I drove up to have breakfast with her. She is now 91 years old. Holding her hand, sitting next to her, I gave thanks to God for her care and love, especially when I was going through such a tough time in my life. Despite our differences, she made sure that I did not feel alone. That I mattered to her. She placed a burning coal on my head. At the end of the day, we may still disagree. But does Jesus call us to follow him because we are of one mind, one thought, one agenda? And in our divided world today, severely bruised, traumatized, quick to anger and hatred, in our broken world where even Christians call themselves their enemies depending on their theological propensity, Paul tells us, “Let love be genuine. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” 

Foolish? Yes, indeed, the way of Christ, the way of the cross, sounds foolish to us and even to the world. But that is how God redeemed the world by the death of God’s Son, Christ, on the cross. And that is still how God saves our world today, not by the power of weapons, anger, hatred, lies, or privilege, but by the power of love, love that gives oneself for the sake of others. And the question for us is, “Are we willing to be foolish for Christ?”