1 Corinthians 4:1-5 "Choose to be a Fool"

Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful

that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either

by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray

for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?

The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really,

I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible,

they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will

do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a

non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't

hesitate to send us questions. It helps me, actually, to know, as I'm preaching, how to

deal with the types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless.

I invite you to just bow your heads in prayer for a moment, please. Father, we ask that you

would pour out the Holy Spirit upon us, that as a church, you would reform us week by week by your

Word written, that by your Holy Spirit, week by week, you will renew us, and that through, Father,

the ministry of your Word, the renewing power of your Holy Spirit, as the gospel becomes more real

to our collective hearts, that you, Father, would revive and renew us in mission, not only in this

city, but to the ends of the earth. And so, Father, we ask that you would do that important work in our

hearts, and we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated.

So I'm going to make some sort of negative, not negative, yeah, negative comments about how some

churches are later on in the service, and also about us, by the way. But I'm going to begin with

something about Anglicans, which is a bit weird, at least some Anglicans. So I grew up in Baptist

churches, and I became a Christian through the Jesus People movement, which was very charismatic,

charismatic. And for several years, I was part of charismatic-y types of house groups. And I went

to the Salvation Army Church for two years. And then I stumbled into Anglicanism, and I really fell

in love with Anglicanism, actually. In fact, the very, very first Sunday that I came to an Anglican

service, I fell in love with the Anglican way. And after a year or so, I came to the conclusion that

maybe God was calling me into the ordained ministry. And so you begin to go through a discernment

process with all of that. First, you know, with the senior pastor of the church I attended. Of course,

my wife was before all of that. She was the first discernment test. And, you know, go through some

interviews. And finally, it comes to this second-to-last interview, where I have to appear

before the bishop, the bishop's executive assistant, and the three examining chaplains. And I know some of

you, most of you are younger than me, and so you can't imagine what this is like. But to my mind

at the time, I was a 26-year-old guy, and they seemed impossibly old. They were probably 46 or

something like that, you know, 48. Impossibly old and mature and competent. And I'm lined up

outside the bishop's door. And there's this senior archdeacon examining chaplain. Then there's me.

Then there's the other people, men after me. And the bishop opens his door and says with a smile,

come on in. And the fellow ahead of me immediately drops to two knees, takes the bishop's ring hand,

and kisses the bishop's ring. Now, all these things are going on in my mind at the speed of light.

I'm thinking, good grief. What did he just do? That's the first thing I'm thinking. Then the

second thing I'm thinking is, is this the way Anglicans are supposed to greet their bishop? Like,

I'd never greeted a bishop before. Is that what I'm supposed to do? And the third thing went through

my mind was, there is no way in God's earth I'm going to get down on my knees and kiss the bishop's ring.

I said, it's not going to happen. And the fourth thing that went through my mind was wondering

whether I'd just blown all of the discernment process before I'd even gotten in the room.

So I just shook the bishop's hand. And then to my great relief, everybody afterwards just shook

the bishop's hand. Now, it's a sort of a weird thing about some Anglicans. But the Bible text that

we're going to look at today would tell us that what happened with that first man was quite wrong.

wrong. Was quite wrong. Not because we're Canadians. Not because we should all be Baptists,

which I don't think the whole world should be Baptists. Baptists should be Baptists. We all have

to, not because of that, but because actually the Bible would say that the way we relate to our leaders

shouldn't involve something like that. And so let's have a look. We're going to be looking today at

1 Corinthians chapter 4, yeah, 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1 to 5. And it begins like this.

1 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention 1 Corinthians 4:1–5

And it's actually a really helpful thing. You know, some Christians get into big fights about what the

Bible version is that you have to use. And that's fine. You know, basically actually, just so you know,

if you're watching from the outside, most Christians use the exact same version of the Bible. It's called

the dusty version of the Bible because they never actually open it and it gets dust. The best version

of the Bible is one that you'll actually read, by the way. But they get into big fights about it. And

there's a lot of people, a whole tribe of people who say the ESV is the best version, and that's the

version we use. And this is an example of when the version's actually weak, the translation's actually

weak. So it begins by this. Verse 1, chapter 4, this is how one should regard us. Now, I don't know why

they did it. In the original language, and if you look at the NIV and the NLT and other

translations, they translated something to the effect of, so this, so this is, or this then

is. And that's the right translation. It begins with making a comment about what was just said.

And because of what was just said, this is what follows. That's actually how it begins.

So we're going to look at the bit just before because you can't actually understand this then

if you don't know what just happened. A bit of a nerdish point, but it's important to notice

things like this when you're reading the Bible for yourself. So let's just go up to chapter 3,

verse 18. And I think Claire will be able to follow along with all of this. Chapter 3,

verse 18. And it begins like this. So Paul is writing this. This originally was just a letter.

There's other things I could say about the letter of 1 Corinthians, but Corinth is an important

city in Greece. And the majority of the people in this congregation, in this church, because there

would be many congregations, were pagans who had become Christians, although there's some Jewish

people who'd become Christians, but it's mainly pagans. Deals with a whole pile of issues with

people coming out of paganism and the rest of the letter. But here's how it begins right here.

Let no one deceive himself. And it's an imperative in the original language. Don't deceive yourself.

Okay? Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age,

let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly for God.

For it is written, he catches the wise in their craftiness. So if you could put up the first point

here, it's a bit of a surprising beginning to what's going to be talking about in chapter 4.

But Paul is making, the Bible here is making a very countercultural point. And the point is that

human beings, he's making several points with that command, but the first aspect of it is that human

beings are highly prone to self-deception. So this would be, in other words, a human problem for all

human beings is that human beings are prone to self-deception, highly prone to it. In fact,

this would be a very good time when all of a sudden, you know, if we had a server, the server would run up,

hold a mirror up to me so that I can have me looking back and I have to say to me, George,

you are prone to self-deception. Sorry to point that way, but I'm pointing it myself. George,

you are prone to self-deception. It's a human problem. And it's a deep human type of problem.

And human, we basically, everybody acknowledges that self-deception can occasionally be an issue.

And by the way, this statement here is profoundly un-Canadian. If you wanted to insult,

it wouldn't matter if you were in a Tim Hortons, it wouldn't matter if you were in a Starbucks,

it wouldn't matter if you were in a hipster coffee place that I have never heard about because I'm

not hip. If you said to somebody in there, boy, you really deceive yourself, they would be deeply

insulted. That's how you insult a Canadian to say that you deceive yourself. And yet the Bible is

saying this to us. Well, what's going on with it? Well, first of all, I said it's not making an extreme

statement that human beings only deceive themselves in everything all the time. That would obviously

be self-refuting. It would mean you can't communicate, you can't know anything. And the Bible's not making

a statement like that. The statement about us being prone to self-deception. And by the way,

don't you think, don't you think this is just empirically true? Like, don't you think that you

know people who are a bit self-deceived? Don't you think sometimes maybe in a family, when you're

thinking about the parents, or maybe in a marriage, you're thinking about your husband or your wife,

that you sometimes think, well, boy, they're a bit self-deceived about that, you know? Like, don't

you think that's true, that we generally look at other people and see within them self-deception?

Like, on one hand, it requires some explanation, but if we're humble a bit, we know, we might, the hard

part is to see that I'm prone to self-deception. It's an easy thing to see how others are prone to

self-deception. And it's even easier if you look at tribes outside of your own. So if you tend

to be more of a liberal supporter, you would look at the Polyev supporters as just being,

not only are they being deceived by whoever, but they deceive themselves. And if you're a

conservative, you look at liberals and think that, well, not only is Trudeau, you know, being deceived

by others, he deceives himself. So it's easy for us to see it in other people, even though at first

it's a bit of a jarring type of thing. But it's not making the extreme comment that people are

self-deceived in every, completely, totally all the time. It's a little bit like the doctrine

of sin, which once again is a very unpopular doctrine that the Bible teaches that every

human being is fallen. And what that, people don't like that, but it's just so true. It

means that sin or rebellion against God touches every single aspect of who a human being is.

No matter how deep you go, no matter how high you go, no matter how superficial or broad you go,

that our desire to be like God, our desire to be put ourselves first, that that type of aspect is

going to be present in some small degree all the way through who we are. So for instance,

obviously people do good things. But the Christian doctrine would say, so even let's say something like

I, you know, I give money to, I give money to somebody as an act of generosity. But, you know,

if you were to look inside myself or you're looking inside, you know, that the person making that

generous statement, they might be giving that generous gift because they want to get some

recognition or they want to get praise or they want to have some type of power or they want to get

something out of it. It's not really, in a sense, a sacrifice so much as a way to get something for

yourself. A friend of mine was just visited a little while ago, a Buddhist temple. And so this

is a human problem, right? Human problem. So I'm not picking on Buddhists. But he went to visit and

there was a whole pile of sacrifices to the, in a sense, from a Christian point of view, the idol

at the front of the temple. And there's a whole pile of food there, non-perishable and perishable

food. And so after there was some conversation with the monks, my friend just said, well, like,

what happens to the food? And the monk just said, oh, we'll eat it like we eat it. So it's not really

a sacrifice. It's them giving themselves something, but looking more holy for giving themselves

something. That's how sin and self-deception works. And so what the Bible is just saying is that

there is an aspect of self-deception that constantly goes on in human beings. I'll give

you another very personal example. One of the things now that I try to pray into myself all

the time, because I see it as a problem with myself, is there's this wonderful line from,

I think it might be of the Father's love begotten, written in like the 400s. And it has this line,

he the source, he the ending, he the source, the ending, he be, or something like that. And I've

put it down in my notes to say, if I have anything good that comes out of that, the sermon, it comes

from God. I'm not the source of wisdom in a sermon. And because I'm not the source, I might want to claim

it as coming from me, but it doesn't come from me. It comes from God. I'm not saying that so you'll all

think, oh, George, forget about it. This is a problem that George or anybody has with wisdom,

that we think it comes from us. And because we think it comes from us, we think we should get

some praise for it. But at the end of the day, it comes from God. Like, I need to acknowledge that

because it comes from God. And therefore, God should get the praise. So that's actually what he's saying

here, when it says, you know, in verse 18, let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks

that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. Human beings are highly

prone to self-deception. Excuse me. But it also goes ahead and says something that if we had our,

like, if I was to read this to some of my people that I've talked to in coffee shops who are outside

of the Christian faith, they would sort of, if they were comfortable enough with me, they'd say,

George, is this insulting me? And that's always an awkward question. But what we'd have to say is,

well, no, but it's describing something that's a problem for you and for me.

Because I'm a social creature, and so I am always going to be affected by my culture.

Right? It is saying that, in fact,

if you could put up the second point, Claire, that would be very helpful. Wisdom that emerges

from a rejection of the triune God is really foolishness.

Wisdom that emerges from a rejection of the triune God

is really foolishness.

Now, if the triune God doesn't exist, then, of course, we're the fools.

But if there really is a God that does exist,

then to pretend or to talk or to live your life as if there is no God,

then that is a type of foolishness.

Not a type. It's profoundly foolish.

And once again, this sort of goes back right to the fact,

one of the most important stories in the big story of the Bible.

The big story of the Bible begins with Genesis 1 and 2

about the triune God creating all things out of nothing.

And he creates human beings in his image,

both male and female, equally in his image.

And then we have the story of the garden,

and it's helping us to understand

that this whole universe was ultimately designed

for us, the image bearers of God, to live in.

And in a sense, almost to be like priests

for the whole created order,

ordering the created order for the glory of God.

God wanted us to flourish.

He wanted us to fill the earth.

He wanted us to use our human abilities.

And then Genesis 3 is the second chapter

in the whole big story of the Bible

that we human beings decide that we should be,

we can be like God.

Now, once again, that's a profoundly foolish thing to believe.

It's self-deception.

Like, you know, you think about it for yourself.

Like, you know, how could Eve stand there,

or Adam stand there and think,

yeah, I think I could make planets.

What?

Like, even Elon Musk.

I mean, maybe he does think he's godlike,

but he can't make a planet.

Like, you know, he's, you know,

you could count how much his body's worth

in terms of the chemicals and everything in it,

and when he dies, it all starts to dissolve.

Like, if the triune God really does exist,

then to have wisdom based on the rejection of the triune God

is always going to be profoundly foolish.

And this comes out in all sorts of ways.

So a little while ago, I was talking to this fellow

who was a businessman,

and he'd been successful as a businessman

in terms of, like, Canadian Ottawa types of standards,

not Elon Musk standards, but Ottawa standards.

And, you know, he'd seen me for quite a few years

in the coffee shop, and finally we got talking.

He thought because I read big books like this

that I was a lawyer.

He was surprised to find out that I was a minister.

And he's very friendly, a really good guy.

He's the type of guy you'd want to have as your neighbor.

And we got talking, he'll often ask me

what I'm going to talk about on Sunday.

And one time I was just talking about how, you know,

you need to have a meaning in life

that has to be connected to something eternal,

not just, you know, not just something that's transient.

And I gave him an example about how, like, you know,

when death comes, you lose everything.

And he said, yeah, no, I can see how that's, like,

a really good idea for people.

And I said to him, no, no, I'm talking about you.

Like, when you die, you lose everything.

And he went like this.

Like, like it never thought, he never thought about it.

That when he dies, he loses everything.

And so if you lose everything in death,

how do you have meaning in life?

And he just never thought about it.

And you see, if you understand that there is no God

and it's just about this life,

if wisdom emerges from a world

where it's just one dang thing after another

and then you die, and part of wisdom is to pretend

that and then you die isn't there.

It's just one dang thing after another

as if you will live doing one dang thing after another

for the rest of your life.

Then when it comes to wisdom, let's say, about money,

the wisdom about money is to try to accumulate

as much as you can.

But if you understand that you are going to die

and there is a God,

it might be that money is for something else,

that maybe it's all about you becoming

a different type of person

and that the type of person that you become,

generosity and care for others and their needs

is actually going to be a really important part

of how you get formed to be.

So it doesn't mean that you don't make money,

you don't try to care for your family.

In fact, it might be that God gives you abilities

to make lots of money

and if he gives you that ability

and you can do it legally,

go ahead and make lots of money.

Because it's not just about the money,

that's not what God cares about,

but it's not only is the money going to be your idol,

which will turn you into a certain type of person,

but are you fighting that idolatry

by being financially generous

to your family, to your neighborhood,

to the poor, to the mission of the gospel?

But you see, if it's in fact

that you have to give an account to God,

then how money or sex or anything like that

or power works is going to be very different

because there's an accountability there

and a design feature there.

And that's not part of how Canadians in general

think about wisdom.

In fact, if you could put up the third point,

that would be very helpful.

You cannot choose biblical wisdom

without also choosing to look foolish.

That's what the Bible text is saying.

You cannot choose biblical wisdom

without also choosing to look foolish

to your Canadian neighbors.

I'm not boasting.

I'm really not.

And by the way,

you wouldn't have to give very much money,

but I think if most people found out

how much money I give away,

Louise and I give away every year,

they'd say, we're really stupid.

But they wouldn't use the word foolish.

They'd use the word stupid.

That's dumb, you know, to do that.

You know, one of the pressures

for young people around sexuality

is that, you know,

young women often feel pressure

to sexually know a young guy

outside of marriage,

and it's because the wisdom of the world

tells them they need to do that.

I had this conversation

with a Christian guy once

who really felt that he had to do that

so he'd be prepared for marriage.

And I said to him,

sleeping with lots of people

outside of marriage

only forms you to sleep with lots of people.

It doesn't help you at all

to be married to one person.

And he looked at me

like he'd never even encountered

an idea like that.

That's not me being wise.

That's just trying to hear

what the Bible has to say, right?

But the Bible's wisdom

is going to make you look foolish

if you want to be wise

in a biblical perspective.

And a whole range of things.

Power, money, sex,

how you age,

how you do your parenting.

You're going to look foolish

if you choose to try

to follow with biblical wisdom.

So that's what's going on.

And we're going to see why it is.

So why is it that the Bible

is talking about this?

And why is it going to go?

Well, before we get to our text,

which will be short,

far shorter than this,

the Bible takes a move

from that idea

about the need for biblical wisdom

and that the wisdom of the world

is going to form you

in particular ways.

And part of how the wisdom

of the world will form you

is always going to involve

a degree of self-deception

because it will involve

a rejection of the idea

that the triune God exists.

And that, you know,

in fact, actually, you know what?

The wisdom of Canada is

that we judge God.

That's the wisdom of Canada.

Not that God might judge us.

So Paul goes on.

How are we formed?

Well, he wants us to be formed

by wisdom.

Let's continue.

Chapter 3, verse 20.

And he's going to move this

into a bit of a surprising area.

But once again,

an area that we deeply need to hear.

Verse 20.

And again,

the Lord knows the thoughts

of the wise

that they are futile.

Verse 21.

So let no one boast in men.

Men in here means men and women.

In people.

In humans.

For all things are yours.

What?

That's like a weird thing to say.

For all things are yours.

Especially if you think about it

that this was originally

written to a congregation

and probably 40%

of the congregation were slaves.

And a huge percentage

of the congregation

would have been women.

Neither of whom

would have had any type of power

and maybe not even property rights.

And people would have gone,

what?

All things are yours?

If this is biblical wisdom

it's sort of foolish.

Well what Paul is doing

is he's reversing the order

of what he wants to say

to get your attention.

So if you were to go back

and read it backwards

you'd see the point.

But if he began with the point

we'd go, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That, that,

we all know that.

It wouldn't strike you.

So he reverses the order

to catch your attention.

So just note how it goes.

Verse 21.

So let no one boast

in human beings

for all things are yours

whether Paul or Apollos

or Cephas

that's another name for Peter

or the world

or life or death

or the present

or the future

all are yours

and you are Christ

and Christ is God's.

So basically what it's telling us

if you're to reverse the order

is that if we understand

that God is God

and we are not

that no human being

is God-like

or anything like that

but God is God

and we are not

and when we put our faith

and trust in Christ

that we're reconciled

to the God

of the whole universe

that we belong to God

then the way to understand

everything in the world

is like that old song

that we sing occasionally

this is my father's world.

This is my father's world.

The part of the lesson

for us as Christians

in prayer

is to pray about anything

because we have a father

in heaven who loves us.

If you're having trouble

with the teacher

your kid's teacher at school

pray into it.

You have a father in heaven

who loves you.

Having problems

with your neighbors?

Having problems

with your car?

Having problems

with your money?

You have a father in heaven

who loves you.

This is our father's world.

Pray to him.

Live in the world

as if

not as if it's ruled

by Elon Musk

or Trump

or Trudeau

or the Davos Institute

or who's that bad guy

they always pick

you know that.

Anyway.

Yeah yeah

as soon as I say that

people know the answer right?

What does that say?

I wonder if George

he actually would probably

be pretty happy

that he's actually known

even in Ottawa.

You say that really bad guy

and then people

say George Soros right?

But the point is

it's our father's world.

That's what he's trying

to communicate.

And then

chapter 4 verse 1

now we go

this then

this then

okay?

If you want to be

biblically wise

you need to be able

to be willing

to look like a fool

in the eyes of Corinth

in the eyes of Canada

you have to understand

this is your father's world

that's how you have

to live your life

this is your father's world

this then

chapter 4 verse 1

is how you should regard us

as servants of Christ

and stewards

of the mysteries of God.

And this verse

is going to be

the main thing

that we stay with

for the next 10 minutes

or so.

And you might say

George why would you

why would this be

something important

to say

to focus on?

This is how one

should regard us

as servants of Christ

and stewards

of the mysteries of God.

Well because the word

translated as servant

is really cool

and I understand

why the translators

translated as servant

and not what it

literally says

but what it says

literally

is this

this is how

one should regard

us

now here

he's talking about

us meaning

him Peter

him Paul

him Peter

he's talking about

all of the leaders

in the church

and he's including

himself with them

and when it says

the word servant

the literal word

is under rower

now of course

people don't get

what that means

that's why they

translated as servant

but that's literally

what it says

you need to understand

me

you need to understand

Peter

you need to understand

George

you need to understand

George

you need to understand

yourself

and by the way

the leadership

here is a

on one level

it's a type

a bit of a

hierarchical thing

but it's only

hierarchical in terms

of the impact

of your leadership

because in a sense

every single person

here is a leader

it might be

that the main

area that you

have leadership

with is with

the shut in

that you visit

or if you're

a single mom

with your child

or you know

if you're an aunt

or an uncle

and God hasn't

blessed you

with children

it might just be

that one nephew

or niece

that you have

a good relationship

with

and that might

be the extent

of how you

influence other people

because leadership

is about influence

and so for every

single one of us

whether you're

the head of a

denomination

whether you're

a world famous

theologian

whether you're

the head of a

megachurch

or whether you

are an aunt

who has a niece

that she can

influence

you are

an under rower

and if you've

watched

the

Ben-Hur

I think it is

the

you know

with Charlton Heston

or the more

modern one

it's those

slave galleys

those Roman ships

that are powered

by people

rowing

and it's the

people at the

very very bottom

of the ship

rowing

together

isn't that a

flattering image

for Christian

leadership

but it's a

very profound

image for

Christian leadership

if

Christian leaders

like all other

human beings

are prone

to self

deception

it's a

spectacularly

necessary

image

I was joking

with the

eight o'clock

congregation

maybe we should

change our

name to the

congregation of

under rowers

or something like

that except we'd be

proud that we're the

only ones who did it

which destroys the

whole purpose of the

name

but you know

if you think about

the under rower

the under rower

has to be working

with it

I guess not even

as if he said

you're like the

tenth person on the

Canadian national

single kayaking team

no no no no no

no you're not that

you're the under rower

you're working with

other rowers

somebody else is

banging the drums

somebody else is

making sure you get

your rest breaks

and you get water

and you get food

and somebody else is

telling you when you

turn left and when

you turn right

and when you go fast

and when you go slow

and where you're

even going

and where you even

are

you don't know that

you're just the

under rower

boom boom boom

and that is what all

Christian leadership

is centered around

to understand

if you could

if you could put up

the fourth point

Claire that would be

very helpful

Christian leaders are

under rowers

and stewards

of the mysteries of God

and that's a very

important aspect here

so because you see

we've just been

reminded

I've just reminded you

that this is our

father's world

the whole world is his

the whole universe is his

and I'm to start to try

to learn to live as a

person

and it's very hard for me

to do that

because I take my eyes

off of it

that's one of the reasons

I need like you to come

to church and be reminded

of these fundamental truths

about what the real world

is like

and in the real world

if you are in Christ

this is your father's world

you have a father in heaven

who loves you

that you can open up

your heart to

about very very big issues

like maybe

you know

the onset of dementia

or the coming of cancer

or very very small issues

like

how do I get the ice

off of my gutter

like

everything in between

you can pray about everything

and then it might see

well okay

even if we're under rowers

now we're stewards

but then it goes and says

stewards of the mysteries of God

and that's to protect us

from thinking

let's just be honest

I'm not going to ask

for a show of hands

how many people

would like for 24 hours

to be given control

of Donald Trump's mind

or Trudeau's mind

or the Supreme Court

Justice's mind

or our boss's mind

or our husband's mind

or our wife's mind

we would love it

okay

keep going until I get a list

right

maybe for some of you

I don't care about

all of that stuff

just give me the Toronto Raptors

or the Maple Leafs

or something like that

because I know how to fix it

well maybe you do

maybe you do

but it says instead

stewards of the mysteries of God

it really limits

the lane that we're in

well what are the mysteries of God

well there's

first of all

the whole idea of the mysteries of God

isn't like when we say

there's a certain

I remember back in the day

that a fellow

this is in the 80s

100 million years ago

to many of you

I remember a guy

with great confidence

saying

because Reagan

had been talking about

something like this

and this guy hated Reagan

and he said they will never

in a million billion years

be able to figure out

something that can knock

a missile or rocket

out of the sky

it will never happen

he's completely delusional

blah blah blah

the biggest fool in the world

and of course as we see

Israel does it

just commonplace

as do ships

and all sorts of people

because

because they

they just can

it wasn't a mystery

in the sense that we can't

figure it out

a mystery in the Bible

is something we cannot

possibly know as human beings

and we can only be told by God

and so if you just turn with me

very quickly in your Bibles

you don't have to guess

what the mysteries of God are

because it's something

which is talked about

earlier on in the text

look at chapter 1

verses 17 and 18

chapter 1 verses 17 and 18

for Christ did not send me

to baptize

but to preach the gospel

and not with words

of eloquent wisdom

lest the cross of Christ

be emptied of its power

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

it's a message

about the cross

we're going to see that

as it continues

look at verse 20 to 25

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

for the Jewish people

demand signs

and Greeks

seek wisdom

pagans seek wisdom

but we preach

Christ crucified

a stumbling block

to Jewish people

and folly

to the pagans

but to those

who are called

by God

both Jews

and pagans

Christ is the power

of God

and the wisdom

of God

for the foolishness

of God

is wiser

than human beings

and the weakness

of God

is stronger

than human beings

and then just jump down

to chapter 2

verse 1

all the other stuff

I'm not

this all fits

with this theme

and first chapter 2

verse 1

and when I came

to you brothers

and sisters

I did not come

proclaiming to you

the test

sorry

I did not come

proclaiming to you

the wisdom of God

testimony there means

sorry

the mystery of God

that's where the word

mystery is

it's there in the

original language

you can see

in the little footnote

I did not come

to you proclaiming

to you

the mystery of God

with lofty speech

or wisdom

what did he do

what is the mystery

of God

verse 2

for I decided

to know nothing

among you

except Jesus Christ

and him crucified

that's the mystery

of God

that how God

is going to make

human beings

right with him

goes against

everything that

wisdom

human wisdom

rejecting the triune

God would expect

that God

the son of God

would set aside

his divine splendor

and honor

and privilege

that he would

take into himself

our human nature

that God

the son of God

in the person

of Christ

as Christ

would actually

humble himself

to being a zygote

in the womb

of Mary

that he would go

through normal

gestation

that he would be

born in an obscure

corner of the empire

that he would have

a normal human life

that he would have

three years

where he does

spectacular miracles

and profound teaching

but at the end of that

all it does

is create great enmity

sufficient enmity

that human beings

would give him

the death of a slave

by crucifying him

upon the cross

that when we actually

see him dying

it's the whole point

of him coming

and the whole point

of him coming

is that he would

take upon himself

the sin

the rebellion

the evil

the shame

all that separates

human beings

from God

and that he

in a sense

dies in our place

in my place

that apart

from Christ

apart from Christ

I am

damned

and doomed

and dead

and done

but all

that is placed

on him

and he's vindicated

when he rises

from the dead

and so now

I am not damned

but given new life

I am born again

I am not doomed

I am destined

for his destiny

which was be with

my father forever

I am not dead

I have been born again

I have been given

new life

I am not done

the future is mine

past present future

death

all those things

my destiny

is to be with

my father in heaven

and the new heaven

and the new earth

that is who I am

in Christ

and it comes

by me

not clinging

to what I have done

or could do

or have to do

or certain types

of accomplishments

or super holiness

or anything like that

it's all done

by God

for me

in the person

of Christ

and all I can do

is come with

completely and utterly

empty hands

and say

Jesus precious

saviour

Emmanuel

God with us

I am not worthy

to be yours

but I know

what you did

for me

would you take me

and no human

being

no matter

how far

from God

will be turned

away from Jesus

if we come to him

with humble faith

and that's what

makes us right

with God

Elon Musk

I have no idea

where

but if he's apart

from Christ

he is no closer

to Christ

than the worst

fentanyl zombie

on the street

he's no closer

and no farther

and that is

the mystery

of God

Christian leaders

are under rowers

and we are stewards

of the mysteries

of God

let's just

actually finish it

our time

is moving on

see how

he's going to

work this out

and see

here's why

he's talking

about all that

if you want

to be wise

biblically wise

you have to be

willing to look

like a fool

that this is

our father's world

there's this

profound

equality

that comes

and then

this image

of us

being under

rowers

and stewards

of this

particular message

that's our

stewardship

and then it

talks about

the fact

that we can

get confused

as Christians

about how

to evaluate

ourselves

look at

verse 2

moreover

it is required

of stewards

that they be

found trustworthy

so in other words

the image

is it's only

actually the

owner

it's only

the guy

who's banging

the drum

and giving

the directions

even for that

to send the

boat in certain

directions

he's the only

one who knows

he's the one

who gets to

determine whether

we're doing

a good job

that's biblical

wisdom that

is going to

determine whether

we're doing

a good job

it's not the

wisdom of the

world

but you see

and then verse 3

it says

but with me

it's a very

small thing

that I should

be judged

by you

or by any

human court

in fact

I do not

even judge

myself

he's not

saying this

like he's

a narcissist

for I am

not aware

of anything

verse 4

against myself

but I am

not thereby

acquitted

it is the

Lord who

judges me

he's not

being a

narcissist

he's not

saying he's

immune to

criticism

what's he

saying

well here's

this

verse 5

therefore do

not pronounce

judgment

before the

time before

the Lord

comes

will bring

to light

things now

hidden in

darkness

and will

disclose the

purposes of

the heart

then each

one will

receive his

commendation

from God

and so what

the text is

saying is this

it's very

easy for

churches to

start to lose

track of what

it is that

they're stewards

and so it

can end up

being that

the church

is the

center of

activism

or the

church is

the center

of this

or it's

the center

of that

or it's

the center

of opposition

it's easy

for leaders

to think

and I'll

just speak

as a

minister

that my

job is

to be

therapist

in chief

my job

is to be

coach

in chief

my job

is to be

the philosopher

in chief

my job

is to be

the empowerment

guru

in chief

I'm to be

the liturgist

in chief

I am to be

a CEO

I am to be

the strategic

leader

for difference

I am to be

that type of

a leader

that wants to

have my ring

kissed

and have people

bow at my feet

that I am to be

the holiest one

in the church

chief

I am to be

the change agent

chief

I am to be

the look at how

wise we are

in terms of the world

chief

I could go

on and on

and on

and on

and on

and on

and on

at the end

of the day

those are the ways

that churches

keep getting

confused

and mixed up

that they're all

about therapy

they're all

about moralism

they're all

about you know

making sure

that they're

republican

or democrat

or they

love trump

or they hate

trump

or they love

Trudeau

we get confused

about all

of these things

and the bible

is telling

the church

to understand

you're under

rowers

and you only

have one

thing to do

tell people

about Jesus

Christ

crucified

you can do

other things

obviously do

other types

of things

you know

care for

children

you know

have money

to give

to the poor

but you have

one primary

job

there's nobody

else in the city

other than

Christians

to tell people

the triune

God exists

you're separated

from him

there is hope

there is hope

there is a savior

there's nobody

else to do

that other

than us

you see

that's why

we need

this

so here's

the final

thing about

the wisdom

of the world

and how it

forms us

and why we

need this

if you could

put up

the final

point

a couple

of weeks

ago

I've gone

over my

40 minutes

I apologize

but

anyway

here's

you know

I said

to you

that the

thing about

advent

which is

really weird

is that

when we

look at

these old

advent

readings

and these

old

advent

collects

they don't

look like

they're

advent

ones

and that's

because

somewhere

in the

last

60,

70,

80 years

and I'm

not saying

this is a

bad thing

by the way

but advent

became a way

to prepare

for Christmas

but you know

what we have

in these

readings

it preserves

the wisdom

that goes

back to

the 300s

maybe even

earlier

it's in a

sense

we're celebrating

advent the way

they did

in 424

or 1549

and they

understood

advent

as being

the beginning

of the year

so there are

four sermons

four scripture

texts

about recommitting

your life

to Christ

and committing

yourself to try

to live a more

godly life

in this coming

year

so how does

the average

consumeristic

Canadian

Christian

think about

this

never in

terms of

the local

church

all about

me

that's us

being formed

by Canada

folks

the wisdom

of Canada

these ancient

Christians said

no no no no

you've got to

figure out how

to put on

the you know

put off the

sin and put

on the armor

of god

no no

you've got to

need the bible

there's going to

be some other

things about

personal holiness

next week

and they're also

saying oh no

no but by

the way

by the way

just so you

know

you need

a good local

church

if you want

to grow

in rejecting

self-deception

and be formed

by the true

wisdom from

Jesus Christ

crucified

your saviour

and your

lord

you know

the average

Canadian would

say that

they need

biblical wisdom

like a fish

needs a bike

and a lot

of Canadian

Christians would

say they need

the local

church like a

fish needs a

bike

but the bible

says

you need

a local

church

like human

beings need

oxygen

and if

you're not

connected to

a good

local

church

it's going

to be

very very

hard to

grow in

godliness

or commit

yourself

commit

yourself

once again

afresh to

Christ

that's why

this text

was chosen

so brothers

and sisters

let's stand

pray that we

all know

that we're

under rowers

we have one

primary thing

to steward

on God's

behalf

for this

fallen world

and let's

pray

father we

thank you

for your

word

we thank

you father

it is

like a

cold water

splashed upon

us to help

wake us up

it is like

cold water

coming to

cool us

down when

we're

getting all

hot and

bothered about

all sorts of

other stuff

it's like a

warm fire

to warm us

up when we're

becoming frozen

and can hardly

type of move

it's food

for our

soul

it's wisdom

father from

you

it is what

we desperately

need

father we

ask that you

help us to

be aware

that we are

prone to

self-deception

father you

know how easy

it is for us

to see self-deception

in others

and not to

see it in

ourselves

and we ask

that you

help us

to father

as Jesus

Christ crucified

becomes more

real to us

that from

that perspective

and what he

has done

for us

that we

can begin

to deal

with how

we like

to deceive

ourselves

and father

you know

how uncomfortable

we are

with looking

foolish to

our neighbors

and we ask

father that

Jesus Christ

crucified would

become so

real to us

that we're

willing to

look foolish

to others

and seek

biblical wisdom

and you know

father how easy

it is for us

and we all

have some

leadership role

in some way

whether small

or big

and for us

as a church

to get really

confused about

things and we

ask father

that you bring

this profound

wisdom home

to us

every single

one of us

are just

under rowers

I am just

an under

rower

and we

father are

called by

you to

steward

the most

important

resource

and most

important

gift that

the world

that there

is in the

world

that the

world

desperately

needs

which is

to understand

who Jesus

is in light

of the bible

and to

understand the

bible in light

of who Jesus

is that we

might be made

right with

you by him

crucified

and that we

would start

to die

to self

deception

and grow

in true

wisdom

so father

we ask

that you

would do

these wonderful

works in our

hearts

and we ask

this in

Jesus name

amen

without