Little Guy

As we learned this past Sunday in Matthew 13:53-58 , when Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth, he is met with rejection. The people are put off by his words and works which together insinuate he is of divine origin. They can’t accept this because he’s one of them – a simple carpenter, someone’s son and brother, their old neighbor. How could a guy like that possibly figure into God’s plan to save his people? How could he be the Messiah?

Ironically, whilst they judge Jesus to be below the mark of someone the likes of King David, they seem also to forget David’s own humble origins. When the prophet Samuel visits the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons the next king of Israel, the Lord checks Samuel on his standards of evaluation as he examines the first son:

 [6] When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed is before him." [7] But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." -  1 Samuel 16:6-7 [ESV] [bolding mine]

Now as it turns out, David was somewhat handsome in his appearance, but those features alone could hardly overcome his status as the youngest son and a mere shepherd boy. It was only upon the Lord’s direction that Samuel anointed him. It’s entirely fitting then that the subsequent Messiah wouldn’t measure up to the superficial expectations of the people of Nazareth.

Make no mistake, this passage in Matthew is primarily about Jesus, testifying to his rejection. Nonetheless, there is something instructive here for our consideration as it pertains to our own place in God’s plans. While we readily recognize Christ’s own role as God the Son incarnate, I do think we tend to doubt our own role as those servants who follow after him.

Call it “Little Guy” syndrome. Assessing ourselves, we tend to believe God couldn’t possibly do much with us. You and I are just the “Little Guy.” We have no power, no prestige, not a whole lot of money, and little prospect of getting any of those things. On that basis, we have pretty low self-esteem and sometimes suffer poor morale in the church. Yet listen what Paul has to say:

[26] For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. [27] But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; [28] God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, [29] so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. [30] And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, [31] so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."  - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 [ESV] [bolding mine]

Paul says it is true – ‘not many’ of us are of any account. And that’s just how God likes it. He chooses the Little Guy, because it is precisely through such weakness that he aims to shame worldly powers. If we were ‘wise’, strong, powerful nobles, all our works would simply accrue to the glory of worldly power. God’s intent is to strip all of that away, so that if we can boast about anything, we can only boast in the Lord.

Jesus flips our evaluation upside down. Rather than wondering if God can use the poor and weak of this world, we should wonder, can he use the rich and the strong? Of course, he can, but his clear preference is for the little people. With this in mind, it’s no wonder then that Jesus tells someone like the rich young man to give away all that he has to the poor – though not found weak, the man must effectively become so and find his riches in the Lord. It’s the little ones who to him belong. Only when we are weak can we see it is God who is strong.

Rev. Tom Loghry

Tom Loghry is the senior pastor of Rockland Community Church in North, Scituate, RI. He is a graduate of the Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies, Toccoa Falls College (B.S. Pastoral Ministry), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.A. Theology). He is continuing his graduate studies in the area of “Ethics & Society” at GCTS.

Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.