Boast in the Lord

1 Cornthians 1:18-31 Micah 6:1-8 Year A 4th Sunday of Epiphany January 30, 2011 Today I want to start exactly where we left off last week. If you look in Corinthians – our scripture does the same thing. “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Christianity is the only religion that celebrates the death of its leader. The jews would be appalled for the messiah to die on the cross. Muslim scripture denies the death of Christ, Hindus explain death away, and say that it did not really happen. 3/4th of the scripture of the new testament go into detail about Christ dying on the cross and what it means to those who are faithful to that event. For the world – the story of the cross s foolishness, but for those of us who are being saved – it is the story of our salvation. The cross is one of the simplest symbols in the world. A vertical line and a horizontal line. It is easier for a child to draw a cross then it is to draw a circle. Some say that the cross is a symbol of life, of the intersection between the holy and the world. It has been a symbol of God for times even before Christianity. But what does it really mean? Paul would say that it depends on who you are talking to. For the romans the cross was a symbol of shame. A form of death reserved for only the vialiest and most resented criminals. Intended to be a form of torture on a symbol of shame. For us, hopefully it is the exact opposite. It is the place where Christ lost his life, so that we could have ours. It is the place where Christ went to suffer on our behalf, so that we could be free tolive and enjoy salvation. It is the place where Christ conquered shame and hatred, and death so that we could have life. A writer tells of the time he was traveling – and went to a mcdonalds. He noticed that the server had on a beautiful cross. He complimented her – she said thank you- but told him that it was not the cross that was important. It was the man who died on it for her. The man who rose from the grave to wash away her sins and give her life. For this man, and all who saw her cross, she became a living testimony of what God can do in all of our lives. The cross was her wisdom. Paul’s lesson for us today is the difference between foolishness and wisdom. As a community called out and blessed by God, what do we consider wisdom and what do we consider foolishness. The congregation at Corinth was a young congregation, finding it identity, its mission and purpose. Fully dependent on the gifts that God had given them to work with. This was also a congregation of learned people. People who valued education, who kept up with current events, who knew and understood all of the latest philosophies of the day. And who unfortunately did not have a problem letting other people know how much they valued the world of ideas. Paul had to remind them that education and high ideals were great. And yet that was not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not concerned about how smart we are- whether it be street knowledge or book knowledge. Jesus cares about the condition of our hearts. That may be foolishness to the rest of the world, but for us it is the power of our salvation. A man worked as a case manager in a very poor neighborhood. He did not make a lot of money, but enough to take care of himself. He drove a pretty modest car, but at least it was paid for. It was a little old and in need of repair. Some costly repairs as a matter of fact. Repairs that he could not afford. Since he could not drive his car to work – his brother gave him a brand new Jaguar, complete with gold rims. In actuality, probably not the kind of car that you would drive to work everyday if you worked in Englewood. One day, he had to make a home visit. When he parked his car, he noticed a young boy on crutches on the stoop next door. On the man’s way out, the little boy struck a conversation with him. That’s a really nice car. Thank you said the man. Did you buy it? No it was a gift from my brother. Your brother just gave you that car? Yes, I am really blessed, my brother gave me this car. Wow – said the little boy – I wish I could be a brother like that. We would expect this boy to say that he wished that he had a brother like that, I know I wish I had a brother like that, even though I don’t know if I would want the car – insurance on the car that I have doubled the closer moved to Chicago. At one point my insurance payment was half as much as my car payment. But anyway…. The point being – our ways are not God’s ways. The values of common sense are just the opposite of God;s values. When we want to care about the kindness that others give to us, God ask us to care about the kindness that we can give to others. Paul says that God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. He does that so that if we chose to brag, then we need to brag on the things of God, not on ourselves and our own knowledge. Things that stand in the way of us living out our mission and purpose in Christ……forgetting that the source of all of our blessings is the grace of God, not our own work. And that God blesses us to be a blessing to others. If you are going to brag about anything that you have, including knowledge brag in the Lord, not in yourself. We can be grateful that we are called out – and in the community of the righteous. And God shows time and time again that God is always on the side of the righteous. God calls us always to be the righteous in the world. Micah is God’s lawsuit against his people. Scripture never really says what they did wrong. But you can imagine. They forgot who they were. They forgot they were the righteous of God. They got caught up in their own understanding. They forgot to boast in the lord. God gives the people a summons to court – and I love it- he tells them to plead their case to the mountains and the hills. Nature has never done wrong by God, it serves as a fair judge of our behavior, right or wrong. Another powerful message of the text that god doesn’t need your sacrifices, your offerings, or even your first born child. If you give all of that and you forgive to give you heart- it really doesn’t matter. John was tall for his age. Even in grade school, he towered over his classmates by three or four inches. He was also clever and excelled in his school work. John loved to read, and numbers fitted themselves together in his head without him really thinking about them, so he was good at both Maths and English. Everybody adored John. His teachers were delighted to have someone so talented at school, who would boost the school's SATS results. His classmates loved him too. He was fun to be with, and when they were all stuck for an answer during lessons, John could be relied upon to save the day. And John's Mum and Dad were very proud of John. He was clever enough to go into any job he wanted when he grew up and he would be certain to make lots of money. Jane struggled. She was a little on the plump side and she hated sports, which always made her puff and pant. She was dyslexic, so she struggled in class, too. The words on her page refused to stand still when she looked at them and when they danced all over the page, she couldn't understand what they said. Reading was a huge effort, but Jane persevered and struggled on. Mostly Jane kept herself in the background. She was content with her own company but very willing to listen to other people if they wanted to talk. Sometimes she'd spot children who were unhappy, and wander over just to talk to them and gradually people would drift in her direction if they needed someone to listen to their woes. Jane wasn't a very exciting person. Her parents loved her dearly, but they feared for her future. What sort of a job would she get when her reading was so poor and all she could do was to help other people? She would never make any money. When John grew up he became the owner of a string of shops. He became a famous businessman who was always invited to exotic parties and he lived in a huge house with its own gym and swimming pool which he used to keep himself fit. He moored his boat in the channel at the bottom of his garden and often used his boat to spend time away from all the stress of his life. When Jane grew up she became a Carer. She used to go into other people's homes when they were so old or so sick that they couldn't manage by themselves. Jane would help them to get out of bed or to dress or she would cook a meal for them. It wasn't a very well paid job and Jane never earned enough to buy a house of her own, but she was happy in her work. She liked being with other people and she enjoyed caring for them. And she had a nice little flat which the Council provided at a rent she could just about afford. When both Jane and John saw news of terrible flooding in one of the very poor countries of the world, neither of them hesitated. John immediately fished out his cheque book and wrote a cheque for £50,000 for the relief fund. Jane went along to the relief fund's headquarters and offered her services. She was put to work sorting through old clothes which people had given. It was a boring and backbreaking job, but Jane worked with a will, because she knew that her efforts would help that poor country. Later, John received a medal for his efforts and became Sir John. Jane received nothing for her efforts but she was happy, for she knew she was especially blessed by God. Which Had God’s favor- they both did. Which was a righteous person? They both were. The real Question is how is our relationship with God. God asks the people - what have I done to you that you have walked away from me? That you forget what you are supposed to do and how you are supposed to live. What does the lord require of you? Sacrifice, or a righteous heart. The Lord requires of us to do justice, love kindness and to walk humbly with God. Mishput, hesed, and halak. The qualities of God- that God asks for us to live out in our lives. Justice, kindness and humble faithfulness are not just things that we do, it is not just who we are, not just how we live. But church it is also the environment that we create around us, in the sanctuary and without it. It is what we demand of ourselves and of everyone around us. It is what we defend and what we we give. It is our way to the cross, and beyond….. Let us pray…..