Sermon for Sexagesima, February 20, 2022
Grace and peace be multiplied to
you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Amen.
2 Corinthians
11:19-12:9 19You gladly put up with fools, since you are just so
wise! 20In fact, you put up
with it if anyone makes you his slave, robs you, takes advantage of you, looks
down on you, or strikes you in the face!
21I am ashamed to say that we were too weak for that! However bold anyone might be (I am speaking in
a foolish way), I am going to be bold too.
22Are they Hebrews? So
am I. Are they Israelites? So am I.
Are they Abraham’s seed? So am
I. 23Are they ministers of
Christ? (I am speaking in a crazy way.) I
am even more. I’ve done more hard work,
been in prisons more often, been whipped far more, and I’ve been close to death
many times. 24Five times I
received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with
rods. One time I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day on the open
sea. 26I have often been on
journeys, in danger from rivers, in danger from robbers, in danger from my own
people, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the
wilderness, in danger on the sea, in danger among false brothers. 27I have worked hard and
struggled. I’ve spent many sleepless
nights. I’ve been hungry and
thirsty. I’ve gone without food many
times. I’ve been cold and lacked
clothing. 28Besides those
external matters, there is the daily pressure on me of my concern for all the
churches. 29Who is weak
without my being weak? Who falls into
sin without my being distressed? 30If
it is necessary that I boast, I will boast of the things that show my
weakness. 31The God and
Father of the Lord Jesus, who is eternally blessed, knows that I am not
lying. 32In Damascus, the
governor under King Aretas kept the city of Damascus on alert to arrest me, 33but
I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his
hands. 12:1I must go on
boasting, although there is nothing to be gained. So I will go on to visions and revelations of
the Lord. 2I know a man in
Christ who, fourteen years ago, was carried up to the third heaven (whether in
the body, I do not know, or out of the body, I do not know—God knows). 3And I know that such a man
(whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know—God knows) 4was
carried up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words that a man cannot
possibly speak. 5On behalf of
such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except about my
weaknesses. 6Indeed, if I
wanted to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the
truth. But I refrain from doing this, so
that no one will think more highly of me than what he sees in me or hears from
me. 7Therefore, to keep me
from becoming arrogant due to the extraordinary nature of these revelations, I
was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to
torment me, so that I would not become arrogant. 8Three times I pleaded with the
Lord about this, that he would take it away from me. 9And he said to me, “My grace is
sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will be glad to boast all the
more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me. (EHV)
Boast only in your
weakness & Christ’s power.
Dear redeemed and sanctified in Christ Jesus,
There are
two sentences that are often spoken in moments of weakness: “Lord, why do You
let me suffer like this?” and “God is good.”
Now, I grant you that these seem like polar opposites. Yet, they sometimes spring from the same root,
for both can show the weakness of our sinful nature.
St. Paul was confronting an outgrowth of just
such an attitude as he wrote this letter to the Corinthian congregation. Deceiving teachers had entered Corinth and
challenged the people to believe a different gospel than Paul had proclaimed. In so doing, they also denigrated Paul as
someone not worth hearing. They bragged
about their own accomplishments, merits, and the skill of their oratory. They questioned why anyone could take
confidence in the message of such a poor preacher as Paul. Paul’s answer teaches us to Boast only in your weakness & Christ’s
power.
At one point in his life, Paul (then known as
Saul) also had been driven by selfish misunderstanding of his works. Assuming to please God with vigorous attacks
against Christian believers, Saul was on a highway to hell, until Jesus met him
on the road to Damascus and changed his life.
In the aftermath of that meeting, the Lord said to Ananias, “This man
is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the
people of Israel. Indeed, I will show
him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:15-16) Now, our initial reaction might be that God
was planning to punish Paul for his previous actions, but that is not the
case. Rather, when choosing Paul as His
instrument for bringing peace to the nations, God also recognized the trouble a
rebellious world would inflict upon Paul.
As you are well aware, it wasn’t just his name
that changed after Saul met Jesus. Where
once, Saul had been respected and praised by enemies of the Church, now he was
a pariah among his former peers. That
led to many of the things Paul suffered while serving the Lord.
Paul’s purpose with this letter was to respond
against those teachers who were troubling the Corinthians with ideas of earning
their salvation or improving their blessing from God through their own
actions. One of the dangers that always
seems to follow Christian’s around is the idea that we still have to do our
share to please God and make Him bless us, either with salvation in heaven or
riches here on earth. No doubt, it seems
logical that God would bless the righteous and afflict the wicked, but in this
broken world that is not always what we see.
For much of our country’s history, we have
benefitted from a mostly Christian-friendly situation, but for much of the
history of Christ’s Church, that is not the case. More normal is for the world to reject the
good news of the Bible in order to remain under the devil’s deceits. We see that rising up again in our
times. Christians being persecuted,
attacked, and killed for their faith around the world. Christians, here at home, being mocked for
holding to the truths of Scripture and the morality expressed in God’s
law. Decide what you are, do what you
want, and take whatever you desire seems to be the mantra of our times.
In response to such ideas, many succumb to the
temptation to believe that we have to do something more to please God. Many are the preachers in our day, too, who
will use the Bible to tell you how they think you should live but ignore what
Jesus has done to give us life.
The Corinthians were falling prey to deceivers
who told them to forget the Good News they had heard from Paul in order to obey
their schemes for earning God’s good judgment.
In reality, though, doing so meant submitting themselves again to law
that only condemns. It was a
deathtrap. Paul says those teachers were
abusing and enslaving his friends, but many of the deceived willingly accepted
it. How tragic and heartbreaking that
was to a man who suffered so much to bring the Good News of Jesus to a damaged
world.
Thus, Paul tells his friends that if it is
boasting they want, he has much more to boast about than the deceivers. He gives us a long list, that is not
inclusive, of all he suffered. Yet, Paul
knows that it isn’t what he has suffered that will help them. The reason Paul doesn’t boast about himself
in his preaching is that the Lord has taught him to trust solely in Jesus for forgiveness
and salvation. Rather than elevate his
own status, Paul wants every sinner looking to the Savior who humbled Himself
to such a degree that He gained forgiveness, perfection, and salvation for all
of us.
In teaching Paul to trust his God, the Lord
gave the apostle some continuous affliction.
We have no idea what that pain was, but Paul called it “a thorn in my
flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, so that I would not become arrogant.” That last part is the point. The affliction was there to remind Paul that
he was not perfect but needed a Savior always.
There was nothing he could do to save himself. Still, there was nothing that remained undone
in gaining salvation for Paul because Jesus had done it all.
My friends, the Scriptures give many
admonitions to holy living, and we should rightly strive to live according to
God’s commands. At the same time, recognize
that nothing we do can save us from the condemnation we deserve. That doesn’t give us license to sin nor
should we, in despair, turn to the nature of our birth and live in sinful
rebellion against God. Neither does
obeying God’s commands guarantee that the world will love or bless us. The world will always hate us because it
hates Jesus. Thus, when we are afflicted,
in whatever way, rather than cry out against God, we can humbly bear the
burdens of our trials confident in His eternal blessing in heaven, and in this
we will be witnesses to the world of the glory of our Savior and the surety on
His promises.
At the beginning of this sermon, I mentioned
that one way we sometimes mistrust our God is to say, “God is good.” That needs some explanation because, without
a doubt, God is good, and He is exceedingly generous in blessing us. But, when do we say it? Is it when we are blessed materially or
physically? Do we only remember God’s
goodness when our earthly lives are comfortable and sweet? Do we forget that God remains good and
generous to us even when trouble or hardship overtakes us?
Our sinful nature likes to assume that God
blesses only those who deserve it, and the rest must suffer. The deceivers in Corinth seem to have taken
that tack. The Jews of Jesus’ day
thought that material wealth showed that a person was earning God’s favor by
his behavior and generosity. The truth
is, God blesses people in many and varied ways simply because of His
unfathomable love.
The greatest demonstration of God’s love was
His Son being nailed to a cross to pay for our sins. Therefore, if God was being good to us then,
He is also being good to us when He allows affliction and trouble to touch our
lives. God allowed affliction to torment
Job far beyond what any of us could imagine.
He allowed Lazarus to suffer a lifetime of pain, and God allowed Paul to
endure great anxiety and physical and emotional pain as he carried the good
news of Jesus to the world.
“Certainly my plans are not your plans, and
your ways are not my ways,” declares the Lord.
“Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher
than your ways, and my plans are higher than your plans.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) We
may not always understand why God allows some to suffer and others to enjoy
wealth and every blessing, but regardless of whether we have poverty or riches,
good health or great pain, peace or persecution, we remain in God’s loving
care, and we continue to have His sure promise of forgiveness and salvation
guaranteed to us through faith in Jesus.
Furthermore, we have God’s promise to Paul to consider:
“My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is
made perfect in weakness.” When you are struggling, understand
that God is working through that to keep you trusting in His mercy, and when
you face the end of your days, whether from old age, or sudden illness, or at
the point of a gun, God’s grace remains all you need for life everlasting. By the power of His Word and sacrament, God
has made you His own dear child, cleansed you of every sin, and built for you a
lovely home in the glory of heaven.
Therefore, when we understand the fullness and
sufficiency of God’s grace, we can say, like Paul, “Therefore I will be glad
to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter
me.” What need do we have to boast
about anything we have done for the Lord?
Jesus has already done everything needed to make us righteous and fit
for the glories of heaven.
Trust the power of the Savior who died as
satisfaction for all the guilt of the world and who rose again in victory over
sin, devil, and grave. Trust the Savior
who says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never
pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) Trust Him when He declares, “My grace is
sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” Boast
only in your weakness and in Christ’s power. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding,
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
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