Paul’s thorn- power in weakness. 2 Cor 11:30-12:10 WBC 10 July 5am
How many people do you know who, when they are challenged as to their credentials, as to whether "God is with them" respond
- "actually, I’m an utter coward. I’ve had to cry off with my tail between my legs. (… ’take time out’… wimp out)
- I have huge weaknesses and character flaws"
That’s what Paul does, here. It ’s incredible, actually
- while the other ’apostles’ are boasting about what they’ve achieved, their heritage, their flash cars, burgeoning ministries, good looks, oratory ability, special knowledge (gnosis), pearly smiles and how ’supposedly’ God has used them
- Paul just says ’I’m really a broken man’
o Had to escape in a basket. How undignified, humiliating
o Have got a major weakness
Why does he do this?
POWER
It’s not because he wants to.
- He speaks about this man who has a vision and uses such hidden/cryptic language you have to read it a couple of times to realise he’s talking about himself!
Why?- because it shows who must have done these incredible things: God
- he certainly couldn’t have done them. V12: signs, wonders, miracles, perseverance
- it wasn’t the power of ’his spirit’ that impressed, fooled, tricked or even helped people
o it was God’s Holy Spirit
o Jn 3:21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
It shows where the power comes from. In fact- the brokenness BRINGS the power
Take this in! This is a topsy turvy principle of the Kingdom of God
- it undermines the super-apostles of his day
- it blows to bits the theories of our day about goals, achievement, power, drivenness, success
- God’s power is made manifest… perfect… in weakness
o Not human strength
It’s one of the great surprises of the way God works
- of course, it’s exemplified in Jesus
PHP 2:6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
PHP 2:7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
PHP 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death--
even death on a cross!
PHP 2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
PHP 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
PHP 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
- to the glory of God the Father.
PAIN
Please note; he’s not revelling in it. Not at all. Not making a meal or the most of it
- what he is delighting in is the fact that God’s real power rests on him. And this is all part of it
So- what is it? what happened?
So as to defend his ministry he goes back 14 years
- to a low point, I reckon. As far as I can tell Paul takes two ’times out’ in the desert. One is soon after his conversion, when he goes to Arabia. Then in acts 9:30, after stirring up an absolute hullabaloo in Jerusalem, the brothers send him off to Coventry (Tarsus!) for 10 years
- while there, learning quietly, God confirms His call to him and gives him an incredible vision of heaven. Lifts him up
And to keep him from becoming useless or conceited- God allows him a pain. (in fact, even to make him useful!
- something sent by Satan. Allowed by God. Used by God
- (here’s an interesting thought- Satan’s schemes serve God’s purposes. That’s very clear in the Bible)
We have no idea what it was. It was obviously something very personal to Paul as he doesn’t elaborate on it.
- the expression is just ’thorn’, ’prick’
It could have been
- something inside. Some inner or spiritual limitation, weakness or temptation. Some besetting sin that he just couldn’t beat. Spiritual barrenness or depression of one kind or another
o (put that in your theological pipe and smoke it, all you triumphalists!)
- a person: a thorn in the flesh being a ’pain in the neck’.
o Someone he had to work with.
o Someone who opposed him. Maybe it was Hymanaeus or Alexander (who he describes to Timothy as having ’shipwrecked their faith’ 1 Tim 1:10 and done him a lot of harm 2 Tim 4:14)
" Though chronology may not fit, there
- Some feel it is more likely to be a physical ailment (seeing as it is a ’thorn in the flesh’). It’s possible, but truth is we don’t know what the term refers to!
o People have hypothesised over all kinds of things:
" Blindness (as in Gal 4:15 he infers sight problems)
" Epilepsy (trying to explain away his Damascus Rd experience
" Fever. A stammer ("speech is unimpressive)
Truth is, we don’t know. And it’s just as well or we’d make a doctrine out of it as the ’one allowable thorn to Christians… but they must be free of all others’
- (because we really don’t like or understand this ’power in weakness’ principle)
It could have been anything. Everything. It could have been whatever you have had to go through.
- certainly it was something very painful to Paul…as he cries out 3 times "oh God, remove it!"
- does that sound a familiar cry?
- how many of you have cried out "Oh God, no! Take it away!"
o join the club.
o Illustr: I don’t want to revel in it but I can only say I cried out daily to God for my voice in the 5 years that I croaked my way painfully through each sermon and day
" (minimum 1,825 times!)
The answer to Paul was ’no’. Not now. Probably not ever- for my power is made perfect in weakness
It makes one wonder if there is something in the ’praying thrice’
- it’s very akin to Jesus in Gethsemane. . Praying three times "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
- And accepting that there is something deeper that God wants to do if the answer hasn’t come then
o Need to balance this with persistence in prayer- but, you know, God isn’t deaf or slow to answer if we pray sincerely
Maybe He has a deeper plan. For power.
Apparently all Chinese proverbs are told by speaking only four Chinese characters - four words. There is a parable called "Frog-Well-Sky-World." The parable’s meaning is that a frog in a well can only see the sky above him, and he thinks that small circle of blue sky is the whole world. He believes he sees and understands the entire world - Frog-Well-Sky-World. Typical of Asian thought, it is a proverb about the importance of humility. You are a frog in a well, and you can only see and understand what is available to you. Don’t be so proud as to think you know everything. Peace comes when you realize that you don’t understand it all and you are not the centre of the universe - even if you are the centre of the well.
from Where Is Peace? Ephesians 2:13-2:17 by Rodney Buchanan on www.sermoncentral.com
So- what has God allowed you to go through? Horrible though it may have been? What pain can you offer Him for His power to work through? Rather than wanting to run
- pause and think about it
PURPOSE
Because the promise is that for Christians, it is not purposeless
He says to Paul, and He says to you
- ’my grace is sufficient for you’
While the thorn would not be removed… not in the short term, anyway…. there was the promise and purpose that His grace would help Paul cope
- and with it.. with the refining fire.. would come
o humility and power
o grace and sufficiency
o all that he needed to be what God purposed: an apostle doing signs, wonders and miracles. Changing the world. Even us.
God is not looking for people who are perfect- rather people who are human, broken, vulnerable and available
- people who will offer their lives, experiences and brokenness to Him… for His power
- people who will turn to Him for His grace and sufficiency
o not turn inwards and revel in the thorn
- people who will believe in His purposes- by faith- and submit to them. Even when it’s not what THEY would have chosen
Apparently the Royal Palace in Teheran, Iran, has incredible beauty and splendour. The grand entry is resplendent with glittering sparkling glass, seemingly diamonds or crystal. But when you look more closely, you discover it is actually small bits of mirrors.
The architect planned for beautiful mirrors throughout the Royal palace. However, when the shipment arrived, every mirror had been smashed in travel. The architect gathered the tiny pieces of mirror and put some glue on the wall and arranged the broken bits. He did this until he had an enormous distortion in reflections, sparking with a rainbow of colours. Today, the Royal Palace is a dazzling brilliant display of prisms reflecting light.
I read of one visitor who, as they stood in awe at the spectacular palace, concluded "It was broken to be more beautiful."
