"God Chooses What is Lowest and Least" Jan. 30, 2010

(audio version: click here) "God Chooses What is Lowest and Least" -- 1 Corinthians 1:18-31  Matthew 5:1-12

I've preached lots of sermons. What difference has it made?
How many times have you been to church? What difference has it made? What's holding us back?
Paul called it the foolishness of what we preach. Not because it's silly, but because the message is hard to stomach. Follow someone executed as a criminal. When Jesus is teaching us how to follow, he says, find blessing in hunger and thirst, and grief, of being despised. A much more palatable message would be telling us how to be happy, how to have money and health. A message that many preachers will offer instead. A message that will make us comfortable. Paul says, We preach Christ crucified. A scandal to the Jews and foolishness to Greeks. The Jewish faith taught that anyone crucified was cursed by God. Greek philosophers sought a middle way, a reasonable approach to life and religion, that had room for all views.
"Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human 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; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God." 1 Corinthians 1:26-29
Compared to Corinth, many of us are wise, many of us are powerful, and some of us are even of noble birth. Of course we don't boast about our education, or success, but we're proud of it. How are we to listen to Paul and Jesus?
In a culture where the eldest son was supposed to be the favored one, inheriting twice as much as the other sons, God chooses what is lowest and least. God preferred Abel the younger brother of Cain; God smiled when Jacob tricked his older brother Esau out of the inheritance, and the story of God's favor is traced through Joseph (the eleventh of twelve sons of Jacob/Israel), David (the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse).
Here we are, a church of eldest children! Cautious. Afraid to fail. Invested in what we have and afraid to lose it. (Speak for yourself, Jack!)
Why did Jesus like the tax collectors, prostitutes, etc.? Because they had nothing to lose. They were not afraid to fail.
On this Sunday when we review the year recently completed, it’s tempting to look for the successes, the improvements, the signs that we’re doing well. But Paul and Jesus and Micah might undermine us. Paul says, Don’t boast about anything except Christ and him crucified. Jesus says, “You are blest when everything goes wrong.” Micah says God is not pleased with success. God does not desire sacrifice. The only thing God wants is for us to DO JUSTICE, LOVE KINDNESS, and WALK HUMBLY WITH OUR GOD.
Tuesday, Susan Andrews spoke to the Presbytery
What would it look like for Hudson River Presbytery to follow Jesus by taking risks? Could we consolidate buildings and increase our mission in the community? Could we embrace our immigrant neighbors, welcoming worshippers not like us, and nesting cross-cultural congregations in our buildings? Can we diversify our music and relax our structures and soften our institutional rigidity enough to attract the imagination and passions of young adults? What would it mean to proclaim Good News to the poor and liberty for the oppressed in a world where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer? How can we love our enemies and be blessed as peacemakers in a country with the greatest amount of gun violence in the world? The new does not come without risk. And risk is the gateway to a fresh church and a fresh presbytery.
Our ego seeks the path of "greatness," but God chooses and uses the least among us to show us the Way to true humanity. Not the powerful politician, or the American Idol, but the least of these shows us the way.
The gospel is not what you thought it was. The love of God is broader and more inclusive than even we broad-minded and inclusive Presbyterians can imagine. The embrace of Jesus Christ is far wider than we reflect on Sunday morning. It's not our strength or wisdom of power that impresses God.
Some years ago, a church member came to me asking "What is the purpose of my life?" … She was facing retirement. … She felt trapped… Her issues had to do with the basic issues of turning sixty, having thrown herself into her business and lost herself in the chaos and stress. …She was at sea.
How I wish my faith allowed me to pull out a book like Rick Warren's "Purpose-driven Life." As though just reading the Bible could tell us what to do! I suggested that she explore the idea of doing nothing. That she allow herself to feel whatever comes up, think whatever thoughts arise. Maybe get into therapy again, try meditation. In the end, she took the risk of relationship and adjusted to retirement. … She invested herself in being a grandmother. And she created her own purpose by choosing the simplest, most ordinary things of life. It was not her strength but her weakness that led to real meaning in life.
On Tuesday, our worship service included a re-dedication to the simple and blessed purposes of the church. Let me ask you to pray with me as we offer what is lowest and least in ourselves to be used by God. Let us pray.
Imaginative God, you call us to refresh and renew our commitment to be the Body of Christ.
We commit to proclaiming the Good News with zeal and joy.
We commit to welcoming strangers with grace and enthusiasm.
We commit to doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with you, our God.
We commit to “practicing resurrection” with passion and partnership in a changing world.
We commit to becoming the “provisional demonstration of what God intends for all humanity.”
We commit to being the Church of Jesus Christ “even at the risk of losing our own lives.”
Amen.
--Jack Lohr, Interim Pastor