Corinthians 12:7-10 (January 27th, 2002)
Who has been a light in your life? Well, since you’all don’t have the opportunity to stand up here today and answer that question, I’m going to turn it around and share with you who has been a light or a hero in my life. First of all, let me say that all of you have been a light in my life. You have all been a rock of support that has constantly reassured me that I am where I should be. You have all been a light or a hero in my life. Thank-You!
As I mentioned earlier my father was also a light and a hero to me. He taught me all about the characters of the Bible and these in turn became heroes and lights in my life. I remember as a youngster when all my friends would be outside playing cowboys and Indians, I would change the roles so we would actually be playing David and Goliath, or better yet the Israelites verses the Philistines. Then when I played alone I would pretend my giant Airedale was a ferocious lion and I was Daniel.
I loved all the Heros of the Bible and it seemed every chance I could get would enter the world of the Bible and actually be one of those Heros. But you know what? There is one person in the Bible that I never pretended to be. One person whom I never consider a hero. And that person is the Apostle Paul.
Let me reread the second lesson of today. Paul writes, “Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”
You see Paul was always going through what the Greeks calls perisatasis, or simply circumstances. And in Paul’s case these perisatasis or circumstances were always of difficulty and danger. Why in the world would one pretend to be Paul? Plus Paul was weak! He even admits its. Not only admits it, but boast of it. Why in the world would one want to go through a life Weak and full of danger and difficult circumstances. You see, Paul suffered way to much for me, and there is no way I would want to pretend and actually be Paul, let alone have him as a hero or a light.
But you know what? As time went on and I got a little older I realized that I was going through a life that was full of danger and difficult circumstances, and I came to notice also that I couldn’t make it through all these difficult circumstances by myself. I was Weak and too proud to admit it.
You see, Paul understands very well what most of us, what all of us eventually must endure, dangerous and difficult circumstances, or as this text says, a thorn in the flesh. In my forty five years of life and in my brief career in the ministry, I have notice that so many of the wonderful souls that I had the opportunity to speak with and get to know personally was unfortunately because of some crisis had stuck them like a giant thorn or stake in the flesh.
There are many theories about Paul’s thorn. Could he be referring simply to the Corinthians as being this thorn. Or perhaps it was some type of illness. Scholars have pointed to epilepsy, some have claimed Paul was legally blind, and some have claimed that Paul may have been deformed and simply unappealing to look at. In 2 Cor. 10 Paul even quotes his opponents and writes, “For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is pitiful.’” Maybe deformed and perhaps spoke with a slur or a lisp.
Oh! And to go along with this thorn, Paul also mentions other peristasis or difficulties, later in chapter 11. “Five times I have received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. (Designed to break the back) Once I was stoned. (Real stones guys, not the other kind) Three times I was shipwrecked.
He says, I was in danger from rivers, dangers from bandits, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers from false brothers and sisters, in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked, and under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.
Are you beginning to understand why in the world I would never pretend to be Paul?
But something is rather strange about this whole situation. Even though Paul has to deal with thorns in the flesh and all these difficult and dangerous situations he can still exclaim, “So, I will boast all the more Gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”
Strange uh? Let me ask you a question. What thorn or stake do you have planted in your side. What peristasis or difficult circumstances have been thrown your way. Could it be a debilitating illness where you simply don’t seem to have the strength to continue fighting? Could it be a shattered dream of success that looks more like a whirlpool going down the drain of life. Could it be a marriage that has such huge stakes driven down the center of it that there seems to be no repair? Or a divorce that has sucked your hope out of life?
Perhaps it is a dream of wonderful children giving you nothing but pleasure the remaining days of your life, who have become a nightmare with seemly no wake up call in near future. Perhaps it is such a depression that you can’t even seem to drag yourself out the bed in the morning, or perhaps even Mr. Death himself has crept into one’s well laid plans and drilled a enormous spike deep into our soul?
You see Paul understands our hardships and suffering. He even states that three times, I appealed to the Lord about this thorn, that it would leave me. Three times Paul begged that God would remove this illness, shattered dream, broken marriage, difficult children, depression, pain of death, and three times the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
In Paul’s day the wise man knew that there would be pain and suffering in life. That was simply part of life itself. But the wise man also taught that one could draw from this inner strength to deal with these difficult situations. Paul says No! The strength that enable him to deal with his peristaseis is not something from within. He is too weak for that.
The strength that Paul receives comes from outside himself. From the gospel of Jesus Christ. The radical good news of Jesus the Christ whom we crucified, has been raised from the dead by a God who gives him his strength in weakness.
Some of the wise men of today still claim that one is able to draw upon our own inner strength to overcome our difficulties. Some of wise men even claim that God has even given you your thorn to make you a stronger and a better person. Ever heard that?
Well I cannot and will not buy into either line of thinking. God does not pass out thorns and difficulties to see how you will react. God does not give illness. God does not break marriages. God does not give you rotten kids. God does not depress. God does not take your loved ones. But listen up, later in Romans, Paul writes that God does work in all things for the good unto those who love God. We definitely need to come to grips that we cannot rely on our own power to overcome these dangers and difficulties.
So what do we do? We do this strange thing that Paul does and we boast of our weaknesses like Paul, so that the power of Christ may dwell in us. We give up all our grand ideas that we have the strength and wisdom to overcome our peristasis or difficult circumstances and realize that it is God who gives us Grace! God gives us the wisdom and strength. We receive a two fold assurance, like Paul, that the Lord’s grace is sufficient and that the Lord’s power is perfected in weakness.
So how does this work? I learned an awful lot in seminary, but how it works is not one of them. Still one must ask, how does Paul who has gone through so much, start who knows how many churches, who wrote at least seven books of the Bible, and carried the gospel as far away as Rome? How in the world did Paul come up the strength and courage to change the course of human history, in light of his thorns? I don’t know about you, but if I wrote seven books of the Bible I probably would have mentioned my thorn in every other chapter.
Let me ask another question. How did Helen Keller who could not speak, hear, or see change the way the world views those who can’t speak, hear, or see? How did Mother Teresa who was only 80# of woman give hope to so many, and spread the gospel in a world who had never heard the good news. How did Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France three times in a row after fighting a form of cancer that would have drain so much energy out of most of us that we would never ever get on a bike again, much less win a 600 mile race and then give the glory and praise to God.
I have a cousin on Sandy’s side, Michael (32), who has cerebral palsy, he has gone through who knows how many major surgeries and the poor soul lives his life in constant pain. Guess what Michael does for a living? He is a physical therapist working with those who have debilitating illnesses, helping them get back on their feet.
Folks, do you realize that so much of the great work of the world has been done by people with serious thorns and difficulties that they had to live with? Talk about heros. And do you know what? I imagine that all these people, even Paul cried out more than three times to God to take this thorn away. How in the world did these people do it? How in the world did Paul do it?
And the Lord cries out again to a stubborn people, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” You see my dear friends, these are some powerful words from a powerful God who came and lived among us in weakness. No simpler formulation of the good news is possible: God’s Grace is Sufficient. Period! Nothing, no matter how severe, can happen to you, for which God does not provide a way out, or a new exodus. Nothing! Let me repeat this again. For those who Love God, Nothing, no matter how severe, can happen to you for which God does not provide a solution! Nothing! It is God grace that will provide to you healing, a way out, or a way to couple and live with your thorns and difficulties.
And this Grace is not simply words that a young and handsome pastor proclaims from the pulpit. God’s Grace is powerful action, free action for an undeserving people who are in a situation of grave need, promised to us through the life the death and resurrection of one Jesus the Christ, and the coming of God’s Holy Spirit.
God’s Grace is powerful action that cures the sick and depressed, restores shattered dreams, heals broken relationships, comforts the soul, and forgives sins when you appeal to God as the source of assistance. This is why Paul can boast with his weakness, because God Grace is the only power he will ever need. The only power you will ever need.
Now I’m not saying that you need to use Paul’s suffering as a litmus test of your faith, so you can go out and write seven books of the Bible. And I’m not claiming that you should simply shrug off your thorns and begin training for the Tour de France, so I can watch you next on TV down in Jasper IN. But I am claiming as clear as possible that:
When you cry out to God in your weakness, while I have no clue as to what manner the power of Christ will dwell in you. I know this. The power of Christ will dwell in you.
In 1520 Martin Luther wrote an open letter to Pope Leo X, entitled, “The Freedom of a Christian.” In the very first paragraph Martin Luther says this, “It is impossible to write well about it, or to understand what has been written about it, unless one has at one time or another experienced the strength or the courage which faith gives a person when trials oppress them. But the one, who has had even a faint taste of it can never write, speak, or hear enough concerning it. It is a living ‘spring of water welling up to eternal life,’ as Christ calls it in John 4:14.”
Because I have had even a faint taste of it, this my dear friends is the gospel that I will take to my death bed. And this is the gospel I will proclaim to all.
I will be spending the rest of my life proclaiming the radical great news of the Gospel. I will be spending the rest of my life telling stories about the characters who were lights in my life. Stories about the heros of the Bible, including Paul. And stories about the people of Gloria Dei who have shone brightly in my life.
God’s grace is sufficient for you, for God’s power is made perfect in your weakness. This Gospel of Jesus the Christ is the power of God to all who believe.
Amen.
