Text: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Date: January 29, 2023
Event: The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (EHV)
For example, consider your call, brothers. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view, not many were powerful, and not many were born with high status. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are strong, 28and God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to do away with the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before God. 30But because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom from God, namely, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31God did this so that, just as it is written, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Who Were You? Who Are You?
How are your Christmas presents working out? Did you get anything that was a huge disappointment? I hope not, but maybe there was something that you were looking forward to that just didn’t live up to the hype or the expectations you had for it.
Was there something that you received that surprised you by how useful it was? Maybe it seemed like nothing but once you put into use it was something you’ve found yourself using daily. Maybe it was something you didn’t even know existed until someone got it for you and now it feels almost indispensable.
Those are the good surprises. The movie you go to on a whim that ends up being a favorite, the meal you mistakenly order at the restaurant that is not at all what you were planning when it arrives—but it is also so delicious.
In our Second Reading for this morning, Paul wants us to have a bit of a epiphany and surprise at the state of our lives. Who were we naturally? Who are we now that God has done his work for us? How should we consider ourselves? A huge disappointment or surprisingly useful?
Paul’s first letter to the Christians living in the city of Corinth is not an overly positive letter. This congregation had a lot of problems. There were stark divisions in the congregation. Those divisions sometimes went along lines of which apostle or Christian teacher they valued more highly than the others, or it followed socio-economic divisions so that the rich just hung around with the rich and the poor were left by themselves. The Lord’s Supper was a particularly egregious problem, as some people were consuming so much that they got drunk while others were given nothing at all.
As Paul addresses these issues in this first letter, he wants them to consider their standing with God. Is there any reason for them to be holding anything over anyone else? Do they really have reason to boast in themselves or think very highly of their thoughts and opinions, or should they be more “down to earth” in their thinking?
Paul starts this probing at the beginning of our reading: Consider your call, brothers. Not many of you were wise from a human point of view, not many were powerful, and not many were born with high status. But God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are strong, and God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to do away with the things that are, so that no one may boast before God. What is Paul’s point? Who were you, Corinthians, before God called you to faith? Not much. No one would have expected anything from you. You were not the smartest people on earth. Few had power or nobility in their blood. But in calling them to faith, Paul says God used weak and lowly things to confront the world’s idea of strong and boastful.
And this is not just commentary on the Corinthians’ social standing prior to being called to faith. Paul is speaking about these things from God’s point of view. Was there anything in the Corinthians that attracted God to them? Was there anything in them that would have led him to say, “Oh, I simply MUST have them as part of my church!” No! Their calling to faith was God’s doing and their status with God was entirely produced by God.
We can think through the same line of thought. Was there anything special in us before God called us to be Christians, before he brought us to faith? Was there anything in you or me that would have led God to say, “Wow, now that is a special person! I need her!” Or “I need him!” No! In fact, quite the opposite.
We were like the Christmas present for which there were grand expectations and then it failed to meet any of those expectations. We were created to have perfect harmony with our God and yet we abandoned that and sought our own way. From Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden to our sins committed this morning, our whole natural history has been fighting against God and against his will.
So is there anything of value in you by nature? No. Is there anything that God would find appealing in you on your own? No. But this is message of the gospel: despite being at war with God, he still loved us. His grace means that he loved us even though we didn’t deserve it. Jesus is the epitome of the weak overcoming the strong. How strong sin and death looked on Good Friday! How weak Jesus looked nailed to a cross! Yet, by faith, you can see what was actually happening there. The weak was defeating the strong. And if there’s any doubt that that’s what was happening, three days later Jesus’ empty tomb removes that doubt.
Jesus came and sacrificed himself for us, not because we were so lovable, but because he loved us in spite of ourselves. Jesus’ life and death for us purges everything awful about us and makes us into the perfect people that he expected us to be. We don’t boast before God, but Paul tells us that because of God’s work for us you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom from God, namely, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Because of what the world would call foolishness and weakness, we have righteousness, a right relationship with God; we have been redeemed, bought back from sin and death so that we belong to God once again; we have been sanctified, set apart as holy, special, and precious to our God. All of this comes not from ourselves, but from him who loved us. Paul stresses: God did this so that, just as it is written, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
And while that’s a real hit to our self-esteem, God is making the point that self-esteem isn’t what should be of prime importance for us—our esteem found in Christ is what matters. Our weakness magnifies God’s strength. I’m truly strong when I recognize my own weaknesses, because I’m left with nothing else in that moment other than being able to depend on God. And if my hope and dependance are completely and only on God for peace now and eternal life to come, then I’m truly resting in the most powerful possible place.
But that is not the way that the world often looks at this. With faith in Jesus does not come worldly-impressive changes. While we are the people God expects because of Jesus, we are not necessarily people that the world thinks are impressive. As Christians, we are not likely to be able to navigate this sin-corrupted world and have a lot of people think that we are so amazing and wonderful. In fact, the world will find Christians annoying and repulsive because that’s what they think about our Savior and his mission to save them.
That’s why Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in our Gospel sounded so backwards. Praising the gentle, the poor, the hungry, and the insulted? How does that make any sense? And how does it make sense that we would suffer degradation in this life if God has loved us so completely?
God’s love may not provide worldly-impressive power or status, but there’s a reason for that. God wants us always focused on what is ahead. He wants us remembering that there is something better and far more complete waiting for us on the other side of eternity. If this life were perfect, without any hardship or challenge, we may be deluded into thinking that this life is the be-all, end-all of existence, rather than straining and longing for the perfect, eternal life that is to come, that life which Jesus won for us by his blood.
Becoming a Christian probably didn’t bring with it amazing earthly wealth, or standing and respect among your peers. In fact, there’s a chance that it has meant just the opposite for you. But that keeps us ever focused on the true prize God has prepared: not peace and comfort here in this world of sin and decay but eternal peace and comfort in the life to come, where there will be no sin or sorrow or sickness. The weakness of this life leads us to be every looking forward to the strength of the life to come.
Who were you? A sinner who set themselves at war with God. Who are you? A dearly loved child of God who has been forgiven of every sin and assured of eternal life for the sake of Jesus. None of us are better or worse than anyone else. We were all equally condemned by our sin and equally forgiven by Jesus. When it doesn’t feel like that truth is having an impact, remember that when you are weak here and depending on God’s strength, then you are truly strong. “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” Amen.
