“God’s power in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:2-10)

2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13

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Pastor Tom Johnson, July 8, 2018

If you have a red letter edition of the Bible, Jesus’ words are in red. The Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are covered with red letters. But once you get to the rest of the New Testament, they become rare. This is one of the few instances that Jesus speaks directly to Paul. And it is believable. Because, Paul does not get the answer to his prayer that he wants. He gets the answer to his prayer he needs. He prays for whatever the thorn in his flesh is to be removed three times. Jesus’ “no” is through a powerful proverb: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul probably does not explain what the thorn in his flesh is for a very good reason. Is it his eyesight? Chronic pain? Is it a person or a group that is viciously attacking him? He wants us to think about what it is that is plaguing us. What happens when we face setbacks and discouragement? What is that thorn—that annoying splinter lodged just beneath the surface of our skin. We are so close to getting it out. We have so patiently worked at it for hours. It stubbornly will not come out. We have prayed one, two, three, four...or hundreds of times. Is it a physical condition? Is it a person who will not stop criticizing and attacking? Is it a change within our own soul and spirit that we are desperate for? Has it driven us to despair? Do we ask “Why me?” Just as Jesus prayed on the cross, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” This is a deep and dark place to be. Thank God we have a Savior who knows that place. Do we think God is punishing us? What did I do to deserve this? Are the sins of our youth haunting us? We may feel that our troubles are evidence that God is not with me but absent.

That is what I love about Paul’s vulnerability here and his authenticity. He is saying that he had some huge setback, struggle, and doubt even as an Apostle. He shares with us how God answers prayer but not how we always want him to. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” This parallels our Gospel reading. It is how Jesus sends out his disciples. They go out empty. They go out with empty stomachs, empty bags, and empty pockets. Jesus sends them out trusting not in their own resources but in God who provides their every need. They see God’s grace and power manifested in their weakness. This is the same Jesus who began his ministry with the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 5:3). When we discover the poverty of our own resources—when we figure out that we cannot live life by our own strength, we have just begun to open ourselves up to God’s power.

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker during World War II who saw Jewish refugees arrested and taken to concentration camps. She saw the most evil and darkest side of humanity. She did not understand why God would allow such horrific things to happen. In her book, Hiding Place, she tells her story of confronting demons from within and without. The Nazis around her were a constant threat. And her own personal journey was fraught with doubt about her own personal faith in Christ. She is one of my heroes because in her powerlessness she found a way to hide many Jews in her home and community. Many lives were saved through the power of God carried out through this faithful Christian woman. Corrie said, “You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.” “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” Jesus says, “God’s grace is sufficient for us, for his power is made perfect in our weakness.”

It is sometimes in the darkness of our lives where the light of Christ shines most brightly. God is there. He is there to guide, sustain, forgive, and strengthen us. He says to us, “My intervention is enough to give you the strength you need. I was born for you, lived for you, died for you, and rose from the dead for you. It is in your helplessness that you will find divine strength. It is in your vulnerability that you will find God’s power. There is no shame in your powerlessness. I know what it is to be tried and tested by all things. It is there in your spiritual poverty that God’s rich grace and power will be most clearly displayed.” And so, you and I can find contentment even in the midst of life’s most difficult challenges because of Jesus Christ—the one who humbled himself by taking upon himself our troubles and our sins to bring us the assurance of forgiveness. And who rose from the dead to guarantee eternal life. Just as we discover the power of God through Jesus’ humility and what appeared to be weakness on the Cross, so we discover the power of God in our lives through humility and our not just apparent—but actual weakness and spiritual poverty. Because in our weakness we discover God’s strength.