Fourteenth Sunday Ordinary Time, B— Thorn Of Paul: His Faith Narrative

Paul Powell said, “Troubles knock a lot of nonsense out of us.”

Like Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” from our Second Reading taken from 2 Corinthians, chapter 12 , which he says was given to him by “an angel of Satan.”

It was not a sin problem.

e.g. Winne-the-Pooh comes downstairs, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head. It’s the way he usually comes down the stairs. If only he knew a better way so he can stop bumping his head. Sometimes our so-called weaknesses are simply warning signs we are not on the right road.

The thorn is definitely not a sin because Paul says in verse 9 that he boasts most gladly of his weaknesses that the power of Christ may dwell in him, and sin not something to boast about.

Rather, the thorn could have been a chronic skin condition (Galatians 4:14), or a secret hurt or an emotional or physical ailment.

Paul says he prayed three times for the thorn to be removed, but God wanted it to stay.

e.g. Bob Hodges, a Presbyterian minister in Rogersville, Tennessee, tells about duck hunting with a friend of his on Cherokee Lake in East Tennessee. His friend, Riley, who had just recently given his life to Christ, began to ask some serious questions about his Christian pilgrimage.

Riley's old friends were making it very difficult for him to remain consistent in his obedience and commitment to Christ. They seemed to delight in trying to get him to fall back into the old patterns of life. They ridiculed him for spending so much time with "the preacher." Riley asked, "Why is it that I'm having more trouble since I became a Christian than I ever did when I was lost? Everything seems to go wrong. I'm having such a struggle!"

Bob Hodges spoke up, "I'll tell you why, Riley. A couple of ducks fly over, and you shoot. You kill one and injure the other. They both fall into the lake. What do you do? You have to get out of the boat and go pick up the ducks, but which one do you go after first?"

"Well," Riley drawled, "that's easy. I go after the injured one first. The dead one ain't goin' nowhere!"

Hodges said, "And that's the way it is with the devil. He goes after injured Christians. He's not going to bother with the man dead in his sin. But the minute you give your life to Christ, you'd better get ready; the devil is going to come after you. He is going to chase you; he's going to make it hard on you." (King Duncan)

If you name your lies, you can take authority over them. The truth is that our thorn is there by God's circumstantial will so that by this weakness our life’s course is altered for the better by the Cross.

Philippians 3:18-19 says,

“For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.”

Like Paul, Jesus says to us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

e.g. Bethany Noel Murray is an artist from Boston. Fans of her work describe it like looking at a beautiful landscape painting of trees and forests through a kaleidoscope. Her secret is in the pain she suffers, which is chronic migraines. She says, “Because of my migraines, I’m highly sensitive to light, sound, and smell, and I get Alice in Wonderland effects such as corridor lengthening, a flattening of space from three to two dimensions, and the sensation of being either very big or very small respective to one’s environment.” Her art is stunningly beautiful.

Application about Paul’s teaching about his thorn: He was active in interpreting his life experience to himself and others. This sense of telling or faith narrative becomes an important way of coping with suffering because, in our prayer and reflection, God talks back to us so we can interpret our experience.

The divine spirit enters Ezekiel and he can see it’s because they resist God’s words: Our First Reading says, “As the LORD spoke to me, the spirit entered into me….I heard the one who was speaking say to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me…”

Like Paul and Ezekiel, we then communicate this insight of divine involvement in our life to others.

Instead of asking God to fix the circumstances that you can’t change, ask God to reveal Himself in your circumstances.

Amen.