Matthew 5: 13-20                                                                                                      Rev. Dr. Galen E. Russell III

1 Corinthians 2: 1-13                                                                                                                     February 8, 2026

“My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”

Prayer: May we seek your wisdom, O God always. Amen.

There’s a whole lot of smart things in our world. Smart TVs, smart phones, smart refrigerators, smart houses, complete with smart hubs and smart video ring doorbells. There are smart pillows and smart sleep noise makers, which sounds like an oxymoron to me. We have smart cars, smart washing machines, smart dryers. Smart security systems, smart light bulbs and smart light switches. Smart air conditioners, smart vacuums, and smart toilets!  We’re so smart with our technology that we even have smart robots that for all the world look like real human beings that talk to us, too. Oh, we’re so smart!  But are we wise? Have we over-rated, over-trusted, over-indulged all our smart stuff?

 In a world where our whole nation practically is engaged in a hunt for the missing mom of NBC’s Savannah Guthrie, all the smart stuff in the world still has not found Nancy Guthrie.

 In a world where people who are indigenous, native to this land, are detained, suspected of being here in our nation illegally based on the bigotry skin color and language, all the smart stuff in the world has not been able to show ICE and the powers that be how utterly and inherently ridiculous that is.

So, are we wise?

So, yeah, this is another sermon on the wisdom of God. And if we’re wise enough to know that there is a difference between being smart and being wise.

In fact, when Paul was in Corinth, Greece, he was in the “smart” culture of his day. Most everyone was sophisticated, educated, culturally astute. If they would’ve had cell phones back then, I bet everyone would have an iPhone 18 Pro Max or an Samsung Galaxy S25 Smartphone. And each one would have all the apps—Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, you know, the works.

But Paul needed to teach them about God’s wisdom, and it doesn’t come from being smart. It doesn't come from having knowledge.

It comes from trusting in the Spirit of God, which is often paradoxical to human wisdom. It comes from believing the teachings of God’s prophets. It comes from having faith in the word of God as it was shown and spoken in the life, ministry, teachings, death and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  Paul wanted his listeners to have what I’m calling “SmartFaith.” That is faith which opens up God’s wisdom, not human wisdom, and it is revealed by the Spirit to those who love God.

So, Paul, just to teach them about the wisdom of God, used simplicity as his main tool. It’s like he is saying something like, “I could have come to you using PowerPoint slides, OBS software, AI, and YouTube videos to teach you. But I didn’t. I didn’t use lofty words of wisdom. All I did was draw a cross on the board and speak about Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And let the Spirit do the rest on your hearts. Your faith then, rests totally on God’s power and not on the fancy-schmanzy stuff.

 Paul wants faith in God and Jesus Christ to grow in people’s hearts totally by the power of God! It’s never flashy. Hardly ever clever. It will never go viral based on an ingenious sermon, or a wonderful TED talk, or a pithy tweet, or snippets and sound bites. 

Of course, the irony is, we’re using PowerPoint slides, OBS software, AI, and YouTube videos and a whole lot more to preach and teach about Jesus Christ. We’re using ZOOM for our Annual meeting. But, these are tools. We can use the highest, most sophisticated tools, techniques, and technology to convey a simple message— that is Jesus Christ was God’s Son who lived on this earth, who taught of God’s love and ways, who died by crucifixion, who was resurrected by God to new life, and continues to make his new life through God’s saving grace available to anyone, no matter what. That's the gospel message. The Good News! We let God work on your hearts with that message.

So, as we grow in our faith, I encourage us to have a SmartFaith, one that relies on the sometimes paradoxical, topsy-turvy, upside-down faith in God. Which so often goes against the wisdom of the world. But it is the wisdom of God.

Here’s where I could stop. But I can’t. Because having SmartFaith needs to be taken out into life.  It needs to stir our consciences at the intersection where religion and faith meet culture and society. It needs to shine a light on the places of our lives which prove to be saltless. Which prove to have baseless understandings of God.

 I mean we humans can easily get caught up in the traps of the world’s wisdom. Traps that say bigger is better. Power over others makes us great again. More money makes you more valuable. Having the most up-to-date stuff makes you relevant and worthwhile. Silencing objectors makes you more successful. Gathering up and detaining groups of people suspected of being criminals makes you more secure. Eliminating other religions in our country and making us a “Christian nation” makes us more favored by God.

These and other statements like them are traps of worldly wisdom, I think. They are traps because they fail. They fail us. They don’t have salt. They don’t have the light of Christ. Saltless in the sense that they are ultimately empty and incapable of making life permanently joyful, meaningful, and deep for people.

 We humans can easily place our trust in things that will fail us. We easily can give pieces of our heart to things that simply cannot provide the greatness, cannot love us back, cannot give us meaning in life that we’re looking for, that God intends us to have.



Some people do this frequently by buying into the rhetoric of arrogant politicians and normalize their attitudes and behaviors. Some buy into the totally reprehensible videos out there. Some easily give their heart away to vices of the world, drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc. Some try to find meaning in their lives through food, and other such ways we think hold answers for us. These all will fail ultimately, I think. That makes us, feel worthwhile.

So, I turn us to simplicity again. Jesus once said, “I have come that they (meaning us) may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).  SmartFaith simply says turn to Christ. SmartFaith says trust that what Jesus says is true, that he has come to fulfill God’s law of love. SmartFaith says that you abandon total self-interest and cultivate a spiritual life and an empathetic mindset with people.

 SmartFaith says every time we get caught in the traps of the world, God is there. Every time we place our trust in the smart gadgets of the world, Christ is offering a way of life and a peace that passes our own understanding. Smart faith says, every time we experience our own version of loss, or unfair treatment, Christ is there loving us back to life.

SmartFaith says that the Divine foolishness of God is deeper than our best wisdom. It means that God can give new life where death occurs. It means that love and mercy are stronger than control and hate. It means that if you try to save your life, you’ll lose it, and if you lose your life for Christ’s sake, you’ll find it. What kind of worldly wisdom is that? It isn’t. But it is SmartFaith.

SmartFaith says religion and faith become real not only as you feel better about yourself and find permanent meaning and joy, but also when you loosen the bonds of injustice that grip people. When you undo the burdensome yoke some people face. When you share your resources and assist those in need. That’s when your light really shines! 

So, I preach today of SmartFaith. I’m preaching of the foolishness of God. It may not be very smart in this world, but I think it is wise. It certainly is not anything that comes from human power. It’s totally on God’s power in the Spirit. Because in God’s world, that’s how things work. Thanks be to God! Amen.