Boast in the Lord Alone 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

 

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, of whom we boast. 

 

Our message is based on our Epistle, especially the last verse: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

 

I’ve become a bit of a broken record lately, as I can’t help but bring up, and beam about, being a grandpa, having a dear little granddaughter to hold and admire.

 

Grandparents can’t help but to brag a bit about their dear little grandchildren… and parents tend to see their baby as the most beautiful baby in the world…  

 

We can’t help feeling this way… it’s that God-given bond, that special love He gives us for our dear ones.

 

It’s just natural to talk up and beam about our dear little children and grandchildren.

 

And it’s not necessarily bad to do this, as long as we remember that they are no more perfect than we are… they sin and fall short of God’s glory, just as we do: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Scripture says.

 

They need what we need, the grace of God to live by, His Word to learn from, and the fellowship of His family to love and support us in this world of trouble and temptation. 

 

And so we bring our children to be washed, as we were washed, at the fount of Holy Baptism… 

 

… not our skin washed clean, Baptism goes deeper than that, it washes our heart, and our soul.   

 

Through water and the Word, by the gift of faith, God brings into our lives what we need most: Him. 

 

We need the Father, who made us in His image, to sustain us in this earthly life. 

 

We need the Son, to reclaim and redeem this fallen life of ours. 

 

And we need the Holy Spirit, to bring the faith that saves into our lives, which comes with the love that brings peace and joy into our lives, for us to have and to share.

 

Putting this all together, we’re left with these words of wisdom to live by: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”…

 

… because He’s the One, the only One, who can do for us what we can’t do for ourselves, only Him.

 

The glory is His because the blessings are all from Him.

 

Let Him be the One we admire, and love and cherish, and beam about.

 

As we can’t help but beam, and our faces light up, when we talk about our dear children and grandchildren, or someone else we love… 

 

… so much more, let us beam, let our faces light up as our heart does, as we talk about our God, and all the wonderful things He’s done for us, and would do for all.

 

When we boast about ourselves, we’re walking on thin ice, even thinner than the ice has been on the lakes this mild winter.

 

The same is true when we boast about others, because, in the end, we all fail in some way… and then we have to eat our words, so to speak.

It’s not wrong to mention and affirm the good people do… but let it always be to glory of God, because all love, all good things and deeds are ultimately from Him.

 

So let us boast in the Lord alone… let us give Him the credit and glory He rightly deserves. 

 

When we give glory to Christ, we’ll never have to eat or retract our words of praise for Him, because He’ll never prove Himself unworthy or undeserving.

 

He proved that when he died and rose and overcame sin and death for us.

 

And so in Revelation 5, saints and angels before the throne of Heaven sing to Him, “Worthy is the Lamb!”.

 

I’ve said some foolish, unworthy things in my life, words I wish I could retract, as we sing in “O God, My Faithful God”, verse 3: Keep me from saying words, that later need recalling.

 

The famous Paul McCartney song, “Yesterday”, includes the lyrics, “I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday.” 

 

He was talking about when he was 14, and his mother said something with her Irish brogue, and her accent embarrassed him, and he mocked her for it in front of his friends.

 

Shortly later, she suddenly died, and he regretted his words, and wished he could take them back.

 

Sometimes we’ve said wrong and foolish things, mean things even, words we wish we could recall, but every word we’ve ever said or ever will say about Jesus, words that truly and accurately represent Him, as in the Bible… 

 

… they are the words that need never be recalled or retracted, but are the words to stand forever!

The fallen world and hostile culture, in team with the devil, would do all they can to make us recall the true words we share, the words that bear witness to Christ, and give glory to God… 

 

… or as we talked about last week, they would intimidate us into being silent, so we say nothing about the Gospel in public, or anywhere.

 

But we know the words about our triune God are the words to speak the loudest, to be the least ashamed of… and glory in the most. 

 

So in the Word of God, not the words of man, let us boast. 

 

If we glory in the Word God gives us, then we glory in the Sacraments He gives, we treasure them and gratefully receive them. 

 

We praise God and rejoice that in simple bread and wine, we receive our Lord Himself, the miracle of His very body and blood, given and shed for us, for our every spiritual blessing.

 

Now that’s something wonderful to boast about, not because we deserve God’s blessings, we’re sinful, we don’t… but because His blessings are so incredible, so good and perfect, and He is so kind and gracious to give them to us in abundance.

 

In simple water, by the power of His name, in a moment, for the sake of His Son, God undoes all the wrong we’ve ever done, and will ever do… He forgives us and washes our sin far away.

 

This afternoon, Rosalie Charlotte Sprenger, Cindy and Bill’s dear granddaughter, will be baptized in the name of our triune God, into His grace, to live and rejoice as His dear child in His dear family, and to grow in faith toward Him, and love toward her family and others.

 

God has many extraordinary blessings in store for His little Rosalie, eternal blessings. 

 

May the Gospel always be her, and our, greatest gift to hold on to… and to glory in.

 

May our lives, be lived to the glory of God, to boast in Him alone. 

 

While we may try to make our loved ones out to be better than they really are, it’s impossible to do that with our amazing God.

 

No matter how bright a picture you paint of Christ, no matter how well you speak of Him, no matter how highly you praise Him, you’ll never overdo it… 

 

… it’s impossible to overstate how great He is, and how wonderful His blessings are.

 

So praise and glorify Him with all your heart and soul and strength… speak as highly of Him as you can… He’s higher, and holier, and wiser, and more loving than we can ever say or describe. 

 

Ascribe to Him all the praise, give Him all the glory, all the honor, all the love and thanksgiving that You have for Him in your baptized heart… and then pray for even more to glorify Him with.

 

And as we boast and glory in our Lord alone, His peace, which passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, to whom be all glory and praise on earth and in Heaven, now and forever. Amen.