“Humility in the Gospel”

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

 

“I guess if we talk about what God is doing,

          It’s not boasting” Bill Thompson

 

One of the elders on the session at Bensalem Presbyterian Church

          Was a wonderfully gifted elderly gentlemen

                   From the old school that believed in humility.

          We were engaged in many wonderful missions

                   He was an integral part of that ministry

                             But he was hindered from talking about them

                                   Because he thought it would be bragging

                                      Until we read the writing of Paul together.

          “I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness,

                   so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

                             The thing that transformed Paul’s words

                                      From boasting to witnessing was

                                                That he always pointed to Christ

                                                          And not to his own power.

Paul adopted the oriental motif of the wise fool

          To tell the truth of the Gospel in 2 Corinthians.

                   Joan and I rented a series of Chinese television shows.

                             Sometimes we like to watch foreign movies

                                      Or television shows to learn about

                                                Other cultures.

          This series was very different from U.S. television

                   The star was a Marshal Arts expert (of course)

                             But he also adopted a persona of the fool

                                      To make certain points in the story.

          While this is more of an oriental style there are

                   Some western heroes that affect the persona

                             Of the wise fool: the detective Colombo does it,

                                      The Peter Seller series Pink Panther does it,

                             And Forest Gump is a modern day example.

Paul knew what the writers behind those characters knew

          That sometimes when we are introducing ideas that

                   Are unbelievable that the best way to introduce them

                             Is not to take ourselves too seriously.

          Paul is doing that here.

He uses the persona of the wise fool to introduce

          The amazing and unbelievable reality of the Grace of God:

                   “My grace is sufficient for you”, God says to Paul,

                             “for power is make perfect in weakness.”

          It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about

                   First century Israel or 21st Century America

                             The predominate understanding is that

                                      Power is shown in strength

                                                Not weakness.

 

Ken Bailey says that an example of this is when the U.S.

          Was attacked by terrorists on September 11th

                   That the world was actually on America’s side.

          It was one of the few times that most of the world

                   Stood with America and was sympathetic

                             To America.

          Our response to the attack was predictable

                   And appropriate to 21st century sensibilities

                             To attack back with even more force

                                      And to show no signs of weakness.

          History will tell whether Ken Bailey is right

                   Or if the response to power with power

                             Approach is best.

          Paul is saying here in Corinthians that in God’s ideal world

                   That power is made perfect in weakness:

                             That when we are weak God is strong.

Paul says that God revealed this to him in a vision of Third Heaven

          We don’t know what Paul means by “Third Heaven”.

                   We don’t know whether his story is a bodily experience

                             Or a dream or vision.

We don’t know what exactly his vision of Paradise is.

     We do know that Paradise refers to a garden

          And that Paul himself is the person he is talking about,

                   And that the garden image is a powerful image

                             That suggests Paul walking in the Garden

                                      And talking directly with God.

          Our minds immediately think of the Garden of Eden

                   And that time of Paradise with God and Adam

                             And yet our minds also think forward to

                   God in conversation with the new Adam, Jesus,

                             In the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus says

                                      “Not my will but thy will be done.”

          And as we recall the cross of Christ that demonstrated

                   Once and for all that God’s power

 is made perfect in weakness.

 

The discussion that Paul offers about the “thorn in his flesh”

          Has also been a source of wonder by commentators.

                   I don’t think that it is unreasonable to expect

                             That if we follow the Gospel that our lives

                                      Might be made a little easier-

                                                A little reward for the good guys.

          And yet Paul’s witness is that even after he has

                   Had a vision of the third heaven and

                             Walked in the Garden of Paradise

                                      In conversation with God

                                                That he is still subject to

                                                          The trial and tribulations

                                                                   Of human life and

                                                                             Human pain.

Now that is a truth that we can identify with.

          We have each endured pain in our lives and

                   We continue to endure pain.

The promise of the Gospel is not that it will take away the pain

          But that we will be able to endure it.

Paul writes in Romans:

          “The suffering of the current day is not worthy to be compared

                   to the glory to be revealed in us.”

          A recent book by Michael J. Fox Lucky Man

                   Speaks of the phenomenon of pain in our lives.

                         He was successful in so many ways of the world

                             With money, fame, power of a prime time show

                                      And the onset of Parkinson’s Disease

                                                Changed all that.

          And yet in his book he says that he would not

                   Go back to the pre Parkinson’s days.

                             Now he is working full time with the Parkinson’s

                                      Foundation to find a cure but he says

          That his life is so much fuller now

and his relationships richer than even before.

          The disease is a “thorn in the flesh”

                   In that it gets in the way of

                             What he wants to do

                   And yet it is a constant reminder of what is important

                             In his life and his family and the world.

 

I believe that Paul is saying that as well.

          The thorn in his flesh, whatever it is,

                   Throws him back over and again to

                             The grace of God: “My grace is sufficient for you,

                                      For power is made perfect in weakness.”

          And that’s the humility of the Gospel.

                   The gospel is never an opportunity to brag

                             About what we have done.

                                      But it is an opportunity to boast about

                                                What God has done with us in spite

                                                          Of our weakness.

          I had the wonderful privilege this weak to see God at work

                   Building a wheelchair ramp for a lady in Parkdale.

 

She had been turned down by the department of aging

          In her request for a wheelchair ramp,

                   So she was available when Melissa called to see who

                             We could build a wheelchair ramp for in

                                      Mission camp this year.

          The men showed up Wednesday to set the posts in place

                   And the supports for the ramp.

                             The youth showed up on Thursday to

                                      Screw the boards and the handrails in place

                                                And I was so proud that I took a picture

                                                          Of this beautiful ramp.

          The irony is that while I was taking the picture,

                   The men are in the corner talking about

what they did wrong the corner of the ramp.

 

To the untrained eye, it was great, but to these workers

          Is wasn’t exactly right but to Paul it was perfect

                   Because it was build under the grace of God.

                             “My grace is sufficient for you,

                                      for power is made perfect in weakness.

                             So I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness,

                                      So that the power of Christ might dwell in me

Thanks the humilty of the Gospel.

          It is not about us but about

                   The grace of God that is made perfect in our weakness.

                                                          Amen