Holy Foolishness of a Loving God

Throughout the history of the church, there have been Holy people who poked fun at Christians who were feeling a little too self-righteous. Their stories, still revered in the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, sound absurd, but there is a deeper spiritual point to their foolishness.

Take for example Simeon of Silos who retreated to the Syrian Desert in the 6^th century to devote his life to prayer. A few decades later, Simeon returned to town a changed man. Simeon would throw nuts at the priests during the worship service and publicly ate sausage on Good Friday, which is not only a fast day, but at that time no one ate meat during the season of Lent. Simeon’s behavior was anything but saintly. Yet, there was another side to Simeon. The seemingly nutty monk also helped people in the town, though never when someone else might notice. Simeon’s saintly deeds were done in secret. And no one could dispute that Simeon was a very Holy person, even the priests he pelted with nuts on Sunday. Simeon just poked fun at every attempt people made to feel holier than thou.

Simeon is not alone in Christian history. There was the great Holy Fool of Russia, Basil the Blessed, a man so revered that the Cathedral in Moscow was named in his honor. Basil walked through Moscow wearing nothing more than a long beard. Basil threw rocks at wealthy people’s houses and stole from dishonest traders in Red Square.

Few, if any, doubted Basil’s holiness. Czar Ivan the Terrible feared no man but Basil. Basil was also given to eating meat on Good Friday. Once he went to Ivan and forced the Czar to eat raw meat during the fast saying, “Why abstain from eating meat when you murder men?” Countless Russians died for much less, but Ivan was afraid to let any harm come to the saintly Basil.

Simeon and Basil are examples of what the Russian Orthodox call yurodivi, meaning Holy Fools. George Fedotov, a scholar of Russian spirituality, explains that for persons who have achieved a high degree of holiness, they do not want people to praise them for their holiness, so that play the fool to remain humble.

The Apostle Paul knew something of holy foolishness too. He wrote to the Christians in Corinth, Greece, “God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).

Holy Fools perform an important function in reminding us that when we start to feel the most worthy of God’s love that we are getting further from God’s presence. When we boast of our saintliness, we are the least worthy of God’s love and favor.

Paul points out that the Holy Fools are on to something when they remind us that we are not as wise as we think. For when we have got everything figured out, we aren’t being wise, just wise in our own eyes. When you think you are so holy that God must be in heaven giving thanks to himself for creating you, you are not righteous. You are just being self-righteous and holy fools were always ready to poke fun at any who thought themselves deserving of God’s love.

The Holy Fools also remind us that taken at face value, Christianity sounds like a foolish proposition. To the first century Jews, the idea that the Messiah would die was beyond folly. Any teaching with a crucified Lord at its center was bound to be a stumbling block to the Jews.

Romans already claimed that God could live among us as a man. Yet, while a king as God might be possible, a crucified God was foolishness to Roman thinking.

Paul wrote, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” The message of the cross is that God chose goodness, love, and powerlessness to break the hold that evil, hate, and worldly power had over humanity.

Paul went on to write “to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Notice Paul did not contrast the foolishness of the cross to the perishing, with the wisdom of the cross to those being saved. The cross remains foolish by any worldly standard. For those being saved, however, the cross is power. The Greek word Paul uses is dynamis, from which we get our word dynamite. If you don’t get it, proclaiming Christ crucified is foolish, but to open your heart to the suffering Son of God is to tap into dynamite.

Through loving us so much that he was willing to be powerless in the face of hatred and blind rage Jesus showed the real power of God. The cross shows that God is open to being broken for us. The cross is real hope for the times when the world’s wisdom just can’t answer the really tough questions of life.

The cross of Christ still sounds like foolishness. But the answer doesn’t come in avoiding the cross, or taming the cross. Instead let go of being wise. Let go of being self-righteous. In you mind’s eye, take the foolish step of sitting at the foot of the cross and imagine a universe created by a creator who values love more than power. Open your heart to the crucified one who wants to heal you and make you whole. No fooling.

            (The Rev. Frank Logue is pastor of King of Peace Episcopal Church in Kingsland.) 

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