Boasting in My Weakness

Boasting in My Weakness

II Corinthians 12:1-10

     When pastors get together, like people in any profession, they like to talk shop.  The question is often asked, “What’s going on in your church?”  You know how it is, you ask that kind of question just so you can tell all about all the good things that are happening in your church as soon as the other guy tells his story.  Usually the discussion centers around the success stories like how attendance has increased or how many new members you have.  It’s hard to keep from bragging about the great things that are happening.  It’s not often that you hear someone talk about all the problems they are facing in their church.  St. Paul faced some of these same challenges in his ministry as a missionary to the Gentiles.  As he writes to the Corinthians in our text for today we can see how he puts these successes and challenges into perspective.  His words are not just good for pastors but for everyone who struggles with our human nature to take credit for our successes and who at the same time tries to blame God for the difficulties that we face.

     To understand this passage completely, you have to look back into the previous chapter.  There Paul recounts the many difficulties that he and his companions faced in their missionary journeys.  It is a rather long and impressive list.  His point was not to brag or boast about how resourceful or resilient he was in the face of trouble.  He speaks of beatings, stoning, a shipwreck, being adrift a sea, dangers everywhere, hunger and thirst.  He says that he could boast about all of this but he would rather boast about others and keep his focus on the Lord.  He recognized the devil was at work when he was tempted to boast.  The devil wants us to focus on ourselves and turn our attention away from the Lord and his work in our lives. 

     We are no different than Paul when it comes to the temptation to boast of our accomplishments.  We may not have had to face the beatings and imprisonments and the shipwrecks and all of the other things that he faced but we have had our share of things that have happened in our lives that could give us reason to boast.  Success in school, success in sports, success in our job or outstanding accomplishments in our hobbies or other pursuits could be reason to boast.  They may be all true, just as Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians, but boasting in the flesh, as Paul said, often presents us to others as a fool.  Even the pastors I mentioned a few moments ago can often forget that it is only the Lord who changes hearts.  Only through the power of the Holy Spirit will people’s lives be changed so that they seek to grow in their faith through the Word and the Sacraments.

     Paul goes on to tell us that he would rather boast in his weaknesses.  Even though great things were being accomplished and people were coming to the Lord, he did not want people to think more highly of him than they should.  This can be a great danger in the church where the personality or charisma of the pastor is what attracts people.  When that pastor is no longer around, people soon lose interest and the ministry of the church suffers.  The good example of that was the Crystal Cathedral in California.  Many people were drawn to the church and the teaching of Robert Schuler.  They had a thriving television ministry and a huge staff of people.  When the leader retired, the ministry faltered and there were factions within the church that caused many people to lose interest and now recently the building was sold to the Roman Catholic diocese.  Paul did not want people to think that he was the one responsible for their faith.

     He also recognized the Lord’s hand in trying to keep him humble.  He said that in order that he would not become conceited, a thorn in the flesh was given to him, a messenger from Satan to harass him.  We don’t know exactly what that thorn in the flesh was but it was something that was enough of a bother that he seemed to be aware of it all the time.  When it is described as a messenger of Satan to harass him, the word that is translated actually means something like a punch in the face.  It got his attention.  It bothered him to the point that he asked God to remove it from him three times.  Each time the Lord’s answer was no.  He was told. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  For Paul, if that was God’s will, then it must be for his good and he recognized himself that he would be content then with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

     It is truly in our weakness that we see that God at work in us make us strong.  We are truly strong when we forsake our own strength and trust in God’s power for our lives.  That way when we are weak, we are truly strong. 

     That brings us to the real questions for us in this reading.  What temptations do you face to boast in your accomplishments?  I’m not necessarily taking about earthly accomplishments although often our boasting is about earthly things.  In the bigger picture of our life in the Lord those are relatively minor.  What I am concerned with is your understanding of your eternal salvation.  It would come down to the question, why do you think that you will be in heaven some day.  If your answer to that question begins with “I,” you are in a real sense boasting where boasting is foolish.  If you ever try to take credit for your eternal salvation, you have fallen victim to the temptations of the devil to take credit for your place in God’s kingdom.  It is only through God’s great love that you can even have the hope of heaven some day.  It is only through Christ’s suffering and death and resurrection that you can stand before God as righteous.  It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit working you through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments, that you have the faith to believe and trust in Jesus Christ alone for your eternal salvation.

 

     With that clearly established, then you have to ask yourself the next question that comes from this passage.  What is the thorn in the flesh that keeps you from becoming conceited when it comes to your faith?  Since we don’t know exactly what this thorn in the flesh was for Paul, we can use our imagination and look at the things in our lives that keep us from becoming conceited or complacent.  Maybe it’s a physical illness that reminds you daily that you are not in charge of your life like you sometimes think you are.  The daily pain reminds you of your weakness, your vulnerability, your imperfection and you are humbled before God.  When you are, you are also reminded of your dependence upon God’s grace for all that you do have.  This keeps you from trying to take credit for your faith and your Christian life.  Following Paul’s example, you are led to say, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ then I am content with my weaknesses.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  When you are weak, then you see how much you need the Lord’s strength.  When you know that you have the Lord’s strength to deal with your weaknesses, then you are truly strong.  You are strong through the power of the Holy Spirit.  It is a quiet strength that gives all glory to God and then uses God’s strength to carry out His plan for your life.  You live to serve the Lord with the gifts and talents that He has given to you and you can be strong in using those gifts because you know that in spite of your weaknesses you are strong, not strong in the way that the world might view strength but strong in the Lord.  Amen.

And the peace which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

July 8, 2012