Unimpressive

Contrary to what you may think, I was not an athletic kid. At recess we would frequently play football. And in typical recess fashion, we would pick teams by picking two captains. It never failed. Every single time, I would be the last kid picked. And it was worse than just being picked last. If the captain who would be stuck with me started to realize he would be stuck with me, he would start bartering with the other guy to secure a better player or two to make up for my lack of ability. I was a liability to the team!

Imagine a scenario where instead of picking the best kids first, the team captain chose me first. Imagine that he picked the least gifted and least impressive players to be on his team. That would be insane right? And a guaranteed loss. Yet, according to our text today, this is exactly what God did when he was determining who would be on his team.

We are continuing a sermon series this morning on Doormat Christianity. We are examining how we are supposed to live when people treat us poorly and walk all over us like we are doormats. Last week we looked at the reality that Jesus brought us victory through defeat, and calls us into a similar way of life. This week we will look at the kind of person that Jesus saves, as a way to help put some perspective on how we are to respond to those who wrong us and take advantage of us.

Context: Paul was writing to a church steeped in division. They were broken up into different camps based upon their favorite preacher. As such Paul wrote to correct their behavior. They needed to be reminded of the kind of message that saved them and the kind of people God saves.

The folly of the cross

1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The gospel (word of the cross) is foolish to the perishing

The word of the cross is the word about the cross. It is the message that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.

Paul says that this message is foolishness to the perishing. Consider for a moment how those who have not embraced the message of the gospel must sound to them.

The secret to victorious living and eternal life is the brutal death of some rabbi. To most, that sounds ridiculous.

It sounds ridiculous for two main reasons, both of which Paul will address.

It is ridiculous because death doesn’t normally produce life. Defeat does not lead to victory. Conquering is not achieved through submitting.

It is also ridiculous because it is not self evident. You cannot figure this message out. It must be revealed to you.

The gospel is God’s power to the saved

This same word of the cross, paradoxically is the power of God to those who have accepted its message.

We have hope that our defeats will produce victory

We have hope that our salvation is not contingent on our figuring it out

Why has God chosen to redeem his people through a message that sounds foolish to most people?

God saves through the gospel

1 Corinthians 1:19–21 ESV

For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

God destroys the wisdom of this world

God ends up shaming the wise of this world by effectively voiding everything they think that they know. None will stand on the merit of their knowledge and discernment on that last day.

God saves through a foolish message being preached

God brings salvation through the very message that the world finds foolish.

Salvation is not found through personal human effort or merit

Undoing the expectations of the world

1 Corinthians 1:22–25 ESV

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The Jews wanted a display of power, signs

Their understanding of the coming Messiah was that of a political warrior. They were looking for someone to ride in on a white horse and kick Rome in the teeth.

The Greeks wanted eloquence and reason, wisdom

The Greeks thought that the key to salvation was personal enlightenment. They were impressed by philosophy and the abilities of the human mind.

Instead the message of Christ crucified is preached

Jews stumble over the cross because it appears weak.

Jesus does the opposite of killing Rome. He gets killed by Rome!

Greeks think it is foolish because it sounds crazy

The gospel is a message about what has been done for you, not what you can do to become more enlightened.

God’s foolish methods are wiser than man’s

Even the apparent foolish actions of God in the end appear so much wiser than anything mankind could think up.

God’s weak methods are strong than man’s

Even in the weakest action of God in letting his Son be crucified, God performs an act of power infinitely stronger than anything we could do ourselves.

God is not interested in helping us save ourselves. He is interested in doing everything for us. This is apparent in who it is that God chooses to save.

God saves unimpressive people

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 ESV

For consider 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; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

God saves unimpressive people

Not wise people

Most of believers have average intellect, and even those that do were not chosen because of how wise they were.

Not powerful people

Most believers are not in positions of power. Those that are, were not chosen for how mighty they are.

Not noble people

Most believers are not in positions of nobility and fame. Those that are were not chosen for their positions of influence.

God saves foolish people to shame the wise

God saves fools to show just how foolish the wise are.

God saves weak people to shame the strong

God saves weak people to show just how weak human strength is.

God saves nobodies to shame the somebodies

God saves unimportant people to show just how unimportant the influential are.

God saves unimpressive people so that no one can boast in their own impressiveness before God

God does not save impressive people. No one struts into the presence of God. We are all nobodies, weak, foolish, and pathetic. That is the only kind of person that God will save.

See, it is not that everyone else passed over you your whole life and then Jesus comes along and notices your true, hidden potential. No, you are on Jesus’ team because you have no potential! He has all the potential.

God saves unimpressive people so that he can display how impressive he is.

Imagine we are playing basketball together and Lebron James shows up and wants to play. Now, as we are picking teams he asks for the four worst players to join him while the five best will be against him. Who will win? He will. By surrounding himself with the worst you would realize just how good he is.

God has surrounded himself with the worst possible team to show just how powerful he is. It is not about you or me. It is about him.

Our only boast

1 Corinthians 1:30–31 ESV

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Christ becomes our wisdom

In Christ we are considered wise and we grow wiser than all the sages of the earth.

Christ becomes our righteousness

In Christ we are considered righteous and we grow more righteous than all the most just people of the earth.

Christ becomes our sanctification

In Christ we are completely sanctified and we grow more holy than all the holy men of the earth.

Christ becomes our redemption

In Christ we are redeemed and we continue in that redemption through what he has done, not what we have done.

Christ does it all for us so that all we have to boast in is Christ

God saves unimpressive people to display his impressive power

God saves losers in a way that only losers would every accept his salvation.

The doormat factor

The Christian life is a call to living as a human doormat. We let others walk all over us, because Jesus let others trample him.

Now, we struggle with embracing this lifestyle in many ways. But at the root of our distaste for this sort of life is a belief that we are more impressive than we really are.

For example, when someone wrongs us we say things like...

Nobody says that to me and gets away with it

How dare she do that to me

I can’t believe he did that. Doesn’t he know who I am?

He is going to regret doing that to me.

I’m not going to get mad. I’m going to get even.

Translation: I am more important and impressive than you are treating me. You are not sharing my estimation of my value.

Here is the rub with thinking this way about ourselves. If you are a Christian then you are particularly unimpressive.

You are not above anything. You are not too good for any task or any treatment.

You have no need to show how wise you are. Christ is your wisdom. He is the one who is wise so you don’t have to be.

You have no need to show how strong you are. Christ is your strength. He has all the power, so you don’t need to worry about it.

You have no need to show how important you are. Christ is your importance. He is the one who gives you worth, not what you do.

You have no need to preserve your reputation. Christ’s is the only reputation that matters. He doesn’t need your help protecting his reputation.

If you believe you are above such a life style and if you believe you are important and impressive then Christianity will be of no use to you.

If you think you are so smart and strong and important, then you will find the good news that God saves those who are not smart enough, strong enough, noble enough to be unattractive.

If you are too good for anything, then you are too good for Christianity.

Communion

On the night that he was betrayed...

Communion remembers the sacrifice of Jesus, that God became unimpressive for us. That he became weak and did what was foolish to raise the lowly like us up.

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