My mouth curved into a smile as I cracked this week's readings. The new testament reading comes from 1 Corinthians:
"For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God's weakness is stronger than human strength."
My mind is taken back 20 years when I was trying to find the verse that comes later in the book...
"We are fools for Christ"
My brothers and their friends had formed an off-beat theatre troupe that did quasi-improv comical interpretations of bible stories -- think veggie tales meets mystery science theater 3000 and you'd be close. They were silly. They had fun. They were light to the world.
I was inspired as I watched them practice, build props, make their own t-shirts. It was striking to see a large group of teenage boys so focused.
Initially, the church didn't quite know what to think of them. But slowly, they were invited to perform during church and then at special performances and then they traveled to local churches to perform.
Today, I as I reflect on those fool's for Christ and today's reading -- I am struck that yes, God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. Performances were initially a way to overcome the boringness of church. But more deeply, it was an invitation to more deeply encounter the scripture that laid a foundation of their faith. All of those boys grew up to take active leadership roles in the church. One became a pastor. All of them carry the experience as foundational.
I think about my Facebook feed and the ongoing debate about guns and school violence. Maybe there is space to learn from God's foolishness...
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