"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might, nor the rich man in his riches."
We may think that this passage does not apply to us. We do not think that we are rich or mighty. As for wisdom, we think that we are surely too humble to boast of it.
But even if only in our hearts, it is easy to boast of our inner wisdom.
Most people in our culture today share a misconception. The misconception goes like this: There is something inside of me, in my heart, that naturally detects truth. I can hear something, and just by hearing it, I can FEEL whether it is true or false.
We have been taught by our culture that we should let our heart be our guide. We can be fooled into thinking that we can automatically tell good from evil. We could never be fooled by charlatans, we think.
But the truth is that we are all fooled routinely and consistently by the most common charlatan of all: The con man called the Old Adam, the sinful flesh. He fools us over and over, day after day. The sinful flesh is us, and we trust ourselves. Why would we ever lie to ourselves?
But we do. That is why we are not, in ourselves, wise, even though we think that we are. We try to judge true teachings from false based only on what we feel. We all sometimes think that we are wise in our hearts. But we are not.
Well, at least we're not rich and boast of our riches. Or do we?
We do not have to be Donald Trump to boast of riches. We can be poor, yet boast of how well we have kept food on the table for our family. And what's wrong with that?
What's wrong is that we should not boast in our strength or riches. Boast in the Lord. Who really put that food on the table? You may have been the Lord's instrument, but it was truly He and He alone who provides all good things.
In this congregation, there has been a strong effort to keep things going through good times and bad. When attendance is up, how easy to be proud of how well we are doing! How easy to say, "Look how faithful we've been!" When attendance is down, it is just as easy to be proud of how we have kept things afloat through the lean times.
But the truth is, we do not keep it going. God alone creates and preserves. He calls and gathers His flock together, with money or without.
God may call upon this congregation to meet together without a building, without a budget, without a paid pastor. Those luxuries may disappear. But if the pure Word alone is here, will you still be faithful? Or will pride of past accomplishments, or shame of present poverty, drive you away?
We like to be part of a successful congregation. We like to look around and see everything going smoothly. When things are not so smooth, then we feel bad. We may act as if the Word were not the Word, and the Body and Blood were not given and shed for us.
It is easy to confuse the man-made things in the congregation for the spiritual things. It is easy to boast of what we have done. That is what satan wants us to do. If he gets us to think that this congregation is a human organization, then he has got us halfway into his kingdom.
Let us boast not of what we do, but only in the Lord.
To boast of Him, you must know Him. The Lord, who wants to be known, has revealed Himself in clarity and truth. He has opened up His great heart to your eyes so that you can see who He is.
This is what the Lord is like: He shows lovingkindness. He pronounces judgment. He exercises righteousness.
His lovingkindness is what He is most of all. He is rich mercy that spared you when you were helpless. He is grace that saw nothing lovable in you, yet loved you nonetheless. His tender mercy asked for nothing in advance and nothing in return.
When you were still enemies of God and dead in sin, He sent His Love to earth in human flesh. God became Man so that His mercy would come to the helpless.
In this way, He demonstrated His lovingkindness: He gave Himself into death and hell in your place. He took all that you deserved upon His own shoulders so that you would not have to suffer it.
Without Christ crucified, you could not know what love is. Only there, bleeding on Golgotha, could you see mercy in its pure, divine majesty. For Love Himself died for you on the Cross.
When man's feeble wisdom exercised itself in human works of counterfeit love, God's Wisdom bled on the Tree. All mankind's false wisdom is forgiven, and all counterfeit love is covered up by God's infinite lovingkindness.
Yet God also pronounces judgment. This may fill you with fear that maybe God wants more from you. Perhaps, you may think, Christ died for your sins, but you still have to be good enough to make it through the judgment at the Last Day.
The heart can fill with many doubts when it hears the word "judgment." This is because you know that you have not stopped being a sinner. You know that you do not deserve what Christ did for you. He showed unlimited love when you deserved unending torment. The heart with its feeble wisdom still wants to earn what Christ did. So it hears the word "judgment" and imagines that your works must pay your debt.
Yet God does not judge as the sinful heart judges. God's judgment is Calvary. His standard for justice is His Son. He consults the Blood of Atonement before He utters a single word of His verdict. His judgment does not depend on whether you have done enough good works. In Christ, you have done enough good works to overflow for many lifetimes. Since Christ is your substitute under the Law, you are declared innocent. No guilt can touch you.
This is God's righteousness. It is not a righteousness based on works, but based on faith in Christ Jesus. The instant you believed, you had all His righteousness covering you. No sins can be seen, because Christ's holiness gets in the way.
Do not think that God's righteousness is His standard of goodness that you have to live up to. No, His righteousness is the gift that He gives through Baptism, received through faith.
So boast in Christ. He is your innocence and purity. He is your righteousness. Do not pay attention to whether your works are good enough. There is never enough in your works. On the other hand, Christ is always more than enough for you. There is no doubt in what Christ has done. Therefore, boast in Him.
Brag about Christ. He is your riches and your treasure. In Him, you who are spiritually poor have become the richest people of all. You who are spiritually weak have become kings. All things are yours in Christ Jesus. More than that, Christ Himself is yours, a greater treasure than a thousand earths. This living Lord is your precious possession that no one can take away. He has given Himself to you forever.
In His Name, the only true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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