Universal Grace: Power
The Gospel is Power
Matthew 4:12-23
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. Jan. 25th, 2026
There’s a story about a french priest by the name of John Vianney that I can’t source. I heard it back in seminary and it stuck with me. Among the Catholics John Vianney is regarded as the patron saint of priests and is also known as the Curé de Ars. As the story goes he was a pious man who struggled greatly with his priestly studies because he was no good at latin. But after much trial he was finally ordained and sent to a small village in rural France. His sermons were short, simple, and plain, his personality unassuming, there was nothing outwardly remarkable about the man. But he became known as a great confessor. Soon people were taking the train to get out to Ars to confess their sins to John Vianney. And, as happens around figures like this, miracles began to take place.
The story is that John Vianney was called in to perform an exorcism. When the demon saw the Curé de Ars the wretched thing screeched at him in fear and anger. Now, as a general rule one shouldn’t take the statements of a demon to heart. They are led by the father of lies after all. But this one said, “We despise you. When you preach, you do so in such simplicity. Why can’t you be like the preachers in the city with their erudition and rhetoric, that we can work with!”
Certainly, God can work with erudition as well. But this story falls in line with what we hear from Paul this morning. He writes, “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel--and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
It seems one of the problems plaguing the Church in Corinth was there were teachers who made use of their eloquent wisdom to win over others. They formed their own cliques within the church, and soon people were talking about belonging to this or that other teacher and not about their unity in Christ. Paul says he does none of that. He speaks without eloquence. He speaks plainly, and simply. He can do so because the power of the gospel is not found in his own fleshly eloquence, or his own human wisdom. The power of the Gospel is Christ and him crucified. While it may seem foolish, the gospel itself is power.
We may find it easy to be discouraged. More and more Americans don’t see the point in coming to church. More and more the foundational stories of the Bible are forgotten or ignored. Our hair grows thinner and there are more seats in the pews than there were before. The church has faced such trials before, and will perhaps face them again. Before the American Revolution church attendance was poor in most of the colonies. Before WWI in America there was a large worry over demographic shifts in the Church and the young people no longer attending.
Sometimes this discouragement means we lose trust in the power inherent in the gospel. Before WWI many churches introduced counseling services and built community centers because they felt people needed something tangible before they could receive something spiritual. In the 70’s there was a boom in church growth methods that used marketing tools and slick services to reach what turned out to largely be christians from other churches. In nations like Spain and Portugal the Church tightly integrated itself into the government so to be Spanish or Portuguese simply meant to be Catholic. But that experience has not led to lasting piety in those nations.
I remember when I was interning in North Carolina we took our youth group to a day camp where they had a water slide, zip lines, hot dogs, and rap music. And when it was all done the head of the day camp got all the kids together and said, “now we had fun here, but we know that’s not what this was really about…” and told them about Jesus and how to say the sinners prayer so they could be baptized. And I remember thinking how strange that was. Does God really need zip lines and hot dogs to claim his own?
But too often we lose confidence in the power of the gospel and think we need to add zip lines and hot dogs if we are going to see any success.
I suppose eloquence and zip lines and hot dogs and rap music can all have their place. I’m not entirely opposed to those things. Kids should have fun in church. The music should be enjoyable. And we should care for the physical and tangible needs of those in our community. But that’s not the engine of the Church. That is not what gives her her power. It is the power inherent in the gospel. And we should not lose confidence in that.
The message of Christ crucified is power. The knowledge of God’s love is power. The experience of God’s forgiveness and mercy is power. The hope that God alone can give is power. And when Jesus calls us, there is power.
This morning we also hear how Jesus calls Andrew and Simon and James and John as they are working their nets. He doesn’t need to hand them a hot dog or give them an eloquent speech. He simply says, “follow me.” And what can they do otherwise? In the gospel we may hear those words, “follow me.” This is my love for you, follow me. This is eternal life, follow me.
Let us have confidence that the gospel has not been robbed of its power. That the gospel is our true engine. That the gospel alone is our hope.