Who Speaks For...

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

A sixth-grade teacher was beginning a lesson on how the government in America makes decisions. As a discussion starter she asked the class if someone could use the word "debate" in a sentence. One of her smarter boys raised his hand and said, "On Saturday me and my daddy went fishing, but the big one got away with da bait."

The teacher smiled and gently corrected him, saying that a debate is when two people try to reach an agreement about something they disagree on. At that point a girl who wasn't really paying attention asked, "Why would a fish want a green mint instead of the bait?" The whole class laughed at her.

Another boy raised his hand and said to the class, "I don't know about the rest of you, but that's the best question I've heard all day." The girl looked up at him and smiled, as did the teacher.

In the midst of Paul's rant about how a life with Jesus will turn everything we know upside down he asks what seems to be a random question: "Where is the debater of this age?" What Paul wants to know is that if those of us who proclaim to know things aren't questioning current culture, where are those who will?

According to Paul, Christ is the wisdom of God. To the Greek, a person who possesses wisdom is someone who possesses great knowledge. To be the wisdom of a god, in Greek thinking, is to possess all knowledge of that god. What Paul is saying is that Jesus Christ knows everything God would know, and if we are to be Jesus' followers we would best be prepared for life by learning what it is Jesus was teaching.

Yet, it would seem, that the church in Corinth might not be heeding that advice. To make things worse, in Paul's thinking, is that nobody seems to be standing up for what is right. The people in the church are asking for signs and miracles and accumulation of knowledge. So Paul has to make the argument that Jesus is exactly what they are looking for - signs, miracles, and wisdom. It's in Christ, Paul reminds the Corinthian church, that the church can be unified through all the things which they seek.

Why, then, is there nobody standing up to say these things? Because maybe those who want to speak up don't think they're worthy. Paul has a few words for these people as well. He says, "Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are."

When I began my journey towards ordination I attended a lay ministry course at Whitworth College. There were about 15 of us in this course. One night at dinner we each told our story and discovered that those of us who felt a call into ministry were broken people. We were recovering addicts and alcoholics. We had grown up on the streets, abandoned by those we were supposed to be loved. We were barely living above the poverty line. We were gay, people of color, tattooed, and pierced.

It is us who God chooses to be the spokespersons of who Christ is in today's culture.

Don't be afraid to raise your hand and ask questions. There will always be someone at your side.