Imprinted (Fifth Sunday After The Epiphany February 5 2023)

IMPRINTED

Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1 – 11

1 Corinthians 2:1-11  When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.  (2)  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.  (3)  And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.  (4)  My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power,  (5)  so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.  (6)  Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.  (7)  But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.  (8)  None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  (9)  But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him"—  (10)  these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  (11)  For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God.

"When a speaker would first come to a city (1 Corinthians_2:1), he would advertise a meeting where he would declaim (normally praising the city); if he proved successful and attracted enough students, he would stay on in the city. Paul points out that he did not come to them like such sophists, pandering to popularity (see further 2 Corinthians 2:17)." [Note: Keener, p. 34. ] as cited by Constable Commentary.

Paul’s sermon to the people of Corinth was not considered the most popular to the the audience who heard him that day because of their presuppositions. They were accustomed to hearing people who were eloquent speakers as opposed to Paul who followed the lead of the Holy Spirit to preach in the manner he did.

Corinth was an interesting place and was called “a brilliant but godless city where people glorified in human ability and human attainment” (H.A. Ironside. First Epistle to the Corinthians. New York: Loizeaux Brothers, Inc., 1952, p. 78). . Paul’s purpose was not to make an impression by his human ability and attainment but to let the Holy Spirit make an impression on them through his preaching.

Today we want to talk about credentials and impressions.

CREDENTIALS

Do you think someone’s credentials were a big deal to the Greeks?

1) Picking favorites: There seems to be a hint of that as we have seen earlier in 1 Corinthians 1:12 (Apollos, Cephas or Paul) when they made a fuss who about who the better preacher was. Since the Greeks looked for wisdom, it made it it obvious that they held wisdom in high regard. Therefore, it makes sense to see how they would pick favorites between Apollos, Cephas and Paul. Do you think people still pick favorites today?

2)_Paul’s Resume: Paul’s resume would have made many disqualified because of his impressive credentials. “Paul was a double graduate, having graduated in the Greek colleges of Tarsus and the Hebrew universities of Jerusalem, a member of the Sanhedrin, standing at the front of the world, both literary and ecclesiastical. Yet he died to all the majesty and splendor of his former self, coming down to the level of the illiterate fishermen of Galilee. He appears before the people simply “proclaiming the testimony of God.” (Godbey). But, Paul was not there to sell others on his credentials or as someone said “to peddle the gospel” but to preach the gospel the way God intended which was to preach Christ crucified.

3) Paul’s creed: This verse of scripture reminds me of my preaching class in seminary in 1990. Like the crowd Paul preached to that day, many in my preaching class were more interested in form than content. Paul wanted the content of his preaching to be something that rested not on the power of human wisdom, but on the power of God and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to make impressions on the hearts of those who heard him preach.

What are the only credentials that God wants Christians to have?

1) Success: Does God want us to chase idols of success, wealth, materialism or prestige? How many are there today who place their trust in human accomplishments and human wisdom, ratings and likes on Facebook as opposed to God’s wisdom? Are not these things doomed to perish?