Our time has come! All these years the world has looked down on us. They have referred to us as ignorant, uneducated, foolish, an fanatical. The world takes pride in their wealth and power. They look with disdain on us because of our faith. They try to convince us that belief in God is nothing more than an emotional crutch held on to by those who are not strong enough to stand on their own two feet. They tell us that if we would just work on our self-esteem we would not need such myths and fantasies. Well I am here today to tell you that we don’t have to take this any longer. Our time has come! Now is the time to do a little boasting of our own.

But let’s be careful. Boasting if done by worldly standards is dangerous. Worldly people boast in themselves. Look at me. Look at my accomplishments. See how smart, rich, or successful I am. This kind of boasting always leads to embarrassment and failure. Sooner or later, one meets a person who is smarter, richer, or more powerful than he/she is. You see, it is really the world who has a self-esteem problem. But the problem is not one of low self-esteem. Rather the problem is one of too much self-esteem. And this always spells doom. However, we can boast without fear. The time has come for us to take a stand. Now is the time to boast! Not in ourselves. But in the Lord!

In our lesson for today, Paul is writing to a church whose members were very good at boasting. Unfortunately, their boasting showed that they had a self-esteem problem. It was the same problem that we said the world has. They had too much self-esteem. They displayed the same Look at me attitude that was portrayed by the world in which they lived. This caused serious problems. It was dividing the church.

They compared their pastors to one another. Some proudly aligned themselves with Paul. Because Paul was the founder of the church, they felt that this somehow made him a better pastor, a more spiritual person. By association, they were attempting to elevate themselves in the eyes of others. Others attempted to do the same thing by aligning themselves with Apollos. You see, Apollos was known as an eloquent speaker.

They bragged about how well they showed Christian love. Look! We have this brother who is sinning by having sexual relations with his father’s wife. But we did not discipline him. That would not be the loving thing to do. Love is tolerant. We showed him we love him by tolerating his actions. We would not dare judge him.

On the other hand, look at how we can control ourselves when it comes to sex. The true Christians among us are celibate. And those that are married are proving themselves by abstaining from sexual relations with their spouses.

But the true test of spirituality is all of the spiritual gifts a person has. Look at me. I speak in tongues. Only the really spiritual people can do that. Look at me I prophesy. Each one was boasting and playing a game of spiritual one-upsmanship focusing only on self.

In our lesson, Paul deals with this self-centered boasting. Look at yourselves. Look at what you were when God called you. By worldly standards, did you have cause to boast? Were you any thing special? Did you hold high positions in the community? Were you the one everyone turned to for advice?

For many in the congregation there in Corinth, the answer was no. They were just ordinary people. Many were from the lowest social classes. Some were slaves. Women and children made up a large segment of the congregation. By worldly standards, these people were regarded as nothing more than property. Oh a few were from society’s upper class. Erastus, for example, was the city’s Director of Public Works. But even he had no right to brag. His position did not earn him the right to be called as a member of God’s family. If that were the case, why would God have called all these others from the lower classes of society?

Overall the upper crust of society shunned the Christians. Celsus, a pagan philosopher who lived in the second century after Christ, expressed the opinion of prominent Greeks and Jews concerning Christians in this way, "their makeup shows that their religion is lacking and only able to convince the foolish, dishonorable and stupid, and only slaves, women, and little children.

The Corinthian church was full of people who, by human standards, were not exactly the kind of people one would choose to start a new religious movement. They were not the learned philosophers of the day. For the most part, they held no positions of power or influence.

Paul reminded them that it was purely out of his grace that God had called them to faith. They were not impressive even by human standards, not to mention the standards of a holy God.

What about us today? Do we meet God’s standards any better than the Corinthians? Jesus said, "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." Dare we claim perfection? Do we have any right to boast in ourselves? God did not call us because of our supreme intellect or influential positions. Certainly, he did not call us because of our holy lives! When it comes to earning our calling, we do not meet God’s standards.

The world’s view of us has really changed very little. The German philosopher Nietzsche, whom Hitler admired, condemned the Christian faith as a "favoring of the botched and degenerate, and as a despising of the rich, scholarly, noble, healthy, and strong." The press portrays Christians as uneducated, uncultured buffoons. TV and movies portray us as lunatics, hypocrites, or just plain fools.

By worldly standards, we don’t measure up. By God’s standards we deserve nothing but his wrath and eternal punishment. Like those Christians in Corinth, we bring nothing to the table deserving of God’s calling. Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to the cross I cling. (CW 389).

But Paul does give the Corinthians something about which they can boast. And he encourages them to boast loudly. Boast in the Lord! Boast in the cross. Boast in the power of God’s Word. Rid yourselves of those who bring dishonor to God’s Word by leading grossly immoral lives while claiming to be believers. Boast in and support your pastors whom God has supplied to shepherd his flock. Don’t get hung up on what their name was or how well they could speak. Boast because they preach and teach wisdom that comes from God. Boast in the Lord because it is he who has given you all the spiritual gifts. Boast and use the gifts he has given you in order to take the message of salvation to a dying world. Boast in the Lord because he has given you all these gifts despite the fact that you don’t deserve them.

Prior to our lesson, Paul had told the Corinthians that the world looked upon the message of the cross as foolishness. Greeks, he said look for wisdom. The path to God for them was through knowledge. To touch the divine it was necessary to study philosophy. It was through knowledge that the soul escaped this sin-filled physical world and rose up to the gods. The Jews looked for miraculous signs. They looked for a Messiah that would come displaying miraculous power as he conquered the mighty Roman Empire and set up his everlasting reign on the throne of David. Indeed, the message of the cross was foolishness to the unbelieving world of that day. Yet, God chose this as the way of salvation for all mankind.

And now, God chose plain ordinary people to carry the message. Slaves, women, and children were chosen to become a part of his family. And through them, the message of the gospel would be preached to a dying world there in Corinth. Foolish people carrying a seemingly foolish message. But what seems foolish to human reason is really wisdom in God’s eyes. This foolish message, spread by foolish people, will put to shame the wisdom of the world. It put them to shame as God transformed the lives of those Christians in Corinth. As they were empowered to turn away from the temptations of Satan, their lives caused many of those wise and powerful citizens of Corinth to hang their heads in shame. And when judgment day comes, those foolish Christians will be able to hold their heads high and face their God because of the foolish message which they heard and believed.

God has not changed. That foolish message that he sent his Son to purchase our salvation through his perfect life, innocent death and glorious resurrection is still calling people to everlasting life. And that message is still effective. God has not stopped after calling us to faith. He wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. The Lord has seen fit not only to call us but also to use us to bring that message of life in Jesus to others. Although we don’t always see the results, God’s power is at work. Souls are being won and faith is being strengthened. God makes us more than conquerors through our Savior. Each day he gives us opportunities to see God’s love and to show God’s love.

And so, NOW IS THE TIME TO BOAST! NOT IN OURSELVES. BUT IN THE LORD! As the late Pastor Kurt Eggert so beautifully expressed, Not unto us be glory Lord but to your name be praise.

Amen.

1 Co 1:26-31