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1 Corinthians 1:18—2:5

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 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. 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. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. 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. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Have you ever wondered why you see so few children with Down Syndrome today? In United States, approaching 9 out of 10 babies are aborted if, during prenatal testing, they are diagnosed with Down Syndrome.* It is the single reason why, compared to past generations, we see so few people with Down Syndrome. One wonders (and I have no statistics on this) if it is much different within the Christian community.

We are much the poorer for it. We are poorer for any child aborted. But we are poorer in a particular way when a child with Down Syndrome is aborted, for such children bring with them particular blessings and reveal the grace of God in a particular way.
We should not be surprised. Paul is clear today that the Lord chooses what the world despises and considers foolish to shame the wise, the implication being that God uses “the foolish” to reveal Himself and to bring blessing in a way that “the wise” cannot do. I came across this very point recently in a piece by Christine Allen (“A Child to Lead Us” in Anne Conlon, ed., The Reach of Roe: New York: The Human Life Foundation, 2013, 137-141), written 14 months after giving birth to her daughter, Chrissie:

An unexpected gift, a gift out of season and for no reason, carries a special weight. When Chrissie was born, she was that unexpected gift. In the weeks that followed her arrival, we were bombarded with messages from friends and acquaintances about the majesty of a Down Syndrome child; the words of our friends affirmed what was in our hearts. Chrissie is a blessing in a way a normal child is not. It is in describing her that the word “special” rises from banality and comes grippingly alive. That she may now be a member of the last generation of her kind, a group silently and methodically targeted for extinction, alarms my heart. Especially now, knowing as I do that when she is older, Chrissie will be able to read—and understand—what I have written.

Why does the Lord use that which we despise and deem foolish to shame the wise? So that no human being might boast in the presence of God (1 Corinthians 1:29). In other words, God uses the most unlikely of his children to humble us before Him, that we would not boast. God forbid that we despise such great gifts, for only the poor in spirit will receive the Kingdom.