Sixth Sunday after Epiphany – February 13, 2011

1 Corinthians 2:6-13 - ⁶ We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— ¹⁰ but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

Imagine for a moment that a wealthy man gave a large sum of money to a poor friend. But now, also imagine that the poor man simply could not believe he could be so fortunate, so he continued to live in poverty even though the large gift of money was his to have and to use. That would be a sad situation, wouldn’t it? We would say that the poor man was in need of more than the gift of money, he also needed the gift of trust to take the rich man at his word. Without that he would lose any personal benefit from the treasure he had received.

It’s easy to put ourselves into this little story. God has so freely given us spiritual treasures through the work of Christ, and he has made this known to us be revealing it in the gospel. But we would lose any personal benefit from this treasure if God didn’t do more than just that. He also had to open our minds, enlighten our hearts, and work within us a genuine understanding of what these gifts are, and create faith in us to trust his promises that his treasures have become ours. All this God has brought about by his Holy Spirit who works in our hearts through the gospel.

When it comes right down to it, this is the true message of wisdom. And this morning, we see how it is revealed by the Spirit and results in our salvation.

Have you ever tried to describe what a rainbow looks like to someone who was born blind? I haven’t ever been in such a situation, but I can only imagine how difficult it would be. To try and describe colors to someone who hasn’t seen anything but black; or to talk about the horizon, sky and length would be impossible. And you know, when it comes to our ability to comprehend and understand the mystery of God and his message of wisdom on our own by nature, we are like the blind person trying to understand what a rainbow looks like. It is impossible for us to do it.

But that isn’t the way we always think, is it? We don’t like being called helpless, powerless, and impotent! It hurts our ego to think about a lack of ability on our part. That mindset could be seen in the Corinthian congregation. As we have seen over the past few weeks, they were a congregation full of sinful pride. They improperly boasted in their worldly wisdom and prestige. They created cliques and arrogantly claimed they were the best Christians. And all this resulted in a focus on themselves and an arrogant boast that they could live however they wanted. They had forgotten the cost of their salvation. They had gotten their eyes off of the cross. They had lost the wonder of the greatness of God’s plan for them. And they needed to be directed again to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They needed to bow in humility before the life-giving wisdom of the gospel.

What about us? Pride is a problem with us too, isn’t it? Sometimes we Christians arrogantly walk around as if we have this sense of entitlement. Like we deserve to be in God’s family because, after all, look at my worship attendance, look at my offerings, look at what I do for the church! A subtle shift takes place as we focus on ourselves; and we feel less and less like we were helpless, powerless and impotent people and start thinking that no matter what we do, no matter how we live, no matter how much we are in the Word, God’s lucky to have us, and that he needs me.

This then leads to the claim that we have “rights.” The right to live how we want, even if it goes against what God’s Word says. The right to be happy, even if that so-called happiness comes at the expense of following what we know God wants. We no longer are sensitive to sin. We quit struggling against it. Even growing impenitent – after all, if God needs me, and he’s lucky to have me, what need do I have to admit I’m a sinner who desperately needs him? Oh, how we forget the cost of our salvation! How often our eyes have strayed away from the cross! How often we lose the wonder of the greatness of God’s plan for us! That’s why we need to be directed again to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We need to be called to bow in humility before the life-giving wisdom of the gospel. And that’s exactly what the Lord does through the pen of the Apostle Paul today.

The first thing he tells us is that the message of wisdom is not the wisdom of this age. No, the wisdom of this world directs our attention away from the cross, away from Jesus, away from the need for a Savior, and directs us to ourselves. But the true message of wisdom found in Scripture directs us to the treasures and riches that God has freely given us. It directs us to Jesus Christ.

But if left to ourselves, what God has given us would remain a mystery. That’s because on our own we cannot see, hear or conceive of the love of God. It is not something we can understand on our own. So God revealed it to us by the Holy Spirit. And he did this through the Word. This is what Paul writes of when he says, “We speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” This is a reference to what we speak of as divine inspiration. Paul is stating the truth we hold so dearly - that the words written by the apostles and prophets, recorded for us in the Bible, are indeed God’s words. They did not come up with them on their own! We do not have to wonder if it is possible that the message received through the biblical writers was somehow corrupted! We need not fear that the message was inaccurately spoken or inadequately recorded by them. The very words that convey the message of wisdom were given by the Holy Spirit. And since the Holy Spirit is God, and since he knows the deep things of God, we know there is no false, no misleading word or phrase found in all of God’s Word. God’s chosen and inspired communicators were expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words, taught them by the Spirit.

It is this message of wisdom, found in the Word, through which the Holy Spirit worked to call you and me to faith. He opened our eyes to see that Jesus is the Savior we need because our lives fall short of the perfection that God demands. He opened our eyes to see that we are hopeless, helpless and impotent in the matter of saving ourselves. He opened our eyes to see that the wisdom of mankind is nothing. It does nothing to deal with the problem of sin. It does nothing to restore the broken relationship with God that our consciences testify to. It offers nothing to ensure salvation.

Through the Word the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see that in Jesus Christ, however, we have everything. We have the forgiveness of sins we need, secured by the blood he shed for us on the cross. We have the righteousness we need because he satisfied God’s demands of righteousness with his perfect life. We have the justice of God met, because Jesus soothed God’s anger with his sacrificial death. We have the salvation we so desperately long for, because Jesus paid for our sins once for all and conquered death and the devil with his resurrection.

And through the Word, the Holy Spirit has led us to place all our confidence and all our trust in the life and death of Jesus Christ alone. We now know and believe that the treasures God gives so freely are our very own. And because we know that the Word is God’s Word, we can be confident that our trust is not misplaced, and that the wisdom we have come to know through the Word is indeed the one, true wisdom.

You see, this message of wisdom highlights the grace of God. It draws attention to the totally unexpected mercy God bestows on those who love him. It reminds us that it is by grace we have been saved, through faith, and this not of ourselves, but it is the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one can boast. It helps us remain sensitive to sin so that we don’t give way to impenitence and lose our salvation. It gives us the strength to keep up the struggle against sin with a repentant heart. It keeps us from minimizing sin. It teaches us how to be a good Christian. It gives the motivation to live the life we are supposed to live. It offers the solution for the days when we say, "I want to do what you're saying Jesus.  I think I'm finally starting to see the standard you've given me in your law and what your pure and perfect will is.  It's greater than the Pharisees ever did. But I see that my sin is utterly sinful and that even as your disciple I can't begin to do this.  Who will save me from this body of death?"  Then it points us back to our substitute – Jesus Christ. It points us back to the promise that whoever believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.

Yes, it’s easy to put ourselves into the story with which we began our sermon. We are the poor man to whom have been given the spiritual riches of forgiveness and salvation. But instead of living in disbelief that we could be so fortunate, God made this known to us in the gospel and opened our minds, enlightened our hearts, and worked within us a genuine faith to believe his promises that his treasures have become ours. Thanks be to God!

So which message are you going to listen to? The one that points to yourself, points you away from Jesus and the cross, and directs your path into the fiery flames of hell? Or the one that points you to Jesus, that comes from God himself, that results in your salvation and has been revealed by the Holy Spirit? It isn’t even a question! Amen.