God Chooses the Weak by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

Years ago, when I was serving in another church, we had a young adult group. We had a member of that group I’ll call Lisa. Lisa was a challenge. She had multiple problems in her life that made her hard to be around. She had Tourette ’s syndrome, which made her rock back and forth and squeal at times. That in itself was not so awful. She was overweight. But lots of us are overweight. She had low self-esteem. Again, not that uncommon. But Lisa was depressed and at times suicidal. And she talked about it. That made her really socially awkward. It was hard to have a conversation with Lisa because she was so self-absorbed in her own pain and weakness. But she wanted to fit in. She wanted to be a normal young adult. She wanted to be part of this young adult group. It was mainly a social group. I think we had a Bible study too, but I mostly remember the social events: a picnic, an outing to a ball game, going to an amusement park.

As the pastor, and a young adult myself in this group, I watched as the group members interacted with Lisa, some more patiently than others. Lisa, without knowing it, invited us to be Jesus. Because you see, Jesus chooses the Lisas of the world. Jesus chooses the weak. At our best, we would take our time with Lisa, listen patiently to her, gently encourage her and be her friend. We let her choose which rides to ride at the amusement park and cheered as she made a karaoke recording. It was her joy of the day. Lisa invited us to slow down and to be more like Jesus. She was not someone any of us probably would have chosen to be friends with outside of this church group. But this is what it means to be a church family: we accept everyone, especially those who are weak.

God turns the values of the world upside down. We know this. The world values physical strength, beauty, money, and intelligence. God values the weak, the humble and the foolish. We know this, but we have a hard time accepting it.

In the time of Jesus, the people waited a long time for a Messiah. They expected a King who would reign with power and might. Instead they got Jesus, the son of a carpenter, a child of humble beginnings. What was God thinking, coming into the world as the son of a mere carpenter? And then when Jesus pulled together a team, he did not go for the religious leaders, the well-educated, the Scribes and the Pharisees. No, he recruited some uneducated fishermen and a tax collector. Jesus used those who were not respected to lead his mission. Jesus chose the weak. Why did he do that? Because God can use even the weak to move forward God’s mission.

Later Paul carries on the mission. He is writing this letter to the church in Corinth and he writes:

¹⁸ For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

The cross would have seemed foolish to many in those days. It was a symbol of death, a means of execution.  We revere the cross today. But think about it. Surely it was a sign of weakness that Jesus the King of the Jews died on a cross, executed. But Paul says, for those who believe in the power of the resurrection, the cross is everything. You see, God turns the things of the world upside down. God takes a symbol of weakness and death—the cross -- and turns it into a symbol of power and new life.

Paul wrote this:

²⁶ Consider your own call, brothers and sisters:^[a] not many of you were wise by human standards,^[b] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ 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; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no one^[c] might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in^[d] the Lord.”

God chooses the weak. God chooses what is low and despised in the world. God uses our weakness.

When God called Moses to be a leader, Moses said he was not up to the task. He was hiding out after having committed a murder. He gave God a bunch of excuses as to why he could not lead the people. He said “The people won’t listen to me.” Then he said he was not an eloquent speaker. Some believe Moses may have had a stutter.  There were plenty of reasons not to choose Moses to lead the people. He had plenty of weaknesses. God responded one by one to Moses’ objections, giving Moses what he needed in order to serve God. God chose someone who seemed weak and turned him into a great leader. We just never know what God can do for us when we put our trust in God.

What are your weaknesses? Do you think your weaknesses will keep you from serving God? We all have weaknesses. They are part of who we are.

Do you lack confidence? Are you foolish by the world’s standards? Not beautiful? Weak? Not as wise as you want to be? Do you feel you don’t measure up when you compare yourself to your peers?

This is the good news. None of that matters to God. We all measure up to God. We are all good enough, smart enough, and beautiful enough to be followers of Jesus. We are all worthy.

Just like Lisa who was good enough to be in the young adult group at the church, even with all her problems, each one of us is worthy to be part of God’s family. We each have something to contribute.

God does not measure by the world’s standards. God has God’s own standards and we exceed God’s expectations.

God chooses you! Even in your weakness, you are enough. You are blessed. Thanks be to God.