I Corinthians 1:27-31 (ESV)
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 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

In Spring, my wife and I always await the blossoming of our irises in our flower garden.  They are always the first of the big blossom flowers each Spring, beautiful, rich in their color and reach. After a storm one evening we discovered that one of the first buds had been broken away, separated from the plant, and it lie dead on the ground.  It was almost as if one of our beloved cats had died, but not quite.  My wife, the garden optimist, foolishly picked up the bud, placed it back in the plant's pedestal and said, "Let's see what happens."  "It's surely dead," I said to myself. Low and behold, two days later, it blossomed!  Though smaller than the other blossoms, and a bit withered and deformed, its color was richer than the others and its miraculous recovery from separation and resurrection from death made it the most glorious blossom in the garden.  All the other blossoms will soon wither and be forgotten, but the wounded blossom's glory will never be forgotten because my wife chose what was dead and "foolishly" brought it back to life.

Ephesians 2:1-7 (ESV)
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

As a prison chaplain, I hear the confessions of many a lost soul...murders, kidnappers, sex offenders, you name the type of crime, I hear the confession.  Recently in one of my faith base groups, a criminal confessed fantasies of revenge involving a wood chipper and had found the grace to forgive the fanaticized object of his revenge after so many years.  Like the broken blossom in my garden, this broken soul, dead to sin, had found redemption in Christ and the riches of grace to forgive much by giving up the brutal fantasy of his eternal revenge. It was a miracle that will never be forgotten. The forgiveness shown by this "despised" member of our society far exceeded anything I have seen in any Church...God chose what was foolish, weak and despised to shame the wise and strong.

Glory to God for his wounded blossoms.

by Pastor John