OXYMORONS

Devotional for Sunday August 13, 2011

An oxymoron is when two seemingly opposite words are put together as a phrase, such as "deafening silence".  Even the word "oxymoron" itself is an oxymoron, being from Greek meaning "sharp dull".  Some are just sarcastic, such as "cafeteria food" for those who dislike cafeteria food.  Or politically satirical such as "military intelligence".  How many can you think of?   Here are some other examples: jumbo shrimp, responsible government, new antiques, wide Narrows, awfully good, pretty ugly, found missing, seriously funny, definite maybe, and same difference.

There are even some things in the Bible that seem to be oxymorons.  In one set of passages we read about living stones:

 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 

 I Peter 2:4-5 NIV

Living means having life, breathing, growing, not dead, capable of reproducing another life.  Stone means a solid mineral material, a firm hard mass, which is normally thought of as non-living.  But in this passage, speaking of God, living means he has life, in human form among us, tangible, personal, compassionate, a real presence, able to give life, and stone refers to a firm foundation on which to build the church body of all believers, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.  He is our rock and our salvation.  

Another oxymoronic passage in the Bible is about our foolish God:

 

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God...  

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, 

God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: 

a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 

but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks,

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. 

I Corinthians 1:18, 21-25 NIV

God is certainly not foolish, but he may seem to be a fool to those considered "wise" by earthly standards.  It may seem foolish to them that a god would let himself die in order to give others new life, but we Christians know how profoundly merciful that action is and that he rose again and lives forever.

Let's not be oxymorons ourselves in life - universalist Christians, wandering followers, or lost faithful.  As Christians let us boldly proclaim Christ as the one and only Savior of all, be shining examples in our actions, and be faithful until the very end!

written by Jan A.,

faithful Christian follower