Sermon Synopsis for January 13 2007

“My Grace Is Sufficient” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

Maybe you’ve heard …
A college recruiter interviewed a high school basketball star. The recruiter said, "I hear you're pretty good." "The best there is," the player replied. "I averaged 45 points per game. I was the best rebounder in my high school. And I led our team to 3 undefeated seasons and 3 state championships." "That's incredible," said the recruiter. "Tell me," he said, "Do you have any weaknesses?" "Well," said the youngster sheepishly, "I do have a tendency to exaggerate."

We all have weaknesses. None of us are perfect.

That may be a difficult thing for some of us to admit. For example, 90% of men rank themselves above average in athletic ability. Men sometimes exaggerate. Some of us are “a legend in our own mind.” We all have our weaknesses.
Maybe these aren’t so bad.

JESUS’ PERSPECTIVE
Jesus often talked about changing the way we look at things, about turning things upside down: the first will be last, the mountains will be made low, the valleys brought up, the mighty will be humbled and the humbled exalted, etc. Today we hear from the Apostle Paul – “I am strong when I am weak.”

Today’s passage of scripture comes from the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. Paul struggled with the Christian life. He was open about his struggles and his short comings.

PAUL WRITES A SECOND LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN CORINTH
Now, as he writes this letter, Paul is trying to help the Corinthians grow in the faith. But they’re resisting. They’re questioning Paul’s power and authority. Paul’s letters may be bold, some say, but when you actually see him, he’s of no account (2 Corinthians 10:10). So, to get through to these people, Paul is forced to boast of his qualifications as an apostle, even though he realizes that when he does he sounds like a madman (verse 11:23). I’m a Hebrew, I’m an Israelite, I’ve been persecuted, Paul tells them (verses 11:21-26). He has a long list of credentials, but his greatest is this: in Paul’s own personal weakness he has the power of Jesus Christ.
Why does Paul spend so much time developing that idea? Why do the Corinthian Christians need to hear that message? Well, it seems the Corinthians fancied themselves as especially strong.
-The Corinthians thought themselves strong in worldly wisdom. (2 Cor. 8-9)
-we have indications that they’re strong in cash.
-As a large, cosmopolitan port city, we know the Corinthians were strong in Mediterranean culture.
-Unfortunately, they were also strong in the flesh (physical aspects) (2 Cor. 12:21).
-They seem to have spent too much time comparing themselves to other people rather than to God’s holiness (2 Cor. 10:17),
-and they were plagued by the presence of “super-apostles” teaching a different gospel (2 Cor. 11-12). Maybe these super-apostles were attracted to a church in a wealthy and metropolitan place.

How did Paul deal with these problems? He talks about the little flaw that makes a big difference, The little problem that causes him to question everything. He lets the Corinthians know that true Christian strength comes through weakness, because in our weakness we learn to depend on God.

WHAT ARE OUR WEAKNESSES?
Some of our weaknesses are physical, some are mental, and some are moral. Some of those weaknesses have to do with our work, some with our family life, and some with our relationship with Christ. Some of us, for example, have short tempers, others of us lack diplomacy. Some of us are too proud, others of us lack back-bone. Nobody’s perfect. Maybe that is just as well. It’s easier to be in a group of imperfect people. The perfect person has to keep up his reputation; I wouldn’t want it.

HOW DID THE APOSTLE PAUL HANDLE HIS WEAKNESS?
The Apostle Paul had his weaknesses. One in particular caused him much heartache. We don't know for certain what it was. He called it his "thorn in the flesh." Some have suggested that Paul suffered from epileptic seizures. If so, he was in good company. Two of the most powerful men who ever lived-- Julius Caesar and Napoleon--were epileptics, as have been many other great individuals. In Paul's day there was no Dilantin or Phenobarbital to control seizures. If that was his thorn, he was stuck with it.

Paul prayed that God would deliver him from his affliction. Three times he beseeched God about this matter, but God's answer to him was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." In other words, God seemed to be saying to Paul, "Trust me, Paul. I will take care of you. But I can use your weakness to demonstrate my power."

IT’S OK TO HAVE A WEAKNESS
We can learn from Paul's experience. Paul not only learned to accept his thorn, he even began to boast about his weakness in order to show the power of Christ. Our weakness can become our strength as well. Some of us may even learn to rejoice that we are not perfect. And when we are not perfect – Jesus tells us – God’s GRACE is sufficient.

Jesus told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

WHAT IS GRACE?
I remember the song: Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and it left him high and dry.

Grace is the free and undeserved favor of God; mercy, clemency, unmerited love,

Mark Twain said, “Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out, and your dog would go in.”

Sometimes a financial institution gives you a grace period. “You don’t have to pay”

As Christians we are saved by grace and we should live by grace. We are people of grace.

People don’t always live up to the name. People are always going to come up short of our expectations.

The church also communicates ungrace through its lack of unity.

“Mark Twain used to say that he put a cat and a dog in a cage together as an experiment, to see if they could get along. They did, so he put in a bird, pig and goat. They, too, got along fine after a few adjustments. Then he put a Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic; soon there was not a living thing.” (Yancy, What’s So Amazing About Grace, p. 33)

WEAKNESS CAN BE A HELPFUL SIGN
Sometimes what seems a weakness is only a signal that we are pursuing the wrong trail. One of the most revealing lines in literature appears in the opening paragraph of A. A. Milne's WINNIE-THE-POOH: "Here is Edward Bear coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way...if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it!"

If you keep bumping your head coming down the stairs, maybe it is time you stop for a moment and think if there is another way it might be done. Sometimes our so-called weaknesses are simply warning signs to us that we are on the wrong road.

I remember some of my weakest moments (there are many):
These were times when I felt completely helpless.
Food poisoning in Bolivia left me unconscious for 3 days.
Dengue fever almost killed me.
Typhoid wasn’t a pretty experience.
Once my Landcruiser broke down in middle of nowhere in Southern Bolivia.

I said, “God, you have to take over now.” I should have prayed that sooner.

God can act in the midst of these situations – we need to trust God.

OUR WEAKNESSES CAN HELP US LEAN ON GOD FOR HELP
I can just hear the Apostle Paul boasting, can't you? "Look at me," he would say, "I once persecuted the church. Look at me, a man who has to battle this humiliating affliction- -this thorn in the flesh. Yet Christ has used me to plant churches all over the known world." Paul was a man of tremendous intellect. He was also a man of unquestionable persuasive powers.

Perhaps if it had not been for his thorn in the flesh, he would have leaned upon his own ability rather than the power of God working through him. And you and I would never have heard the name of Paul.

His weakness became his strength.
His scar became a star.
His hurt became a halo.

And the same thing can happen to us …
… if our weakness helps us to grow,
… if our weakness makes us more determined to succeed,
… if our weakness causes us to try new things,
… and if our weakness causes us to rely on God.

Paul said, “For when I am weak, I am strong”Jesus said, “My power is made perfect in weakness”

AN EXAMPLE
Bani is a bus stop on the road from Santo Domingo to Haiti in the Dominican Republic.
Alexis is a young person in the church in Bani. He witnessed to Bingo (a.k.a. Elvis, a drug trafficker) who witnessed to his fellow (former) gang members.
On evening during a prayer meeting there was a shoot-out on church steps – one dead.
Bingo told us, “That should have been me.”
Bingo, with no gun, no guards, went alone, vulnerable – to speak to the killers about Jesus.
He told them that the guy that died didn’t deserve it, Bingo deserved it.
He told them about Jesus who died when he didn’t deserve it – so that we all might live.
He told them that Jesus died in his place – and for them – and they deserved to know it.
That’s Grace in Action.

Jesus said, “My power is made perfect in weakness”

A STORY
Maybe you’ve heard the story about the church visitors. (This would never happen at Maple Grove)

One day, a man went to visit a church. He got there early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up, and the driver got out and said, “I always park there! You took my place!"

The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, "That's my seat! You took my place!" The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing.

After Sunday School, the visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, "That's where I always sit! You took my place!" The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still He said nothing.

Later as the congregation was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood up, and his appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet. Someone from the congregation noticed him and called out, "What happened to you?" The visitor replied, as his hat became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye, “I took your place.”

Grace is Jesus taking our place when we deserved to be there.

That’s all there is to it, it’s enough.

Jesus tells us, “My Grace is Sufficient for you.”