The Foolishness of God

I’ve been reflecting recently on the foolishness of God.  I know.  I’m treading on thin ice. So far I haven’t fallen through and succumbed to hypothermia – but I know I’m at risk.  It goes something like this.

Before the dawn of time, with no need for anyone or anything, you created a vast and beautiful cosmos; a universe filled with life; living beings both angelic and human.  Was it not foolishness to begin a creation that could add nothing to your perfect happiness?  Men and women with the free will to choose for you or against you?  God, what foolishness to make yourself vulnerable to the puniest of mere creatures!

Surely you were not surprised when the very first order of creatures rose up in rebellion to challenge your authority.  And having been defeated by Michael’s angelic hosts, they were relegated to launch their reign of evil upon the inhabitants of earth.  Lord, was it not foolishness to put your beloved human family in harm’s way?  Could you not have banished these devils to a remote galaxy to suffer the punishment for their dark crimes light years away?

Since you did not, their rebellious leader targeted the very first parents of humankind.   Piquing their interest in a power that would rival your own, they disobeyed your command, and were expelled from a life of perfect harmony with their creator.  But was it not incredible foolishness to promise a plan to save them from their own folly?  To set into motion a rescue operation that would not only restore them and their descendants to their former place in paradise, but exceed their former glory?  To be raised above the angels that preceded them?

Rescue 911

And what of this planned rescue?  Can it be called anything but foolishness that you made the first move?  Making a covenant with an aging nomad including a promise of uncountable descendants to a couple well past the age of conceiving a child? 

And this covenant, O Lord.  What kind of foolishness inspires a solemn vow with a nation of people completely incapable of holding up its end of the agreement?  A people that replaced you with a bovine creature of gold; that complained like a spoiled child against your leaders and you at every opportunity between a parted Sea, servings of manna and quail, and a rocky water fountain; that rejected and killed your prophets; that deemed your ten commandments insufficient, adding over 600 laws of their own making.

Did you not feel foolish as a father sending his only son to begin his mission in the belly of a teenage girl?  Or trusting his training and development to a local carpenter of no means?  Or supporting his public ministry with a cadre of uneducated men who collected fish and taxes, and liked to argue about who was the best among them?  Or standing by as a crazed mob demand his condemnation, torture, and execution?

Even more disconcerting is the foolishness of entrusting your son’s legacy to the very same group of followers that had betrayed, denied, and abandoned him at his hour of greatest need.  Was there even a modicum of wisdom in placing your entire rescue operation for the human race in the hands of these losers?

What foolishness was behind breathing your very own Spirit, the very love between you and your son, into that same crowd of failures and expecting them to carry on your mission to the entire world?  Equipped with nothing but their words and their memories?  No firsthand documents from your son to be the authoritative and final word to those who would challenge their testimony? 

Like Father, Like Son

And your son is just like you – in every way!  There are no words to adequately convey the foolishness of his mercy.  An eleventh hour pardon to a criminal on the cross next to him for requesting a place in heaven; an act of faith in his last moments on earth without a word of repentance.  In fact was there even a thought, let alone words of remorse, when he granted instant forgiveness to a woman caught in adultery and a paralytic lowered through a roof by his friends on a stretcher?  And the height of foolishness: not only forgiving his torturers and executioners as he hung helplessly on his cross, but appealing to you as their advocate to consider their ignorance. 

This degree of foolishness, shared by father and son, can only be associated with someone who is madly in love.  The foolishness of a lover that knows no limits; cares nothing about the judgment of others; throws all caution to the wind; goes to any length to pursue the one he loves.

It is like a father shamelessly running out to embrace a wayward son who has squandered his inheritance and throws a party to celebrate his return.  Or like a shepherd who puts his whole flock and livelihood at risk by leaving them in search of one insignificant sheep that has gone missing. 

Foolishness!  Absurdity!  Recklessness!

And yet Paul proclaimed to the Community in Corinth, “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength (1 Cor. 1:25).”

That being true, then give me your foolish love, O Lord – and human wisdom be damned!