5th Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 9
Mark 6:1-13
2nd Corinthians 12:2-10
"A Paradox"
6:1 ¶ He went away from there and came to his own country; and his disciples followed him.
2 And on the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue; and many who heard him were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands!
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
4 And Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house."
5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them.
6 And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went about among the villages teaching.
7 ¶ And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.
8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;
9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
10 And he said to them, "Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.
11 And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them."
12 So they went out and preached that men should repent.
13 And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.RSV
Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen
We like winners. Our culture, our country, our society are caught up with the idea of winning. Winning, succeeding, getting ahead, overcoming great obstacles these are the ideals, these are the goals that society places on all people. We can see this as evidence by our preoccupation with sports. We like to see our team win. We like to follow a winner. I get caught up in that mentality each basketball season as I watch closely the progress of the Iowa Hawkeyes on the their road to the final four. I cheer when they win and I become sober, down cast when they loose.
Not only in sports, but through out all of life, we like to see and know about people who have succeeded. We like to read, or watch stories on TV of people who have overcome great mental or physical obstacles, then making a success of their lives. In the Reader’s Digest, I get caught up in the stories, "Drama in Real Life" as someone overcomes great odds to succeed. We like to see the underdog get ahead and become a winner.
In 1982 a story appeared in the Des Moines Register about a high school basketball player who hurt himself while weight lifting, and how he had broken and strained something in his back to a point where the doctors didn’t know if he would walk again. But the feeling in his legs returned, and now the boy is at the gym trying to learn to run and shoot baskets again. The article talked about his winning attitude, about the way he has overcome his accident, how he was making himself a winner again.
I wonder if they would have printed the article, if this boy had remained paralyzed from the neck down and then had to live the every day unglamorous struggle of having someone feed him, dress him, help him in the toilet. I wonder if they would have printed this article showing the frustration, the hurt, the helplessness that someone who is paralyzed feels. I wonder if they would have told about the pain of isolation, the hurt of rejection, the feeling that society doesn’t like losers only winners? I wonder they we only hear about those who make it back, and not about those who are daily struggling with the brokenness of life? There are many people who live lives of quiet brokenness and frustration, sensing, feeling the strong cultural preoccupation with winning, getting ahead and knowing they have given their all, they have tried, but cannot break out of their individual brokenness and have to live day in and day out with the consequences of this struggle.
A paradox is taking place in their lives. A paradox which says those they are weak in the eyes of society, they are strong in God’s eyes.
Our lessons this morning speak of a paradox. They speak of being strong while being weak.
A statement in our lesson from 2 Corinthians is a paradox, it says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." How can a person have power when he or she is weak? According to our human standards, this is a paradox.
But as we study our 3 lessons this morning, we will see an element of truth to this statement about power in weakness.
Ezekiel lived with this paradox. He was called by God to be a prophet. to the nation of Israel, to a people who God said had rebelled against him, who would probably not even listen to this new prophet. Our text says when God called Ezekiel he was to stand upon his feet before God, the spirit of God entered him and set him on his feet. Ezekiel in his human weakness was given power by God to be a prophet to the rebellious nation of Israel. Ezekiel was given power in his human weakness to speak the word of God to a stubborn people, a sinning people, a people who had turned away from God.
’For my power is made perfect in weakness." In Ezekiel weakness God’ s power became perfect. Out of the weakness of this human being, God gave him strength to speak to a nation, to speak about the love of God for his chosen people. But notice even after the call, the results of this prophet’s work was not going to be successful. God told Ezekiel that the people may even refuse to listen to him, but God would be with him even in this weakness because God wanted the people to know a prophet would be among them. In weakness, Ezekiel brought the word of God to the nation of Israel even though they did not want to listen.
Ezekiel lived a paradox. He was weak but God made him strong.
An author says: "Let your weakness be what it will; one of the strangest paradoxes and, at the same time, of of the most encouraging facts in human life is that your weakness can be your greatest asset. People, like kites and airplanes rise against and hot with the wind."
Jesus lived in the weakness of God and in that weakness he became strong. He lived in the paradox of live.
There is a paradox between the demands of our world, and the demands of our God. Our world calls us to be strong, to succeed, to be upward mobile, but our God calls us to surrender, to be dependent on him, to worry about our neighbor, to treat others with kindness, humility and honesty.
Yes, this a paradox that has been around for a long, long time.
Jesus was a paradox to the people in his time.
His life style, his birth, this death was a paradoxical statement of how God’s power would be manifested on this earth. Jesus himself appeared weak to many of his contemporaries. They were expecting a kind of Superman. They anticipated spectacular signs and unmistakable evidence of his divinity. They saw only a carpenter’s son, a local boy, a prophet without honor.
Our text says this of the people: "Where did this man get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are wrought by his hands!
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?"
Our text says: Yet all the power of God came to expression in that "weakness".
The weakness of God proved mightier than the strength of men. .
Jesus didn’t fit the image people had of the Messiah. They expected a mighty king after the fashion of king David. A man who would lead a mighty army, a man who would make this small nation of Israel strong and powerful. A leader who would defeat the Romans.
But they got a babe born in a stable, a carpenter’s son who for approximately 30 years didn’t even make a stir among the people. When Jesus did finally go about his ministry, he walked, he lived with outcasts, he ate with sinners, he made enemies of the priests and the rulers.
He had a band of only twelve men who were uneducated fisherman, or tax collectors, or religious radicals. He didn’t say anything to the Romans but talked to the house of Israel. He healed people, he forgave sins, he made wine, he calmed the sea.
He talked about the love the Father had for his children, and he said he was the Son of God. Jesus died because he didn’t fit the expectation and did not have the value system the people of Israel expected. Jesus came as a servant to men. He came to show that God didn’t want men of superhuman ability, but he wanted men who would believe in God’s power for their lives. He showed that God wanted people who would live in this paradox. He showed that when you are weak, believing in God and not self, then you are really strong.
Jesus lived the ultimate paradox.
Paul says: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
If we are true to ourselves, we must admit that we do live by the paradox. God’s grace is sufficient for us, period. When we have sinned, when we grieve, when we are tossed about by the circumstance of life, God’s grace is sufficient for us.
In our weakness moments, God’s grace is sufficient for us.
In my life I have seen the power of God to work in my weakness. When I had to leave the parish ministry because of my disability, I thought ministry was over for me. But somehow God worked in my weakness and helped me to do this Internet ministry. Instead of preaching to a congregation orally, I preach to a virtual community with my fingers. In the weakness of my voice, God gave me the grace to use my fingers to preach a different way.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
A closing story brings this truth alive in our lives.
Making Pancakes
Six -year-old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter,opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.
He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.
Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad. He didn’t know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove and he didn’t know how the stove worked!
Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.
And just then he saw Dad standing at the door big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon’s eyes. All he’d wanted to do was something good, but he’d made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him.
Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process!
That’s how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend, or we can’t stand our job, or our health goes sour.
Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can’t think of anything else to do. That’s when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him.
But just because we might mess up, we can’t stop trying to "make pancakes" for God or for others. Sooner or later we’ll get it right, and then they’ll be glad we tried...1
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Make pancakes
Amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale July 3, 2006
1 from inspirational-stories@yahoogroups.com Richard K. Heinz"
