+ 4th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 1st, 2026 +
Series A: Micah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When our kids were younger we’d make an occasional trip to the Build-A-Bear workshop at the mall. It was a buffet for the imagination. Pick your stuffed animal of choice. Stuff it. Give it a heart. And don’t forget all the accessories. Harry Potter scarves and Star Wars Jedi robes. You get to create your own little cuddly critter just the way you want it.
It’s a great, fun idea for a toy store. But a terrible idea when it comes to the holy gifts and holy name of God.
And yet, that’s how our Old Adam thinks when we open up God’s Word. Our Old Adam waltzes into the storehouse of Scripture like a kid at Build-A-Bear. Here’s my toyshop. My playground. My build-a-god workshop. I can mix and match and stuffs my build-a-god creation with all my favorite things.
A mighty, rippling-muscled Messiah. A deity who flexes his divine power at my every whim and fancy. A tame god who obeys my every command and does what I say. When I say. How I say. A superhero savior who can leap Jerusalem’s walls with a single bound. A rockstar redeemer promising fame and fortune.
A little pet-god of my own creation. Just the way I want him to be. Mark Twain was right. “In the beginning God created man in his own image…and ever since then we’ve been trying to repay the favor.”
Thankfully, God has a different way. A better way. His way. The way of the cross. The way where everything he does is so opposite of what we would do or think or expect that salvation and rescue can only come by His grace.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
This way of Christ is power, but power made perfect in weakness. Jesus wraps his might in mercy. He hides his glory in the blood and sweat and agonizing gasps for air of the crucified. Jesus cloaks his divine wisdom with the folly of a lowly criminal’s death on the tree. Jesus hides his holiness in utter humility for you.
God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
And this is nothing new. This is how God has always worked. When God revealed his promise to Adam and Eve to send a savior from sin and death and the serpent’s tyranny, he foretold his coming in the flesh. an infant redeemer. A swaddled savior. Born of a woman. Born under the law to redeem us who are under the law.
When God chose the man through whom he would make his everlasting covenant and bless all nations of the earth through his Offspring, he chose a pagan from the land of Ur named Abram.
When God blessed one of Jacob’s sons through Jacob’s hands and words, he did not choose the first, or even the second or third born son, but the fourth son. Judah, from whom would come the Seed, the Offspring, the unexpected Deliverer, Jesus.
When God led his people Israel out of slavery in Egypt, he called Moses a murderer and a man too afraid to speak in public to be his servant and to lead his holy people in the exodus.
When God defeated Israel’s enemies in the days of the Judges, He did not conscript Israel’s best bowman or their elite warriors. Instead, God paid a visit to Gideon – his mighty man of valor – who was threshing wheat hidden in a winepress for fear of the Midianites. And yet YHWH brought victory through seeming weakness. Not 30,000. Not 10,000. But 300 men. No weapons. No shields. Just torches. Trumpets. And the sword of God’s word.
When God placed a king on the throne and promised him that one of his Offspring would sit on the throne forever and his kingdom would have no end, God anointed the covetous, murderer, liar, and adulterer, David.
Not surprisingly, when God takes on human flesh he continues to confound us by turning page after page of his gracious playbook to our marvel and wonder and awe.
The Holy One of Israel is born a humble infant. The Mighty Fortress is made man. The Blessed One bleeds for you. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reveals his greatest glory in unimaginable suffering. The Son of God becomes the Son of Mary to save sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. The Anointed One – the Christ – chooses to be spat upon, mocked, betrayed, scourged, and ridiculed. The Faithful and True One chooses to become the fool and the faithless and the sinner for you. The Author and Giver of life chooses death by spikes and thorns and wood and spear to deliver you.
Indeed… the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
So, God being God. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
Paul does not mince words. He offers no spoonful of sugar. He tells it like it is. We are sinners in need of a savior. Debtors in need of redemption. Lost. Lowly. Little. Last. Least. And in need of rescue. The diagnoses is in and the disease is terminal. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
And like the good physician’s assistant and preacher that he is, Paul gives you the cure; he delivers with God’s word, the one consolation and antidote. We preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.
For the word of the cross – foolish as it is and looks – is your salvation. Jesus crucified is the power of God for you who are being saved. You will not find this salvation in your pride, power, prestige, or pet-gods, but in the passion and pardon and promise of Jesus.
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. For you.For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Therefore, let the one who boasts, boast in the crucified Lord Jesus.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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