Sunday
02/02/20 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “God’s weakness is stronger
than human strength”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 15
New Testament
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Gospel Lesson: Matthew
5:1-12
Welcome once again
on this the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. Four Sundays after the Wisemen came
to Jesus one way and left changed forever.
Last week, we talked about, in part, our reading from the Apostle
Paul’s first Epistle or letter to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
from last week, the Apostle Paul once again told us that in the church that we
should have “No Division Among You”. He was saying that we should follow
Christ, and not follow people. Instead of following a person or a leader, we
should follow Christ.
Our reading from 1 Corinthians 1 picks up this week, right
where our reading left off from last week. Once again, our reading from 1
Corinthians last week was 1:10-18. This Sunday once again our reading is 1 Corinthians
18-31. It’s interesting that two weeks in arrow we are given 1:18.
Once again 1 Corinthians 1:18 says:
“For the message about the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the
power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18, NRSV).
It’s
interesting that we get this verse, as I said, two weeks in a row. I think what
the Apostle Paul is saying hear, is if you are not a Christian, our beliefs
might seem odd. Why do we believe that God sent his son to earth to die for us?
Why would God require such a human sacrifice?
The
answer comes down to the historic Christian world view, that we are fallen
people. We’re not awful, but we are prone to sin. By ourselves, we cannot be
without sin. As a result, God chose to redeem us and forgive us through his Son’s
shed blood on the cross.
It
can be the tendency of a local church, or the broader church, to use human
reason over Christ. We can decide that certain people are better than other people,
or we could be divided over something else. When we focus on Christ though, the
church, as I said last Sunday will be strong, united, and will flourish. We
exist as church because of Jesus. We exist as church to bring people to Jesus,
and we exist as church to equip people to serve Sidney and the world in the
name of Jesus.
In
our reading from Psalm 15 for this morning, once again, the Psalmists tells us
those who dwell with God will be blameless, innocent, and will speak the truth
(Ps. 15, NRSV).
In
our continued reading from 1 Corinthians for this morning, the Apostle Paul
tells us in 1:25 that “God’s weakness is stronger that human strength” (1 Cor.
1:25b, NRSV).
Now,
I don’t think that the Bible or the Apostle Paul is opposed to knowledge,
learning, or wisdom. I do think though that what the Apostle Paul is saying
here is that if you are using persuasion or human wisdom to denounce Christ,
then you are manipulating who Jesus is. We can all find scholarly and very
smart people that could tell us why Jesus isn’t Lord and why we shouldn’t
follow Him. Yet, this doesn’t mean that those people are right. The Apostle
Paul is telling us to be weary of people that will try to destroy our faith in
Christ. People that want lead us away from God, and often for their own
advantage. In fact, the Apostle Paul picks up for this morning once again, beginning
with quoting the Prophet Isaiah 29:14. This is once again what the Apostle Paul
writes in our reading for this morning:
“For it is written, “I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 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 the world? For since, in the wisdom of
God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the
foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand
signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling
block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s
foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than
human strength” (1
Cor. 1:19-25, NRSV).
If Christ is Lord, if he was the
fullness of God and human on this earth, then he is the zenith or the top of
all wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. There will be those however, who will
attempt to pick Christ apart, or to tear him down, or to change him into what they
want him to be. The Apostle Paul is telling us, I think, that learning, and
wisdom aren’t bad, but that Christ is our standard. When we get puffed up and
think we know everything, we know in that very moment a fraction of what God
knows.
Once again, the Apostle Paul says,
For God’s foolishness
is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength”
(1
Cor. 1:25, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul then completes this
reading from 1 Corinthians for this morning saying to us once again:
“Consider your own call,
brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many
were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But 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, things that are not,
to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might
boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus,
who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts,
boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:26-31, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul is saying to the
Christians in the church in Corinth, or the Corinthians, that many of them were
everyday people like us. Paul says, most of the church in Corinth were not people
of vast education, great power, or people born to highest and most noble
families. Paul says though, none of this matters to God. You are saved and
restored through Jesus Christ, and nothing on this earth can take that from you.
In fact, the Apostle Paul says to the
church in Corinth that God called many of the people in the church, not because
they were great by earthly standards, but instead because they were the opposite.
Paul says that, God chose the foolish, to shame the wise, and chose the weak to
shame the strong. God has called those who are nothing and has given them
everything in Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul tells us that God is
our source of life in Jesus Christ. May we be humble, righteous, and loving. If
we do boast, may we boast only in Jesus Christ.
The fascinating thing to me is this,
we live in the most technologically advanced time in human history. We can get
information in an instant. We can call with video chat anywhere in the world in
an instant. We have medical technology and other great things that have made
our lives in some ways vastly easier than ever before. If we have all these
however, then why is the world still so broken? Why is there so much suffering?
Why is there so much sin and darkness?
Well some would say that as humans
alone we can fix everything. They would say, we don’t need God or Jesus, we
alone can do this. Yet, how has our track record been as humans in recent
years? The point is this, I put my trust in Christ to lead me, and I know that
if I try to lead myself, well that just won’t work out to well. I put my trust
in Christ, as he is my hope and my savior.
I also am a learner, a reader, but I
will never be convinced that humanity on its own, left to its own devices, will
be able to fix everything broken and wrong in this world and in us. This has
been tried in the secular Soviet Union or Communist Russia. You see, we need
God. We need a savior. We have a savior, named Jesus Christ.
Knowledge and learning are good but
let us not get so big headed that we begin to think that we know more than God,
who created us. I have been blessed to have been able to attend college and
seminary school a combined total of 9-years. I have all sorts of pieces of paper
and awards, but all that pales in comparison to Christ.
My late Grandpa Winkelman went through
8th-grade. He was a farmer in Northern Illinois and grew up during
the Great Depression. After eighth grade, he quit school and came to work on
the farm. He was one of smartest, hardest working, and best Christian men I
have ever met in my life. If I ever got “to big for my britches” as he might
say, I am certain he would come down from heaven and straighten me out.
The point is, is that I was given
educational opportunities that my family didn’t have a couple of generations
ago. Yet, Jesus is still Lord, and I still humbly serve him. Any knowledge,
wisdom, or education I have then is not to be smarter than God or anyone else,
it is instead to help love and serve others in the name of Jesus Christ. After
completing four years of seminary studies, do you know what I have learned? I
have learned that Jesus is still Lord, and I still do my best to humbly serve
him.
This morning, as you all heard, we are
given in our gospel reading from Matthew, the “Beatitudes,” or what we commonly
call “The Sermon on the Mount,”. In fact, I went to the historic site of “The Sermon
on the Mount,” when I was in the Holy Land 6-years ago. While there, I saw the
place that the church believes where “The Sermon on the Mount” was preached by
Jesus.
What Jesus is saying in his
Beatitudes, is to be like him. The idea that “God’s weakness is stronger than
human strength,” is a theme in this morning’s gospel lesson. Anything we are, anything
that we have, is because of God. Sure, we maybe do or did work hard to have
what we have, but who gave us the drive, the gifts, and the talent that we
have. We are who we are, because God has given us everything through Him, and
through those who love us.
Once again, our gospel of Matthew
reading for this morning says:
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he
went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he
began to speak, and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be
comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. “Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. “Blessed
are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called
children of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people revile you
and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on
my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the
same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt. 5:1-12, NRSV)
There’s a whole lot
here. I think Jesus is reminding us, as smart, and as great as we might think
we are, that God is greater. God is greater than us, and greater than
everything. It is when we begin to think that we are greater than God, or
smarter than God, this is when we lose are way. Further, our greatest strength,
our greatest gift, according to the Apostle Paul this morning, is God’s
greatest weakness. God is so much bigger, stronger, and mightier, than we will
ever be.
We might think we are indeed great and
strong, but only through God in Jesus Chris can it be so. May we be humble. If
we have achieved various measures of earthly success, let us remember who we,
and who’s we are. Let us serve Christ and others and realize that we are his
servants. May we move the focus from us, to Him, for he is the object of our worship,
our love, and our hope.
One of the things that always makes me
chuckle, is when I am leading a Bible Study or some other small group type of
ministry. I sometimes offer anyone who is there to open or close us with a
prayer. Usually when I do this, it’s dead silent. I remember I asked once, don’t
any of you want to pray. An older woman in one of the churches that I used to
serve then said in the Bible Study that I was leading, “Pastor Paul, you should
pray it sounds nicer when you pray”. So, I asked in response, “What do you mean?”
She then said, “Well Pastor Paul when you pray you say the right words and do
it such a way that I think God likes it more than our prayers”. I then asked, “So
God likes my prayer more than yours?” She then said, “Well yes”. I paused for a
second and looked around the whole room at the Bible Study and said, “Nothing that
I have learned or that I can ever say to God will ever be any better than
anything that you can say to God”.
Friends we are all equals before God
in Jesus Christ. Let us remember that “God’s weakness is stronger than human
strength.” Amen.
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