Sermon -- 4th Sunday after Epiphany (February 1, 2026)

LET THE ONE WHO BOASTS BOAST IN THE LORD.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31

In the name + of Jesus.

      You and I live in two kingdoms.  We live in the kingdom of the world, and we live in the kingdom of God.  They are two very different kingdoms.  They value things differently.  They prioritize things differently.  They reward people differently.  But since we live in both, we are conflicted about what we value and prioritize, and about the rewards we desire.

     Consider how St. Paul addressed the Corinthian Christians.  He wrote, “Consider your call, brothers.  Not many of you were wise from a human point of view, not many were powerful, and not many were born with high status” (1 Corinthians 1:26).  St. Paul said that not many had attained these things; that means that some had.  But for the most part, the congregation was made up of people who were striving just to get by.  They may have had dreams of bigger and better.  But there was no likelihood of one’s social status changing in the first century Roman Empire.  If you were poor, enslaved, or unschooled, you would remain poor, enslaved, or unschooled.  Your fantasies remained fantasies, and fantasies produce nothing.

     But those who had wealth, those who were heralded as scholars, those who were powerful, influential, or nobility could boast about their station in life—whether it was earned or inherited.  Perhaps nothing has changed.  These things are still highly regarded in our world.  Those who have not achieved them—no matter how noble, honest, or beneficial to society they are—are often held in low regard.  This might sound insulting, but you have been influenced to think the same way.  If you don’t think so, go to the Old Granary Burying Ground in Boston.  I bet you will take photos of the gravestones of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock, and I bet you will not even pay attention to the other grave markers there.  We admire those who have achieved wealth, power, and fame.  Those who have not achieved such notoriety still fantasize about achieving it.  The have-nots want to boast like the haves.  That is life in this worldly kingdom. 

     You, however, live in another kingdom—the kingdom of God.  The kingdom of God is very different from the kingdom of this world.  In fact, the Lord turns things upside down.  The Lord values things differently.  He prioritizes things differently.  He rewards people differently.  Since the Lord is the one who blesses people with wealth and authority, he is not impressed when people take pride in them.  God can withdraw those blessings just as easily as he gives them.  And if someone should be born into a family of high-standing, that is an act of God’s grace.  No one is born to a particular time, place, or family because he has done something to deserve it.  So, if a man boasts about his noble birth, that is the height of arrogance.

     There is a fascinating chapter in the book of Daniel which highlights all of this.  King Nebuchadnezzar ruled the kingdom of Babylon, the most power kingdom in the world up to that time.  He enjoyed wealth, power, and fame.  The prophet Daniel had warned him that his pride would be judged by the Lord if he did not repent.  About year after this warning, “the king said, ‘Isn’t this the great Babylon that I built for a royal residence by my mighty power and my majestic glory?’  While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice came down from heaven.  It said, ‘It is announced to you, King Nebuchadnezzar: The kingdom has been taken away from you’” (Daniel 4:30-31).  For about seven years, Nebuchadnezzar went insane.  He was reduced to nothing.  Then, after Nebuchadnezzar had been properly humbled, the Lord was pleased to restore him.  Then he confessed, “Now, I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of Heaven, because all his works are true, and his ways are just.  All those who walk in arrogance he is able to humble” (Daniel 4:37).  Thanks be to God, Nebuchadnezzar learned the lesson: Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

     Our Lord should not have to resort to that level of judgment for you to recognize that you are nothing but dust and breath.  Our Lord should not have to remove your wealth so you can no longer take pride in it, or to withdraw your health so that you can no longer take pride in your strength, or make you a victim of slander so that you can no longer find comfort in your popularity.  But sometimes he does.  If he does, the God be praised!  Because he is doing it for your good.  God may reduce our worldly goods and glory to nothing so that we do not remain devoted to our own earthly kingdom.  If we have nothing on earth to boast about but we still have God’s promises, we have everything of eternal value.  Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

     “God chose the foolish things of the world to put to shame those who are wise.  God chose the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are strong, and God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to do away with the things that are, so that no one may boast before God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).  This is especially true regarding our salvation.  Our Lord was pleased to bring about our salvation through things that were weak, shameful, and despised. 

     When the Father sent his Son into the world to redeem mankind from a sinful existence in a dying world, he did not float down from heaven as an adult, glowing in glory and power.  He entered the world through a birth canal.  Totally dependent upon Joseph and Mary, Jesus experienced a world of cold and hunger, of splinters and callouses, false accusations and fake friends.  For acts of mercy, Jesus was vilified.  For relieving people of demon-possession, Jesus was accused of being in league with Satan.  As Isaiah had said, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man who knew grief, who was well acquainted with suffering.  Like someone whom people cannot bear to look at, he was despised, and we thought nothing of him” (Isaiah 53:3).
     When Jesus acted to deliver us from sin, death, and the devil, it was not with a drawn sword and laying waste to kingdoms and armies.  Instead, God chose what appeared to be foolish, weak, lowly, and despised.  Jesus made himself obedient to death—an unjust sentence upon an innocent man.  Jesus made himself obedient to death on a cross—beaten, bloodied, and naked.  He was mocked by the rich and powerful who boasted that their plans had been successful.  They put Jesus to death.  They preserved their earthly kingdom.  They received their reward. 

     It is common for a Christian church to display a cross as a reminder of where our sin was paid for.  Better still is a crucifix.  It is not the cross that has taken away your sin.  Your sin was put upon Jesus and buried with his lifeless body.  When someone sees the disfigured and dead body of Jesus suspended from a cross and asks you, “Is that your God?” you boast, “Yes, that is my God, my Savior.”  Some will mock you for trusting in one who appears weak and wretched, but you know that the Lamb who was slain shows you the very heart of God.  It shows you how seriously God is about sin and the penalty sin deserves—that God the Father would damn his own Son for bearing your sin.  But it also shows you how dearly God loves you—that God the Father would curse his own Son to grant you a full pardon for all your sin.  Jesus has taken away our sin.  God has no reason to punish or even to threaten you. 

     The crucified Jesus Christ appears utterly weak, shameful, and pathetic.  God, however, has chosen what appears foolish, weak, and despised to save us.  All the wealth, power, and PhD’s in the world can’t save anyone.  No matter how much a man may boast in his wisdom or wealth, he cannot buy his way out of death or outsmart the grave.  No matter how much power one accumulates, he cannot command death to bow to him.  Why?  “So that no one may boast before God.  But because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us the wisdom from God, namely, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.  God did this so that, just as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31). 

     Now, understand this distinction.  You live in the kingdom of God.  God brought you into his kingdom through holy baptism.  To some, it seems foolish that a splashing of water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit would have any real significance.  But God chooses the despised things of this world to bestow everlasting value to his people.  God grants his gracious reward without regard to how much we know, how much we are known, how much we attain, or how much we accomplish.  Whether you are an infant or an adult, whether you are at the top of your field or on the low end of the totem pole, whether you have a perfect score on your ACT’s or have Alzheimer’s Disease, your place in the kingdom of God has been secured by the Lord Jesus and by him alone.  So let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

     At the same time, you live in the kingdom of this world.  If you possess wealth, intelligence, or authority, you can do great things for many people.  God grants you these gifts not so that you can build up a kingdom for yourself in this world.  Every worldly kingdom will finally be reduced to dust, as will the people who build them.  But God gives you gifts to use for his glory and for the good of your fellow man.  St. Paul directs us, “Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment.  Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

     If God has chosen to not bless you with wealth, scholarly degrees, or authority, he still provides you with opportunities to do good and to bless your fellow man.  You do not need worldly acclaim to be honest, helpful, merciful, chaste, decent, or to show up on time and to do the work you were given to do.  And you don’t need the world’s praise for God to be pleased with you or for your life to matter.  Jesus has made you pleasing to the Lord.  If the world does not think much of you and your works, so what!  God does!

     Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.  The Lord has made you his priority.  You have infinite value to him.  And he rewards you with an eternal kingdom through the mercies and merits of Jesus.  Therefore, you have nothing greater to value than Jesus Christ.  Now your highest priority are God’s word and sacraments.  By these, the Holy Spirit preserves you in his kingdom.  And we boast in the Lord Jesus as we await his return to bring us to our heavenly reward.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.