THORNS OF THE FLESH
2 Cor. 1:3-11 (p816) Sept. 23, 2012
INTRODUCTION:
It’s not the first time I’ve heard of a team or a class doing this…and I’m sure it won’t be the last…
But it makes my heart smile a little every time I read about an entire team shaving their heads in unity and support of a cancer fighting teammate…
Matt Graeff is the middle linebacker for the Huskies, Mammoth High School’s football team in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
The coaches have made Greaff an honorary coach, but wish he could be on the field with his fellow teammates.
Matt’s gonna miss the entire season as he undergoes chemo therapy…That’s Matt serving as the backer when this picture was taken on August 15… [show picture]
He said, “It’s scary going through all the treatments and stuff, but now he feels like he’s not fighting the battle alone”
The Huskies have dedicated this season to Matt. A cancerous “thorn” in the flesh is tough. Not just for the one going through it…but the family as well…No one wants to feel like they’re all alone in the battle.
Last Sunday a friend of mine who ministers in Harlan County, KY buried his 43 year old wife after she lost this battle…she was a mother of 4…Jeff made this journey an open book for the world to see…He still is…
He wrote…at around 9:30 this morning, my wife Karen went to be with Jesus. She has passed from the pain and struggles of this life into the unfathomable glories and joys of heaven. Although are hearts are broken, we have peace. And a hope, to be reunited with her one day.
1Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)
Brothers, we do not want to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. [14] We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that god will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. [15]According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. [16] For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [17]After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. [18] Therefore encourage each other with these words.
The very first response…from one of his best friends…”My heart aches for you, as you know I’ve gone through the same thing your experiencing…I’m here to talk, to listen, or just love you.”
Remember when Paul writes 3 times I pleaded with the Lord to take away this thorn, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12: 8) And I asked you, “How much grace is enough?” I promise you Jeff need’s a ton of grace for his pain…more than I can imagine.
I don’t know how much grace Paul needed for his pain, his thorn, but it seems like a lot.
So…
I WHAT DO I DO WHEN THE ANSWER IS NO?
I use to pray for God to take away my scars…it wasn’t easy going through middle school looking like a patched quilt. Why did God allow me to be burned..? Why didn’t He powerfully remove the scars? It’s really what I pleaded with Him to do…
How do you think Jeff Noah prayed for his wife Karen? The mother of his 4 children…He’s human too…How many times did He ask God, plead with god, in faith…”Make her well….take me if you have to.”
The Apostle Paul pleaded with god 3 times to remove the thorn that twisted in his flesh…and God said, “No! over a 14 year period of time…Paul begged and God said, “No”
I wonder if anyone ever told the apostle or thought to themselves…if he had more faith God would take it away.”
Self righteous fools treat the “No’s” of God like this…It took 14 years for Paul to understand that God’s grace is sufficient…That God’s power is made perfect in our struggling “weakness” That God is the Father of Compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles.”
It takes discomfort to discover comfort…Paul knew that discomfort…Listen…
2 Cor 1: 8-9 (p817)
Some use the “No” as an excuse to be angry at God…to hate him…some look at hardships as punishment...both for themselves and for others…it makes them feel superior…or mistreated by the world.
It doesn’t say that God comforts his children in some troubles…or more troubles…or the really terrible troubles….He is the God who comforts us in all our troubles.
Jesus said in John 16:33 “In this world you will have trouble…but take heart I have overcome the world.
Jesus relied on His Father perfectly...even when God said No…remember, in the garden before the cross…sweating like drops of blood His soul anguished to the point of death…Asking, pleading…”If it’s possible Father, take this cup from me” (Matt 26:39) “yet not as I will, but as you will”
That ultimately will determine the outcome of your life and your relationship with the Father…”Do you surrender to His plan even when it’s not what you want?” Will you let His comfort flow in…and the bitterness seep out?
If you don’t or won’t you’ll never have a choice to see the glory of Sunday (Easter) because you’ll always be stuck on crucifixion Friday.
[I love the book of Job…most believe it’s the oldest book in the Bible…It’s 42 chapters…In the 1st chapter all is great in Jobs life, almost perfect….everything he needs and much more…wife, and kids all get along and spend time together…but then Satan comes before God and says…”Does Job fear God for nothing? God you’ve protected Him, blessed Him, but if you let me strike Him He will curse you to your face.”
And God allows it…Satan can do most everything but take his life…And God allows it…the middle 40 chapters contain the conversations of Job’s wife and friends who try to convince Him He must have done something wrong and God is punishing him…Job says, “No….I haven’t”. He’s even encouraged by those individuals to ‘curse God and die”…His answer “No…as long as I can breathe I will praise the Lord. It got so bad Job cursed the day of his birth, but he would not reject God…He didn’t understand it…He questioned what was happening, but He still hung on to the belief that God was in control…and had a plan. The last chapter…42…God’s angry at what Job’s friends have done, but Job intercedes for them…He prays for them (this is an awesome man)…And after all the struggle…all the “No’s – Listen.
Job 42: 12-17 (P383)
Job died old and full of years…In our text the Apostle Paul is writing as an older man…full of years…years that have had their share of struggles and God saying “NO”.
Christ has continually flowed into his life even as Christ’s power rested on him during his weakest moments…He caught a glimpse of why God allowed this thorn in his flesh as well as the hardships, so that
II COMFORT, HOPE AND PERSEVERENCE WOULD FLOW OUT OF HIS MINISTRY
Pain changes you…Thorns that god allowed to exist for a long period of time can do one of two things…and sometimes there are periods of both…
Thorns can shape us to be miserable or ministers.
God never allows a thorn to continue to exist in our lives because He’s punishing us. Never, there can be consequences for Sin…and God disciplines those who He loves, but thorns…are different…they exist to produce comfort, hope and perseverance.
Comfort…”Our text says God the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles…”
God Fathered compassion…it’s his child…He invented compassion…it literally means…”To put yourself in another’s skin”
It’s literally what God did in the incarnation…”The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” John 1:14…”The Hebrew writer says to “us as Christ Followers….”Jesus became our High Power or intercessor, one who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses…why, because in the flesh He faced every form of temptation.” (Heb 4:15)
“Since He understands by experience…we can approach God’s throne to receive mercy and grace in our time of need”. (Heb 4:16)
The comfort we receive is then intended to make us ministers to those who experience the same struggle…God’s comfort isn’t given to alleviate all our problems…it’s given to make us more effective ministers for His glory..Some of us even have titles…Comfort from the fathers is given.
“So that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God…for just as Christ’s suffering flows into our lives…so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”
I would share with you that this characteristic of maturity in the faith is more important…than or at least as important as “Husband of 1 Wife.”
For comfort to become ministry it must reach a place that says….”I’ve gone through this so others can be helped…or I’ve gone through this and nobody cares even God…and you become…miserable.
Joy is only complete when it flows out into the ministry of others…
So much of what happens in the thorns is about hope and perseverance ….Hope and perseverance hold hands as they walk down the hallway of faith….they are inseparable for a Christ follower dealing with thorns and distress.
Paul says things like…you seen what we’ve gone through and God comforted us…that produces in you patient, endurance for the same sufferings.
He’s honest about how severe the trials are…to the point they experienced great pressure…the Greek word that’s used is {Thlipsis…It means real physical pressure…R. C. Trench wrote…when someone broke the ancient laws of England and was punished…real heavy weights were placed on their breasts and this weight would increase until it crushed them to death…this was literally “Thlipsis”.
Paul, his companions…and even the Corinthians felt that kind of pressure for their faith but because Paul and others endured the burden with God’s comfort…they endured…the persevered …they had hope.
“God has delivered us from such a deadly peril and He will deliver us…on Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us.” (v10)
This world is perilous….and will become even more so for the genuine follower of Christ…If we’re looking for comfort here the weight can crush us….or the weight can be cast upon God…the deliverer, the Father of Compassion the God of all comfort…and we can Hope for a better home…persevering to get there…listen to this in conclusion.
2 Cor 4: 5-12 (p 818)
[I remember the story of the little boy who was playing out in the back yard and there was a concrete cinder block right in the middle of the place He wanted to make roads for his Tonka trucks…His father watched out the window as his little boy struggle to break it loose and move it on his own…He got a stick and tried to pry it loose…but he got nowhere with it…so his Dad went out back to help…He said son what ya trying to do?” And boy said, “I’m trying to get this cinder block out of the way so I can build my roads…but I can’t move it?” And His Dad said, “Have you tried everything?” And the boy said “Yeah, but it’s too heavy”…And his Dad said…I don’t think you’ve done everything you can to move it.” And the boy said, “What else is there?” And Dad said, “You haven’t asked me.” So, he asked…and Dad moved the cinder block with ease…Do you remember this verse?
“Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (l Pet. 5:7)
I wonder how often we try to carry the weight on our own….]
Let’s Pray
