Sermon Title: FOOLS FOR CHRIST
Sermon Text: 1 CORINTHIANS 4:10-13 (NIV)
Guest Speaker: PTR TOM TRONO
Sermon Notes:
1 Corinthians 4:10-13 (NIV 1984)
10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
“Francis, everything that you love and desire in the world, it is your duty to despise and hate, if you wish to know my will. And when you have done this, everything that you consider sweet and lovely will become intolerable and bitter, but all that you used to hate will become great sweetness and exceeding joy.”
“a fool for God”
“To identify with Jesus as fools for the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 4:10
10 We are fools for Christ…”
“fools for Christ”
1 Corinthians 3:18-19
Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.
“proper fool”
“fool-bearer”
1 Corinthians 1:18
“the message of the cross was foolishness to those who are perishing.”
“Out of gratitude and love for him, we should desire to be considered fools and glory in wearing his uniform.”
Ignatius of Loyola
3 Reasons Why Fool-Bearing is Important in Following Christ
1. Fool-bearing is important because it is the true way to count the cost of following Jesus.
Matthew 16:24
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
“When Christ calls a man, he invites him to come and die.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Red Martyrdom”
“Green Martyrdom”
“White Martyrdom”
“White Funeral”
“Take up your cross daily and follow me.”
Jesus
2. Fool-bearing is important because it helps us live against the culture of the world.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
“significance”
“acceptance”
1 John 2:15-17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and the things people desire pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
3. Fool-bearing is important because it is Christ’s way of responding to injury.
“love your neighbor”
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Jesus
1 Peter 2:22-23
He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.
“obedience”