Consider Your Call

Psalter

Psalm 15

Psalm 15 NRSV

A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? 2 Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; 3 who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors; 4 in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; 5 who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved.

Opening Prayer

Loving God, we come this morning seeking to abide in your presence. Open our minds to your spirit of wisdom, that we may know how to live as your people. Open our hearts to your spirit of truth, that we may love all your people with a love that speaks of justice, kindness, and radical grace. May this time of worship be authentic and pleasing to you. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer

Eternal and loving God, we come before your majesty this day and would bring all we have to show our thanksgiving. Yet, you do not want our sacrifices as payment for sin, but call upon us only to do justice and walk humbly with you. Your ways are beyond our understanding, and so we bow before you in awe and sing praises to your glorious Name.

Through your prophets, you have called your people to acts of mercy. You have given us the task of providing for the needs of others and doing it only in your Name. But, we enjoy the attention of others; we love to be praised for the things we do; we like taking credit for being wise. And all our seeking for fame dishonors your Christ in whose Name we have been saved and by whom we are called to do the works of mercy. For our ignorance and boasting, for our failing to live up to the standards you have set forth, forgive us, good Lord.

We ask that your Holy Spirit give us a true spirit of humility. May your Spirit open our minds that we might see that your wisdom for us is clothed in the world’s foolishness. Empower us to let the world know your saving acts. Enable us to rejoice and be glad when the world persecutes us for your sake, for then we may know we are being your children.

Look with mercy upon those who suffer this day. We have lifted up the names of many in the hearing of your people; we lift up also those whom we name only in our hearts. Give them patience in their affliction, comfort them with your presence, and preserve them in your goodness, that they and we may rise up and call you blessed.

Keep us in your wisdom and show us the way of salvation this day and always, for we pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Children’s Message

Few children will follow the reading of the text with its references to Greek wisdom and Jewish love of signs. But the point the passage makes about what is strong and weak—or what is wise and foolish—is critical to their response to the teachings in the Old Testament and Gospel passages. All children are encouraged to be wise and strong. Paul reminds them, along with the people at Corinth, that though God's rules may seem like foolish rules for sissies, they really are for the strong people.

He illustrates his point by pointing to Jesus' crucifixion. Tied up, whipped, and crucified, Jesus—and God—looked weak, while the Roman soldiers and the religious leaders who wanted Jesus dead looked strong. But it turned out that Jesus was stronger. Similarly, though it looks as if demanding and getting your own way is stronger and wiser than giving up what is rightfully yours in order to take care of others, it turns out that the latter makes our life together happier.

Scripture Lesson

1 Corinthians 1:18–31 NRSV

18 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. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 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? 21 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. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. 26 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. 27 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; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Introduction

The Broadway play A Little Night Music was never considered much of a box office success. But one bright result of the play was a song that became a hit: "Send in the Clowns." Some have suggested that that song expresses what it's like for Christians to be sent into the world. We appear peculiar to a world that lives by a different set of values.

In a circus or a rodeo, clowns create a shift in theme; they change the subject. After the breathtaking danger of the flying trapeze, a lion tamer, or a bucking bronco, clowns enter to remind us of our purpose—to be entertained. Much like Shakespeare's Falstaff, they produce a break in the action just when we were caught up in the drama of the moment.

Just so, it is our nature and calling as Christians to remind people what we are here for: to know and glorify God. And like the clowns, our message changes the subject and often seems silly and out of place in a world that is caught up in another purpose: satisfying self.

Paul made the same point in 1 Corinthians. He wrote that on the world's wise-foolish continuum, Christians and non-Christians are on opposite ends. The world looks at that continuum from one side and sees Christians on the foolish end. But the scale on God's side is reversed, so that Christians are the wise and the world is foolish. From the perspective of the crowd, rodeo clowns look silly in comparison with the brave and strong cowboys, but from the perspective of those who work in the rodeo, clowns have the sanest job in the arena—to protect the lives of the cowboys who put themselves in danger. What makes Christians so different from the world?

1. Saints are called to a different life message.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NRSV

9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul wrote that it is the message of the Cross (v. 18)—through weakness we are made strong (). It is a message that is the inverted image of the world's philosophy. But the church looks at the cross and empty tomb of Jesus and knows that when we are crucified with him, we will be raised. What looks like defeat today will be victory tomorrow. What is a photographic negative, on which black appears as white and white appears as black, will soon be a beautiful picture.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NRSV

9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians

None of this makes sense in the eyes of the world. As a saint of God, we are called to be different not just in our behavior but in the attitude with which our life is lived. We live by a different worldview that is misunderstood by those who are outside of the fold. In the context of the church in Corinth, the life message that was often proclaimed substituted human wisdom with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This human wisdom was seen as something that was precious and envied by many in the church. This is because the worldview that was present around them valued a love for wisdom and Greek philosophy. In Athens, there were four philosophical schools that had great influence: the Epicureans, the Stoics, the Academy of Plato, and the Lyceum of Aristotle. These divisions of human wisdom into rival schools may have influenced the Corinthian factions.

In verse 20, Paul asks a series of rhetorical questions. “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the great debater of this age?” He lays out the Jews and Greeks in Corinth by saying, “What kind of wisdom do you really have?” What is your worldview and life message based on the wisdom you hold so dear? Paul’s endgame is to show them that their pursuits are futile because the wisdom that comes from human beings is not true wisdom. It is based on human assumptions. We learn that these assumptions are tainted and marred by sin and therefore unreliable when it comes to seeking the truth. So much so that the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God because it is not true wisdom. True wisdom is not sought through human endeavor but only through Jesus Christ. This wisdom is not attained through intellectual pursuits in a particular philosophical school - like say, the school of Paul or the school of Apollos or the school of Peter. This is sought in vain. It is only through the simple faith in God’s revelation of Himself in Christ. This is where our life message begins and ends.

But with true wisdom - Godly wisdom, what we see in the crucified Christ is the hope of salvation because he is the only one who could be the bridge of reconciliation and redemption for humanity. The Law could not do it. Greek philosophy could not do it. Only through weakness are we made strong. Our boasting in what we can accomplish will get us nowhere. It is only through the saving work of Jesus Christ that we can now have an opportunity to know true wisdom - that through death comes resurrection, that through weakness we are made strong.

2. Saints face persecution.

Matthew 10:22 NRSV

22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Jesus promised such opposition (; ). The message of the Cross was a stumbling block and foolishness in Paul's generation (vv. 22-23), and it is the same today. It is a stumbling block because people, like the Jews of Paul's day, still want a king with worldly power to wipe out their enemies and grant then prosperity instead of a Savior to die for their sins. It is foolishness because people, like the Greeks, still prefer to find wisdom through their own ingenuity rather than let Christ forgive them of their utter failure and give them his wisdom (v. 30), with the result that they boast in the Lord and not in themselves (v. 31)

So our life message comes with a completely different perspective than the rest of the world. The Jews are looking for signs of the Messiah to reestablish the Davidic kingdom. A suffering Servant on a cursed cross did not fulfill their expectations. It was a stumbling block to them. For the Greeks, they were focused on unaided human reason through which they thought they could grasp the mysteries of the universe. To them, preaching a crucified Savior was nonsense - pure foolishness. How could as defeated and crucified failure possibly be a Savior?

But with true wisdom - Godly wisdom, what we see in the crucified Christ is the hope of salvation because he is the only one who could be the bridge of reconciliation and redemption for humanity. The Law could not do it. Greek philosophy could not do it. Only through weakness are we made strong. Our boasting in what we can accomplish will get us nowhere. It is only through the saving work of Jesus Christ that we can now have an opportunity to know true wisdom - that through death comes resurrection, that through weakness we are made strong.

But so many in our world do not see it this way. Our natural way is to seek to be noticed by others. Human beings seek to have power and influence in the world. The disciples themselves were seeking that same kind of power and influence when Jesus set up his earthly kingdom. But as saints, our different life message can bring persecution our way. The world does not want to know the truth of God. The world wants to live by its own systems that have been human created. That is what can be manipulated for a person’s own prestige. What happens is that we lower the standard because we cannot reach the standard of God. Because we cannot reach it, it must be something to be rejected.

Human wisdom is just as revered in our world today as it was in Paul’s day. The pursuit of human wisdom has always concerned itself with three great questions, namely, the ultimate origin, the nature or meaning of it all, and the end or ultimate purpose of all things. Science can throw light on the second question only - the nature of things. It can only be agnostic concerning ultimate origins and ends. Human philosophy has earnestly string to answer the other two major questions, but in the end it has fared no better than science. The futility of this quest is eloquently expressed by William James, one of America’s greatest philosophers, in a not found on his desk after his death, his last and perhaps most characteristic statement, “There is no conclusion. What has been concluded that we might conclude in regard to it? There are no fortunes to be told and there is no advise to be given. Farewell.”

So the failure of human wisdom and even science to answer the quest of truth is due to the absence of enabling power. Christianity offers the supreme ethical ideal - the perfection of God and then it affords the enabling to its attainment - Jesus Christ. Jesus is the answer to the question - “He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” () Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” () This exclusivity leads to persecution. People do not want to be told that there is only one way and truth. That coming to the deepest answers to the questions in our lives can only come through knowing the crucified and risen Lord. This is a stumbling block and foolishness. And yet, it is the only truth that can set us free to new life.

3. Saints call attention to their weaknesses so God may be glorified.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NRSV

9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NRSV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8–9 NRSV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Paul urged the Corinthian Christians to consider their humble background (vv. 26-27). Christians are to remember and even emphasize that they were saved not by their own goodness or intelligence but by God's grace ( ; ). It is not that Christians cannot be very capable and brilliant people—the most intelligent thing someone can do is to come to Christ—but we have a spiritual humility that causes us to emphasize what God has done, not what we have done.

God uses the least of us for great things. In the Corinthian church, many were likely converted slaves. There were some exceptions - Crispus, a former synagogue leader, Titus Justus, Chloe, and Stephanas, all property owners and stable citizens; Gaius, a man of wealth and hospitality; Erastus, the city treasure; and perhaps Sosthenes, the converted successor to Crispus. But the point that Paul is making is that God is not hindered by the limitations of human beings, if we are committed to Him and His will. God has repeatedly confounded the wise and mighty of this world with His humanly limited bu fully consecrated and faithful servants. He used a murderer like Moses, a common fisherman like Peter, an ignorant shoe clerk like D.L. Moody, a poor sharecropper’s son like Billy Graham. But God has also used a learned rabbi named Paul, a great reformer Luther, the don of Oxford John Wesley.

The point of it is that God has placed individuals in his church for a proper time to bring about the kingdom of God in the world. Everyone of us are equal in Christ no matter who we are in the world’s eyes. It is in our weaknesses that Christ is glorified because we have been saved by grace.

Paul ends this section by listing four things that only come from Christ to those of us who seek to live under his Lordship. First, we are reminded again that Christ is the true wisdom of God. There is nothing outside of Christ that is needed for true life and ultimate reality. Realizing this is to be saved. Secondly, Christ is our righteousness. Wesley says of this provision that it is “the sole ground of our justification, who were before under the wrath and curse of God.” Third, Christ is our sanctification. John Wesley sees this term as signifying “a principle of universal holiness, whereas before we were altogether dead in sin.” It is not just an external and relative holiness that we might find by living out the Law to the best of our ability, but rather a true and eternal holiness given to us by the Holy Spirit. Finally, Paul says there is redemption in Christ. This is a summary of the totality of Christ’s work of salvation all the way form his rescuing humanity from sin and Satan to the believer’s final resurrection and glorification. Thus Paul shows that human beings possess no good that is acceptable to God; that all his true wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and the totality of redemption come from God through His Son Jesus Christ. Our weakness brings glory to God through the work that is done through Christ on the cross and the resurrection - all of it by his grace.

Conclusion

In closing, we have all been called of God as saints. That call is rooted in the message of the gospel that is contrary to the world. It is a message that calls us to be servants and weak. It is a message that is foolish and a stumbling block to many. But this call and this message is what brings real life to the world. It is only when we live in fullness of the presence of God in Christ that we are able to truly consider our call. We must break down the illusions that we created around us that can protect us from the world. We can harbor our faith to ourselves and not face the ridicule that is often found in the world. But is this the way of the saint? No! We are bold in our confession of the truth that is only found in Christ. He is the only one who can give salvation to us. Our human pursuits can answer some questions. They cannot answer the ultimate questions of life. It is only in our surrender to Jesus that we can find truth. Saints, may we be weak so that he can be strong in and through us for the salvation of the world. This is your call!

Benediction

Those who live lives pleasing to God shall not be moved. Go now to embrace the kingdom values— values of love, justice, and truth. Go now with God’s blessing, to live those values through the power of our challenging, faithful, loving, empowering God. Amen.