Deo Gloria
Sermon for February 1, 2026
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Theme: Celebrate Your Calling as a Christian!
- Give up on the idea that it had something to do with you.
- God did the choosing.
- Give God all the glory.
How do you celebrate your birthday? Do you have a big party and celebrate with your family and friends? Do you open lots of presents? Do you enjoy a piece of your favorite kind of cake—chocolate with chocolate frosting—and ice cream?
What about when it comes to your soul’s birthday, the day you were born again through water and the Spirit, the day you were brought by faith into the family of believers? When was the last time you stopped and thanked God for your faith, the last time you paused to remember your spiritual birthday? My guess is it’s probably been a while, hasn’t it?
That’s what I’d like to encourage you to do this morning: to take a moment and give thanks to God and celebrate your calling as a Christian. As you do, as you celebrate and rejoice in your calling as a Christian, there are a few important truths you need to keep in mind. First of all, it had nothing to do with you.
One of the reasons for the problems that developed in the congregation in Corinth is that the Christians there were putting too much emphasis on external things. They put a lot of stock in things like worldly wisdom, power and prestige. And they used those criteria for evaluating other people, even their pastors. “I like Paul,” one would say. “After all, he is the one who founded our congregation.”
“Well, that’s all fine and dandy,” another would respond, “but I like Apollos. He speaks with such wisdom and eloquence.”
“Sorry, guys,” another would chime in. “When it comes to leaders in the church, Peter’s got ‘em both beat. He was the leader of the 12 disciples and one of Jesus’ closest friends.”
“Ahem.”
“Yeah, what do you want?”
“I follow Christ.”
“You what?”
“You got it, boys. When it comes to Christian leadership, I go straight to the top. I follow Christ.” They were always looking to get one up on the next guy.
“Enough of that,” Paul says. “You Corinthians are looking at the wrong things. You’re looking at outward things, external things: worldly wisdom, worldly power, worldly influence. But God doesn’t look at things that way. In fact, look at yourselves. Think of what you were before you became part of God’s family. Were many of you wise by human standards? No. Were many of you powerful and influential? No. Were many of you of noble birth? No. You see, you got it all backwards. God didn’t choose his people based on some external measure of worth. He didn’t choose the wise and powerful and famous people of the world. If he had, you would have been left out. No, God chose his people based on grace. He chose the foolish and the poor, the weak and the despised, the very people you probably would have passed over. These he has chosen to be his people, not because of anything special about them, but because of his grace. So stop putting so much emphasis on external things and instead appreciate God’s grace.”
When it comes to our faith and our status as one of God’s children the very same thing is true. Our calling to faith was not based on external things, on some redeeming quality of ours, on some meritorious action. God did not call us to faith because we were such wonderful people. God did not choose us to be his children because of our financial status or our social status, our intellectual ability or athletic ability, because we hold the record for the most points scored in a single season, because we were the president of the company or the vice president or the chairman of the board. God could care less, friends. Those things don’t make a hill of beans to God. I mean, think about it. Before you came to faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, how many of you were wise by human standards? How many had your Ph.D.? How many of you were powerful and influential? Do we have anyone here who comes from a royal family? You see, it wasn’t because of anything in us that God called us to faith. It didn’t have anything to do with us.
It had everything to do with him and his grace, because God did the choosing. Did you notice how many times in these verses the words “God chose” appear? v. 27 – “But God chose the foolish things of the world.” Again, “God chose the weak things of the world.” v. 28 – “God chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things.” Do you get the point? God chose you. He’s the one who made the decision, not you. In fact, the Bible tells us that before the world was ever created, long before you and I were even around, God chose us to be part of his family.(Eph 1:4) You see, it wasn’t because of some decision I made that I am a believer today. It wasn’t because I decided one day to give my life to Christ that I am part of God’s family. It wasn’t because God saw something good in me that prompted him to call me as one of his children. Actually what God saw in me is the same thing he sees in everyone else: an unworthy, undeserving sinner. As Isaiah says, we’re all in the same boat. “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags”(64:6). No, it wasn’t because of me. It had nothing to do with me.
It had to do with God and his grace, his undeserved love. In his grace already in eternity God chose you and me to be his children. And then at just the right time, in keeping with his gracious plan, God called us to faith. In many cases he accomplished that when we were still just tiny babies when our parents brought us to the baptismal font. There through the waters of Holy Baptism God washed away our sins and planted faith in our hearts, faith to believe in Jesus as our Savior. For others of us, God accomplished it later in our lives through the power of his Word. As we listened to his Word or read and studied his Word, he led us to see our sins, how we too had often broken his law, how we too had fallen short of the glory of God. But then through his Word, he also led us to our Savior Jesus, the one he sent into the world to rescue us from all our sins. As we listened to that comforting message of the gospel, God sent the Holy Spirit into our hearts to create faith in our hearts, faith to trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior. And that’s why you and I are Christians today. It’s not because of us. It’s because of him that we are in Christ Jesus. It’s not because I was so smart. It’s because God has made me smart, truly wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. It’s not because I am righteous and holy but because of Jesus who is my righteousness and holiness. It’s not because I paid anything or could have paid anything to deliver my soul from death. It’s because of Jesus Christ, my Savior, who paid the ultimate price on the cross, that he paid the price for my sins so that I might be forgiven. Yes, it’s because of him, because of his mercy, because of his grace, that you and I are Christians today.
Augustus Toplady, an eighteenth century hymn writer, understood these truths and expressed them so clearly in the words of his well-known hymn, “Rock of Ages.” Let me read for you the 2nd and 3rd verses:
Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill Thy laws demands.
Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone; Thou must save and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress, Helpless, look to Thee for grace.
Foul, I to the fountain fly–Wash me, Savior, or I die! (CW 389)
People like to brag, don’t they? They like to brag about the things they have: the cars, the clothes, the fancy homes. They like to boast about their accomplishments: their records, their trophies, their super salesman awards.
Perhaps you heard the story about the attorney from Texas, the one who sued a large corporation for breach of contract. As the lawyer sought a settlement in the courtroom, he asked for a huge sum of money. In fact, the amount seemed utterly ridiculous to everyone in attendance. Even the judge asked the attorney why he was demanding such exorbitant compensation. To which the lawyer responded, “I’m doing it for one reason and one reason only.” Then with head held high he proudly proclaimed, “I am, you have to understand, the best attorney in the world.”
When the trial was over, a friend of his asked him, “Why did you do that? Why did you brag about yourself like that in the courtroom?”
Without batting an eye, the attorney responded, “There was nothing else I could do. After all, I was speaking under oath. I had to tell the truth.”
All too typical, isn’t it? People are hardly even embarrassed anymore to go around tooting their own horn.
Such is not the case, however, in the spiritual realm and in our relationship with God. In that arena there is no room for boasting. No one will be able to stand before God and brag about saving himself. No one will be able to stand before God and take credit for bringing himself into God’s family. These are things that God has done, indeed gracious gifts that he has given us. So let’s be sure to give him all the glory.
Let’s give God the glory by coming to his house regularly and often and expressing our gratitude in worship and praise. Let’s give God the glory in our day to day lives by expressing our gratitude in thankful living, obedient living, unselfish living. And let’s give God the glory by sharing with others all the wonderful things our gracious God has done for us: how he has redeemed us from our sins, how he has brought us into his family, how he has provided for us day after day and filled our lives with so many blessings, how he has been our comfort and strength, our refuge in times of trouble and loss. Yes, let’s share these things with others so they too may come to know God’s goodness and his love, so they too may come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. The apostle Peter puts it like this: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”(1 Peter 2:9).
Will we be boasting in the process? Will God be embarrassed or upset with us if we go around tooting his horn? Not at all! In fact, this is one instance we actually have his permission to do so. “As it is written, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord’”(v. 31).
So, let the boasting begin. Let the celebrating begin. Don’t wait for someone to bake you a cake to remind you to celebrate your calling as a Christian. Rejoice and be glad today. Rejoice and be glad every day. And give God all the glory! Amen.