january 29 2023
2023 Epiphany 4, January 29th
Old Testament: Micah 6:1-8
Psalm: Psalm 15
Epistle: 1st Corinthians 1:18-31
Sermon: Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon Text: 1st Corinthians 1:18-31
Sermon Title: “The Wisdom and Power of God”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“The Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God”. (1st Corinthians 1:18) “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles”. (1st Corinthians 1:23) “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong”. (1st Corinthians 1:27) “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”. (Matthew 5:10-12) These are a few of the key verses for our sermon theme this morning.
In the lectionary of the church (the recommended readings for each service) all but one of the readings each week seem to always go together; a similar topic or theme is fairly easily seen when the biblical texts are studied together. The one exception is that often the Epistle reading seems to be disconnected from the others. If you have noticed, generally, the Epistle readings are just continuous readings through a particular letter from one of the Apostles.
In today’s readings however, the connection between the Epistle and the Gospel are quite strong. Both readings speak of a godly (Christian) wisdom and a way of life; what Paul calls “the Word of the Cross”; (1st Corinthians 1:18) that the world does not (and cannot) understand or accept. So, they call Christians naïve and foolish at best; for confessing and proclaiming Christ crucified; or worse, we are called bigoted, intolerant, and hateful for not affirming what God, in His Word, calls sin. (Just wear the pride shirt and keep your mouth shut, and everything will be fine.) Then there are the false teachers within the church, who by their denial of Christian/Biblical doctrines bring division in the church; as we heard last Sunday.
This “Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. (the means of our salvation) For it is written (by Isaiah the prophet) I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart”. (1st Corinthians 1:18-19) This saying was addressed to the people in Isaiah’s day; The Lord said, “because this people draws near with their mouths and honors Me with their lips, while their heart is far from Me”. (Isaiah 29:13a)
So, the Apostle Paul asked, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world”? (1st Corinthians 1:20) Here Paul rejects both the Jewish scribes and the Greek philosophers of his day and also the so-called wisdom (in reality, arrogance) of our own day; who deny, for example, the basic reality that there are not hundreds of genders, but only male and female, as God created them. “For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach (the Gospel) to save those who believe”. (1st Corinthians 1:21)
Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, and its beginning with “the Beatitudes”, certainly contradict any wisdom of this world. “Jesus opened up His mouth and taught them saying; Blessed are the poor in spirit … blessed are those who mourn … blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness … blessed are the merciful … blessed are the pure in heart … blessed are the peacemakers … blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake … blessed are you, when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account”. (Matthew 5:2-11) There is not one iota, one bit of human wisdom in Jesus’ words here. Nothing Jesus says here is acceptable to the world.
Now, the Beatitudes which Jesus spoke are not giving us something to work and strive for so that we would be “comforted … inherit the earth … be satisfied … receive mercy … see God … be called sons of God … receive the Kingdom of Heaven”. (Matthew 5:4-10) These words of Jesus are also not the “Be Happy Attitudes”; designed to give us self esteem and make us feel good about ourselves, as a famous televangelist once claimed. These Beatitudes seem to the world to be contradictions and lies; but that is not the case; “it is impossible for God to lie”. (Hebrews 6:8) Instead, these Beatitudes speak of the realities of being a Christian in this world. All of these are (also) received from our Lord; good gifts of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.
Worldly wisdom cannot see these things as gifts or blessings from God; “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles; but to those who are called (to faith in Jesus) both Jews and Greeks, Christ (is) the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men”. (1st Corinthians 1:22-25) The very best that human religion, wisdom and philosophy has to offer us, is not even comparable to “the glory of God that is to be revealed to us”. (Romans 8:18b)
Now the Apostle gets a bit personal. He says to the Corinthians and to us, “Consider your calling … not many of you were wise according to worldly standards; not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth”. (1st Corinthians 1:26) This has generally been the case throughout the history of the church. There are always exceptions, but rarely do the worldly wise, wealthy, powerful and influential citizens want to associate with the type of people found in most churches.
Celsus, a Greek philosopher of the 1st Century, declared (dismissively) that Christianity only attracts the weak, the foolish, the dishonorable and the stupid; people like slaves, women and little children. Similar accusations/attacks are quite common in our day, sometimes from within the church, as those who take God’s Word and doctrine seriously are dismissed by others as being too outspoken.
Now it is true, that you and I are nothing on our own. God did not chose you or me because of something good in us, He has never chosen any people because of something good in them, but rather because of His own grace and mercy. Remember the words of Scripture regarding the people of Israel, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set His love upon you”. (Deuteronomy 7:7) God is not impressed by numbers the way we often are.
This is a great offence to proud human beings; like us. Nevertheless, it is true; which Paul now makes clear. “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God”. (1st Corinthians 1:27-29) “All such boasting is evil” (James 4:16b) according to the Apostle James. Instead of boasting, and worrying about our self-esteem, we are told in the Word, “not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think, but to think with sober judgment”. (Romans 12:3b)
But from the cross, we who were nothing, have been transformed. “For you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption”. (1st Corinthians 1:30) This wisdom from God sees the Gospel, the message of the cross, as the means by which our sins have been atoned for. This righteousness from God was freely given to us in our baptism when we were baptized into Christ’s death. This sanctification from God is what the Holy Spirit works in us through the Gospel. This redemption from God is the means by which He freed us from our slavery to sin.
Therefore, Paul writes elsewhere, “In Christ, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us … in Him we have an inheritance … in Him you also … when you believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit”. (Ephesians 1:7-13)
“As it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1st Corinthians 1:31); therefore, all pride is excluded. “For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends”. (2nd Corinthians 10:18) The Lord, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, spoke similarly, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts, boast in this; that he understands and knows Me; that I am the Lord”. (Jeremiah 9:23-24a)
So, contrary to the what passes for wisdom in this world, the only thing worth boasting about, the only true wisdom to be found, is what God has done for us in Christ Jesus; in “the word of the cross, which is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God’. (1st Corinthians 1:18) Blessed therefore are “those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness” that only God can give; that we receive only by faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. “Rejoice and be glad” (Matthew 5:12a) in the Lord and in His godly wisdom. Amen
The peace of God …