The Joy of Being a Nobody
1 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted
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Glad everyone made it tonight, good to see you all turn with me if you will to . Tonight were going to discuss this topic: “THE JOY OF BEING A NOBODY”
It begins when were very little, our parents begin disciplining us as children, teaching us to do the hard things in life, trying to produce character, integrity, and a solid work ethic. I believe in this wholeheartedly you must teach your children to work, you must train your children to do things that they really don’t want to do. Why do we do this? Because as adults we understand how life works, we know there is a nasty world out there and if we don't instill a tenacity within our children and a toughness they will be chewed up and spit out by the world. Its an essential lesson to learn how to study hard and work diligently. We want the best for our children we want them to be better than us in every way, but as I grew up I remember one theme that would come up out of my grandfathers motivational speeches he would say.... son you want to be somebody don't you? If you keep headed down the road your taking you will end up being a nobody in this world.
When we look out at the landscape of our lives we can see clearly that this has been grained within the hearts and minds of many adult parents, they live vicariously through their children. They never played a down of football because they weren't good enough so they verbally and physically abuse their children to try to make them little hall of famers, we see mothers who were mocked and made fun of in schools buying name brand designer clothes for their children because they don't want them to be ridiculed in the same way they were growing up.
We see bulimia among girls of a younger and younger age because they fear of getting overweight, we see adults who will sacrifice their families well being on the altar of success and financial prosperity while their children rebel, and their wives/ husbands grow embittered towards them for being gone so much. All of this in the pursuit of making a name for ourselves, all of this in pursuit of providing for our children material things that we may have wanted growing up but didn't have. Everyone desires to make their mark, to be remembered in their lives. They want to be somebody great. My mom will be the first to tell you she wanted me to be a doctor… why? (plenty of money, and she wanted me to experience her dream)
There was a scene from an old movie (the jerk) where steve martin who played a very unintelligent man sees his name in the phone book and cries out “IM SOMEBODY NOW” All because his name was written on a page of a book that was distributed around the state.
Being SOMEBODY is what people strive for
However the Bible paints a very different picture for us and teaches us that there is great power and JOY in being a NOBODY for the cause of Jesus Christ.
The culture once again in the city of Corinth was one of great carnality and sinfulness, it was very sinful in the way they lived their lives. But it was a culture which had great admiration though for education, philosophy, and yet at the same time also immorality. Wicked, carnal, sinful living. you might think that this is contradicting behavior, to desire education, and philosophical understanding, and wisdom and then turning around to live wicked barbaric immoral lives?
Sounds odd doesn't it?
Sometimes what happens is people gain intelligence and because of that they get an inflated view of themselves, and they start thinking well whatever I do its ok, if I say its right it’s right because im an intelligent person, all the while negleting the fact that God is much more intelligent than they are. HE is all knowing and all wise, and nobody knows it all except God.
Have you ever run into somebody who was a know it all?
It didn't matter what it was or was not this type of person knew about it and knew best about it and if you felt differently then you are a fool. The culture of Corinth was much like our world today, very perverse and getting more perverse everyday. There are people from universities every week who defend atheism and attack Christian thoughts and beliefs, they desire debates and conversations to be had so that they can wax eloquent and marginalize the Christian but more often than not they find themselves not mopping the floor with Christian professors but being stunned at their ability to defend the truth of God’s word. This is why Paul writes in
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1 Corinthians 1:21
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 to save those who believe.
You see God’s ways are not mans ways God’s ways are far above man’s ways, you will never know God by human wisdom, only through a relationship with Jesus which was bought for you at the cross of Calvary where Jesus shed His blood to open the line of communication for all who would believe on His name.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Now within this church of born again believers there was divisions, divisions based on fault lines of various famous teachers within the church, some were of the philosophy of Paul, some of Apollos and they had begun boasting about their theological positions and beliefs and thinking they were wise while the others among them were ignorant or lacking wisdom. They thought within the church they were somebody’s they were special because they understood these things while these other less fortunate people were blinded and didn't know what God wanted because they weren't as intellectually astute as these who mingled the gospel with philosophy. That somehow they weren't as spiritual they weren't as close to God as they were.
As a result the church began to fracture. We still battle against this today in most churches there are people who desire to be known as spiritual giants. It didn’t begin that way they began seeking the Lord with all of their hearts and as they matured and began learning they found themselves in a position of leadership among their peers and after time passed by they began to think themselves superior and as a result many churches have these fault lines, where a certain group is over here claims to be more spiritual than this group over here and has developed a spiritual ego and has a following that may even stand up against the pastor or deacons, as that festers and grows the cancer of spiritual superiority begins to kill the once thriving church.
Salvation is a gift from almighty God
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Sometimes what people need to remember is where they came from.
Paul calls the church in Corinth to remember that it was not their work, or worthiness, that caused them to be used by God. It wasn’t their wisdom or knowledge that redeemed them and set them on course of eternal blessing, but rather Paul calls them to remember:
The Foolishness of Their Calling
The Foolishness of Their Calling
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
Paul says I know you might have a position in the church, I know you might feel like you are a fairly important person now that God has elevated you but you better remember where you came from!
Paul says consider your calling-
That calling refers to the circumstances surrounding their coming to faith, this is not talking about their ministerial calling or church position, this is not talking about their socioeconomic status. it is shorthand for God’s act of calling them purely on the basis of grace without regard to their moral worthiness or their status in the community. God calls things that are foolish meaning God does not look out there and say “man would you look at that pedigree, look at their giftedness, that is the type of person I want to use for my glory, they are well equipped, wise, and morally pure that's who I want!”
That’s not how it works, actually its more like this: “let’s see here, yeah here is a man who struggles to speak in front of someone, heres a woman who struggles with her self esteem, they have zero qualifications to make them successful in the eyes of the world, and I'm gonna use them specifically so that I will receive more glory!
Paul says you were called not because of your:
- Worldly equipped
not because of your human strengths/gifts/and abilities
Not because you were born into the right family (Hagee)
As a matter of fact normally people with great strengths and human wisdom dont find themselves in a postion of authority within the church, unless there is a humbling which has happened in their lives which has cause them to shift their focus off of their ability to Gods ability. That’s why Paul says “not many” who are called have these traits.
Do not let the wise bost in their wisdom
Do not let the mighty boast in their might
Do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth
When we rest in our giftedness and abilities we fail, when we rest on the steadfast love of the Lord which never ceases, when we seek wisdom from Heaven, when we seek the Lord Himself, then He does miracles through our lives.
Next Paul reminds them that God chose them explicitly because of their weakness
The Weakness which made them valuable
The Weakness which made them valuable
1 Corinthians 1:
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, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
God’s choice here is mentioned 3x for emphasis. He is saying God chose you, not the other way around. But He did not choose you based upon your worthiness or anything good within you, God chose you based off the willingness of your heart to listen and rely upon Him.
Thistleton claims: “this choice refers to God’s energetic action, that takes out of the midst of the world, those individuals whom no one judged worthy of attention and made them bearers of His kingdom”
Calvin comments: “in putting the strong and wise to great shame, God does not exalt the weak but brings everyone down onto the same level”
THE GROUND IS LEVEL AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS
THE STRONG AND WEAK NEED JESUS
THE WISE AND IGNORANT NEED JESUS
THE RICH AND THE POOR NEED JESUS
The sad thing is it is easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle than to see His need for Jesus
It is the ignorant that seek the wisdom of God when the wise think they have it all figured out
It is the weak who take the hand of a mighty savior as He snatches them out of the pit while the strong manor women thinks they can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and fix themselves.... it aint gonna happen!
Do you know why most people following Jesus battle with insecurities?
Because they how unworthy, how inadequate they feel, and in their flesh they fear of failing in the areas of weakness.
GOD DID THESE THINGS IN THIS WAY for one reason
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
1 Corinthians