Last week, we took a very intimate, “tell-all”, personal tour into a troubled soul. Paul wanted desperately to do what was right, but realized he couldn’t. No matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he has mastered the details of God’s laws, he still can’t be good enough to measure up and master himself. Paul expresses his own powerlessness by crying out in desperation: “O wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death?” (7:24).
FROM BURDENS TO BOASTINGS
Left alone, these are depressing even defeating words. They can even be dangerous if this is all you are saying to yourself. That’s why we need to see not only the side of Paul who was struggling with his weaknesses, but we also need to see the Paul who has learned to “boast” in his weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12: 9). We need to see how he was able to move from being a person who was once hiding, denying, and running from his human weaknesses, who has become the person realizing, admitting and confronting his weaknesses and even “gladly” boasting about them.
Isn’t this an amazing turn of events? Paul has moved from being overburdened about his failures and weaknesses to boasting about them. Once he bragged about being a “Pharisee, the son of Pharisees,” a “Hebrew of the Hebrews” (Philippians 3:4, Acts 23: 6) to claiming even more proudly that he is now “the chief of sinners.” (1 Timothy 1:15, KJV). What enabled such a radical change of perspective? Is this not a little ridiculous? I guess this sermon ought to be have a warning like some of those TV commercials which say, “This is done by professionals, don’t try this at home.” I don’t want to sound like a salesman or a commercial here either, but you and I can also have this kind of healing and “turn-around” perspective to heal our hearts. As a counselor often advises, we can learn to see our lives “as glasses half-full, instead of a glasses half-empty.”
If you read the rest of that verse in 2 Corinthians 12: 9, Paul tells us what changed his life so radically. Put the whole verse together: “So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” It is the “power of Christ” which now “dwells” in him that has given Paul a new way of seeing and dealing with the hurts and weaknesses in his life. Without this “new” power, who would dare boast about weaknesses?
To claim there is “power in Christ” is not anything new at church. But understanding “how” this power “dwells” in us to heal and help us might be something few of us have considered, unless that is, we too, like Paul, have actually struggled with our weaknesses or have been brave enough to confront and seek healing from them.
THE INDWELLING POWER
Let’s look more closely at how Paul describes he came not just to admit his weaknesses, but to boast in them. As we come to look at these first 10 verses of 2 Corinthians 12, you’ll begin to see how it goes against about everything we might we think about how we can gain personal power over our weaknesses and bring healing to our souls.
Something else important for us to grasp, is how passage fits into the scope of Paul’s entire second letter to the Corinthians. From the very opening words, Paul has been concerned about the hard realities of life and the need for healing and he begins with these words: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation” (or comfort, KJV: 2 Cor. 1:3). Paul goes on to speaks frankly to the church about the “affliction” (1:8) he faces and how he has “not lost heart” because it is “by God’s mercy” that he is engaged in “this ministry” (4:1). He is also encouraged to carry on because “It is God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (4:6).
Please take note again, that it is by looking into the face of Jesus Paul is able to speak away his own illusion of power and gives some of the most beautiful healing words in the Bible in 2 Corinthians 4: 7ff. We need to see them as the proper introduction to what we are about to consider in chapter 12. Paul writes in language just too good to gloss over: 4:7 “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies….” Paul is speaking about how Jesus’ own spiritual power has been made real in his life, not through his strengths and successes but through the many pains, struggles, failures weaknesses and even the “cross” he bears for and with Jesus. All these struggles are certainly hard for him, as they would be for anybody, but they are also redemptive.
This “redemptive” difference is the difference that we need to understand. In his struggle he is not only brought to face his weaknesses, but he is also brought closer to Jesus so that a new redeeming power is released in him. He even names this redeeming power “the life of Jesus being made visible in our mortal flesh” (4:11) so that now, even in the weakest moment, he writes: “….we do not lose heart“ even though the outer nature is wasting away, the inner nature is being renewed day by day” (4:16). Isn’t this what we all finally want out of our lives? Don’t we want to know that our souls are growing, developing, and even enlarging to new horizons in spite of the struggles, weaknesses and limits we have? Again, the biblical word for this is hopeful, healing “inner renewal” is redemption. Redemption was a financial word from the ancients which meant “to buy back”. The word implies that even in our losses, failures, limits or frustrations, God’s helps us to “buy” our lives back. As we take a close look at 2 Corinthians 12, I want to focus on “this extraordinary power (which) belongs to God and not to us” (4:7) which can help us “buy” our lives back from our own weaknesses.
Now, with this word of introduction, let’s get back to this very crazy “boasting” Paul is doing. Paul even says in chapter 11, he wants you to “bear with him in a little foolishness” (11:1). If you think him of fool for such boasting, then so be it, if it gets his point across, but he will tell you he’s no fool, he only sounds like one. 2 Corinthians 11:16-21). Thus, already before we get to chapther 12, Paul has prepared us for his foolish sounding words, when he says: “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”
Hold on, because as we get into chapter 12, it gets even stranger, as he begins with a story about “visions and revelations” which is even more foreign to our ears. Paul says he “knows a person who in Christ was caught up to the third heaven…” having a spiritual, “out of the body” experience. He also knows that this person, while in Paradise, “heard things no mortal is permitted to repeat.” Whatever kind of spiritual experience Paul is referring to, it is the kind some people still like to boast about, even right books about. One of the most popular books right now in the religious world, and a New York Times Bestseller, is a book by a Baptist Preacher entitled, “90 Minutes in Heaven.” I’ve read it, and many other people are reading it too. It’s an incredible story about a preacher who was injured in a terrible auto crash coming from a Texas meeting and was believed to be dead by paramedics, who had already covered him and were waiting on the coroner to come to pronounce him dead. After 90 minutes of waiting, another pastor came by who wondered what had happened and wanted to go up and pray over the body. “He’s dead, preacher,” the emergency worker’s declared, but if you want to pray, go ahead.”
Just the other day, I met someone who heard of the book and wanted to know more. After I told them a little bit about it, they immediately wanted to get it for friend who needed inspiration. This is the kind of “spiritual”, “out of body” experience many crave, and some boast about, perhaps rightly so. But now listen to what Paul goes on to say which is critical understanding what God can do for our spiritual healing in this world. “On behalf of such a person, I will boast”… (12:5), Paul says, then adds these surprising and hopeful words, “But on my behalf, I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.” While we may find great comfort in “heavenly revelations”, it is this very “earthly”, here-and-now, “indwelling” revelation that excites Paul. He wants to tell us of his inner healing experience—his “in-the-body” God experience. Paul could also speak of “heavenly revelations”, but the revelation he boasts about is the earthly revelation of healing that has come to him even right in the middle of his own weaknesses, here and now.
HOPE IN CHRIST’S POWER BRINGS HEALING NOW
Now take a closer how Paul identifies his weakness. It is a “thorn given to me in my flesh” given by “a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me to from being too elated” (12:7). Paul understands that this human weakness has come to keep him from being too proud, that is to keep him continuing to give in to the illusion of his own power, or as my mama used to say, to keep him from getting “up on his high horse.” Paul does not tell us exactly what this “thorn in his flesh” (or weakness) was but many have guessed it either to be his poor eyesight or a divorce he might have went through (all Pharisees are supposed to be married and we never hear him talk about his wife), or it was some other chronic ailment, or issue.
Whatever the weakness, what matters to us is that we know how Paul “asked the Lord three times to remove it” (12:8), but instead of removing it, the Lord gave this humbling, but also soul-healing and very spiritual answer: “My grace is sufficient for you, for (my) power is made perfect in weakness” (12:9).
The solution for healing Paul’s physical weakness is the spiritual solution---not the physical solution. Instead of taking his weakness away from him, the Lord has given him hope that even though he is still weak and hurting, God’s grace will be sufficient. And even though God’s “grace is sufficient”, Paul is also given the additional hope that he will be gain power, not a power of illusion but a real, personal power which is “perfected” in him because of his weakness.
Can you begin to see why Paul is boasting about his weakness? If Paul had not struggled, how would he have known the sufficiency of God’s grace? If Paul had not suffered and realized his weaknesses, how could his own personal power been perfected without the illusion? The hope that Paul finds is a hope that comes to him, not in spite of his weaknesses, but through his weaknesses. Most importantly, it is a hope that comes from beyond his own weaknesses---that is, outside of himself. Listen to how Paul concludes the discussion: “….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” (12:10).
Think again about the healing spiritual conversion Paul experienced. Paul could not keep God’s law, though he wanted to. He found no hope within himself of ever being able to keep it. But now Paul has found a freeing, redeeming, and releasing hope because of God’s grace revealed in Jesus and God power of forgiveness released through him. The very same way Paul has received healing from his burden of the law, Paul has also been healed from his “thorn in the flesh”. His “thorn” was not removed from him, as the law wasn’t, but its power over him was. His constant, pressing, burdensome “need” to have his thorn removed and his inability to get on with his life in spite of this “thorn” has been conquered in his heart and he has gained a healing, spiritual power over it.
The healing virtue that has enabled Paul to cope with his weakness is to hope in God and God’s grace and forgiveness—no matter what weakness he faces. Through the indwelling presence and power of Jesus, Paul can get on with life and go on living even along with his weaknesses. He is still aware of them, and still has to deal with them, but he doesn’t have to struggle alone. In his weakest moments he can now give his struggle fully to God and leave it there, solely depending on God’s grace to carry him, when he can’t carry himself.
Here is the very healing power of hope we all need. Right in the middle of the most unexpected place, his weakest place, or his “broken place” Paul has found healing in Jesus. Through Jesus, the “law” is proven insufficient, but God’s grace is sufficient. In Jesus, the illusion of power no longer drives his soul, but Paul finds that real power is “made perfect in weakness“. In Jesus, Paul has discovered the most surprising truth of all: When he is weak, then he is strong.
You certainly don’t boast in your weakness without hope. If you’re in the water drowning, you don’t stop swimming and struggling, until you take the rescuers hand. To let go too soon is the most dangerous thing any of us could try to do. That is probably so why many don’t dare face their weaknesses or are afraid of them. They haven’t yet let hope flow through them. Hope is power to face your weaknesses head on---real power. This higher power, this overcoming and healing power, this “extraordinary power which is of God and not of us” is the very hope that has come to Paul, because he no longer trust in himself---in how strong he is, how smart he is, but he has finally learned through Jesus’ death and resurrection just how strong God is. Could this be the very healing discovery and the virtue of hope you need really need in your life right now?
FINDING HOPE AND SURRENDERING TO GOD
I don’t know if you know the history of Alcoholics Anonymous. I became familiar with this group in my first pastorate, when an alcoholic came to the church to find support and community. In getting to know him, I went to some AA meetings with him and some amazing spiritual healing principals being used in the group. Each and every person who stood up to speak in the meeting stood and boasted about their weakness. “Hello, I’m Jack, and I’m an alcoholic.” Then, the group would acknowledge him. “Hello, Jack!” What was even more surprising was to learn just how much like “church” this meeting was and how the major resources for their hope and healing were in Christian, spiritual, healing principals.
Alcoholics Anonymous was started in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, known to A.A. members as "Bill W." and "Dr. Bob." The Twelve Steps were originally written by Wilson and other early members of AA to codify the process that they felt had worked for them personally, because they were struggling with their weakness with alcohol. Later on, however, the Twelve Steps were modified slightly so that they would apply to problems, issues, addictions and human weaknesses other than alcoholism---even overcoming other temptations and sin itself. What is most important for us is to realize is how the 12 step process was based on the very same soul-healing virtues found in the Bible and found in the Christian faith.
“First of all, you frankly told him of his hopelessness, so far as any further medical or psychiatric treatment might be concerned. This candid and humble statement of yours was beyond doubt the first foundation stone upon which our Society has been built. Coming from you, one he so trusted and admired the impact on him was immense. When he then asked you if there was any other hope, you told him that there might be, provided he could become the subject of a spiritual or religious experience—in short, a genuine conversion. You pointed out how such an experience, if brought about, might re-motivate him when nothing else could. But you did caution, though, that while such experiences had sometimes brought recovery to alcoholics, they were, nevertheless, comparatively rare. You recommended that he place himself in a religious atmosphere and hope for the best.” [http://www.vineyardgreatlakes.com/kenscorner/step2.cfm).
What AA teaches at its very core is that there is utter hopelessness in the addiction to alcohol---there is no medical or psychiatric treatment and there is no medicine that can cure it---the only hope of hope is what can be called, in the most neutral terms a “higher power” which can be known only through a spiritual or a religious experience, which in turn, can only be realized in a “religious” atmosphere that is full of grace, faith, hope and love.
But how do we unlock this virtue of hope for healing in God’s grace in our souls?
What I must tell you is that this “unlocking” to healing and hope does not come where you might think it does. It does not come just in having hope, believing in hope, or in finding hope in yourself, nor does it come from finding some new avenue of hope, like discovering some new church, new religious fad, flavor, activity or even some new self-understanding or even some new understanding of God. Nope. What is most important to understand is that the hope Paul found was found, and the hope we all must find, is in the very God who has been here all along, even before Jesus---but Paul was missing him until he met Jesus on the Damacus road.
You could picture the healing Jesus gives like a body healing itself even with a bullet inside. The bullet is still there, inoperable they say, but the body heals anyway and forgets the foreign object is there. The power to live with our weaknesses and our “thorns” is not some trick, gimmick, or even a new religious strategy, but the healing is in the very presence of the living, graceful, forgiving Lord Jesus who wants to abide and dwell in our very hearts and lives. Only when Paul surrenders to the healing presence of Jesus is God’s power made perfect in his weakness. Paul does not receive the healing power without the healing presence. We too, don’t receive the power of healing by just surrendering to our weaknesses, but only by surrendering both our weaknesses and most of all, surrendering ourselves to God. His forgiving, hopeful presence in us makes the healing difference.
On one occasion after the enemy had withdrawn, Stanley came upon several G.I.s surrounding a wounded Viet Cong. Shot through the lower leg, he was hostile and frightened, yet helpless. He threw mud and kicked with his one good leg when anyone came near him. When Paul joined the circle around the wounded enemy, one soldier asked him, "Sir what do we do? He's losing blood fast and needs medical attention." Stanley looked down at the struggling Viet Cong and saw the face of a 16 or 17 year old boy. He unbuckled his pistol belt and hand grenades so the boy could not grab them. Then, speaking gently, he moved toward him.
The young soldier stared fearfully at him as he knelt down but he allowed the American to slide his arms under him and pick him up. As Stanley walked with him toward a waiting helicopter, the wounded soldier began to cry and hold him tight. He kept looking at him and squeezing him tighter. They climbed into the helicopter and took off.
During the ride, the young captive sat on the floor, clinging to the Americans leg. Never having ridden in a helicopter, he looked out with panic as they gained altitude and flew over the trees. He fixed his eyes back on Stanley, who smiled reassuringly and put his hand on his shoulder.
After landing, Stanley picked him up and walked toward the medical tent. As they crossed the field, he felt the tenseness leave the young man's body and his tight grasp loosen. His eyes softened, and his head leaned against Stanley's chest. The fear and resistance were gone - he had finally surrendered. ( From a book of sermons by John Terry entitled: Experience the Power : Messages on the 12 Steps of Faith, published by CSS Publishing, 1992).
© 2009 All rights reserved Charles J. Tomlin, B.A., M.Div. D.Min.
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