Early in the Disney movie, The Lion King, Simba makes a great boast. After, Simba has been shown the vastness of the kingdom he will inherit from his father, he boasts of his future as the king to Nala. He believes his boast leading them to the forbidden elephant graveyard where his boast is put to the test by the hyenas. Quickly, Simba is shown to be full of hot air by the hungry and much stronger hyenas, but before he and Nala are eaten, his father, Mufasa, the wise and powerful king, saves them. Simba’s boast in his strength was foolish because he was still a young, weak cub.
We put too much faith in label makers. With a label maker in hand, you can print whatever word you want and stick it to any object you want. A label maker allows you to make great boasts about things. For example, you could print a label that says, “Grandma’s famous chocolate chip cookies” and stick it on a Ziplock bag of cookies made from a tube of frozen cookie dough. Labels may make great boasts and might mean something for a little while, but when tested, the truth comes out.
Boasting works the same way as a label maker because the words are only worth something if what they boast in or about is true. In our Old Testament reading from Zephaniah 3, God reminded his people that he is the great boast tester. On the Day of the Lord, God will test our boasting, and he will remove those who boast in themselves and restore those who trust in the LORD as we read in Zephaniah 3, 11 On that day you, Jerusalem, will not be put to shame for all the wrongs you have done to me, because I will remove from you your arrogant boasters… 12 But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the LORD. 13 They will do no wrong; they will tell no lies… They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid.” God judges the arrogant self-labeled boasters, but to those he labels as meek and humble who trust in him, he gives relief, belonging and peace.
Paul printed unflattering labels for the Christians in Corinth. Paul was not looking to insult or throw shade at the Corinthians in our New Testament reading from 1 Corinthians 1 when he wrote, 26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. Instead, Paul acknowledged that from a worldly perspective, many of the Corinthians were plain and forgettable. Yet, before they sank into a pit of self-pity Paul followed quickly with good news writing, 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. Though many of them would be forgotten by the world, these were the chosen people of God. Paul shared that the worldly sinful understanding of who should be chosen like the wise, influential, noble and strong are not who God chooses. Rather, God chose the foolish, weak, lowly and despised to be his people. In this way, God brings all people to a humble, lowly position before him in either faith or judgment. When we hear flattering or unflattering labels our response quickly reveals by what standard we view ourselves and the world. We either rest secure in our worldly label or restlessly squirm in our seat at the pity party.
We all boast in something. We can boast in our achievements and status or our failures and insignificance. Either way, we are drawn to worldly standards, but those are not God’s standards. When Jesus came preaching repentance, he was in a sense calling out what we boast in. So, we can picture repentance as beginning with God sitting us down to see what we have been doing compared with what he wants us to be doing. We boast about what we think we have done that is good, but God the great boast tester knows what is true and helpful to others and brings him honor. Since our boasting has not met God’s standard, it is nullified or exposed as nothing. Our boasting is like bringing an 18-wheeler full of monopoly money to H.E.B. planning to buy what we need to survive and thrive, but God tells us what we have brought is worthless. Boasting in ourselves bankrupts us with the unpaid debt of sin and places us in the pit of hell.
Only one has passed God’s boast test. The perfect proxy took the same test we take and passed. Jesus became lowly for us; he became foolishness to the world for us to show his wisdom as God. Rather than condemn the world, God became one of us and met his standard of wisdom, power, noble birth and influence hidden behind the poor traveling rabbi with no permanent place to lay his head and rest his staff. The epiphany of Jesus reveals to us that the wisdom of God is not choosing the best of humanity to be his people, but often choosing the lowly, humble and despised. In this way, the wisdom of God is revealed as his mercy on us. God’s wisdom is his desire to give us the gift of faith, to work salvation for us, to live, die and rise for us, to bring us into a kingdom not of this world, but in our hearts until we are brought to the new heavens and the new earth. The wisdom of God is put plainly in our New Testament reading from 1 Corinthians 1, 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Because God chose us as his people, we have all the benefits of Christ’s work for us. In Christ, we are clothed with his righteousness, set apart from the worldly as his holy saints and citizens of heaven, and our debt to sin and death has been paid by Christ who purchased us with his own life sacrificed on the cross. Because of God’s wisdom, we have been prepared for eternal life in heaven.
In Christ, we now have something worth boasting in. Our boasting can be done alone or among others. When we are alone facing thoughts of insignificance or condemning ourselves because we do not compare with someone else in some way, it is time to boast in the Lord. When we are tempted to look inside for something worthwhile to boast it, it’s time to look back at Christ and all he has done for us. Then, our boasting in what he has done for us is worth all we need and want. And when others prompt us to speak about ourselves or join in a comparison game or defend our self-worth, it is again time to boast in all God has done for us in Christ. Paul quotes Jeremiah, a contemporary of the Zephaniah from our Old Testament reading, in 1 Corinthians 1 saying, 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” Jesus prepares us for those moments when we need to look to him for our reason to boast and not ourselves in our Gospel reading from Matthew 5. These words are from one of Jesus’ most famous sermons called The Sermon on the Mount where he lists the beatitudes, which are statements of blessing. After listing eight statements of blessing, he said, 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” With these beatitudes, Jesus was not describing eight kinds of Christians, but every Christian with eight statements of blessing. Jesus prepares us for insults, persecution and false accusations by humbling us with his law to repent that we are all “poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” And through Jesus we are forgiven, restored and have been made heirs of “the kingdom of heaven… [and] comforted.” Jesus work in us also means we are the “merciful… pure in heart… peacemakers… [and] persecuted because of righteousness.” And as we grow in faith, we grow in these beatitudes. And, the more time we spend with Jesus, the more equipped we are to boast in him. We are not overcome by our spiritual poverty because we have spiritual priority in Christ. With your boasting in Christ, your old labels are gone and the new labels you carry are righteous, holy and redeemed. With Christ those labels stick and are true.
Simba makes a great boast in Disney’s The Lion King after his father shows him the vastness of the kingdom he will inherit. Simba believes his boast about being strong enough to be king leading him and Nala into the forbidden elephant graveyard where his boast is put to the test by the hyenas. Quickly, Simba is shown to be full of hot air, but before he and Nala are eaten, his father, Mufasa, the good powerful king, saves them. Like Simba, we were weak and lowly, but God has chosen us to be his own in Christ. In Christ, we are righteous, holy and redeemed. In Christ, God reveals his wisdom as the good powerful king who saved us who would otherwise be dismissed and forgotten, so we boast in the Lord. Amen.
Gunnar Ledermann, Pastor Divine Peace Church
Gunnar Ledermann
I’m passionate about Rockwall’s vibrant community and actively engage with local non-profits and community organizations, including the Rockwall Chamber of Commerce, the City of Rockwall, and the Downtown Rockwall Association. My background includes a bachelor’s degree in Classical Languages and a master’s degree in divinity. Currently serving as a pastor at Divine Peace Church in Rockwall, I also enjoy spending time with my wife, Marinda, and our five children.
