Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Big Idea: God saves unimpressive people to display his impressive power.
It is not that Jesus sees some hidden potential in you.
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
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
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
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
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.
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