“THE CALL TO SEEK TO BE WEAK”

II CORINTHIANS 12:2-10

2  I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows.

3  And I know that such a person--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows--

4  was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.

5  On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.

6  But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me,

7  even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.

8  Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,

9  but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

10  Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

11  I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.

12  The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works.

God wants you to be weak!  That’s a message that you probably don’t want to hear.  The Apostle Paul certainly didn’t want to hear that message. That’s the message that Paul got though when he prayed to God about his thorn in the flesh. Paul wanted God to take away that thorn in the flesh, but God had other plans. God told Paul that when it came to that thorn in the flesh he was going to have to live with it. “My grace is sufficient for you,” God said, “for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Apparently, God does want you to be weak. Of course that’s not what people want to hear these days. That’s because these days people want to be strong. They want to be in control. They want to be in charge. They want to be just like the foreman who laid down the law one day. Shortly after a new crew showed up the foreman lined them up for a little speech.  “Okay,” the foreman growled, “the first thing I want you guys to remember is that I can lick each and every one of you any day of the week and twice on Sunday if you want.” At that point a really big guy stepped forward. “You can’t lick me,” he said defiantly. The foreman looked the really big guy over from head to toe.  “You’re right!” he said, “You’re fired,” and with that the foreman walked away.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where might makes right. We live in a world where it’s the survival of the fittest. So, these days it’s a virtue to be strong.  It’s a sin to be weak.  As a pastor I often see this fear of being weak when people find themselves dealing with the death of a loved one. They’ll sit in my office and do their best to be strong.  Sometimes though their emotions get the best of them and they begin to cry. You know what they do when that happens? They apologize. They apologize because they’re embarrassed. As far as they’re concerned those tears make them look weak.

All of this is why God’s message to Paul might make you a little uncomfortable.  Sometimes God wants you to be weak. Now that doesn’t mean that God wants you to let people take advantage of you. It doesn’t mean that God wants you to let yourself be overwhelmed with doubt and despair. It doesn’t mean that God wants you give up when you’re wrestling with a problem. What God wants is a different kind of weakness.

Perhaps the best way of understanding that different kind of weakness is by looking at what Paul was dealing with at the time. We don’t know what the thorn in the flesh was that tormented Paul. Some have suggested that Paul suffered from epilepsy or a speech impediment.  Others have suggested that he suffered from depression or a temptation that threatened to undermine his ability to spread the good news. My own theory is that because it was a thorn in the flesh raises Paul might have been wrestling with some sort of sexual problem.

Whatever the thorn in the flesh was Paul wasn’t very happy when God told him he was going to have to live with it. Over the years Paul’s attitude toward that thorn in the flesh changed. By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians fourteen years later he had come to realize that his thorn in the flesh had done him a lot of good.

Paul’s thorn in the flesh taught him not to get too full of himself. It also taught him to depend on God.  When you come right down to it his thorn in the flesh kept Paul from making the same mistake that a man made one day when he went to see a Buddhist monk.  The man went to the Buddhist monk in search of wisdom and understanding.  As they talked the man told the monk how successful he was in the corporate world. He went on and on about his achievements, accomplishments and awards. While he was talking the monk started to pour him a cup of tea. The monk didn’t stop though when the cup was full.  He kept pouring until the tea start to run all over the table. When the man realized what was happening he jumped up and hollered at the monk to stop. “What are you doing? The cup is full,” he shouted “You’re spilling the tea everywhere.” “Yes,” the monk replied. “I know and you are like the cup.  You are too full of yourself for me to teach you anything.  First empty yourself and then I will be able to fill you with wisdom and understanding.”

Pam eventually realized that his thorn in the flesh may have been a weakness but it was a weakness that allowed God’s grace to flow through him. That’s also true for you and me. Let me illustrate it with a couple of examples. What do you do when you find yourself dealing with a problem that you can’t handle? Conventional wisdom says you don’t let anyone know that you’re in over your head. You do your best to live with the problem and hope that it gets better. The last thing you do is ask for help.  That would make you look weak right?  It would make you look incompetent. It would make you look like you don’t have a clue. 

It would make you look just like the owners of a brand new boat who had to take it to the local marina the first time they put it in the water.  They had to take it to the marina because it wasn’t running right. Now the marina was on Lake Isabella which is about an hour east of Bakersfield, California. The boat was an incredibly sluggish 22 foot Bayliner.  Even though the boat had a really powerful motor they couldn’t get it to go more than a couple of miles an hour. So, they took it to the marina where a topside inspection revealed that everything was in perfect working order.  Finally, one of the workers at the marina jumped into the water to check underneath the boat.  It wasn’t long before he came up choking on water because he was laughing so hard. What he discovered underneath was that the trailer was still strapped securely to the bottom of the boat.

It’s hard to ask for help because you don’t want to look like you’re weak, incompetent and clueless. So, instead of asking for help you end up doing your Atlas impersonation. God’s grace can’t come to when you’re strong or you pretend to be strong.  God’s grace can only come to you when you’re weak and admit that you need a little help.

There are lots of ways God wants you to be weak. If you do something wrong, conventional wisdom says you should dig your heals in and insist that you didn’t wasn’t wrong.  God, on the other hand wants you to be humble and own up to it. God wants you to apologize. God wants you to ask to be forgiven. That might be considered a sign of weakness these days, but it’s a weakness that can lead you to a grace filled moment. It’s a weakness that can lead you to a little peace and reconciliation.

Yes.  It’s true.  Sometimes God wants you to be weak. Here’s another one for you.  How often do you tell people who are important to you that you love them?  That’s hard to do when you’re a staid and stoic Yankee. When you keep those feelings to yourself though, you miss out on a lot of grace filled moments.  You end up just like the elderly couple from Vermont. Late one night, the two of them were sitting in their rocking chairs.  Outside the wind was howling and the snow was piling up.  Suddenly, the wife turned to her husband and asked, “Ollie, do you love me?”  The surprised husband looked at her and replied, “What kind of a question is that?  Of course I love you.” The wife nodded her head.  “Well,” she said, “if you love me why don’t you tell me?”   The husband let out a big sigh.  “Woman,” he said, “I told you 50 years ago that I love you when I said ‘I do.’ I also said I’d let you know if I changed my mind. So, far I haven’t changed my mind.”

Sometimes God wants you to be weak. A father learned that lesson in a grace filled moment that he shared with his son.  It all began when a teacher in New York City gave her students a blue ribbon. On the ribbons were the words “Who You Are Makes A Difference.” She then gave each of the students three additional ribbons. She then instructed them to go and give one of the ribbons to someone who had made a difference in their life. That person would then be asked to take the remaining two ribbons and give them to someone who had made a difference in their life and so on. Then when all the ribbons were distributed the students would come back and share their stories with each other. Well, this one boy took his ribbons and gave them to a junior executive at a local company.  The junior executive had taken time out of his busy schedule to talk to the boy about his future and what he wanted to do with his life.  Needless to say the junior executive was touched by the gesture.  Later that day he took the two remaining ribbons and went to see his boss.  Now this boss had a reputation for being a rather grouchy guy.  Still, the junior executive gave him the two remaining ribbons and told him that he admired him for his creative genius. The boss was speechless as he accepted the ribbons.  That night when the boss got home he sat his 14 year old son down for a talk. The father explained, “The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior executives came in and told me he admired me for my creative genius.  Then he gave me these blue ribbons that say ‘Who I Am Makes A Difference.’  One was for me and the other one was for me to give to someone.  As I was driving home tonight, I started thinking about who I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you.  I want to honor you.  My days are really hectic and when I come home I don’t pay a lot of attention to you.  Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life.  You’re a great kid and I love you!”  At that point the son started to sob uncontrollably.  Finally he looked up at his father through his tears and told him how he had thought about killing himself because he didn’t think his father cared.  “Now I know you do care,” he said.  The next day that boss went back to work a changed man and that son went back to school to tell everyone what happened to the blue ribbons that he gave away.

Sometimes God wants you to be weak.  God wants you to be weak enough to say, “I love you;” weak enough to say, “I’m sorry,” weak enough to say, “Please help me,” weak enough to say, “I love you,” weak enough to say, “I forgive you.” Why? Because the answer that Paul got to his prayer is true.  God’s grace is sufficient for you and more often than not God’s power is made perfect in your weakness.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

July 9, 2006