1 Corinthians 1

Paul has a way with a sneer. Nineteen times in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul mentions wisdom, and each time we hear a growing sneer in his voice, until he nominates Christ as the wisdom of God. The word "wisdom" is distasteful to him because it is wooing the Corinthians to pursue a dead wisdom when they might turn to a wisdom he calls the "source of life"--and come alive.  

When Paul writes that Christ is the wisdom of God, he's tapping into an ancient way of speaking about God. He's drilling down into proverbs, where wisdom plays the part of the creative spirit of God. Wisdom is begotten of God, the firstborn of all creation, the very spirit alive in Creation, a feminine expression of God. This isn't just some hocus pocus stuff from the Old Testament, either. The New Testament writers are so influenced by this thinking that they pay homage to Lady Wisdom everywhere.

"You're a preacher, I can tell," the woman said to me. "But not yet."

"You're a preacher, I can tell," the woman said to me. "But not yet."

Patience is not one of my virtues, as those closest to me know. I want answers now, clarity now, unresolved issues settled now, anxiety lifted now.

Patience is not one of my virtues, as those closest to me know. I want answers now, clarity now, unresolved issues settled now, anxiety lifted now.

Bring it on, commerce.

Bring it on, commerce.

To the Ephesians and Philippians, to the Galatians and anyone who would listen, Paul’s message was the same.

Light is light. And only light can bring our fragmented darkness into proper perspective and allow us to see things whole.

The preacher must remind those who feel worthless already that Isaiah is not trying to make them feel worse.

Gothic cathedral. A gay couple approaches holding hands. “Step aside, please,” say the muscle-bound guards. They speak similar words to an African-American girl, a Hispanic man, a young man in a wheelchair. Then, just as we realize that the two large men are “church bouncers,” the scene fades to black and the tag line reads: “Jesus didn’t turn people away. Neither do we.”

In the United States, it is rare to hear someone define herself as belonging to someone else. Here, we belong to ourselves.

When two or more are gathered, factions lurk.