God Chooses The Weak Series

Twelve Ordinary Men

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

Even before the beginning of time the sovereign plan was for Jesus to be born, live amongst us and die for our sins (1 Peter 1:20). This had to be done for without atonement, God’s righteous wrath (Romans 6:23) would forever remain on humanity, who despite their best efforts could not stop sinning (Romans 7)! For centuries the prophets and angels eagerly waited for the time and circumstances (1 Peter 1:10-12) in which Christ would empty Himself of His glory in heaven (Philippians 2:7) and offer flesh and blood the bread of life (John 6:35) needed for them to be adopted as royal priests (1 Peter 2:9), ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) and children of His Father in heaven (Romans 8:14-17)! One would think this message would be gladly received and yet His proclamation, that entrance into the kingdom of God was not based on knowledge (Matthew 7:21-23) or lineage (Matthew 3:9) but on faith in His atoning sacrifice (Romans 3:25), was so profound that it provoked sharp criticism from His immediate family who thought He was crazy (Mark 3:21; John 7:5) and from those professed guardians of the law, the scribes and Pharisees. Knowing that shortly after His death and resurrection He would return to heaven (John 14:3), to whom would the Lamb of God intrust His glorious message?

God Chooses the Weak

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

You would think that Jesus would pick the most powerful and influential people of His time to share such an important message. Would not one of Abraham’s descendants, God’s chosen people, Israel be the “right” ones to declare the truth concerning God’s Son, Jesus? After all, with prophecies in hand would they not gladly make their paths straight (Isaiah 40:3) for He who promised to bind up the broken hearted, proclaim freedom to the captives (Isaiah 61:1-2) and circumcise their hearts with His very own Spirit (Ezekiel 36:22-28)? Surely those who had been waiting since the time of Jeremiah for a new covenant in which laws would be written on the minds and hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34) of His people would be entrusted to the experts in Jewish religion? And yet we are told that Jesus did not choose a single rabbi, scribe, Pharisee or Sadducee or even priest to be His apostle!

One reason why Jesus did not choose a single person from the established Jewish religion was due to their outright rejection of His message (John 1:11). Jesus had come to inaugurate a kingdom of God that challenged the traditional Jewish symbols of national identity, Torah and Temple. Conflict with the Jewish leaders began in Galilee when: He associated with sinners (Mark 2:13-22), touched an unclean leper (Mark 1:40-45), forgave the sins of the paralytic (Mark 2:1-12), worked and healed on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-5), allowed His disciples to eat bread without washing their hands (Mark 7:1-23) and drove the money-changers out of the temple (John 2:13-16) . The Jewish leaders simply could not accept any changes to the interpretation of the Torah nor could they accept any kingdom whose temple was destroyed (Luke 2:2-6) and entrance was based not on lineage but on faith in a risen Savior (John 3:16)! They outright refused to accept a Messiah who had not come to overthrow Rome but instead allowed entrance of tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes (Matthew 21:31-32) and the Gentile dogs (Matthew 15:26)!

So, having rejected the religious leaders of God’s own nation, whom would Jesus pick to carry on His message? Would he pick you? As a pastor I am forever trying to help the members of the church identify and use their spiritual gifts. I believe that it is only when the members allow the emotions and dreams of their conscious and unconscious minds to be transformed by the power of His grace (Ephesians 3:20) that these living stones (1 Peter 1:5) will no longer view their God-given tasks as mundane, inconvenient and impossible (Matthew 19:26) but as one of many stepping stones towards accomplishing His audacious vision. While most Christians believe in spiritual gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit they often do not believe God will chose them to perform miracles! Even when the calling is clear most have a litany of reasons as to why they are to be disqualified from service such as: “I am too shy,” “I sin way too much,” “I lack knowledge and wisdom,” and so on. If Jesus asked you this very moment to become a key leader in His kingdom would you be like Isaiah and say, “here I am, send me” (Isaiah 6:8)?

One thing that holds back many Christians is the mistaken belief that God chose the apostles because they were holier than everyone else. By displaying the apostles in larger than life, stained-glass windows inside the great cathedrals of Europe, has this not sent a message to all Christians that they represent an exalted degree of spirituality? Were they not ordinary men? After all, they were not the spiritually elite when Jesus called them but were merely low-class, rural, uneducated, common people. When called seven of Jesus’ apostles were common fishermen, one was a former zealot determined to overthrow Rome, another was a tax collector whom would be viewed as a traitor to the Jews, and rest most likely tradesmen. And lest we think they were always holy in their behavior, lets not forget that they rejected His teachings through betrayal (14:10-11), desertion (14:50) and denial (14:66-72). After Peter denied Jesus three times, the disciples (except John) could not be found at the cross (15:22-41), the burial (15:42-47), or the tomb (16:1-8).