The Simple Gospel of Wisdom and Power!

Reflection: Paul says, the Jews demanded a sign and the Greeks looked for wisdom, and in Christ both of them were fulfilled. Yet the people still missed Jesus as they looked in their own power and wisdom.  The people wanted to make Jesus into who they thought He should be, but in God’s wisdom the Son of God came as a simple carpenter, born of Joseph and Mary.  The people wanted a king who would come down and bring military conquest, but Jesus washed their feet.  The people wanted someone to deliver them from the Romans, and Jesus delivered them from their sin.  The people wanted someone who would speak in sophistication, and Jesus spoke in simple parables that farmers could understand.  And why was all this? Paul says so that God could show the world that in their wisdom was foolishness, and in their own strength was weakness.  It was in serving that Jesus showed his strength, and in dying on the cross that he showed true power. 

God came into the world in a way that could only be explained by Him, so that no one could boast that they had figured it out.  Paul had been trained in the highest eschelons of Jewish theology by the master teacher Gamaliel, but it was in humility and being knocked off his high horse that he met Jesus.  That is why Jesus said, “Unless you humble yourself and become like a child you cannot enter my Father’s kingdom.”

This is why when Paul came among them it was not with fine rhetoric that he tried to win them over, but a simple proclamation of the gospel that a child could understand.  Simply put, the Gospel, or Good News, is not confusing or obtuse. The Gospel is something anyone can understand if they are willing.  The simple news of the Gospel is that Jesus died for sinners like you and me. The Son of God became one of us and though sinless died on a cross, so that in him we might become right with God.  For those who are willing to accept this by faith, they can become the sons and daughters of God by God’s grace.  Born not of flesh but born of the Spirit! 

In God’s wisdom He sent His only Son.  In God’s power, He raised him from the dead when all had forsaken him and given up on him.  For us who will come to God in His wisdom and His power, we can become the children of God. In humility we can now preach the same simple message so that others who have been called may know the power and wisdom of God!  Do you believe this?

Psalm 50:1-6

A psalm of Asaph.

1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord,

    speaks and summons the earth

    from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,

    God shines forth.

3 Our God comes

    and will not be silent;

a fire devours before him,

    and around him a tempest rages.

4 He summons the heavens above,

    and the earth, that he may judge his people:

5 “Gather to me this consecrated people,

    who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,

    for he is a God of justice.

Job 20

Zophar

20 Then Zophar the Naamathite replied:

2 “My troubled thoughts prompt me to answer

    because I am greatly disturbed.

3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,

    and my understanding inspires me to reply.

4 “Surely you know how it has been from of old,

    ever since mankind was placed on the earth,

5 that the mirth of the wicked is brief,

    the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

6 Though the pride of the godless person reaches to the heavens

    and his head touches the clouds,

7 he will perish forever, like his own dung;

    those who have seen him will say, ‘Where is he?’

8 Like a dream he flies away, no more to be found,

    banished like a vision of the night.

9 The eye that saw him will not see him again;

    his place will look on him no more.

10 His children must make amends to the poor;

    his own hands must give back his wealth.

11 The youthful vigor that fills his bones

    will lie with him in the dust.

12 “Though evil is sweet in his mouth

    and he hides it under his tongue,

13 though he cannot bear to let it go

    and lets it linger in his mouth,

14 yet his food will turn sour in his stomach;

    it will become the venom of serpents within him.

15 He will spit out the riches he swallowed;

    God will make his stomach vomit them up.

16 He will suck the poison of serpents;

    the fangs of an adder will kill him.

17 He will not enjoy the streams,

    the rivers flowing with honey and cream.

18 What he toiled for he must give back uneaten;

    he will not enjoy the profit from his trading.

19 For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute;

    he has seized houses he did not build.

20 “Surely he will have no respite from his craving;

    he cannot save himself by his treasure.

21 Nothing is left for him to devour;

    his prosperity will not endure.

22 In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;

    the full force of misery will come upon him.

23 When he has filled his belly,

    God will vent his burning anger against him

    and rain down his blows on him.

24 Though he flees from an iron weapon,

    a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.

25 He pulls it out of his back,

    the gleaming point out of his liver.

Terrors will come over him;

26 total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.

A fire unfanned will consume him

    and devour what is left in his tent.

27 The heavens will expose his guilt;

    the earth will rise up against him.

28 A flood will carry off his house,

    rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.

29 Such is the fate God allots the wicked,

    the heritage appointed for them by God.”

1 Corinthians 1:21-2:2

21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

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. 28 God 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. 30 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 the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6

Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22

Heavenly Father, we pray for our churches. Mingle in our midst again and nurture us to grow – not in might or power or influence (those never seem to work out right), but in your characteristics and in the purity of our hearts. Amen.