Epiphany 1 – The Baptism of our Lord January 8, 2023
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Foolish Christians!
v.26-27 For considers your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 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…
Dear friends in Christ, the world looks at us and our belief in Jesus as the Saviour of the world as though we are a bunch of fools. In our postmodern western society, the notion that there is a singular powerful deity who created all things and to whom all people are responsible for their moral shortcomings seems to be utterly ridiculous. This scorn is, of course, nothing new for us Christians. Indeed the second century Greek philosopher, Celsus, was an outspoken advocate against Christians—considering them to be supremely stupid people. He wrote of the Christians:
Their injunctions are like this: "Let no one educated, no one wise, no one sensible draw near. For these abilities are thought by us [Christians] to be evils. But as for 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 they want and are able to convince only the foolish, dishonourable and stupid, and only slaves, women, and children.
Of course, dear friends, this a gross mischaracterization of the Christian Gospel. For Paul does not say to the Corinthian Christian congregation "none of you were wise according to worldly standards, none of you were powerful, none of you were of noble birth," but rather "not many." To be sure, all people are welcomed by our God into His holy family, the church, including both the foolish and the wise, the weak and the powerful, the ordinary and the noble. And the great good news is that He does so, even though we are completely unworthy.
The fact is that many of the Corinthian Christians were either slaves or freed slaves, and so were looked down upon by most of the society around them. We, too, today are looked upon by the world as foolish, ignorant people for believing the Scriptures' account of God working in and through Christ Jesus to save us from our sin. Sometimes, they will say that if we were more educated then we would know better. Sadly, you and I know that the statistics for Christians retaining their faith after entering the hostile secular realm of the university education system are rather grim. Many young Christians have had their faith shaken, and worse yet, even destroyed, by the hounding of their professors and classmates who challenge their faith.
Does this mean that we should steer clear of university education for our children? Of course not. But it does mean that we need to do a better job of preparing them prior to sending them away, and make sure that while they are gone (if they are far from home) that they are connected to a local church where they can hear and receive God's gifts and be strengthened in their faith.
And when we are tested, we need to remember St. Paul's words here. That God specifically chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He chose the seemingly idiotic idea of sending His own beloved Son to suffer and die on the cross in order to redeem those who are enslaved to sin and death. God chose His Son to be the wisdom that we need. This is why "no human being might boast in the presence of God." For our wisdom and power and achievements earn us nothing toward our salvation. Only clinging to the cross of Jesus grants us forgiveness for our sins and everlasting life and salvation.
There simply is no room for boasting before God because the Christian has received their whole existence in Christ from God in the first place. For He "became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification and redemption…" And, as Paul says in Galatians (3:26), "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." Beloved, what joy and comfort and peace this gives to us. In Christ, we have received everything from God. Through our Baptism into the body of Christ—He is our wisdom—all the treasures of divine wisdom are bound up in Christ and on display in the foolish and weak act of His crucifixion—and our preaching about it.
Beloved, through faith, you have received the righteousness of Christ—the Passover Lamb who covers your sins with His blood. All that you have done against God's Word and God's will—is wiped clean by this precious blood of Jesus outpoured for you on the cross. Furthermore, you have received the sanctification (the holiness) of God in Christ. Your guilt has been taken away and your sin atoned for—received freely in your Baptism into the triune name of God. But none of these gifts could have been given to you without the gift of redemption. You have been redeemed (bought back from sin and death) by the spilling of the blood of Jesus.
Therefore, instead of boasting of your own wisdom or intellectual achievements—the Christian is directed to the wisdom of Another—Jesus Christ. Only by being in Christ and having that alien wisdom conferred on you as a cover for your own foolishness and sin, do you, the Christian, gain the wisdom that is actually God pleasing—the wisdom that is faith in Jesus' work on the cross to forgive your sin and grant you life.
Nowhere is this foolish and weak act of God toward the Christian more on display than in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism—particularly for infants. Anyone can see how Baptism is not the baby's own doing—they cannot walk, they cannot talk, they cannot move or do anything of their own will. They are completely passive. Yet in Baptism (of both children and adults) God works a mighty miracle: He cleanses from all sin, bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit (creating and sustaining faith in Christ), and grants the treasure of eternal life to the baptized. Who, then, is doing the action or the work in Baptism? It is not the one being baptized, but rather God Almighty. He alone has the power to remove the devil from your stubborn heart. He alone has the ability to grant you the grace to believe and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. He alone can change your heart from an unbelieving, scorning stubborn heart of dead stone, to one of living flesh—alive with the Spirit of God through faith in Christ.
So thanks be to God, dear friends, that "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong…" For in so doing, God has demonstrated His great love and care for us in Christ Jesus—He who was baptized into our sin in the Jordan and carried it to the cross for us. We sinful human beings cannot boast in the presence of God. As Christians we would never dare to do so. For we know and trust and believe that our salvation from start to finish rests securely in the nail-pierced hands of Jesus. And so we who boast, boast only in the Lord. And if the world mocks and ridicules us for our faith—so be it. We will continue to reach out to them in Christian love and charity so that they too may hear the "foolish" wisdom of God that has so dramatically impacted our lives with the saving grace of Jesus. For by God's grace, we ARE fools. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Foolish Christians!
v.26-27 For considers your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 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…
Dear friends in Christ, the world looks at us and our belief in Jesus as the Saviour of the world as though we are a bunch of fools. In our postmodern western society, the notion that there is a singular powerful deity who created all things and to whom all people are responsible for their moral shortcomings seems to be utterly ridiculous. This scorn is, of course, nothing new for us Christians. Indeed the second century Greek philosopher, Celsus, was an outspoken advocate against Christians—considering them to be supremely stupid people. He wrote of the Christians:
Their injunctions are like this: "Let no one educated, no one wise, no one sensible draw near. For these abilities are thought by us [Christians] to be evils. But as for 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 they want and are able to convince only the foolish, dishonourable and stupid, and only slaves, women, and children.
Of course, dear friends, this a gross mischaracterization of the Christian Gospel. For Paul does not say to the Corinthian Christian congregation "none of you were wise according to worldly standards, none of you were powerful, none of you were of noble birth," but rather "not many." To be sure, all people are welcomed by our God into His holy family, the church, including both the foolish and the wise, the weak and the powerful, the ordinary and the noble. And the great good news is that He does so, even though we are completely unworthy.
The fact is that many of the Corinthian Christians were either slaves or freed slaves, and so were looked down upon by most of the society around them. We, too, today are looked upon by the world as foolish, ignorant people for believing the Scriptures' account of God working in and through Christ Jesus to save us from our sin. Sometimes, they will say that if we were more educated then we would know better. Sadly, you and I know that the statistics for Christians retaining their faith after entering the hostile secular realm of the university education system are rather grim. Many young Christians have had their faith shaken, and worse yet, even destroyed, by the hounding of their professors and classmates who challenge their faith.
Does this mean that we should steer clear of university education for our children? Of course not. But it does mean that we need to do a better job of preparing them prior to sending them away, and make sure that while they are gone (if they are far from home) that they are connected to a local church where they can hear and receive God's gifts and be strengthened in their faith.
And when we are tested, we need to remember St. Paul's words here. That God specifically chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He chose the seemingly idiotic idea of sending His own beloved Son to suffer and die on the cross in order to redeem those who are enslaved to sin and death. God chose His Son to be the wisdom that we need. This is why "no human being might boast in the presence of God." For our wisdom and power and achievements earn us nothing toward our salvation. Only clinging to the cross of Jesus grants us forgiveness for our sins and everlasting life and salvation.
There simply is no room for boasting before God because the Christian has received their whole existence in Christ from God in the first place. For He "became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification and redemption…" And, as Paul says in Galatians (3:26), "for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." Beloved, what joy and comfort and peace this gives to us. In Christ, we have received everything from God. Through our Baptism into the body of Christ—He is our wisdom—all the treasures of divine wisdom are bound up in Christ and on display in the foolish and weak act of His crucifixion—and our preaching about it.
Beloved, through faith, you have received the righteousness of Christ—the Passover Lamb who covers your sins with His blood. All that you have done against God's Word and God's will—is wiped clean by this precious blood of Jesus outpoured for you on the cross. Furthermore, you have received the sanctification (the holiness) of God in Christ. Your guilt has been taken away and your sin atoned for—received freely in your Baptism into the triune name of God. But none of these gifts could have been given to you without the gift of redemption. You have been redeemed (bought back from sin and death) by the spilling of the blood of Jesus.
Therefore, instead of boasting of your own wisdom or intellectual achievements—the Christian is directed to the wisdom of Another—Jesus Christ. Only by being in Christ and having that alien wisdom conferred on you as a cover for your own foolishness and sin, do you, the Christian, gain the wisdom that is actually God pleasing—the wisdom that is faith in Jesus' work on the cross to forgive your sin and grant you life.
Nowhere is this foolish and weak act of God toward the Christian more on display than in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism—particularly for infants. Anyone can see how Baptism is not the baby's own doing—they cannot walk, they cannot talk, they cannot move or do anything of their own will. They are completely passive. Yet in Baptism (of both children and adults) God works a mighty miracle: He cleanses from all sin, bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit (creating and sustaining faith in Christ), and grants the treasure of eternal life to the baptized. Who, then, is doing the action or the work in Baptism? It is not the one being baptized, but rather God Almighty. He alone has the power to remove the devil from your stubborn heart. He alone has the ability to grant you the grace to believe and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. He alone can change your heart from an unbelieving, scorning stubborn heart of dead stone, to one of living flesh—alive with the Spirit of God through faith in Christ.
So thanks be to God, dear friends, that "God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong…" For in so doing, God has demonstrated His great love and care for us in Christ Jesus—He who was baptized into our sin in the Jordan and carried it to the cross for us. We sinful human beings cannot boast in the presence of God. As Christians we would never dare to do so. For we know and trust and believe that our salvation from start to finish rests securely in the nail-pierced hands of Jesus. And so we who boast, boast only in the Lord. And if the world mocks and ridicules us for our faith—so be it. We will continue to reach out to them in Christian love and charity so that they too may hear the "foolish" wisdom of God that has so dramatically impacted our lives with the saving grace of Jesus. For by God's grace, we ARE fools. Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.