1 Corinthians 2:1-12
February 8, 2026
If you are a sports fan, you know that today is the big game in professional football – the Super Bowl. Over the past two weeks there have been countless stories and predictions on what certain players will do, what the coaches have planned, and what kind of commercials will air in today’s game. There has been an abundance of what you could call, based on our second lesson for today, “lofty speech” and “wisdom” from players, coaches, and commentators on numerous websites, podcasts, blogs, newspapers, and sports talk shows. Thousands of reporters have been grasping for any kind of story about each team’s capabilities and statistics from throughout the season; which I guess is to be expected.
But the reality is, most of the conversations and stories have really been saying a lot about nothing. The game today will settle it all. One team will win and the other team will lose. Someone will do something spectacular, or something will happen to a player that’s unexpected. A referee will make a controversial call that many will like and others will condemn. Finally, when the game is over, the conversations and predictions of the past two weeks won’t mean a thing. So many words, spoken by so many, but so little value in the big picture of things.
However, since today is the big game and since we are preparing for our big day – our 25th anniversary as a congregation at the end of October this year, I would like to look at our second lesson for today from a football perspective. Paul, the writer of our text, did not come to the church in Corinth with a lofty speech and great wisdom. He had a lot to say, but with a small number of words. With his select words, he did not focus on himself or the amazing way that God picked him to share the Gospel with others. Instead, Paul talks about the purpose of God, the plan of God, and the power of God.
In the game of football, the ball itself is a key component of the game. Without the ball, there is no game. And the person who controls the ball is known as the quarterback. The quarterback has one purpose in mind – to get the ball down the field and into the endzone to score. In particular, he has to avoid the players on the opposing team coming towards him, who want to tackle him and get the ball, and get the ball to his teammates. So that one purpose will determine how he will use the ball.
Paul was God’s quarterback and God’s purpose was for Paul to take God’s Word and to share it with others. And Paul did that by simply stating in verse 2, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” No lofty speech or great worldly wisdom in those words, Paul wanted the Corinthians to fix their eyes on Jesus and what He did for them by dying on a cross, not on any kind of worldly wisdom Paul might have to offer.
Now Paul was capable of eloquence, as he was an intelligent and well-educated man. If you read any of his books in the Bible (Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians) you will see that Paul was a man of wisdom. But God was the coach here and He was not about to woo and win the hearts of the Corinthians for the Gospel by having Paul play up to their delight in lofty speeches and love of worldly wisdom. If Paul had tried to do that and if they then accepted the Gospel message, it might have been because Paul’s way with words caught their ears, not because the message of the cross won their hearts. Paul explained God’s purpose in doing it this way by saying in verse 5, “So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” The wisdom of humankind cannot make people believe in God, only God’s wisdom and power can do that, so while Paul may have been the quarterback, God was still in charge as the coach.
And the coach for any team is the one with the plan. He’s the one who can see one, two, or three steps ahead. He’s the one calling the shots and the one who will be praised or condemned at the end of the day. Commentators will spend hours, days, and weeks studying the players, the plays, the coaches, and any information they can get to try to figure out and predict which team has the advantage, how many points will be scored, and who will win the Super Bowl game. But they cannot see inside a coach’s head to see the plan he has for the game.
It’s similar with the thoughts of God. Many people will look at the world around them and try to figure out why something was allowed to happen, or why someone was healed and another was not. Some people try to analyze God through worldly philosophies, instead of picking up a copy of His Word to see what the bigger game plan is and how the game is already in motion. If people cannot understand what a coach was thinking about one play in a game, how much more are people going to struggle with our infinite God, who cannot be defined by a game clock measured in centuries or even millennia. God is the big coach and we are told in verse 11 that “no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” We try to figure God out, but we don’t always get it. We don’t understand why things don’t go our way. We don’t understand why certain things happen, but big or small we know things happen for a reason. God knows the reason and He will reveal it to us in His time, not our time. A coach does not explain his entire plan at one time, but eventually he does reveal it at the appropriate time. And timing is a big part of God’s plan.
If you have ever witnessed in person, down on the field, the energy and power of a fully functioning offensive and defensive line of professional players in a football game, it is a sight to see. The line players are often some of the biggest, tallest, widest, strongest, and most intimidating players on the field. Every player on the offensive and defensive line of today’s Super Bowl teams is over 6 feet tall and weighs about 300 pounds. And when a play begins, if you are standing on the field, you can hear the crash of these players colliding with each other as they fight for ground.
But the power of God is so much more than a group of football players. Paul talks about being weak, fearful, and trembling in the face of those who opposed his message in Corinth. Maybe some of us have felt that way from time to time in our own lives. The world around us is not always friendly to God’s plan and sometimes likes to make fun of us who go to worship on a Sunday and believe in a Savior who died on a cross and rose from the dead.
Instead, the world of today is amazed at the athletic ability of Super Bowl and Olympic athletes, but not in the God who gave them life. The world of today is enthralled with movies of stars who give great performances, yet bored with the stories of the Bible. The world of today is obsessed with the wisdom of Facebook, Instagram, and Snap Chat and the short messages they send around the world that are here today and gone tomorrow, but is not interested in the Bible, which has survived history. People see the wisdom of the world in front of them with their eyes and ears, but they ignore the less seen miracles of a nice breeze, a living cell, or a loving Savior.
But God is so much more than an unseen entity. He’s the power behind the sun, the moon, and the forces that generate the waves of the ocean. He’s the power of the invisible DNA, as it replicates another life in the miracle of childbirth, all from the microscopic size of a living cell. He’s the power of life over death as we look forward to our place in the heavenly glory of things yet to come. He’s the power of forgiveness, as He settles the storm of a sinful world around us. God showed Paul that he could be strong in an unfriendly setting through the power of God’s presence, and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. The power that God blesses us with each day gives us the power to confront a world that may not have heard His message, but still needs to listen just the same. God equips us with that power through His Church, His baptism, and His Word so that we can stand firm in a world that is not always friendly to God’s message. Advertisers and commentators of today’s football game will want us to know a lot of things, but contrast that with the one thing this Church, God’s Church, has always proclaimed, “the cross of Jesus” is the wisdom of God, the power of God, and God’s plan that He has revealed to us to save the world.
