By Miranda Murray, Fiat Ventures
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Would you consider yourself to be particularly wise (by human standards)? Maybe you’re wise by monkey standards, but most teens aren’t that wise by human standards. Wisdom comes from age and time spent here on earth and we just haven’t clocked as many hours as our parents or teachers or grandparents.
Are you powerful? Maybe you feel like your opinions have sway in your friend group like if you want to watch a certain movie or go somewhere specific to eat you have enough power to convince your friends or siblings or parents. But in the large picture, most teens are not considered very powerful. Power often comes from a position of leadership like a leader of a state or senator, or leader of a country like the president, or leaders of the Church like bishops and the Pope – in comparison, teens are not generally considered powerful.
Maybe… you were of noble birth?? Well, to be honest I’m not even sure if I know what that means but it was in our second reading!
Paul wrote to the people of Corinth and said these harsh but true words to them “consider your own calling,… not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were noble of birth.” So far, it looks like Paul could be talking to the teens of the 21st century so let’s see what he has to say to the Corinthians and to us today!
“…Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.” Let’s take a closer look at this and see what Paul means.
By choosing who He did, God is flipping the world’s idea of “success” upside down. The world tends to value intelligence, power, status, popularity, wealth, influence, etc. But God chooses people who don’t have those things. God doesn’t work through human pride. He works through humility. He chooses people the world sees as “nothing” to show that real power comes from Him, not from their human ability. So, when Paul writes “God chose the foolish…to shame the wise” and “weak…to shame the strong,” he doesn’t mean it as mocking, he means God proves that His wisdom and power are greater than human intelligence, strength, or status.
This is the key line: “So that no human being might boast before God.” Meaning, no one gets to say, “I did this by myself.” No one gets to claim the glory. No one gets to be proud in a self-centered way. God wants people to know that everything good comes from Him, not from our achievements, talents, or status. God is saying “I don’t choose people because they’re impressive. I choose people because I love them. And I work through them, so the world sees Me, not them.”
So, what is Paul’s message to teens in the 21st century? The same message he had for the people of Corinth! Your value is not based on popularity. Not on grades. Not on looks. Not on confidence. Not on success. Not on social status. God doesn’t look for impressive people. He looks for open hearts. This week focus on opening your heart so that God can work through you, and don’t be so down about not being of noble birth.