2 Corinthians: Paul Bares His Heart to a Skeptical Church Paul s Thorn in the Flesh 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Layne Lebo August 12, 2018

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1 2 Corinthians: Paul Bares His Heart to a Skeptical Church Paul s Thorn in the Flesh 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Layne Lebo August 12, 2018 Have you seen any good movies at the theatre this summer? If so, what movies have you seen? (Incredibles, Black Panther, Uncle Drew, Mission Impossible) I love going to the movie theatre, but I get there far less than I d like to. I think the last movies I ve seen at the theatre were the Churchill movie Darkest Hour and the P.T. Barnum movie, The Greatest Showman. When you go to a movie do you go early to get popcorn and watch the previews or do you show up right as the movie is starting? My family makes fun of me for how early I like to arrive at movies and other events. They say, Why do you want to get there so early? And I say, Because I like to settle in and prepare for what s coming. I definitely don t want to be late or feel rushed and lessen my enjoyment of the entertainment. My little sidebar about movies does have a purpose Do you remember a comparison I made in one of the first sermons in this series back in early June a Biblical scholar likened our opening the Bible and beginning to read 2 Corinthians to walking into the middle of a movie we know little about and trying to figure out who the main characters are and what the story line is. As we start reading Paul s 2 nd letter to the 1 st Century Church in the Greek city of Corinth we quickly realize Paul and the people of Corinth have some shared history. (Maps) Paul planted the church in Corinth in 50 or 51 AD. Later the Corinthian Christians sent a message to him through a messenger and asked some challenging questions, which tuned Paul into the fact that there were some serious problems in this church. In response to those challenges Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. After writing that 1 st letter he got a report from a colleague that things were still rocky in the Corinthian Church, so Paul visited the church. Paul s visit didn t go so well and he ended up leaving earlier than he expected with things still unresolved and him telling them he d be coming back again. But in the meantime Paul decided to write a 2 nd letter in fact, he may have written as many as 4 letters to this church. And in this letter the one we re studying this summer Paul explains why he chose 1

2 not to visit a 3 rd time as he had originally planned and he tries to address some of the ongoing tension between them. One of the biggest points of contention between the Corinthians and Paul was their definition of success. The Corinthians were questioning Paul s legitimacy as an apostle because he wasn t all that impressive in person the word on the street was, His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing. 2 Corinthians 10:10 The Corinthians claimed that if Paul were an impressive speaker he d be able to charge money for people to hear him, rather than toiling away as a tentmaker; they said he should bring letters of recommendation with him; and, they viewed the suffering Paul endured as evidence that he wasn t a success. God s stamp of approval they believed should be marked by comfort, wealth and success, not by suffering, poverty and struggles. Last week our Senior High Youth Pastor, Cody Sherry, preached on chapter 11 where Paul facetiously refers to the speakers he was being compared to as super-apostles. Paul doesn t hold back at all. Listen to what he says, I do not think I am in the least inferior to those super-apostles. I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. 2 Corinthians 11:5-15 And that brings us to our passage today: 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verses Before I read the passage we re looking at today I want you to read the words on the screen behind me aloud: But [the Lord] said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Those words are found in verse 9 of today s passage. I could make a case that those words are the central theme in Paul s letter and I want us to keep those words in focus as we walk through the sermon today. The first part of that sentence is, My grace is sufficient for 2

3 you. Those are powerful, sustaining, encouraging words. God s grace is sufficient for me and for you. Are you walking through a relational conflict that s overwhelming to you today because you can t see your way out of it? God s grace is sufficient for you. Are you struggling with a sin pattern or addiction that has you in its grip and you can t envision gaining victory in this area of your life? God s grace is sufficient for you. Are you weighed down by job pressures or financial struggles that plague you during the day and keep you awake at night? God s grace is sufficient for you. Are you so worried and anxious about what the future holds that you re unable to enjoy today? God s grace is sufficient for you. Whatever is going on in your life, God s grace is sufficient for you. And the second part of that statement is equally powerful. for my power is made perfect in weakness. Our shortcomings, failures and inadequacies are no hindrance to God. How many of us are quick to disqualify ourselves from doing God s work based on our weaknesses? The answer to that is most, if not all of us. But the Lord told Paul that it s through his weakness that God showed Himself strong. Do you remember the jars of clay image from chapter 4? Paul said we hold this treasure the treasure of the good news of Jesus in a clay jar to show that this all surpassing power comes from God, not from us. The things we try to use as excuses for why we can t adequately serve God are the very things through which God displays his power most clearly. verses 1-10 Keep those truths in mind as we look at the entire passage of 2 Corinthians chapter 12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know God knows. And I know that this man whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ s power may rest on me. That is why, 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. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 3

4 From the glimpses we gain of Paul in Scripture we can deduce that he was a very interesting guy. Paul comes across as abrasive, bold and at times arrogant. Paul would have been difficult to get along with. And to accomplish the things that God had him do, he probably needed some of those traits. I think we get a glimpse of Paul s hard-headedness in the way Jesus revealed Himself to Paul. He struck him down with a blinding light and kept him blind for 3 days as He revealed himself to Paul before he restored his sight and communicated to Paul what his plans were for him. And in this passage Paul is boasting, but he s boasting about things that reflect on God s grace, not himself. He boasts about God s strength and his weakness because it flies in the face of what the Corinthians are demanding from him a defense for himself in which Paul tries to validate himself and his ministry. Paul mentions here visions and revelations that God gave him. He is likely referring to the 3 years he spent in Arabia shortly after his Damascus Road experience. The details are sketchy, but in Galatians chapter 1 verses 16 & 17 Paul writes, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Paul was converted. Then he went to the desert in Arabia for 3 years where he was instructed by Jesus. An interesting idea I read this week that I d not come across before, is that just as the other apostles had 3 years with Jesus when He was alive, so Paul had 3 years with Jesus prior to his own teaching ministry. After spending 3 years in Arabia Paul went to Jerusalem and as he talked with the apostles Peter and James they confirmed all that he had learned. Paul writes about this experience to the Corinthians in the 3 rd person, but it appears he s speaking of his own experiences. He tells the Corinthians that to keep him from becoming conceited due to the amazing things that he heard, saw and learned as Jesus revealed truth to him, God gave him a thorn in the flesh. There s much speculation over what Paul s thorn was. A common belief is that it was his eyesight. Those who support this idea point to the blindness Paul experienced during his conversion and the fact that he often had other people write his letters for him and he refers elsewhere in the New Testament to his poor eyesight. Poor eyesight would have been a real hardship for Paul with the extensive reading, studying, writing and traveling that he did. Others make the case that Paul s thorn may have been the intense 4

5 sorrow and guilt he experienced over his persecution and martyrdom of Christians, like Stephen. Whatever Paul s thorn was, it plagued him and he prayed and pleaded three times for the Lord to remove it. And that s when Paul heard the words we read aloud earlier, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Before we look at Paul s response to Jesus words, I want to make a connection between the way the Corinthians viewed life to a misunderstanding that s common in the church today. The Corinthians critiqued Paul as inadequate because of his sufferings and his lack of success. And today in some pockets of the church faith in God is equated with worldly success health, wealth and prosperity. A common teaching is that if our faith is strong enough we ll always experience healing. If our faith is strong we ll be wealthy and successful. If our faith is strong enough we ll essentially experience heaven on earth. Don t misunderstand me. As children of God we re called to be people of faith. We re instructed to pray and believe for healing. We re told earlier in this letter and in other places that God blesses those who are faithful in giving to Him. We re told that Jesus has come that we might have life to the full. And in Matthew chapter 7 Jesus instructs us with these words, Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:7-11 The Scriptures are clear that God answers prayer He loves to pour blessings on his children. And yet Paul, a man whose faith clearly exceeded most of ours and a man through whom God did many miracles, was denied healing or deliverance from his thorn in the flesh with the words, The answer Paul received was, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. And throughout his ministry Paul experienced incredible suffering and hardship. I don t know how you can support the idea that strong faith equals health, material blessing and success from the Scripture in light of the Apostle Paul s experience and teaching. Not to mention how we reconcile that some of the most mature, faith filled followers of Jesus live in the midst of poverty and suffering in 3 rd world countries. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be people 5

6 who place our faith in Christ we pray for healing for ourselves and for others and we pray for God s blessing on our lives, but we do so ultimately submitting ourselves to God and recognizing as the Prophet Isaiah wrote, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8 & 9 Throughout 2 Corinthians Paul challenges the Corinthians to embrace Jesus view of success, rather than a worldly view of success. And in his response to the Lord s words about his grace being sufficient Paul says, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ s power may rest on me. That is why, 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. 2 Corinthians 12:9 & 10 For when I am weak, then I am strong. Do you believe that? That s a very different message than what we normally hear in our world and it brings us full circle to the statement I had us focus on at the beginning of today s sermon, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. If we believe that statement, what are the implications for us? How does it impact our view of God? I shared some of these thoughts as we began, but I want to repeat them, because they re so central to 2 Corinthians and to our relationship with Jesus. My grace is sufficient for you. God s grace is sufficient for me and for you whether we re facing relational challenges, sin patterns or addictions we feel we can t get victory over, job pressures or financial struggles or anxiety as it relates to our future. Whatever is going on in your life, God s grace is sufficient for you. What s your thorn in the flesh? A job or financial situation, a relationship (maybe the person sitting next to you ), an illness or disability you re battling; fear, anxiety, worry or depression; addiction or a troubling sin pattern; a character flaw that while you try, you just don t see improvement in; dissatisfaction with your life and unfulfilled dreams; or you in the blank. I encourage you to seek God for healing, deliverance or victory. But as you pray and seek God s direction, realize that his grace is sufficient for you, for his power is made perfect in your weakness. 6