“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly 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, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)
Paul has us focusing on the cross prior as we prepare our hearts for Easter. Last week we looked at verses 18-25 and we saw that the cross of Christ divides all of human race into two. And the words just before the text we’ve read this morning are important for us here. I want to call your attention to them. Last week we dealt with “Why People see the Cross as Useless” and this is still an idea in front of us – is there power of the cross of Christ. The cross’ power is not that of sheer force or a big battalions that forces itself upon you. Instead, the power of Christ’s cross is effective for transforming lives by God’s grace. God has chosen to use the cross as a tool to transform people. And it’s an unexpected tool for the majority of the human race.
The cross is full of irony. Irony expresses meaning by using what normally means the opposite of what is actually being said. The cross is ironic because the King who is mocked as King is the King. On the cross, people hail Him as the King of the Jews (Matthew 27:27-31). The cross is ironic because the Man who is Utterly powerless is ultimately Powerful. The practice of Roman crucifixion was to leave the vertical beam in the ground – usually near a public crossroads so that many people as possible could witness the torment and learn to fear Rome.
Christ carried the horizontal beam (as was the custom) with Him to the cross. Yet, He was so weak that He could not even manage to carry this chunk of wood on His shoulders to the place of execution. They mocked Him because He told others He could have destroyed the Temple (Matthew 27:39-40).
Where was His power when He needed it? The irony of the cross doesn’t escape the Apostle Paul either. The power of Christ’s cross is folly to those who have the tapped into today’s wisdom. Few people see the cross as effective in our day or in any day for that matter. They may see the cross as a fairy tale… or they may even see the cross as historically true… but Christ’s cross is still seen as ineffective to deal with the hard realities of life. What many see as a tool of transformation much of the world sees the cross as utterly useless. Last week, the focus was on God’s tool to save – the cross of Christ and the majority of people who reject it. This week, the focus is on God’s people who embrace the cross of Christ. The text turns its attention away from those who reject the message to those who accept the message of the cross
1. God is Not a Snob
A wife worried for half an hour that her husband and her wouldn’t get on an overbooked flight. Eventually, they were summoned were summoned to the check-in desk. A smiling agent whispered that this was their lucky day. In order to get them on the plane the agent bumped them up to first class. This was the first and only time they had been so pampered on an airplane. They enjoyed good food, hot coffee, plenty of elbowroom. The husband and wife played a little game, trying to guess who else didn’t belong in first class. One man stuck out. He padded around the cabin in his socks, restlessly sampling magazines, playing with but never actually using the in-flight phones. And when the attendant brought linen tablecloths for our breakfast trays, he tucked his into his collar as a bib. We see misfits all around us — people who obviously don’t belong, people who embarrass us and cause us to feel superior.
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” (1 Corinthians 1:26)
Paul is writing to the church he had started. He knows these people. He had spent eighteen months diligently working to see the Gospel take off in Roman city of Corinth. Paul reminds his readers of the facts. Paul uses the word “calling” as we would refer to the time when a person was saved or converted. The word calling underscores God’s summons to faith. God’s calling is much like a subpoena to come not to court but to faith in Christ. So, he reminds them of who they were when they were converted. In verse twenty-six, he speaks of their social status. He says that most (but not all) were social nothings: “not many were powerful…” The power Paul has in mind is not the power of weight lifting but the influential power a person with clout.: “not many of you were wise according to worldly standards…” and “not many were of noble birth.” The “rich man” becomes the man of noble birth in the days prior to industry and factories. Historically, the rich largely sprang from upper classes.
Such men as Crispus (1 Corinthians 1:14) and Sosthenes probably suffered considerable social loss once they became followers of Christ. Why? Because they associated with the outcasts of society through the church. The people who made the Corinth church were made up of people from a wide range of backgrounds. A few of them were powerful and wealthy. Yet, most of them could not boast of any great cultural superiority. They had no reason to congratulate themselves on political, intellectual, or social achievements. They were people of humble origins. Paul calls attention to their social standing for good reason. He tells us to place your social standing in your mind’s eye. The cross is still full of irony nearly 2,000 years later. The cross is represents the great reversal of all that the outside world holds true. The cross is largely embraced by social nothings even in our day. The Cross is not accepted by the Hollywood types… nor is accepted by the glamorous or the gifted… Instead, the cross is still largely accepted by the nobodies.
An early critic of Christianity, Celsus, sneers at the early Christians’ typical sermon: “…anyone ignorant, anyone stupid, anyone uneducated, anyone who is a child, let him come boldly. By the fact that they themselves admit that these people are worthy of their God, they show that … are able to convince only the foolish, dishonourable and stupid, and only slaves, women, and children.” The cross is still full of irony nearly 2,000 years later. Karl Marx called religion the “opiate of the people” just a little more than century ago. According to Marx, religion was designed for people who lacked self-esteem. The cross is represents the great reversal of all that the outside world holds true. It’s because of the cross that: “whoever would be great among you must be your servant…” (Matthew 20:26) The cross is the great reversal. Whatever the outside world uses as its criteria of value, God doesn’t prize.
2. God Works So that Only God Matters
“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, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are…” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28) Note the words “God chose” is repeated three times in just two verses. Notice the objects of God’s choosing: “what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” “what is weak in the world to shame the strong” and “what is low and despised in the world”
In verse 27, the word is “shame” or perhaps your translation has the word “confound.” The word literally means to blush. God chose the cross in order to make the “wise” on the outside blush with shame. He chose the cross to elevate the weak and lowly to share those who are mighty. God’s deliberate choosing was to work to negate those who felt they had “pull.”
Again, nobodies are given preferential treatment. Why? See verse 29: “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:29). God acts this way in order to shatter all human boasting. What was said of Christianity in the first century isn’t always true to modern people who look at Christians from the outside.
Nikon from Great Britain asks on Yahoo’s Answers: “Why are so many of his followers people who have access to T.V., newspapers etc. Why is his word so strong in countries such as America, amongst suburbanites with a relatively comfortable lifestyle? Why has he chosen to make his word so much more accessible to Americans in particular? Wouldn't you think if he had mighty powers that he would be in darkest Africa, refugee camps, areas where people are starving? Did he just choose the easy option?” One response to Nikon was insightful: “Australia was the place where prisoners were sent and Christianity was popular there because it caters the weak and hurt, the politically incorrect, the outcasts”
Jesus chose to eat with the social outcasts. Jesus had no place to lay His head (Matthew 11:20). Jesus repeatedly told parables about a great banquet where the people invited were not the insiders but the outsiders. Jesus chose to hang with the tax collectors rather than those of status and achievement. Again, God acts to shatter all human boasting.
Can a comfortable lifestyle negate the hearing of the Gospel? God doesn’t prize the Oscars tonight. And He will not prostitute His Son by approaching those who win the world’s great honors to advertise for Him. Therefore, God works so that only God matters. Big shots are not His primary priority. He doesn’t need star athletes to come to Christ to accomplish His agenda.
“I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”
(Isaiah 42:8)
“For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”
(Isaiah 48:11)
God’s great action is the cross. Look at verse thirty: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus…” (1 Corinthians 1:30a) God trashes all human pretensions through His Son’s odious death via capital punishment. His most dazzling and powerful deed is the scandalous death on the cross. It’s not intended to be embraced only the by the beautiful people or the rich and powerful. Why? Again, because of verse 29: “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:29)
Boasting or bragging is excluded because it elevates you to the pinnacle of importance. It’s sad to say this, but religion is a great place to do just this – to brag about one’s morality. This sort of boasting is done to puff yourself up. God doesn’t tolerate competitors. Unlike the NFL, He doesn’t desire parity. He desires worship. And He’ll have it. The text emphasizes God’s choosing and God’s calling… in order to tell us that God has His way regardless of human achievement. Again, verse 30: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus…” (1 Corinthians 1:30a) Or, in other words, it’s by God’s act that you are a believer in Christ. In Acts 26, Paul is telling the story of how he came to Christ to Agrippa.
In verse fourteen, he says: “I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”(Acts 26:14b) A large percentage of people in the first century were tillers of the soil. Oxen were used to work the soil. The prick or goad was a necessary devise. The prick was usually a wooden shaft with a pointed spike (prick) at one end. The man working the ox would position the goad in such a way as to exert influence and control over the ox. If the ox refused the command indicated by the farmer, the goad would be used to jab or prick the ox. Sometimes the ox would refuse this incentive by kicking out at the prick. As result, the prick would be driven deeper into the flesh of the rebellious animal. The more the animal rebelled, the more the animal suffered. Hence, the statement to Saul: “It is hard for thee to kick against the goads.” Saul was rebelling against God. God’s calling and God’s choosing excludes human bragging.
This is the message of the Cross… it turns the world upside down… it reverses everything the outside world values. God works so that only God matters. If God worked on like the immigration department of many countries -- where the more education… the more skills…. the more sophistication and wealth you have… the easier it is to get in. If God worked the cross this way, then you would have a legitimate ground for boasting. But God acts so no one can boast. God acts in order that people delight in Him. God acts in order that place God as their center. God acts in order that boast in Him. The wise men will bow down before His throne: “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” (Romans 3:27)
Think of the “” as a ladder which people attempt to climb their way by moral and religious performance to God. If salvation were the Olympics, then those who are saved would be placed on the Olympic pedestals in order to receive accolades and honor. It’s easy for many of you to boast about your children or your grandchildren… your military service… the size of your home… your achievements. Ultimately, the true test of where your heart lies is whether your delight is in the generous grace of God.
