Let the Holy Spirit Do the Convincing
February 28, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
”Brothers and sisters: Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
Quick question: do you remember where Paul was immediately before he went to Corinth?
St. Paul was, to put it mildly, brilliant. Few people have impacted human history as profoundly as Paul. As N.T. Wright puts it, “Consider the remarkable facts. Paul’s letters, in a standard modern translation, occupy fewer than eighty pages. Even taken as a whole, they are shorter than almost any single one of Plato’s dialogues or Aristotle’s treatises. It is a safe bet to say that these letters, page for page, have generated more comment, more sermons and seminars, more monographs and dissertations than any other writings from the ancient world.”
This brilliant, educated, extraordinary man who impacted human history like few others was in Athens before he went to Corinth. Athens! The place where great men gathered, debated, philosophized, argued and more. Paul had to have been in his glory! During his visit, the Apostle found himself in a debate with various Athenian leaders. They wanted to know what he was going on about and so he told them. Here was a chance to show his stuff, so to speak. An opportunity to put his erudition on display, to let his oratory skills shine forth! The “unknown god,” to whom the Athenians had erected an altar, Paul was there to make known. The God “in whom we live and move and have our being” is not far from us, Paul told them (Acts 17:28). In fact, He is so near to us that He has walked among us. Paul proceeded to tell them that God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). It was, so he hoped, a brilliant speech, wise words that would win the minds and hearts of those listening.
It failed miserably.
A man risen from the dead? Uh…no. Some of his listeners began to mock him. Most simply walked away. “Maybe another time,” they said. The crowd dissipated, and those who believed in what Paul said – brilliant, dynamic, educated Paul – were so few that Luke named them (Cf. Acts 17:34).
“After this,” Acts records, “Paul left Athens and went to Corinth” (Acts 17:31).
Once in Corinth, at least the way I read it, Paul makes a change in strategy, or better, reverts back to his original strategy. Perhaps in Athens he had been tempted in his vanity and ego to show the Athenians that his intellect too was a force with which to be reckoned. No longer. Not that Paul stopped using the natural and supernatural gifts God had given him, not at all. Rather, “after this,” that is, after the experience in Athens, Paul decided he would preach one thing and one thing only: Jesus and Him crucified. No matter how foolish it might sound to the world.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, looking back to that time in Athens, Paul reminded them, “When I came to you, brothers, [I] did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:1-5).
For almost 30 years now, this passage and that scene in Athens, has been at the forefront of my mind as I preach and teach. Yes, we should know our stuff and use the skills God gave us. Yes, we should and must do all we can to speak intelligibly and reasonably to others about the Lord. But at the end of the day, let us preach Christ and Him crucified in power, trusting that the Holy Spirit is the only One who opens hearts and minds, even if we are weak and foolish in the eyes of the world around us.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
February 2024
For God’s protection upon Fr. John, our team and our families.
For the ordained and lay leaders who will be joining us for a Leadership Immersive on our campus.
For missions in Indiana and Florida State University.
For all those running The Rescue Project in parishes and homes across the world.
For the grace to be attentive to the Holy Spirit.