Sunday 20th October 2019

Sunday 20th October 2019

Lord Jesus Christ 

By the power of your presence 

Open the mind of God to us 

That in your light we may see light  

And in your strength be strong  

Amen.  

 

 

Today we read in scripture  

 

“ Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”1- Quote 

 

Yet like me earlier lots of folks like to blow their own trumpets.  

 

We all know how it goes and sometimes it’s the cities and the towns that they live in they boast about,  

 

Atlanta, a city too busy to hate. 

 

If you are tired of London, you are tired of life. 

 

Chigaco, Chicago, what a wonderful town. 

 

Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen 

 

Leave your heart in San Francisco 

 

New York, New York so good they named it twice.  (Slides for each city) 

 

I haven’t been in Prestwick long enough to hear how people boast of their town.  

 

But a few years ago East Ayrshire council erected a sign in Dalmellington to advertise the dark sky park and it said Dalmellington a village in the stars. ( Side Village sign ) 

 

I’ll leave you to think on these.  

 

But we are in good company. Jeruslaem boasted : (slideJerusalem) 

 

This is the city of God 

 

This is the place of the temple 

 

This is the seat of the king  

 

This is the place where all our hopes and fears are gathered 

 

This is the place of promises ….all will be well.  

 

And so on  

 

 

Glorious things of thee have spoken Zion’s city of our God! 

 

Glorious things are spoken about not just Jerusalem but all places that glorious things are spoken about God.  

 

 

Because if it’s worth bragging about, it’s worth remembering where all things come from in the first place.  

 

All things come to us from God.  

 

 

It’s not just our towns and cities we boast about it’s our careers, our families, our holidays and our latest gadgets.  (Slide gadgets cars) 

 

If it’s all about self-promotion then we need to think about our motives, For today we read in scripture that it’s not wrong to boast but wrong to boast in our own merits.  

 

As Paul writes to the Church in Corinth this letter he was writing to a troubled Church.  But he thanked God for them and prayed for them and tried to point them on the right road.  

 

He warned them of the divisions among them and reminded them of the unity of Christ and the power of the gospel.  

 

Then he goes on to say the words from Isiah 29:14 

 

“ I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;  

The intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” ( quote) 

 

Paul then goes on to explain that only God is wise and that all those who think that they are wise are foolish.  

 

That wisdom is judged by human standards.  

 

We see it all the time today. What are the standards of the world around us and how is wisdom judged, when all positions have their merit and what is the truth.  

 

When I was in London during the summer working I still read the Scottish papers and watched the Scottish news at night. I also would see headlines in the English papers and tv. Articles are written for different parts of the country to attract support from the views perceived in each country. Not the truth but spins on the truth of a particular viewpoint. (newspaper front pages) 

 

The wisest person we read in scripture Solomon knew that knowledge is power and it is power that rules our countries and our lives. (Solomon) 

 

Jeremiah tells us: 

 

Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom  

Do not let the mighty boast of their might  

Do not let the wealthy boast of their wealth  

 

The folks around Jeremiah must have thought who does he think he is. Why should we not brag, look at who we are and all that we have, look how wise we are.  

 

But Jeremiah is saying yes you can boast but not on wisdom, might and wealth.  

 

Boast in your understanding of God, his love and justice and righteousness to all the earth.  

 

Boast in the things that please God.  

 

Our stories that God has given us on this journey of faith are the ones that we should tell and show that no one is wise or powerful or even strong except by the power of the Cross given to us by God in Jesus.( the power of the cross)  

 

Today we hear  

 

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; 28God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, 29so that no one1.29 Gk no flesh might boast in the presence of God.” 

 

Have you ever looks at the saints and the prophets of times gone by, Francis of Assi the one born a noble but renounced all things to serve God for he saw that the weak were strong in God.  That the one thing to do was to strive to fulful the calling that God had for him and to rebuild the Church of Jesus Christ. Many thought he had lost his mind but Francis knew God. 

 

 It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.(quote) 
 

Our whole lives journey tells the story of God and his interactions in our lives. Folks should be able to see God in us.  

 

Francis knew that  

 

 

Mother Theresa another of our examples of faith in our time saw it too It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.(quote) 

 

 

Nelson Mandela another who spoke into our time says this  

 

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. (quote) 

 

 

Notice what all of these and many others who are the prophets of their time say. It’s about relationship how we treat each other, our attitude to those around us.  

 

Our attitude like Christ’s so we boast in Christ in the things Christ did for us. For Cross shines that light on all of us. That in ourselves we are weak, foolish but Christ chooses us to show a different way. Where the weak can be strong, the foolish wise but only because of Christ. 

 

Our redemption and forgiveness show us the way to God and by we can boast and blow our trumpet but not to say how great we are but to show the greatness and holiness and the power of God.  

 

The message of the Cross is foolishness but the wisdom of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. (cross) 

 

Our next Hymn when I survey the wondrous cross one of my favourites tells us the response to the foolishness of  the cross the hymn writer Isaac watts tells us that we can indeed boast in things of the world but when we see the power of the Cross and what God has done for us our only response is to give our whole life and our all to serve.  

 

Let us boast, let us blow our trumpet, let us do it in the Lord.  

 

 

To God the Father 

God the Son 

God the Holy Spirit 

Amen.  







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