For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. 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; 
– 1 Corinthians 1:25-27

In preparation for the General Assembly of our denomination, over the next few Sundays we will explore scripture texts to go with the theme “Beyond.” On Sunday we will continue our journey with God’s grace, the movement of the Holy Spirit, and the call of Jesus as we wonder “Beyond Strength.”

 According to Lizette Acosta in her Bible Study materials on this text:

“Paul insists that salvation is not by merit. The wise do not have greater access to salvation through their wisdom. The rich cannot purchase it. The strong cannot, by their strength, attain it. God’s salvation was solely the work of Christ on the cross.”

God’s ways are not ways. The people of Corinth weren’t powerful, nor were they nobility and few would in society would label them as bearing wisdom. They were just regular people. But God has a way of using the ordinary for extraordinary acts of love. God desires us to be who are made to be and Christ’s calls us into action, just as we are. With the Holy Spirit’s guiding we are capable beyond anything we feel equipped for.

Many blessings and I look forward to worshipping with you in person or on YouTube this Sunday. I close this reflection with a poem by Rae Karim:
 

Beyond what makes us think we know
Beyond what makes us believe we can do
Are the mysteries of God, revealed in ways that…
sometimes leave us wondering
sometimes leave us wandering for answers
Questioning the hows and whys of God’s choices
But it’s not meant for our understanding
It’s meant for us to trust God’s plan is always in order
God always thinks bigger and goes farther in the Divine Strategy

Yes! Yes! God chose you and God chose me
Regardless of what the world thought of it
God chose you and God chose me
Knowing we’d be good for the part
Good for not simply playing the role
But being the role,
We…the ones who put the powerful to shame
We…the ones who disconnect the lights of notoriety & acclaim
We…the ones who remember God called and calls our names
Not for us to boast in the Presence as if we made it on our own
But to indeed boast about the Presence
That transforms and renews
That redeems and sanctifies
That is and will always be…wiser.

Rae Karim