For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise, according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. (27) But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; (28) and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, (29) that no flesh should glory in His presence. (30) But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – (31) that, as is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

The first letter to the Corinthians was written by the apostle Paul. In our verses today Paul is directing the Corinthians to look at the facts regarding their own call to Christianity; that most, (not all), called were not of high birth and education. Ancient Christians for the greater part were slaves and those of humble rank. By choosing the weak God had the greater opportunity to manifest His own power; all glory belongs to Him. Paul did not preach the wisdom of the world because God had determined to save men by Christ crucified. God acted as to take away all merit from human wisdom and power and glory – to put to shame the wise and noble. We are nothing previous to our being called even though we might be in the eyes of men; our reality is in the eyes of God.

Christ Jesus in His incarnation became to us God’s revelation of Himself which surpasses any wisdom we could have derived from nature. Men take pride in their philosophies and reasoning powers but no philosophy in the world would ever have reasoned the need for the cross – that in the death of Christ only could men be saved. Men try to work out a way of salvation through systems and rituals. The Spirit of God is far above the power of man to discover.

I’m going back to C.S.Lewis to close: “Reality, in fact, is usually something you couldn’t have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe in Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel we were making it up. But, in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have.”