29 January 2017 - weak, foolish, chosen

[ Today's Readings ]

God chose the foolish
God chose the weak
God chose the lowly

God doesn't think like we do. He doesn't build his team by picking the best and the brightest. Why not? Wouldn't that be a better team? It wouldn't, because they are missing something even more fundamental.

But I will leave as a remnant in your midst
a people humble and lowly,
who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD:
the remnant of Israel.

We are all foolish and weak on our own. But many of us pretend to be strong and rely on that strength. We pretend to be wise and rely on that wisdom. The kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who truly know and accept that they are poor in spirit and therefore take refuge in the name of the LORD.

We are not disqualified by our foolishness and our weakness. Rather it is precisely because we are foolish and weak that we can rely on Jesus "who became for us wisdom from God". Those who believe themselves strong cannot receive this wisdom. They are frustrated as they fight and struggle and ultimately fail by their own effort apart from God.

Jesus wants a people who are willing to forego what the world suggests will make them happy, the normal ways of avoiding sorrow and seeking pleasure and security, and instead desire above all else the kingdom.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.

When we trust in him we really do experience the blessedness he promises. It is a blessedness which is so much better than any merely natural happiness.

The fatherless and the widow the LORD sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.