Day 5
1 Corinthians 1:26-27
26 Brothers and sisters 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.
The first time I read this passage I actually took offense to it. I thought, “Wait a minute, did Paul just call me a fool?” I’d much rather be referred to as wise rather than foolish. Fortunately, I reread it and realized, “Yep that’s what it said!”
God chooses the foolish things of this world to shame the strong and wise. Of course, we have to define what we mean by foolish, wise and strong. Paul speaks of human standards when he speaks of strength and wisdom. The world looks upon things from a very specific point of view. If you are strong and powerful, you are influential and important. If you are wise, then you can climb to the heights of success and power. Everything, or everyone else is just a fool.
Enter Jesus. A carpenter’s son, from a backwater village. Nothing to look at, nothing special on the surface. Never rose through the ranks of society, or joined the ruling councils of the day. He was scorned by the powerful and despised by the influential and yet somehow He put them all to shame. Through his love, mercy, grace and truth, Jesus shamed the strong and wise by human standards and lifted up those whom God loved. The poor, the weak, the defenseless. Those who possessed no wealth but faith. He built a kingdom from the dregs of society and made leaders of fishermen. This kingdom has gone on to cause the rise and fall of many persons and nations. His teaching continue to be disparaged as myth or mere philosophy, but His words continue to change the lives of thousands and reshape the face of eternity.
David was nothing but a shepherd who was chosen to be king. You and I were nothing but sinners chosen to be children of God. David rose to the crown because God lifted a humble boy up. We rise to a new life humble enough to see that our old one needed to be crucified. David was far from perfect, but that was never the criteria God used to choose his king. We are sinners through and through, and yet God has chosen to love us through and through.
God has taken the foolish things of this world, like you and me, to build His kingdom and shame the wise and strong and powerful through love and following Jesus.
