Unimpressive people, Impressive Jesus
Jesus First • Sermon • Submitted
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Have you ever put real thought into why we find it hard, even embarrassing to talk about Jesus to others?
I wont have the right words or way of telling people about the gospel!
I’m not very eloquent at the best of times.
How will I answer their questions,
How will I pursued them?
How is it going to sound to them when I try to explain that God became a person and then was sentenced to death as a criminal!
Why didn’t God give us miraculous powers to convince everyone?
Why did he die to save us - couldn’t he have found a more impressive way!?
I have to tell them that they, like us, = are weak and sinful.
They need to humble themsleves - ask for mercy!
It’s not a very ‘impressive’ message!
And we’re not exactly given superpowers to impress the world.
We might - our message might - seem powerless and unimpressive.
Even if for us who believe - we know it is anything but those things - so why does it sound and look like that to the watching world?
Well todays passage tells us not only why we and our message appear weak - but that it is supposed to be unimpressive!
pause
The city of Corinth, like us today,.
liked powerful and dramatic, and wise leaders and speakers!
Greek retoric that persuaded and impressed the hearers was the name of the game.
Whether that’s politicians, company CEO’s, social media influencers - they had eloquence, power - they, as they often are today - were out to impress and draw a following!
You only need to look at the constant desire to build social media platforms to build our fan base to see we are in the same situation today.
we all love cool, impressive people. And that by associating with them, we’ll that lakes us impressive/better than others.
That cultural desire to follow the impressive and be considered impressive had infiltrated the church in Corinth -
And Paul has something to say about it:
1 - Don’t follow impressiveness in the church
1 - Don’t follow impressiveness in the church
1 cor 1 10 “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
They are divided - not united:
My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
SO what is the disunity all about...
What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
Paul, Apollos, Cephas and obviously Christ - are all known NT gospel teachers who where teaching sound doctrine and the gospel of Christ.
And so their disunity is not one of false teachers and false doctrines creating disunity,
it’s more a case that the people in the church are putting these preachers on a pedalstools and quarrelling about who’s the best - the most impressive to follow!
The culture of their city that ‘looks to’ impressive speakers and leaders has brought the same temptations into the church.
They are looking to the impressiveness, wisdom, retoric, eloquence of the preachers - rather than what is preached.
And it’s ending in quarrels.
It’s a problem rife in the church today -
With the internet giving us access to sermons and videos,
and blogs, and twitter feeds from every other preacher and theologian across the world,
the choice set before each of us is mind-boggling!
Why wouldn’t you listen to a far more impressive preacher than what’s on offer at GC!
But listening is not the issue - Paul would have been pleased for the church to be hearing from all those men he mentions.
As I am pleased for all of us to learn from the teachings of faithful theologians across the world.
The issue is when we raise that preacher up and start ‘following’ them.
I follow Tim Keller.
Did you hear how he pursued us to behave so well at work,
No, no, no, I only Follow John Piper - at least he has passion and heartfelt power in his voice!
Phuuur = I follow John Stott and Jonathan Edward - their words are so - well eloquent and old fashioned - God’s true language!
Well first off, wy are they all called John - and you do know why they sound old - well it’s becasue they are dead!
its easy to get sidetracked from the message into the messenger.
They are all good preachers to listen too, all terrible preachers to follow in a way that leads to quarrelling!
No says Paul -
1 Corinthians 1:13 (NIV)
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? (What about Tim Keller, or Sam Williamson) Were you baptized in the name of Adam Jaques?
No is the obvious answer.
It doesn’t matter who baptised you, it doesn’t matter who impressed you the most in a sermon,
it doesn’t matter who brought you to faith by preaching the gospel,
what matters is who was crucified for you!
It’s an extraordinary statement - that cuts through division, disunity, factions, pride, impressiveness, or desires to follow the impressive!
Christ Jesus died for you - and that’s all a faithful preacher wants you to know and be totally united upon!
So concerned is Paul about this inbuilt desire to seek and follow impressiveness - and the risk that runs of distracting from the message -
That he deliberatly avoids using retroric, world techniques of persuision and eloquence to preach himself!
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Paul was a powerful Jewish leadr before meeting Jesus and being saved.
He would whip up crowds to attack Christains.
convince council's to stone Christians to death.
Lead a campaign against the gospel!
He could very well be impressive, wise and eloquent!
But he chooses not to use the veil of wisdom and eloquense to convince people of their need for Jesus!
What good has he achieved if he attracts a follower of his own, who delights in his wise words but never responds in repentance to the cross of Christ.
The very unimpressive cross of Christ is emptied of it’s power if the heralds of such a message only attract and keep their congregations with impressiveness, and wise speaches, and eloquence.
It’s a reminder and warning to me and other preachers to elevate Jesus in simple explanations of the Bible - not drawing attention to myself but to Christ.
We must be careful not to draw in a crowd through impressive music and singing time, through eloquent debates, or fancy lighting as well.
For people will come to be impressed in a worldly way - but the cross of Christ may be emptied of it’s power - if that is why people are here.
Don’t follow impressiveness in the church - follow the crucified Christ.
Don’t follow impressiveness in the church - follow the crucified Christ.
It’s not a call to shoddy services and unprepared sermons,
this is a call to avoid the worldly trappings of impressiveness at the expense of elevating Jesus.
It some what raises the question though,
why did God design a gospel that is deliberately unimpressive to the world,
so much so that we should be careful not to apparently ‘outshine Jesus’
For the Cross of Christ - God’s chosen instrument to save the world was not seemingly full of wisdom or eloquence as far as the world thinks.
2 - Why does the gospel appear unimpressive?
2 - Why does the gospel appear unimpressive?
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV)
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
YOu see the gospel seems ridiculous to those who don’t believe!
The all powerful God,
giving up the glory and power of Heaven to become a human - like you and me.
He lives a sinless life we say - well bully for him!
But then he’s sentenced to death!
No-one at that time believed his story!
What a looser!
He dies a criminals death -
I mean these days we soften the cross with our chains around our necks and our ornate stained glass windows - nothing wrong with those things at all by the way,
But to the world the cross of Jesus is more like the electric chair, or the leatal injection!
It’s humiliating, the ultimate human and worldly shame to be put to death by your government at the will of the people!
Not many death row inmates inspire or impress us!
And all becasue Jesus loves us you say!
Laughable - what a wimp and a weak God you worship.
didn’t end well did it!
How unimpressive!
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
All he had to do was give the jews enough miraculous signs and they would have worshipped him!
Where is God’s power and impressive revelation of huimself?!
All the greeks needed was some impressive wisdom and clever words and they would believe!
Where is your God’s wisdom?
By worldly standard the gospel is foolish and weak.
We’re back to our nervousness to speak of our faith to others, to tell of Christ crucified in the playground, in the office, at the family gathering.
It’s just a little - weak and unimpressive?
Why does the gospel appear unimpressive?
Why does the gospel appear unimpressive?
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.
Think about your background and life says Paul.
Look around this room - not many of us are or were impressive.
God’s message and people of weakness is very deliberately designed to shame the world that is proud and arrogant!
Imagine we had at ‘our‘ disposal the most powerful, impressive, life changing, irresistible message to the ears of the world!
we do of course, but imagine we had control of its impact!
How proud we would become!
But no - only God will receive the glory for those he calls to respond to the message of Christ crucified!
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Our message seems unimpressive, our Lord’s crucifixion may seem weak,
But it is to only further demonstrate how sinful our world is in it’s understanding of power and wisdom,
and so that God alone may be glorified when some are saved. - and so the only boast available to the believer is in Christ the Lord!
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
God will not allow the impressiveness of the world to have any part in his plan of loving salavtion for his poeple and his glory.
In reality - even God’s foolishness (as if that were possibly a thing) is wiser than any human words.
The ironic and apparent weakness of God - Christ crucified on the cross fro example - is actually the most powerful work of God available to mankind.
Don’t be embarrassed about how the gospel sounds,
or about what you look like,
Just tell the simple truth of christ crucified.
The proud and impressive will reject it and ultimately be shamed by God.
The weak and humble will be shown mercy and grace - and all glory will be God’s alone.
3 - Impressive Jesus reverses it all!
3 - Impressive Jesus reverses it all!
I want to end by just clarifying what we;ve been saying.
I don;t want us as Christains to go off thinking the gospel of Christ cruciifed is unimpressive and week, foolish - but that we should share it and believe it anyway.
That’s both not the point or true!
It is the most powerful, impressive, life changing, irresistible message!
For the very reason that it is the message of Christ crucified!
The gospel is like a coin with 2 sides.
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV)
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, (But flip the coin over) but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:21 (NIV)
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, (so the world’s wisdom in all it’s apparent impressiveness has not found God!) God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
1 cor 1 30 “It is because of him (God - not wise and eloquent preachers with a worldly impressive message) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
Do you see the foolish, unimpressive, non worldly wise message of christ Crucified,
is actually the astonishing wisdom and power of God himself.
Brought about to bring him glory,
humble humanity,
point out the pride of those who reject him,
and achieve in Christ for us righteousness, holiness and redemption!
So, don’t feel we need wise words, powerful arguments, smack down phrases when we talk of Jesus to those we know and work with.
We can be more like Paul.
And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.
Worldy wisdoms, persuasive arguments, impressive buildings, rock concert style music, posh English accents, clever catch phrases, awesome social media presence, the smartest sermon illustrations - it all sounds rather impressive,
It’s not what God requires of us as churches or preachers or evangelists.
We go out in weakness (for we are weak),
in great fear and trembling for we carry this precious message in our weak bodies full of temptation to be proud,
fearful for we want to honour our Lord and saviour,
and spread his message to the lost.
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
We do not need cleaver words or persuasions
we simply present the good news of Christ crucified,
and leave the the Spirit of God to demonstrate His power as he saves!
The power here is not miraculous demonstrations of signs and wonders from the Spirit - that would be to undermine everything he’s just said!
Here’s the gospel and now let me wow you with some miracles So you’re persuaded by it’s power.,
No - the Power of God by His spirit as he’s already said in v17, 18, 24 and this verse -is the extraordinary - undeniable work of God in saving people through This apparently weak and foolish message!
The Gospel is foolish and weak -
The power of God is seen in shaming the strong and powerful,
by saving the weak through an unimpressive gospel,
through an unimpressive death on the cross,
for a life that glorifies and boasts in the Lord alone.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Pray
