The Humble Things God Uses
VBC Albuquerque · Oct 20, 2024
The sermon presents how God chooses the humble, weak, and despised things to shame the wisdom and strength of the world. God uses earthen vessels holding precious treasure to prove that all power comes from Him, not from people. The church is called not from the wise or powerful, but from ordinary people, so that all glory belongs entirely to God.
The first section presents the main theme that God intentionally chooses foolish, weak, and humble things in the world to shame the wise, strong, and powerful. According to 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, God selects what is insignificant to nullify what is important, so that no one can boast before God. This is God's principle of selection: using what the world regards as worthless to accomplish His exalted purposes.
The second section develops the theological argument by using the image of earthen vessels containing treasure (2 Corinthians 4:7). We—ordinary, weak people—are humble earthen vessels, yet we contain God's supreme power. The sermon also recalls the cycle of Israel in the book of Judges: the people return to sin, God allows them to be oppressed, they cry out for God's mercy, and God sends a judge to deliver them. God does not choose great leaders or mighty warriors, but ordinary people—such as Samson and Gideon—to accomplish His work of salvation.
The third section applies the message to the practical life of the congregation by emphasizing that the Church does not consist of the wise according to worldly standards, the powerful, or the noble (1 Corinthians 1:26). Ordinary people are called to follow Christ and serve the humblest. Matthew 25:35-40 teaches that whenever we care for the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, or imprisoned, we have done it for Christ Himself. The message encourages the congregation to recognize that what seems humble—service, humility, loving compassion—is truly the most precious in God's kingdom, and through this God receives glory.