Fools for Christ the Strength of Our Heart – Growing in Grace and Knowledge
Apparently the origin of April Fools’ Day goes back to France during the 1500s, and is at least tangentially related to the failure of the Reformation to take hold there. One of the many decisions that came from The Council of Trent (the Catholic response to the Lutheran Reformation), was shifting from the Julian calendar which celebrated the new year in the spring, to the Gregorian calendar which would celebrate it at the beginning of January. Some people were unaware of the shift, and continued to celebrate in April. They were known as “April fools.”
Obviously not being in the know in this case led to disunity.
One of the legacies of Lutheranism in the Reformation which I value is our Biblical scholarship. The priority of the Bible as the sole authority in the Church was a significant battleground for Luther in the Reformation.
In our world today, people often look to that exclusive priority and focus for authority in our life as “foolish.” This often puts Christians at odds with the world, and leads to division within the Church, as various portions of the visible Church have divergent views about the authority of Scripture. We also discover that within individual congregations there can be divergent views based upon both scriptural understanding, and faith in Scripture versus the influence of the atmosphere of our culture upon individual saints, and various congregations in different communities.
As we look at the approximate 3-year catechetical journey of the 12 disciples following Jesus, we see a microcosm of this. Jesus of course knows more than the disciples, so they are growing in their knowledge as they listen to His wisdom and knowledge day by day, watch His behaviors, see His attitude and demeanor, His patience. As we know not all the disciples learned at the same pace, and some like Judas, even “unlearned” the powerful lessons of Christ.
While in Greece St. Paul – himself a Pharisee who valued wisdom and learning – found he was often at odds with Greek emphasis on philosophy, and knowledge. For both Jews and Greeks Christ was a philosophical and spiritual “stumbling block.” So inspired by the Spirit Paul wrote this: “… but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Gentiles foolishness…” (I Corinthians 1:23)
Jesus is indeed a philosophical and spiritual stumbling block. The cross goes against what people would assume would be “right.” (Proverbs 14:12) Innocent people should not have to die for guilty. Jesus as the Jewish “Christ” was not the King/Prophet/Priest they were expecting. Proper kings do not wear crowns of thorns. Prophets shouldn’t oppose schooled religious leaders (although if they read their Old Testament they would know this was common practice). And priests, offer up sacrifices of animals, not themselves! Of course Christ is the “Wisdom of God.” (I Corinthians 1:24)
Even after the resurrection, and the day of Pentecost, the church still had some growing to do. And the tarnished apostle St. Peter, would first grow in his understanding of grace (Acts 10), and then he would have to share that understanding at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15). The very last words that we have from the pen of St. Peter are found at the end of his second epistle: “… but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” (II Peter 3:18) Often knowledge brings strength and unity.
Prayer: Lord strengthen our heart and faith by knowledge, and the willingness to trust You, more than what the world calls “knowledge.”
