I think what our readings are saying this week is that our own strengths and gifts are not really what matter. We’re actually blessed in our weaknesses and limitations.

In the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul says, “Consider your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong.” So, according to Paul, we followers of Christ don’t have a lot going for us. By the standards by which our secular culture judges, we’re just a bunch of weak, foolish, nobodies. However, Paul assures us that our weakness and foolishness shame the proud and the strong. Hm.

The choice of the word “shame” intrigues me, mostly because my community’s superior general recently pointed it out. What she said was that all the English translations she could find of this reading use the word “shame.” However, French translations of this passage use the word “confuse.” So, that would translate to, “God chose the foolish of this world to confuse the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to confuse the strong.” That has a very different meaning from what we have here.

Consider with me the meaning of the word shame. It’s not a good thing, and in fact, I can’t think of a time when it has been a good thing. For me, the word is reminiscent of Adam and Eve in the garden, standing naked and ashamed before God. Maybe they were guilty too — after all, they had just disobeyed God, and guilt is what comes when our conscience talks to us about a wrong we’ve done. Guilt can be a helpful spiritual tool because it can move us back toward God if we’ve moved away. Shame, though, is different. Shame is that thing in us that whispers that we are fundamentally bad. It’s not that we’ve done something bad, but that we are bad. That never moves us toward God. Like Adam and Eve, shame causes us to hide from God and throw on fig leaves or some nonsense.

If you want to learn more about shame, seek out Dr. Brené Brown’s work. She has spent many years researching shame, its effects and causes, and how to work against it. Something I remember learning from her books and podcasts, along with so many other helpful things, is that shame is never a tool to use in promoting a social good. During the summer of 2020, when people were protesting the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, Dr. Brown said that shame is never a tool of social justice, and shame doesn’t turn people’s hearts to work for good. That was a helpful insight. To me that says, yes, work for change — within myself and in the world. Work against oppression, but shaming other people is not the work we’re doing, and it’s not effective anyway. Shame’s not going to help people to examine their privilege or call them to notice the ways in which their behaviors harm other people. In fact, it may make people hunker down in their own beliefs. We really have to eradicate shame in order to grow, both individually and as a society. So, when I look again at this reading, I don’t want followers of Christ to shame people, wise or strong though they may be. Shame is not what we’re about.

So, I’m siding with the French translators on this one, because the wisdom and strength of the followers of Christ probably is confusing to people who don’t understand the Gospel. I mean, just look at our reading from Matthew about the Beatitudes. Honestly, it confuses me a little bit, and I’ve been a follower of Christ for a good amount of time. I mean, really, what does it mean that people who mourn and people who are persecuted are blessed? That doesn’t make any sense, at least, not in a secular context. Why would people try to be poor in spirit? Or meek? Why would people work for peace when it’s such an uphill battle, so to speak?

And yet, Jesus tells us that there is blessing in these attitudes and actions. We’re blessed, even when we mourn, because God is with us. And we’re blessed when we’re poor in spirit and when we hunger and thirst for justice, because these dispositions align us with people who are poor and oppressed and move us to advocate on their behalf, like Jesus did. We’re blessed when we continue to doggedly build this Kingdom, when we work for this vision that Christ has inspired us to see. The thing is, everyone doesn’t see this vision. Not everyone thinks the Kingdom of God is possible. But we do. That’s our wisdom, and that’s our strength, and that’s our blessing. Blessed are we who are weak and foolish, we who believe the Kingdom of God is among us. We confuse the hell out of the strong and powerful in the world. And we are blessed.

So, it’s not about shame, but the message of the Gospel does confuse people who aren’t in the know, and knowing is deeper than the processes of our logical minds. Our strength and wisdom and blessing don’t come from ourselves — we can’t self-generate them. Our knowing comes from the Spirit. We have the wisdom and strength of God, so that when we live into our call to be like Christ and serve people, we are richly blessed. And blessed and blessed and abundantly blessed.            

Amen.

For Reflection:

• What resonates for you from these readings?

• Have you ever had the experience of God’s wisdom or strength, a situation when you knew any strength you had didn’t come from God, but you knew the presence of God. What was that like?

• Which of the Beatitudes speaks to you right now? What is it about that one that calls to you? What’s God saying to you through this Beatitude?

Watch a video reflection here and listen to the podcast here. Subscribe to the Providence Podcast here: https://availableon.com/theprovidencepodcast or sign up to receive the podcast and so much more in the weekly God Space newsletter!

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, meaningful conversations, dancing, and stargazing.