Seventh Sunday After Pentecost July 6-7, 2024
“God’s Answer” II Corinthians 12:1-10
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
Sometimes God doesn’t make any sense. Sometimes the things that He says in His word seem odd – they don’t fit in with our life. We just read Paul’s words, “I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.” Later, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (II Corinthians 12:5, 9-10)
What? That doesn’t make sense. “When I am weak, then I am strong.” Really? I am to boast about my weaknesses? Let’s think of a job interview here. You are really hoping to land this dream job of yours. You’ve waited a long time for this opportunity. And they start asking you questions. “Tell us about yourself.” “Well, to be honest I can be a real pill. If you catch me on the wrong day, I am a grump. I get moody.” “Ok, tell us about your work ethic.” “Well, I’m good for the first part of the week, but after that my production lessens. I usually don’t get a lot done on Friday.” “And let me add, I really have a hard time keeping up with all the new computer programs and apps.” Their response? “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”
No, what we do is boast about ourselves. If someone would actually read our resume, they would no doubt hire us as the CEO. Who we are and what we have done is beyond compare. We’re the first choice, no doubt about that. We would never boast about what we struggle with. We would never be up front about our weaknesses.
So, what is Paul talking about? Many years before this Paul had been given a vision of heaven, a sight that was amazing and even inexpressible. In light of that he speaks about something even greater that he experienced, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” (II Corinthians 12:7-9)
He never tells us what his “thorn in the flesh” was, but I have some fun speculating. Maybe it was a person. “A burr in his side.” You ever have one of those folks who makes life unpleasant? Or, maybe it was a physical ailment. An ongoing illness. A chronic pain. Something that would limit what he could do in his life. I know a number of people who have that type of thorn in their flesh. Or, was it a persistent temptation to sin? It never goes away. It tricks us, deceives us, it wants to take over our life. I don’t know what Paul’s was, but I know what mine is and you know what your thorn in the flesh is.
And what was God’s answer? Paul says he asked Jesus to take it away three times. Three times. Just like when Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) Just like Jesus, Paul prays again and again and again.
God’s answer? Well, it was “no”, wasn’t it? He didn’t take the thorn away. If it was an illness, or an ongoing temptation, or a person who was the devil’s nuisance, or whatever it was, God’s answer was no. Right?
Not even close. Jesus’ answer to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”. That is much more than “No – just live with it.”
We’re big on grace. As we should be. The only way that we have forgiveness for all those times we have surrendered to temptation is by God’s grace. His work. His favor. His kindness. His atonement. We haven’t deserved such a gift – God simply hands it to us in the work of Jesus through His sacrifice for us on the cross. Ephesians 2: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Verses 8-9) Do you ever wonder why so many Christians select “Amazing Grace” to be sung at their funeral? The hymn begins, “Amazing grace – how sweet the sound – that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” (Lutheran Service Book, 744, verse 1)
What a word! “My grace is sufficient for you.” What is the foundation for your soul? What do you hold on to for your hope and assurance? It has to be His grace given to you freely.
Grace is God’s answer for our eternal life. Grace is also our hope for daily life. The third verse of that hymn, “Amazing Grace”, speaks about the daily trials of the believer and God’s consistent care, “Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come; His grace has brought me safe thus far, His grace will lead me home.”
God did not take away the thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, for St. Paul. And he may not take it away from you. Instead of a miracle of deliverance He gives a miracle of strength and fortitude and determination and courage. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” We look at God and say, “Fix this!!”; God looks at us and says, “I’m going to fix you.”
Now it makes sense. When Paul would say, “I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses”, or “When I am weak, then I am strong”, he was looking beyond himself to the only strength that he had – God and His grace. Jesus is saying the same thing, knowing our weakness and speaking of His answer of grace, in the opening words of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:3-4)
In a sense, in a traditional Lutheran worship service the teaching about boasting about our weaknesses, and learning that when we are weak we truly become strong, happens early in the worship service. Every Sunday we confess publicly that we are sinful. We don’t hide it. We don’t give excuses. We don’t try to justify our actions. We don’t list all the reasons why we did what we did. No, we say that we sinned. We stepped away from God’s will for us. We have hurt others. But our word, our confession of guilt, is not the final word. Grace is always the final word. It is God’s word given to us in Jesus. Do you know what you need to hear every Sunday? This is what you have to hear, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” In I Corinthians we are given a simple directive, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” (I Corinthians 1:31)
A number of the members of this congregation spent many years as members of Hosanna Lutheran Church on the west side of Littleton. One of the early pastors who served Hosanna was Pastor Gene Brueggemann. Pastor Brueggemann died on May 31 and services were held in Boulder on June 22 – just two weeks ago. He lived to the age of 97. In the obituary it reads, “A funeral service celebrating the grace of God and Gene’s life of love…”
Those could be words for us too. We have been given the grace of Jesus that has taken our sin away, saved us from death and brought us to everlasting life. We have been given grace so that even though our thorn in the flesh is not removed, our God will ever be faithful to us in our struggles. We have been graced by God so that we can grace others with that same deep and abiding love.
When Paul asked for the thorn to be taken away God didn’t just say “no” to Paul and He doesn’t just say “no” to you and me. His answer was something much better and much more hopeful, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” That really is amazing grace!! Amen!!
