In the Name of Jesus
2. Corinthians 12,1-10 1412
Sexagesimä (2. Sonntag vor der Passionszeit) 021
Eulalia of Barcelona or Merida, Spain, Virgin, Martyr 290.
12. February 2012
2. I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man 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. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows – and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
3. In this morning’s Gospel Reading, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower and the Four Types of Fields. The theme of this parable is: Grace is passively received. The Apostle Paul knew a little something about this passive grace. While he was going by his given name of Saul, Jesus appeared to him on his way to Damascus. Saul was fervently persecuting Christians, so Jesus converted him to the Christian faith. Saul then immediately began to preach the gospel of the crucified and risen Christ throughout the Roman Empire. The gospel bore fruit with patience in Paul (Luke 8,15).
4. The gospel proclaims that Christ Jesus ransomed all people unto everlasting salvation. The preached gospel promises you that all your sins are forgiven in Christ. This very same gospel strengthens you to rely upon Christ. Paul himself relied completely on this marvelous grace. To keep him from being to elated, the Lord Jesus sent a messenger of Satan to harass Paul. Paul also experienced the hardships of an apostle: he was shipwrecked, imprisoned and punished for preaching the gospel. Paul endured these hardships because Christ endures and He gave him the power to endure every trial that came his way. Jesus also gave Paul the endurance to deal with this thorn in his flesh and all the other tribulations he suffered.
5. Enduring hardship is not easy for us. We are sinners and our flesh is weak. We are broken people living in a cursed world. Hardships arise from different sources. The earth, since it has been cursed by Yahweh, creates hardship. Natural disasters afflict us, plagues infect us and our vocations often are workplaces of distress. This sinful world is full of wicked people. As such, we are constantly assaulted by the people who are our neighbors with their shenanigans and schemes. So we are sinned against by our neighbors, and thus suffer from their sinful actions and words. Furthermore, you and I also cause our neighbors grief and suffering from our sinful actions and words. So our own sinful flesh causes us, and others, hardships. Another source of hardship comes from the devil and the fallen angels. Job suffered when Satan snatched away Job’s wealth, family and health. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness.
6. When we face hardship, we then turn to God expecting Him to rescue us. Unfortunately, sometimes God Himself is a source of our hardship. There are times when God Himself is our enemy. We do not like to think this way about God, for we would prefer to only visualize Him as the avenging savior from our distress. Now it is true that God is our Deliverer, but it is also equally true that sometimes He is the enemy who is giving us constant grief. If you’d like to read more about that topic, I commend to you a wonderful paperback available from Concordia Publishing House or you can download it in about ten seconds from Amazon if you have a Kindle or an iPad. The author is Dr. Ingvar Fløysvik (Flowsvick) and his book is When God Becomes My Enemy: The Theology of the Complaint Psalms.
7. The Book of Psalms has 150 chapters in the Old Testament, and 18 of those chapters are complaint psalms. In one, David laments: »How long, O Yahweh? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?« (Psalm 13,1-2) In another the psalmist cries out: »O Yahweh, You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. You have caused my companions to shun me; You have made me a horror to them« (Psalm 88,6.8). Finally, the most well-known complaint psalm comes from David: »My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest« (Psalm 22,1-2). Our Lord Himself prayed this psalm in anguish on the cross.
8. You and I have felt the raw, heart-rending grief that comes when hardships afflict our lives, but God seems far away, silent and aloof. You know the solitude of wanting God to intervene in your life, but for some reason God just does not do it.
9. You might feel alone and abandoned by God, but dear people of God you are not alone and You are not abandoned by God. Jesus has endured the sufferings and grief that you have felt or are right now feeling. Jesus fervently prayed for His Heavenly Father to remove the suffering of the cross (Luke 22,39-44), but God the Father did not remove this cup, for He made Jesus drink it in full. Jesus was abandoned by His Heavenly Father when He hung on the cross (Matthew 27,46). We confess in the Apostles’ Creed that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary and suffered under Pontius Pilate. With these three creedal phrases we confess that Jesus became man and suffered just like men and women suffer every day.
10. While at times God may be our enemy, He is always our Savior. Christ Jesus was crucified, died and was buried, in order to deliver you from the hardships of sin, death and the devil. God loves you. He cares about you. He has forgiven your sins, paid the penalty of death and rescued you from the clutches of the devil.
11. The Apostle Paul preached this rich grace even as He also endured hardships. One particular hardship was a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, that was given to him by Jesus. Paul does not elaborate what specifically this thorn was, but he does indicate that it was a particularly troublesome hardship. Paul prayed, but God would not remove this thorn. Jesus did something even more powerful. Jesus told Paul: »My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness«. If you are undergoing hardship and God seems distant, know this: the grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient for you, for this grace will strengthen you, console you and allow you to bear your hardships.
12. Hardships humble you, for they reveal how weak you are. This is nothing to be embarrassed about, for when you are weak then you are strong in Christ Jesus. He will not give you a burden or a hardship that you cannot bear with His grace. Many times the hardships you suffer will take you to the very breaking point, but the Prophet Isaiah promises: »a bruised reed Christ will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice« (Isaiah 42,3). Christ will not allow you to break; He will not allow your flame to be snuffed out, for He is the Vine that sustains you and He is the Oxygen that feeds you. In Christ you are strong, and in Christ you will endure. Amen.
13. Let us pray. O Holy Spirit, today we have heard Christ’s voice; help us to have hearts wide open to receive the comfort You bring so that whatever we face in this life we know that we face with Christ beside us who will see us through for His glory. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, The. Copyright © 1990 Oxford University Press.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
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