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.
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
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
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
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 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