My Grace Is Sufficient for You

“MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU…” 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 A sermon preached at First Presbyterian Church by Carter Lester on July 8, 2012

Introduction: 1 Corinthians 12, the passage we are reading this morning, has been called “one of the most remarkable in [all of Paul’s letters], providing us with both an intensely personal glimpse into the apostle’s own experience and a striking statement of a major theme in his theology.”1 I can tell you that this is one of the most important passages in all of the Scriptures for my faith and ministry. Why so remarkable, so important? Let us read 2 Cor. 12 to find out.

Read 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

What are you tempted to boast about? Promotions at work? Athletic accomplishments? Work accomplished as a volunteer? The success of our children? I don’t know about you, but I have known some shy, mild-mannered folks who would never dream of boasting about themselves but who can be downright shameless when it comes to their children.

Garrison Keillor, the “Prairie Home Companion” humorist, once talked about the

Christmas letters some proud parents send out: “I love reading Christmas newsletters in which the writer bursts the bonds of modesty and comes forth with one gilt-edged paragraph after another: ‘Tara was top scorer on the Lady Cougars soccer team and won the lead role in the college production of ‘Antigone,’ which by the way they are performing in the original Greek. Her essay on chaos theory as an investment strategy will be in the next issue of Fortune magazine, the same week she’ll appear as a model in Vogue [magazine]. How she does what she does and still makes Phi Beta Kappa is 2 a wonderment to us all. And yes, she is still volunteering at the homeless shelter.’” Of course, some children present some unique challenges for these Christmas letters. So the parents of Tara’s brother, Sean, who is in the midst of slamming doors around the house, showing his utter disgust for the rest of his family, and listening to angry head- banging music on his headphones, might say this about their son in the same Christmas letter: “Sean is becoming very much is own person and is unafraid to express himself.

He is a lively presence in our family and his love of music is a thing to behold.”

Do you ever find yourself boasting, even though you don’t want to? I have to admit that sometimes I find it particularly tempting when someone else is obnoxiously boasting to me, whether or not I have anything to boast about. Not too long ago Kerry and I were at a party talking with a minister who was a bit full of himself. When the conversation went from one boast to another – about the growth of his church, or the circle of prestigious pastors that just invited him to join their group, or the invitation to speak at his alma mater – I found myself itching to fire back in return, although I knew it would be foolish. Fortunately, Kerry knows me, and with a knowing look, she asked me to go get a drink for her before I said something foolish.

It is too bad that Paul did not have a Kerry with him. He knows he shouldn’t boast – “nothing is to be gained by it,” he writes – but he cannot help it. He is under attack by unnamed opponents in Corinth who apparently are boasting of their credentials and spiritual experiences, so Paul fires back: “I know a person in Christ –

[Paul is talking about himself] – who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven – whether in the body our out of the body I do not know; God knows.” 3

Apparently, Paul has never shared these experiences with anyone before now – but he is not going to be outboasted!

But then Paul catches himself. And while his boasting does not suddenly cease, what he boasts about does suddenly change. Instead of boasting about his revelations and visions, he boasts “all the more gladly of my weaknesses.” Why does Paul make this shift? Because Paul remembers that “a thorn was given me in the flesh.”

What is this thorn in the flesh? Apparently his Corinthian readers know, and that is why there is no explanation here. But we do not know. Various guesses have been made: epilepsy, migraines, speech impediments, malaria, bouts of depression – but that is all that they are – guesses.

But what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was is not important. What is important is what

Paul learned from this thorn in the flesh. What was that?

Before we answer that question it is important to point out that Paul never contends that this “thorn in the flesh” was sent by God to be a teaching moment for

Paul. Indeed, he calls the thorn a “messenger from Satan, because it has been an obstacle to him preaching the gospel and conducting his ministry.

Paul says that he prayed three different times for it to be removed. Clearly, if

Paul understood that this thorn was sent by God with intentionality then he would not have prayed for it to be removed. But Paul does not get the answer he wants to get, and the thorn in the flesh remains even as he writes this letter to the Corinthians.

Friends, God does not want any of us to suffer, any more than a loving parent wants his or her child to suffer. But God has given humans and creation freedom – it is an open rather than a closed universe – so bad things happen, even to good people. 4

There are thorns in the flesh – burdens that weigh us down and do not go away – even for the most faithful of apostles and missionaries. But the presence of that suffering, of those thorns in the flesh does not mean that God is absent, or cannot bring good out of bad.

Which leads us to what Paul learns from his own thorn in the flesh. Paul may not have received the answer to the prayer he was seeking – but that does not mean that

God was not answering the prayer. Fortunately for us, Paul was not only speaking in his prayers, he was also listening. And this is what he heard: “he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” “Made perfect” – what the Greek means is completed – or reaches its God-given purpose. God’s power,

God’s will is best accomplished when we are weakest.

Why? Because where we are weakest we get out of the way of God. When we feel weak and not strong, we lose all pretensions that we can do what needs to be done on our own. On the other hand, where we feel strongest, where we feel the most self- sufficient, there God’s power and will will not be perfected because we are relying on our own strength, rather than on God’s power.

I remember trying to teach one of our daughters how to drive. She will remain nameless to protect the guilty. At first it didn’t go very well, because she thought she should be able to do it on her own. She didn’t think that she really didn’t need much guidance or help – she just needed an adult beside her in the car to satisfy the law.

And of course she was an accident waiting to happen. Only when she recognized her weakness, could I share the strength of an experienced driver. How many times have I 5 failed to learn from someone else’s experience and wisdom because I didn’t think I had anything to learn from them?

That is the way it is with God and us. It is only when we acknowledge our weakness that God can give us God’s strength. It is only when we give up the notion that it is up to us to help ourselves, or that we have the strength and power on our own to do what needs to be done that we can begin to experience the wisdom and power of

Perhaps you have heard the saying, “God helps those who help themselves.”

You will not find that in the Scriptures. Indeed, in some ways, there could not be a more false word. What Paul wants us to know here is that God helps those who know they cannot help themselves. To be sure, it is not enough just to be weak – we must also turn to God. But, it is only when we acknowledge our emptiness that we can be filled.

What Paul is saying here applies not only to individuals – it also applies to our witness and ministry as a church. We may think that the impact of our ministry depends on our resources and our programs – how well we raise the money, how well we plan, how well we carry out the program. All of that can be important – but only if we understand that they are always done in response to what God is already doing, and whatever we do will only succeed with God’s help.

I recall reading a book by Leslie Newbigin, a longtime missionary and head of the church in India in the middle part of the twentieth century. He wrote that he could never remember significant growth in the church in India during his tenure that occurred as a result of a planned program. Instead, it always seemed to come out of the blue, because that is how the Holy Spirit works, how God’s power works. For example, he 6 recalls when World War II started and those drafted to serve in the army included a number of recent young Christians. The great fear was that all of the church’s evangelistic efforts would be thwarted because these young Christians would now be cut off from their spiritual leaders serving in an army where there were no chaplains and they would be a small religious minority. What happened is that the church leaders suddenly got to see God at work. Over and over the pastors would get a letter that said something like this: “Pastor, can you send me a Bible? There is another man in my unit who has never heard the gospel and has a lot of questions about my faith.”2

We have to live with open hands, open hearts, open minds, watching and listening for what God is up to so that we can join in.

“My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul is not just talking about a lesson learned here. He is also talking about a far more personal discovery. When he was weak because of this thorn in the flesh, he found that he was not alone. The Lord was there beside him – and his grace was sufficient to help

Paul overcome what he was facing.

So it is for us: there is no burden we will bear, no struggle we will face, no suffering we will undergo, that we will not find our Lord right there beside us. Again, this does not mean that our Lord sends us these struggles or suffering just so we will learn to depend on him. But growing in trust, growing in faith is what happens if we, like Paul, rely on the Lord. When we place our trust in Him, we find that he is trustworthy. He can uphold us when we are falling, and lift us up when we cannot do it for ourselves because of our own thorns in the flesh, our own struggles and suffering. 7

There are times for us all when we find ourselves in a pit. But when we do so, if we will look around, we will find that we are not alone. Because Jesus is there, ready to take our hand and lead us up out of that pit. Or if even that is too much, He is there to put us on his shoulders and carry us out. That is why there is no place like the bottom of a pit to find how strong He is. We do not just need Jesus’ words and principles. We need Him – his person, his love, his grace, which is sufficient for us.

What do we boast of? When do we boast? Nearly always it is because of our own fears and insecurities. We boast to so in some way that our life measures up to others. Or we boast to cover over that which we don’t want others to know about.

Recently, a man greatly accomplished and respected by his peers was asked,

“What is the thing you are the most afraid of?” His answer: “Being found out.” That is the fear that most human beings bear – that we will be found out.

What Paul is telling us here is that it is ok to be found out. It is ok for our weaknesses to seen. We can even boast about them. Because it is in our weakness that we find, as we can find nowhere else, that His grace is sufficient for us. It is when we admit our weakness and turn to God that we discover that God is able to do in and through us “far more abundantly than all we ask or think.”3

Now this is good news! Thanks be to God. 1 Garrett Green, “2 Corinthians 12:2-10: Theological Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year B, Vol. 3, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 208. 2 Recalled from memory. Source unknown. 3 http://www.fathandleadership.com/sermons/the-weakness-virtue-the-virtue-weakness?, p. 3.