I want to begin by testing your celebrity savvy this morning. Who said the following?
“Let me tell you, I’m a really smart guy.”
“I’m also honored to have the greatest temperament that anybody has.”
“I think I am, actually humble. I think I’m much more humble than you would understand.”
“I’ve had a beautiful, I’ve had a flawless campaign. You’ll be writing books about this campaign.”
Yes, Donald Trump, now the 45th president of the United States, made those statements. I’m not drawing your attention to these quotes so that we can laugh at President Trump. He is after all an elected official, and even though he’s not our leader we would do well to pray for him and his presidency because what happens in the U.S. affects us here in Canada. And anyway, it is God’s will that we pray for those in authority, as well as honor and respect them.
But it is hard to respect someone who is so blatantly boastful. The thing is, Trump has only verbalized thoughts we all entertain. When you answer correctly a tough question in class or propose a solution your coworkers really like, you may not say it but you do think it: “Let me tell you, I’m a really smart guy.” And because you don’t say that out loud you also think to yourself: “And I’m really humble, more humble than you may realize.” Such boasting is of course not God-pleasing. But the Apostle Paul teaches us today that God isn’t against all boasting. In fact Paul wanted the Christians in Corinth and we Christians here to know that we are a church fully equipped to boast…in Christ. Let’s find out how to become better boasters.
Our text once again comes from Paul’s letter to the Christian church in the Greek city of Corinth. Corinth itself had a reputation for brashness. People who lived there felt sorry for those who didn’t—the way people on Vancouver Island feel sorry for central Albertans. Unfortunately this arrogance had also spilled into the church. Some in the Corinthian congregation were well to do. They were proud of this fact and made a show of their wealth even at church. Other members liked to brag about how much of the Bible they knew and understood while looking down on others who were just learning the basics. To put matters into perspective for these braggarts, however, the Apostle Paul said: “Brothers, 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. 27 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. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
The fact was not many of the members in Corinth had much to boast about. Most were not rich. Most were not the movers and shakers in society or the trendsetters. Instead they were slaves or blue collar workers. Doesn’t that sound a bit like our congregation? I haven’t seen any of you interviewed in the newspaper because some journalist thought that our city would be interested in your views. Sure, you live in decent homes, but nothing a magazine would want a picture of. And although our new church building is a big upgrade from what we had, it’s not a cathedral. If this congregation was really influential and rich, wouldn’t we have been able to afford to build an even nicer and bigger sanctuary?
Perhaps this has actually always bothered you about Christianity. Why aren’t more famous and powerful people Christians? Why don’t we have any PhDs as members of St. Peter’s? The capital region must be crawling with them considering the number of universities there are. Instead most academics, politicians, and entertainers love to make fun of Christians. “You believe God created the world in six days? You really think Jesus was born of a virgin? You say he rose from the dead and is coming again? Go ahead and hold on to those superstitions if you have to. Smart and self-made people like us don’t need such a crutch.”
What can Christians offer as a response? Only the truth that Paul shared with us today. God intentionally chose “lowly” people to be members of his family. He did this lest we be tempted to boast that the reason God chose us is because he needed our smarts or our money and influence. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just look at the men Jesus chose to be his twelve disciples. Out of the twelve, Matthew was probably the only CEO type. But as a tax collector he would have been reviled by the people as a cheat and a traitor for working for the Romans. No, Jesus didn’t choose the disciples because he needed them, they needed Jesus! And so do you and I. Paul makes that point when he said: “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. 31 Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:30, 31).
We need Jesus because it is he and nothing else that makes us wise in God’s eyes. For it is through Jesus that God gives us righteousness and redemption. Let’s marvel at those gifts in the context of the baptism. I love baptizing babies. They’re so perfectly cute with their ten tiny fingers and little button noses. There’s nothing to dislike about them. Babies don’t talk back. They don’t roll their eyes at you in disgust. They’re beautiful like a delicate snowflake that has just floated down from the heavens: pure and perfect. Only snowflakes aren’t pure. At the center of every snowflake is a piece of dirt around which the ice crystal has formed.
It was the same with you when you were born. You may have looked perfectly pure to your parents and grandparents, but at the center of your being was this dark thing called sin. It had been passed on to you by your parents who in turn inherited it from their parents. It’s this sin so centered in our being that makes us defects God ought to reject out of hand. I mean you wouldn’t knowingly buy a computer infected with a virus would you? But instead of taking us rebellious sinners between thumb and forefinger to snuff us out as easily as you can destroy a snowflake that way, God cupped us in his hands and took us to his heart. We see that happen in real time whenever there is a baptism. Through baptism God gives us righteousness—the real purity which belongs to his holy Son, Jesus. Now at the center of our being is not sin but our Savior. Oh the sin is still there, but it is no longer what defines us who are baptized.
But if God loves us this much, if he went through the trouble and the heartache of shedding his Son’s blood so that we would be washed clean of sin, why aren’t more of us Christians rich and famous and well respected by society? Because God knows how those gifts can easily go to our head so that we would forget our Savior. Because you are smart, even though the world may not think so, commit to memory the passage that the Apostle Paul quoted in part from the Old Testament book of Jeremiah. It goes like this: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:23, 24).
Doesn’t that passage put it all into perspective? What’s the point of boasting about your wisdom when dementia or a hard knock to the head can take it away? What’s the point of boasting about strength when at any time a tiny virus can bring you to your knees…permanently? And what’s the point of boasting in riches when a single pink slip from the boss can make that blessing a distant memory? No, if you must boast, boast in this: through your baptism and the working of the Holy Spirit, God has given you knowledge and faith in his love. And that faith in turn connects you to the eternal riches and joys of heaven.
But think of how slow we are to appreciate this awesome truth. We get excited by a cash bonus from work, but groan when an extra worship or Bible study opportunity is offered us. We delight that our children can read and know their times table before other kids their age, but aren’t bothered all that much by their lack of Bible knowledge. Sin may no longer be at the center of our being thanks to baptism, but it hasn’t given up the fight for our soul. So use the time and energy God has given you here in this world to strengthen your bond with him because your God of love is the only thing worth boasting about. For only he, through Jesus, has the power to bring you home to heaven.
I don’t suppose President Trump is going to quit his boasting ways any time soon. So wouldn’t it be something if he said, “President of the United States? One of the richest men in the world? Sure that’s nice, but it doesn’t compare to what God has given to me in Jesus!” May God work such a boast in President Trump and also in us when people point to our earthly successes! For our greatest blessing, our biggest boast is our Lord Jesus. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
What sinful attitude had infiltrated the church in the Greek city of Corinth?
In what way(s) was the Corinthian congregation like our own congregation as to the kind of members it had?
Respond with help from the sermon text. “If Christianity is true, then more people, especially smarter and more influential people, would become Christians.”
Paul said that Jesus is our wisdom from God. Explain what he meant so that a first grader could understand you.
Paul reminds us that the only thing worth boasting about is our God-given faith in Jesus. However, we often end up boasting about other things. List three things you tend to boast about (whether aloud or simply to yourself) and ask God to help you put those blessings into proper perspective.
Work with your family to commit this Bible passage to memory this week.
“This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:23, 24).
