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1 Corinthians 2:1-16

¹ When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn’t come preaching God’s secrets to you like I was an expert in speech or wisdom. ² I had made up my mind not to think about anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and to preach him as crucified. ³ I stood in front of you with weakness, fear, and a lot of shaking. ⁴ My message and my preaching weren’t presented with convincing wise words but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. ⁵ I did this so that your faith might not depend on the wisdom of people but on the power of God. ⁶ What we say is wisdom to people who are mature. It isn’t a wisdom that comes from the present day or from today’s leaders who are being reduced to nothing. ⁷ We talk about God’s wisdom, which has been hidden as a secret. God determined this wisdom in advance, before time began, for our glory. ⁸ It is a wisdom that none of the present-day rulers have understood, because if they did understand it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory! ⁹ But this is precisely what is written: God has prepared things for those who love him that no eye has seen, or ear has heard, or that haven’t crossed the mind of any human being. ¹⁰ God has revealed these things to us through the Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, including the depths of God. ¹¹ Who knows a person’s depths except their own spirit that lives in them? In the same way, no one has known the depths of God except God’s Spirit. ¹² We haven’t received the world’s spirit but God’s Spirit so that we can know the things given to us by God. ¹³ These are the things we are talking about—not with words taught by human wisdom but with words taught by the Spirit—we are interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people. ¹⁴ But people who are unspiritual don’t accept the things from God’s Spirit. They are foolishness to them and can’t be understood, because they can only be comprehended in a spiritual way. ¹⁵ Spiritual people comprehend everything, but they themselves aren’t understood by anyone. ¹⁶ Who has known the mind of the Lord, who will advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Paul proclaims “God’s wisdom, secret and hidden.” The light
of Christ that blinded him on the road to Damascus has
filled his heart and mind. Freed from his blindness, he receives
strength through the Spirit to follow Christ through hardships,
dangers, and abuse.

Paul contrasts God’s wisdom with human wisdom. Rather
than “lofty words or [human] wisdom,” he preaches Christ
crucified. This stumbling block in the gospel brings persons to
faith not as a result of human wisdom but through “the power
of God.” The focus of Paul‘s preaching and teaching reveals the
creative power that brought order from chaos and lightened the
darkness at the beginning of time. It is not revealed through
elegant preaching but by the witness and faith of persons so
filled with light that those who encounter them discover their
lives changed.

As a pastor I have found myself in situations that made me
feel completely inadequate given the magnitude of the pain and
suffering involved: a young child choking to death in the arms
of his mother, the suicide of a young college student, or the
deaths of a husband and only child in a boating accident. I have
walked into tragedies not knowing what to say or do. The lofty
words of my human wisdom cannot fill the void.

In those circumstances, I must, with Paul, rely on my faith
in the Spirit to speak God’s wisdom to those experiencing such
unimaginable loss. We in our weakness and fear can allow the
power of God to work in us. Only then may we adequately
share the gospel of Christ with others. Only then may we be
truly present to those who are in need ofcomfort, love, and
support.

Lord, may we speak and proclaim Christ crucified out of your wisdom and power. Amen.

Rece las Escrituras usando Leccionario en Audio
Leer Matthew 5:13-20

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Leccionario Semanal

January 30–February 5, 2017

Resumen de la Escritura

Living genuinely out of a deep inner sense of connectedness to the Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit) is a common theme for this week’s texts. By living out of this spiritual center, we match our actions with our words and avoid the judgment the prophet Isaiah casts upon the people of Israel. Psalm 112 is a hymn of praise for the blessings God brings upon those who revere and follow. In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he urges them to move beyond their irtation with wisdom and to go to the deeper regions of the Spirit, the source of true wis- dom. And, nally, Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, calls his listeners to move beyond the mere words of the law to the deep meaning and intent of the law.

Preguntas para la reflexión

• Read Isaiah 58:1-12. When have you felt strengthened by God for a particular task? How did your light “break forth like the dawn”?
• Read Psalm 112:1-10. Where have you been a light to those struggling in the shadows?
• Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-16. When have you faced unimaginable circumstances and had no words to speak? How did God’s wisdom help you in those times?
• Read Matthew 5:13-20. How do you ful ll God’s intended purpose for you as salt and light to the world?

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1 Corinthians 2:1-16

Matthew 5:13-20

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