Sufficient Grace (2 Corinthians 12.7-10)

Sermon by: Robert Austell; January 21, 2018 - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

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::: Scripture and Music ::
It is Well (Bethel Music: DiMarco, Spafford/Bliss)
All in All (Jernigan)
CHOIR: Sing to the Lord a New Song (Haydn/Hopson)
My Faith Looks Up to Thee (OLIVET)
CHOIR: God Go Before You (Hopp)

:: Sermon Manuscript (pdf) ::
This "manuscript" represents an early draft of the sermon. Some weeks the spoken version varies more than others from the early manuscript. Nevertheless, if you'd prefer to read than to listen, this is provided  for that purpose.

Today we are starting a new series on grace. And let me tell you what steered me towards that topic. This past Fall our theme was the Body (of Christ) and we looked at how each of us fits in and to one another as followers of Christ and as the Church. There was a lot of focus on obedience, stewardship of ourselves, and following Christ. Then in Advent we looked at Jesus’ relatives and how they listened and paid attention to what God was doing, and they responded with obedience and faith. And I had folks express two things: appreciation for the call to pay attention to God and put God’s will and Word first in life. The other thing was a mixture of intimidation, sense of unworthiness or failure, and guilt. And I know that is not God’s intent for you, His beloved children. Just as a good parent wants the best for their children, a parent is full of understanding, forgiveness, and second and third chances when those loved little ones mess up or fall short. It’s a both/and kind of thing, with parenting as well as with God. I think it is no accident that Jesus gave us the name ‘Abba’ for God, to evoke that parenting imagery, to help us understand both the high calling and the deep and wide embrace of grace.

So, grace. I think it will be a good and encouraging follow up to the true messages from this past Fall. See over on the wall of the sanctuary? (the “truth and grace” banner) We always need to hear and hold those together. So over the next few weeks I want to look at some different passages that I hope will help us understand and accept God’s loving grace towards us as we continue trying to listen, obey, and follow.

Weakness (vv.9-10)

I’m going to start at the end today. There the Apostle Paul mentions ‘weaknesses.’ In general, weakness is not seen as a good thing. Whether it is little boys (or grown ones) being told to “man up” or women recognizing their many strengths despite multiple centuries and cultures calling them the “weaker sex” there seems to be a consensus that being weak isn’t good. I’ve also heard the critique of Christianity or religion, in general, as being a crutch for the emotionally or intellectually weak.

And yet Paul overturns that thinking altogether in this passage, not only ending with saying he will “boast about his weakness” because of what Christ is doing with it, but also saying that he is “well content with weaknesses” (plural!), concluding that “when I am weak, then I am strong.” (v.10) Even MORE radical than those conclusions is his starting place, which sees a particular weakness that he calls his “thorn in the flesh” as a kind of gift from God that kept him from exalting himself.

It all cuts against what we’ve been taught, but it is such a hopeful and healing message for us to hear and receive.

A Thorn in the Flesh (v.7)

So what is this “thorn in the flesh” in verse 7? Well, we don’t know. Paul doesn’t say, though he has plenty to say about it. He sees this particular thing as given to him to keep him from exalting himself. He acknowledged that he was at high risk for self-aggrandizement because of the “surpassing greatness of the revelations” – the message given to him about Christ and his encounter with the risen Christ. The image of a thorn is vivid as well – something from outside that doesn’t kill, but is painful, relentless, and limiting. I picture the lion with a thorn in its paw, unable to walk, unable to function as king of the jungle. (There’s an old fable about that and the small creature that pulled the thorn out.) And Paul adds a second metaphor (it’s probably not a literal thorn or splinter in his foot): he calls it a “messenger of Satan” that torments him. Again, probably not a demonic spirit, but something that makes him question his worth and calling and purpose.

Paul broadens the thorn out to be ‘weakness’ and then broadens even more (for our sakes) to include “weaknesses, insults, distresses, persecutions, and difficulties.” (v.10) Got any of those going on?

And here’s an even harder thing: Paul “implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.” And God did not take it away! That’s one of the hardest things, right? If it’s hurting me… as if it’s from Satan himself, and I pray in faith, why would God NOT help me out? But that’s not entirely right… God DID help Paul out, even responding in words or spirit. It just wasn’t the answer or help Paul wanted or anticipated at first (or second or third). Rather, God’s help was this: “My grace is sufficient for you.” (v.9)

That, beloved, is worth chewing on and returning to time and time again. It’s not quick or easy to grasp or experience, but it is truer than true – it’s Gospel “Good News” Truth. God’s grace is sufficient for you, even if the thing making you weak has you twisted around, limping, and helpless in your own strength, imploring God for an answer that never seems to come. God’s grace is sufficient for you.

Sufficient Grace (v.9)

And here’s why: God’s power is perfected in weakness. Not in weakness in and of itself, but in weakness that trusts and makes room and welcomes the power of God into the midst of it. It makes me think of a scene in the Gospels when Jesus’ disciples notice a blind man. It’s something often considered a weakness in our culture, and all the more so in that ancient culture. And they start asking questions: Who sinned – him? His parents? What did he do to deserve that? And Jesus’ response?... “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:1-7) And Jesus healed the man when he trusted Jesus’ instruction to go wash his eyes in a certain place.

Paul’s teaching here and Jesus response to his disciples relocates our question from “Why is this happening to me?” to “What is God doing?” Paul says that it precisely those places where we are most weak, at the end of our strength, that God not only shows up, but shines. In fact that may be where God is most evident to us and to others – probably because when I’m all strong and together, I tend to be in focus rather than God.

And so Paul is able to boast (v.9), not because now he has won the gold medal in godly suffering, but because God’s power and grace are highlighted. Indeed, to turn his thorn or weakness into something to brag about would truly miss the point; rather, he has recognized that it has caused him to move out of the way that Christ might be even more clearly seen.

And so Paul is able to be “well content” (v.10) with various kinds of challenge and weakness, because they point him to Christ and because Christ is seen in him. And so Paul is able to conclude, “when I am weak, then I am strong” (v.10) not because human Paul is suddenly healed or delivered or strong, but because Christ IN HIM is strong. You might have expected him to say “when I am weak, HE is strong” but it is precisely the grace and love of God that God sets up residence IN us rather than apart from us. It’s not “look at those pitiful human creatures and then look at me, God” but it is God showing up and working through and in weak human beings that is what is so amazing about grace.

Are you struggling? Are you afraid? Are you ashamed? Are you hurting? Are you hiding?

God’s grace is sufficient for you.

That’s not just a line; that’s Gospel Good-News Truth. Keep saying it and praying it and chewing on it until it sinks in and you see it.

God’s grace is sufficient for you. God’s grace is sufficient for you. God’s grace is sufficient for you. Amen.