Profiles in Weakness: 1 Corinthians 12:2-10 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

²I 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. ³And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows—⁴was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. ⁵On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. ⁶But 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, ⁷even 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. ⁸Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, ⁹but 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. ¹⁰Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. (NRSV)

Red Thorns again by Taylor Boyley on Flickr is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

“December 7, 1941, a date that will live in infamy.”

History turned on these words.  In just a six-minute speech, President Franklin Roosevelt leads the United States into war against the evilest empires the world had ever known.

But something that most folks don’t notice is that President Roosevelt walks to the podium to make his speech. 

Roosevelt had polio, which paralyzed his legs.  If he walked, he needed to be assisted by others.  Otherwise, he was confined to a wheelchair.  But the public never saw this.  In fact, the Secret Service confiscated and destroyed all photos of him in a wheelchair—because they did not want him to appear weak but capable of bearing the burden of being a wartime president.

Yet, there was tremendous strength in spite of his tremendous bodily weakness.

This is the very paradox the Apostle Paul speaks of in our second reading for today. 

It comes as a surprise to hear him talking about weakness when he was a man who founded numerous churches, wrote a large portion of our New Testament, and shaped the faith of Christians for millennia.

In today’s reading, he speaks of a brother or sister in Christ testifies to “exceptional … visions and revelations of the Lord” in which he/she is “caught up to a third heaven” and “up into Paradise.”  This person’s testimony had the potential to cement Paul’s faith into certainty.  But then, a thorn was given to him in his flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass him.  We don’t know what the thorn is.  All we know is that it causes him to suffer tremendously. 

And this comes after Paul has suffered imprisonments, floggings, stoning, shipwrecks, slander, robbers, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness.

At this point, I feel like Paul is showing off the battle scars he’s earned for the Lord—as if they are holy merit badges.  But then again, I’ve never known anyone to willingly subject themselves to these things.  I’ve never known anyone to engage in a pitch battle against Satan.

Instead, Satan attacked Paul to thwart God’s working through him.  But God pressed on in Paul.  God’s power is made perfect in weakness.  God is at God’s best when we are weak.

But how?

Weakness is a pain in the flesh.  It’s a pain in the spirit.  It’s a pain in the heart.  Because you lose control.  You are powerless.  You are helpless and no longer self-sufficient.  To make matters worse, you’re stuck in a world that celebrates strength and worships an illusion that you can make yourself invulnerable to these things.  You probably know people for whom nothing bad ever happens, and everything they touch turns to gold.  And if that isn’t bad enough, there’s plenty of powerful voices telling you that you can “believe God” out of every hardship and “believe God” into riches and prosperity with your faith and good deeds.  They’ll pelt you with clichés like “God helps those who help themselves;” and, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”

We are so accustomed to a picture of God as some stern, wrathful old man who inflicts suffering upon you because you need to prove your worth—and if something bad happens to you, it must be a punishment for some sin.  This God had to kill his Son so you could go to heaven.  Believe this God, and the pressure’s all on you.  You’re on your own.

But Paul’s God looked with love upon a sinful and dying humanity and put on human flesh.  In Christ, God participates in human suffering.  He who knew no sin suffered a sinner’s death.  He who was immortal became mortal.  God fulfilled all things for your salvation at the cross of Jesus.

So Paul isn’t boasting in his battle scars.  He isn’t playing the part of Polyanna, singing the joys of spilt milk. 

When human flesh is weak, God is strong.  God’s power is made perfect in weakness.  Your challenge, then, is to own your weakness; own your imperfection; own that you are captive to sin and sufferings and cannot free yourself.  It is so easy to reject God’s grace as you pursue success and the best the world has to offer.  It’s easy to reject God’s grace for illusion of power, control, and self-sufficiency, believing yourself to need no one’s help (including God’s).  Yet, the more you recognize your dependence on God, the more you experience God’s power.

Your second challenge is to own your need for God’s people.  Healing never happens in isolation anywhere in the bible.  Paul would’ve never made it without the prayers, the visits, the gifts, and the encouragements of the Body of Christ.  Same goes for you. 

The third challenge is to share the grace you receive from God with others.  Your weakness and vulnerabilities are the ideal place to share common ground with others.  Ask anyone who’s attended GriefShare, and they’ll tell you that’s true! 

The way forward for our church leads out into the world where God’s people are hurting.  The good news they need to hear is that they’re not alone.  Those people will see the presence of Jesus in you when you are authentically you, owning your weakness and making no pretense about your strength or self-sufficiency—clinging to Christ alone.. 

Most of us already know what weakness feels like.  Now we have t own it, while trusting that it doesn’t own us.  Jesus does.  But the weakness is the most fertile soil for hope, for the rebirth of faith; the transformation of lives; and for a Body bound together with love into the death and resurrection of Christ.  Trust that when you are weak, Christ will be strong.