Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

As I recall, more than once in my adolescent years I was told, “You are too smart for your own good.” I believe I heard this exact same phrase from my Confirmation Instructor, from my Geography Teacher, and from St. Paul the Apostle. The first two of those were gentle warnings given after getting into some specific trouble that came about when I thought I could fool those in authority over me. Although I might have regarded those incidents as harmless but clever pranks, my teachers recognized that the rebellious streak fuelling those incidents had the potential to get me into greater trouble with more severe consequences.

 

“You are too smart for your own good.” Your ability to think of clever ways to break the rules will not leave you without consequences. And the greater the caper you conspire to execute, the more danger you will put yourself in, the higher the risk to your own safety and that of others, and the more severe the punishment you will deserve.

 

But those admonitions from teachers in my adolescent years did not really have any restrictive effect. Rather, I took them as compliments, and even as accolades that I was quite the clever boy. But when the admonition was recognized as coming from the Bible, from St. Paul, from the Lord God through the holy Apostle, well that had an effect. For God says to all of you as He said to all of the Christians in Corinth through the Apostle Paul, “You are too smart for you own good.”

 

Oh, and by the way, the LORD had also said the same thing through the prophet Isaiah to His people in Jerusalem. “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart” (1 Corinthians 1:19; quoting Isaiah 29:14). Through Isaiah the LORD was telling the people of Jerusalem that they were far from salvation because they thought they could fool God by showing up to the temple and offering their money and sacrifices while living in whatever sins they desired and making whatever life choices they wanted, as if God was not really aware of what they were doing away from the temple.

 

This is also the Lord’s warning to those in the Christian Church in Corinth. The rest of the epistle is full of all kinds of things that the church members were doing in sinful pride and arrogance, thinking that they would not get caught by God or have to endure any consequences for their actions, much like what we most easily observe in adolescent teenagers, but is also present in all members of the Church of Christ and present in the pride of those of any age.

 

There are lots of problems that St. Paul addresses with his first epistle to the Christians in Corinth. You can take your pick, and that is part of what we do, thinking that we are so smart. He first chastises them for their divisions in choosing one pastor or teacher over another. And maybe we can convince ourselves that is not an area where we sin, but there is no shortage of sinful expression that he brings to light.

 

There is a case of incest, but it also then exposes other sinful sexual relations concerning marital intimacy and chastity. There is the case of worshiping false idols but that also exposes sins of intentionally causing offense and acting with arrogance at the Lord’s Supper. There are cases of women trying to take over the duties of the pastor but that exposes other issues due to lack of reverence in the divine service and individualism that puts personal spiritual gifts above the primary proclamation of the Word of God.

 

You see, there are some issues about which we can boast that we are not involved in them; but we cannot be like smart adolescents who think they can hide other sins from God who sees all things. The warning comes down hard. You are too smart for your own good, maybe even too smart to be saved.

 

Yet St. Paul offers some comfort, especially for those who once thought they were smart enough to fool God, but have come to the realization that it is impossible. And the comfort is that God did not call you to be His child because you are so smart, or so powerful, or have all the necessary natural gifts.

 

We are on the scientific edge of discovery in regard to gene therapy (manipulating an individual’s genetic sequences to make beneficial changes). There are possibilities to eliminate genetic diseases that are either inherited from the genes of parents, or a result of mutation or degradation of normal genetic sequences. Even if you are not up on all of these new breakthroughs, you are probably familiar with the constant pursuit of eugenics (good genes).

 

Sometimes we casually attribute a gifted person’s intelligence or beauty to good genes. It also happens in animal husbandry with the selective breeding of dogs, or race-horses, or farm animals to increase the chances of getting the most desirable characteristics. But we are also aware of some horrible practices throughout history in the pursuit of enhancing the expression of good genes while eliminating less desirable genes. There are times in history when it has resulted in human atrocities when a society has tried to eliminate an entire group of people with similar genetics (we call that genocide). Or, when people have tried to exclusively preserve the genetics of a certain group to develop or enhance a so-called “superior race.”

 

God is not concerned with your genetic make-up. He is not concerned with eugenics, and St. Paul actually uses that Greek word in this epistle reading. He says, perhaps with some sarcasm: “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 (eugenic). 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” (1:26-29).

 

Does God only choose the intelligent, and the powerful, and those with good genes? If you want to know that answer take a look around you here in the church. There’s the proof. Not many wise, although some wiser than others. Not many powerful, although there are exceptions. Not many of noble birth, not me anyways. The point is not that God only helps the unintelligent and weak. The point is that before God we are all unintelligent and weak and He is the one and only Saviour of us all.

 

He saves us from being too smart for our own good. He saves us from thinking that we might be able to fool Him if we hide what we don’t want Him to see behind the things that look good and righteous. He crushes our pride when He shows that we have no reason to boast before Him. St. Paul with all of his knowledge of Scripture and his Jewish patronage called it all dung, worthless, polluted stench, a hindrance to his salvation. Isaiah pointed out that all of the sacrifices and offerings the people of Jerusalem were giving at the temple were offensive to God while they thought they were hiding their sins from Him.

 

You think you are so smart, but even the foolishness of God is wiser than men. You think you are so powerful, but the weakness of God is stronger than men. And that is a good thing once you realize that man’s wisdom and strength cannot save him from sin or death. You have to give up on that. You have to have your pride crushed by the weakness of God. You have to have your intelligence outsmarted by the foolishness of God. Because God’s foolishness and weakness can save man from sin and death and all evil.

 

Look around. Who is the weakest in the room? Who looks the most foolish? There is one obvious winner. Not in the seat beside you; up here at the front, but not me. I’m just a close runner-up. Look a little more to the right and there He is. The fool who got Himself crucified. The One so weak that He just hangs there dead. It is that foolishness and weakness that conquered sin, death, and the devil. That is the foolishness and weakness that crushes your pride and silences your boasting. That is the foolishness and weakness that justifies you before God’s wisdom and power.

 

By taking on our human likeness and dying upon the cross, “Christ has become our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” In His foolishness and weakness He has given to us the power of God unto salvation. Mankind seeks wisdom and power and good genes, but God sought you and acquired you for His own treasure by destroying your wisdom and power through His foolishness and weakness.

 

And in this great display of foolish wisdom and powerful weakness in order to be your Saviour, He has placed within you a desire for His weakness emanating from His sacrifice. He has destroyed your pride so that you might cling to His cross. He has given you great and precious promises precisely because of your inability to outsmart Him, to hide your sins from Him, or to distract Him with any show of innocence and piety. He has won for you great blessings from God the Father because of your weaknesses and frailties and sufferings and losses.

 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3-10).

 

Conspicuously absent is “blessed are the smart” and that’s because they always become too smart for their own good. Then only the foolishness of God can save them