Pentecost 7, July 23, 2006

Texts: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Mark 6:1-6

Perfect Power through Weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Our meditation for this morning is based upon our Epistle reading from
2 Corinthians. I will read the last verse again that summarizes the
message: "For Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in
hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I
am strong." (12:10)

Here in these simple words that roll so easily off the tongue is
contained one of the world's most profound mysteries. In this paradox that
seems to make no sense in real life is hidden the key to a life of joy
and purpose, the key to an experience of life that escapes most people.
And I must include myself in this category, because when it comes to
the things that the apostle Paul speaks about, I can only wonder with
amazement how superficial my faith and my living really are in comparison.
So let me invite you on a journey into the Word of God to gain greater
vision of the Spirit-filled life that we have been called to in our
Baptism.

The new life we received in Christ is really a life that is filled with
contradictions compared to the natural, self-directed life of the
world. That is why we often are confronted with paradoxes and what appear to
be contradictions when we turn to the Word of God. The reason for this
is that the spirit of the world and the Spirit of God operate under
quite different principles.

The principle the world operates under is death. Death is the greatest
inescapable power in the world. It holds the whole world captive. No
matter what we do, whether we work hard or go on vacations, invest our
money or spend it, stay healthy or indulge ourselves, be popular or
virtuous or successful and in control, in the end we all are overcome by the
same fate: Death. No matter how hard we try, the world can only offer
death to those who belong to it - and we once belonged to it.
Then there is the Spirit of God. Its controlling principle is life.

This life was revealed when Jesus appeared on earth. God's Spirit is
more powerful than darkness and death. Wherever it shines its light, death
and darkness disappear. Once we were held captive by the dark power of
the world. But God called us out of the world and into His Kingdom
through Holy Baptism.

Now, if God's Spirit is that powerful, someone may ask: "Why is
there still so much darkness, sin, and evil in our world? Why has God's
light not long succeeded in routing darkness and death once and for
all?" The answer is that the power of God's Spirit operates in the
world in a hidden manner. It operates in a way that cannot be easily
observed. The power of God is found in the most unlikely places. For
example, the greatest revelation of God's power and love happened where? At
the cross on Calvary. It was through death that God destroyed death and
brought us eternal life. This mystery of God's power active in
weakness continues in the life of a Christian.

In order for us as Christians to know how to recognize God's Spirit
at work in our lives and in the world we must learn to distinguish
between how the spirit of the world and the Spirit of God operate. The
world's spirit seeks to control and enslave those who come under its
influence. God's Spirit, however, gently woos the objects of His love and
always allows us the freedom to reject His advances in our life at any
time. God never establishes control over us. He only takes control of
those areas in our lives that we willingly yield to Him. The reason for
this is that He wants to develop a relationship with us that is based
upon faith, upon trust. The greatest thing that God desires to
accomplish in our lives is that we might believe in Him (John 6:29).

In contrast, the spirit of the world rapes, steals, plunders and
destroys. It wants to take over control of our lives so that we can no longer
do what we want to do and that in the end, we can no longer even
distinguish between what is good and wholesome and what is bad and
destructive. This includes not only substance addictions, but also addictions to
pornography and sexual perversion, to gluttony, to money, etc. The
spirit of the world also wants to keep us in the dark about the truth of
God's love for us. It wants to kill the life of faith that God wants to
establish within us. But the spirit of the world can only do this to
the extent that we allow doubts about God's love to enter and poison
our minds.

When Jesus came to His hometown, as we heard in our Gospel lesson, the
people took offense at His message. Of course they were proud to have a
famous miracle worker in their midst, but Jesus was looking for more
than admiration. He was looking for faith. A faith that involved denying
yourself, taking up your cross and following Him. But we are told that
Jesus could not do any miracles there and that He was amazed at their
lack of faith. These people could not accept that the One born among
them was their Creator and Saviour.

You see, the greatest gift you can give God is that you trust Him in
every circumstance. That is why the apostle Paul, when asking God to
relieve him of his thorn in the flesh, was denied his request. God wanted
Paul to remain physically weak so that he would become spiritually
strong. Paul understood that his spiritual weakness was that he might become
conceited because of his great knowledge and that he might begin to
boast in his own strengths, thereby denying the power of Christ (2
Corinthians 12:7). Jesus assured Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for
my power is made perfect in weakness." To this Paul responded in bold
faith: "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (9b)

This message is difficult for us to understand. It is often not until
one has suffered severely that one can begin to understand this. Let me
share with you the wisdom an Egyptian Christian learned through his
sufferings: "With suffering you discover a different Jesus than you do
in luxury. It's like this: Pain forces you to deal with the weakest
point of your personality. First you give up on yourself, but eventually
it becomes wonderful because you realize Christ loves you even though
you are so weak."

How did this young Egyptian, only in his early thirties, come to such a
deep knowledge about suffering? He had converted from Islam. As a
result he was jailed in the early 1990's and tortured. He was stripped
naked, prodded with electric batons, hanged by the hands and put into a
tiny hole-cell with no light for three months. The cell was nicknamed
"the experience" by the prisoners.

Like other prisoners, he did not emerge unscathed. "I came out
shattered, weak and weeping. Sitting in the dark silence, with only my own
breathing, I felt completely abandoned. All my sins, all my weaknesses,
swam into my mind with vivid colours, and I saw how weak I was. I could
not even come out of the torture looking triumphant. All the things I
was proud of I became ashamed of. Even my Christian testimony became an
object of shame."

From suffering this young man learned to despair of all He was proud
of. He realized that the only object of true value was Jesus and that the
only thing that mattered in the end was knowing that God loved Him.
Weakness forces us to accept the love of God to an extent that is utterly
transforming, changing us from self-dependence to God-dependence. That
is why Christians who have experienced persecution for their faith
often seem to be more loving, more generous people. They have gone through
this process. Their faith has been tested and tried. Having utterly to
rely upon God they have learned to live by faith through the Spirit and
not just by what the world has to offer.

John Drane, professor of practical theology at Aberdeen University,
says that in the West, the church is growing primarily among what he terms
"the corporate achievers." He says, "They come to church to take
control of their lives. They see Christianity as giving them a way of
managing relationships in the way they are already managing their
careers."

The last thing they want to hear about is their weaknesses. What they
want to hear about is power. In fact, their whole professional lives are
spent denying they have any weaknesses at all. And sadly, it is an
attitude that gets brought into the church. They want services that meet
their felt needs and which help them succeed with what they want to do
with their lives.

How about us? Do you want the church to make you feel good about
yourselves? Are we resisting the work of the Holy Spirit? Do we think that we
are not really such "poor, miserable sinners" who deserve nothing
but God's "present and eternal punishment" (Confession of Sin,
Divine Service 1, Lutheran Worship). Then we know nothing of weakness and
precious little of God. How poor we really are!

The apostle Paul distinguished himself from the "super-apostles" of
Corinth by boasting only of his weaknesses. We have to learn to follow
his example and that of our persecuted brethren. May we be blessed with
such faith that can delight in "weakness, in insults, in hardships,
in persecutions, in difficulties." May we be blessed with a faith that
can accept not getting things our own way and still be able to say,
"For when I am weak, then I am strong." May we be blessed with a faith
that can pray with Lady Julian of Norwich, "Wound me Lord, for it is
only through my wounds I can receive your healing love." Amen.