DON'T FORGET HOW YOU GOT HERE
Back when the Promised Land was divided up into two nations, Judah to the south and Israel to the north, a boy was once crowned king in that southern capital of Jerusalem. His name was Joash. And when he was only seven years old he officially sat upon the throne over God’s people for the very first time. Of course, that wasn’t normal. Boys usually did not take over the throne for their fathers at such a young age. But Joash’s grandmother, Athaliah and done the unthinkable. After her son, Joash’s father, was assassinated, she began to kill off the rest of her descendants so that she could take over the throne herself. But Joash, an infant at that time, was hidden away for seven years in the temple of the Lord - watched over by a priest named Jehoiada. After those seven years had ended, Jehoiada gathered all of the God-fearing Levites in the city, captured Joash’s grandmother Athaliah, had here killed for insurrection, and crowned Joash king of Judah - as he rightfully should have been all along.
After being saved from his grandmother’s murderous intentions, Joash was mentored by Jehoiada, supported by the people, saw the temple of the Lord repaired and rebuilt, was blessed with the renewal of worship life during his reign, and was given the opportunity to hear the Word of God read every Sabbath Day. Joash had been watched over and had been given tremendous blessings by the Lord from day one. But after the priest Jehoiada died, Joash forgot how he had gotten there. He soon abandoned the temple of the Lord, he built Asherah poles to worship false gods, he refused to listen to the prophets sent to him by the Lord, and he even murdered Zechariah, Jehoiada’s own son, for preaching the Word of God because “King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him” (2 Chron. 24:22). Joash apparently didn’t remember anything about his past and how he had ended up on the throne. It is one of those tragic stories of Scripture of a person who received the grace of God throughout his life, but who ending up rejecting the very God that gave him all those blessings.
The apostle Paul did not want that same thing to happen to the Christian congregation he had founded in the Greek city of Corinth. They too had been saved by God’s grace - just as Joash had been; they too had been recipients of multiple blessings from the Lord - just as Joash had been; they too had to give all the credit to their heavenly Father for the situation they were in - just as Joash should have done; and Paul did not want them to forget that. Because he had established that congregation. He had spent a lot of time with that congregation. And now he was writing to that congregation about some problems they were having and to encourage them as children of God. Paul did not want them to forget how they had gotten to be children of God in the first place.
“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’”
It was important for the people in that congregation to remember that when they were called to faith in their Savior most of them were not intelligent - humanly speaking, most of them were not well-known leaders of the community, most of them had not been born into wealthy and prestigious families. They were average people with average jobs leading average lives - they were nothing special. Until God made them special. He did not choose those people that had a handful of degrees and impressive title or those who had achieved amazing things or those who had attained a certain level of social status; he chose the weak and the poor and the lonely and the hurting. He chose those who didn’t have much and couldn’t do more. And Paul didn’t want them to forget that now. Because they still didn’t have much. They still couldn’t do more. They still weren’t smart enough or strong enough or capable enough to last in this sinful world on their own. They needed their Lord now just as much as they did back then. And it would be detrimental to their faith to forget that.
Don’t forget how you got here. Right now you are sitting in a church building on a Sunday morning at the end of January because you want to hear about your Savior again and praise his name with your brothers and sisters in Christ just like you did last week. And you are here right now because you are a child of God. And you are a child of God right now because you are a believer in your Savior. And so don’t forget how you got here! Don’t forget why you are who you are and why you are where you are! He brought you to be his child at a point when you were his enemy. He led you into the light of his gospel when you were wallowing in darkness. He raised you to spiritual life when you were decomposing in spiritual death. Of course, he died you before you were even aware of who he was. He rose from the dead for you before you ever lived on this earth. He saved you when you were incapable and unwilling to do it yourself. Don’t forget that. Don’t forget where you were and how you got to be here.
The point at which our Lord brought us here, to faith in him, will vary from person to person. Some of us were brought to faith as adults, others as young men or young women, others as teenagers, others as children, and still others as infants. I was about two weeks old when I was brought to faith in my Savior. Because at my baptism the Lord did for me what he promises to do at every baptism: he forgave my sins, he placed the gift of the Holy Spirit into my heart so that I could believe it, and he accepted me into his family. Was I “smart” at the time I was taken up to the front of a church in the arms of my mother to be baptized at the rim of a baptismal font? Not hardly: a baby is not intelligent at all. Was I physically strong and fully able to deal with things on my own at that point? That’s a ridiculous question to even ask. Was I capable of doing great things? I could cry and sleep and fill my diaper, but that was about it. I was an infant after all! I was unable to do anything for myself or even logically think through what was happening at the moment I was brought to faith in my Savior. And that’s the point, that’s the bottom line: The reason I am here today as a believer in Jesus is not because of anything I did or anything I would be able to do. It was only by the grace of God that I can claim a faith in my Savior today.
The same holds true for you. Whether you were 5 days old or 55 years old at the time you were brought to faith through the gospel, it was only by the grace of God that you believe in your Savior today. Your intelligence didn’t do it for you. Your strength didn’t either. And your capability and potential to do great things were nothing close to where they needed to be. The Lord took care of it all for you. And now you are enjoying all the benefits from his work. Don’t forget that.
Because as we get older and as we get supposedly “wiser” and physically “stronger” and more capable than we were whenever we were brought to faith, we sometimes can forget how we got here. Because now that we are used to figuring things out on our own and now that we are used to being able to comprehend fairly complex ideas and concepts, now that we are more experienced and have developed more life skills than we had back then, it is sometimes hard to see the need to lean on the Lord as often as we used to. Because we have been able to stand on our own two legs for quite a while now, haven’t we? We have been able to make tough decisions; we have been able to fix difficult problems; we have been able to survive some unfortunate situations. We have proved ourselves to be relatively competent in this life. And so to fully lean on the Lord for every little thing without at least putting a little bit of weight on our own feet? To trust in him to supply us with every good thing without taking the situation into our own capable hands? To admit that no matter how much we plan and no matter how hard we try the Lord is the only one who is able to do what needs to be done in the end? That’s hard! That’s humbling! Because we don’t want to have to depend on someone else. We don’t want to have to admit that we aren’t good enough. But don’t forget how you got here!
This is how you got to where you are at: God chose the foolish things of this world so that your intelligence would play no part. God chose the weak things of the world so that your strength would be useless. God chose the lowly and the despised things of this world so that all of your great achievements and all of your wonderful abilities would have nothing to do with your salvation. Think about what Jesus did and especially how he did it: He chose to be born through the womb of a virgin girl by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s a little “foolish” isn’t it, according to any human way of thinking? That’s even a little stupid - if you’ll allow me to use that word. God chose to come to this earth not in power and glory and majesty as we would expect the Almighty God to do, but in the body of a baby. Is there anything “weaker” than that? God chose to act like a servant in this world, not a master. Why would he become something so culturally despised? He chose to ride into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey. He chose to be crucified as if he were a hated criminal. He chose to defy the very laws of nature and rise from the dead. He chose to physically and visibly ascend up into heaven without first punishing those who had killed him. He chose to prepare a place in heaven for us after we die and he promises to come back one day and end it all. All this is so foolish when you really think about it! It’s stupid! It’s idiotic! This science fiction story can’t be true! Can it?
And then, to top it all off, in order to convince us that these things actually are true, God didn’t use thunder and lightning, massive earthquakes or breath-taking supernatural acts of his divine power, instead he chose the simple words that are written in a book called the Bible. God chose water connected with that Word. God chose pieces of bread and a sip of wine. He chose common things, normal things. We might even say that he chose ridiculously simple things to demonstrate his power. But no man or machine on this earth, no matter how strong they may be, can do the things that God does through the gospel in these simple forms. No one can actually forgive the sins of another - but the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper can when coupled with the words spoken by Christ. No one can offer the gift of faith - but the water used in baptism can when it is paired with the promise the Lord attaches to it. No one can save someone else from the pits of hell - but the simple gospel found in Scripture can.
What God chose to do for our salvation has nothing to do with our intelligence. In fact, it is just the opposite. Our minds convulse at the idea of Christ. What God chose to do for our salvation has nothing to do with our strength either. Our abilities could not accomplish what needed to be done. What God chose to do for our salvation has nothing to do with our potential. We will never be good enough for the Lord to want to save us. You are a believer right now not because you were smart enough to pick him, but because he was loving enough to pick you. You are a believer right now not because you were strong enough to contribute, but because God was strong enough to save you even though you couldn’t contribute at all. You are a believer right now not because you were nice enough or pleasant enough to get on his good side, but because he was compassionate enough to bring you to faith in his cross anyway.
Don’t forget how you got here. Because you still need him - now more than ever. You still must rely on him and trust in him and lean on him now just as much as you did when he first brought you to faith. Because nothing has really changed: we are still naïve; we are still weak; we are still vulnerable. And so go to the Lord in prayer often. Approach the Lord in his Word daily. Stand in front of your Lord’s altar frequently. He is the one who can protect you and strengthen you and comfort you now because he is the one who saved you back then. He’s the one who will never leave you because he is the one who has always been here. He’s the one who can take you home because he’s the one who is there right now. Don’t forget where you were. Don’t forget how you got here. And don’t forget where you’ll one day be.
Amen.
“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” - 1 Cor. 6:11
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