Whenever I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong
Sermon
I recently heard a Christian testimony. In some respects it was a moving account of the ways in which Jesus had worked in the speaker's life and it seemed to reveal a deep faith, but as a listener I was left feeling a little inadequate and slightly resentful.
One of the major problems with testimonies is that the listeners are often left feeling inadequate, for who can compare with the wonderful spiritual experiences which are described by the speakers? The accounts may be a source of inspiration, but sometimes the givers of the testimony begin to be worshipped and idolised because they're seen as exceptional human beings since they apparently have such a hotline to God. If they speak in tongues or prophesy or have some other charismatic gift, the feelings of inadequacy in the listeners can be multiplied and the idolisation of the speaker is increased.
This has sometimes been the case with evangelists, especially famous evangelists or tele-evangelists. Tele-evangelists especially may be worshipped from afar by millions of adoring fans, who often switch on the television not so much to hear anything about God, but more to revel in the charisma of the speaker.
St. Paul was well aware of the dangers involved in using charismatic gifts within the congregation. The charismatic speakers in the Corinthian church drew crowds of adoring fans, but didn't necessarily deliver the right goods. Their message was more about themselves than about God, and they used their position to cast doubt on Paul, on his message and on his manner of delivery. He wasn't reckoned to be a particularly brilliant speaker, and young Eutychus was so bored during one of Paul's sermons that he fell asleep and fell out of the upper floor window (Acts 20:9-12)!
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul warned against the dangers of using charismatic gifts to enhance individual status (1 Corinthians 12 & 13) and he reiterates those warnings in this second letter.
Some local leaders had puffed themselves up to a great height by revealing their amazing spiritual experiences, but in so doing they had denied Paul's ministry and his words and they weren't really teaching about Christ and the kingdom. Paul claims that he "knew a man" who had experienced far more in the way of spiritual experiences than any of the Corinthian spokesmen and indeed who had experienced heaven itself. The experiences were so deep that they had never been revealed to any other human being. Many scholars believe that Paul wasn't speaking about someone else, but was actually speaking about a mystical experience of his own, yet Paul still refuses to reveal any details about his experience. Some things go too deep for words and can be unjustly trivialised if they are put into words and revealed to other people. "I will not boast," says Paul, "except of my weaknesses," and he goes on to speak of a "thorn in the flesh" which is plaguing him and which God refuses to remove from him.
Paul reveals that he asked God three times to remove the "thorn", whatever it might have been, but that on each occasion the response was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Paul takes this so literally that he says he'll boast all the more gladly of his weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in him. He says that he's content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ, since through Christ, whenever he's weak, then paradoxically, he's strong.
It's one thing to say those words, but quite another to have the faith to live them.
Most of us live in our own strength and do everything we can to ensure that we are strong enough to withstand any of the rigours that life may unexpectedly throw at us. Materially, we make sure that we have a house and enough income to pay for it and maintain it. We take out insurance against any physical calamities in life, and in recent years we have become more and more likely to lay blame for our accidents and incidents and to seek compensation for them from somebody else.
We're adult Christians and I'm sure God expects us to look after ourselves and our families properly, so I think we're right to take out insurance rather than to expect someone else to pick up the pieces if things go wrong for us.
But this "insurance attitude" does tend to spill over into every aspect of life. Many of us like to see where we're going in the future and to make plans for five or ten years ahead, and we're now encouraged to do that within our churches. But if our plans are too well laid we can become a victim of our own success, for there's little room for God to suddenly do a new thing if we have everything tied up.
When we take tight control of our own lives or the lives of our churches, we are strong. But God's strength is quite different to our own strength, and God's strength is made perfect in weakness. People and churches who are able to let go of control often appear to be weak, but God is able to work through them.
When Jesus sent out his disciples on their very first mission, he refused to allow them to take anything to ensure against danger. They were only to take the clothes they stood up in. They were not to take any money (imagine going anywhere without money, or at least a plastic card!) They were not to take any defensive weapons to guard against wild animals. They were to go just as they were, and to throw themselves on the mercy of others.
That takes a lot of humility and a lot of courage. But as well as being thrown on the mercy of other human beings, they had to learn to rely totally upon God.
Years ago, when Actionaid first started to encourage people in the West to "adopt" a child from a poor country and pay for his or her upbringing, one British woman sold her house and all her possessions in order to give the money to Actionaid and those disadvantaged children. She lived on faith.
Most of us would quail at the thought of going quite that far in faith, but we need to remember that great truth which St Paul discovered in his life with God. The weaker we allow ourselves to be, the stronger God is within us and the more God can work within us. The more we insure against all calamities, make water-tight plans for the future and demand complete control over our lives, the weaker God will be within us and the less God can work within us.
The disciples on their mission and Paul in his life found that God's grace was sufficient for them. Is it sufficient for us too? Is God's grace sufficient for our church? Our 21st century Western life is so cushioned that perhaps there is little room for God to manoeuvre. Perhaps we too should take more risks for God, so that his strength can become perfect in our weakness.
One of the major problems with testimonies is that the listeners are often left feeling inadequate, for who can compare with the wonderful spiritual experiences which are described by the speakers? The accounts may be a source of inspiration, but sometimes the givers of the testimony begin to be worshipped and idolised because they're seen as exceptional human beings since they apparently have such a hotline to God. If they speak in tongues or prophesy or have some other charismatic gift, the feelings of inadequacy in the listeners can be multiplied and the idolisation of the speaker is increased.
This has sometimes been the case with evangelists, especially famous evangelists or tele-evangelists. Tele-evangelists especially may be worshipped from afar by millions of adoring fans, who often switch on the television not so much to hear anything about God, but more to revel in the charisma of the speaker.
St. Paul was well aware of the dangers involved in using charismatic gifts within the congregation. The charismatic speakers in the Corinthian church drew crowds of adoring fans, but didn't necessarily deliver the right goods. Their message was more about themselves than about God, and they used their position to cast doubt on Paul, on his message and on his manner of delivery. He wasn't reckoned to be a particularly brilliant speaker, and young Eutychus was so bored during one of Paul's sermons that he fell asleep and fell out of the upper floor window (Acts 20:9-12)!
In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul warned against the dangers of using charismatic gifts to enhance individual status (1 Corinthians 12 & 13) and he reiterates those warnings in this second letter.
Some local leaders had puffed themselves up to a great height by revealing their amazing spiritual experiences, but in so doing they had denied Paul's ministry and his words and they weren't really teaching about Christ and the kingdom. Paul claims that he "knew a man" who had experienced far more in the way of spiritual experiences than any of the Corinthian spokesmen and indeed who had experienced heaven itself. The experiences were so deep that they had never been revealed to any other human being. Many scholars believe that Paul wasn't speaking about someone else, but was actually speaking about a mystical experience of his own, yet Paul still refuses to reveal any details about his experience. Some things go too deep for words and can be unjustly trivialised if they are put into words and revealed to other people. "I will not boast," says Paul, "except of my weaknesses," and he goes on to speak of a "thorn in the flesh" which is plaguing him and which God refuses to remove from him.
Paul reveals that he asked God three times to remove the "thorn", whatever it might have been, but that on each occasion the response was, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Paul takes this so literally that he says he'll boast all the more gladly of his weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in him. He says that he's content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ, since through Christ, whenever he's weak, then paradoxically, he's strong.
It's one thing to say those words, but quite another to have the faith to live them.
Most of us live in our own strength and do everything we can to ensure that we are strong enough to withstand any of the rigours that life may unexpectedly throw at us. Materially, we make sure that we have a house and enough income to pay for it and maintain it. We take out insurance against any physical calamities in life, and in recent years we have become more and more likely to lay blame for our accidents and incidents and to seek compensation for them from somebody else.
We're adult Christians and I'm sure God expects us to look after ourselves and our families properly, so I think we're right to take out insurance rather than to expect someone else to pick up the pieces if things go wrong for us.
But this "insurance attitude" does tend to spill over into every aspect of life. Many of us like to see where we're going in the future and to make plans for five or ten years ahead, and we're now encouraged to do that within our churches. But if our plans are too well laid we can become a victim of our own success, for there's little room for God to suddenly do a new thing if we have everything tied up.
When we take tight control of our own lives or the lives of our churches, we are strong. But God's strength is quite different to our own strength, and God's strength is made perfect in weakness. People and churches who are able to let go of control often appear to be weak, but God is able to work through them.
When Jesus sent out his disciples on their very first mission, he refused to allow them to take anything to ensure against danger. They were only to take the clothes they stood up in. They were not to take any money (imagine going anywhere without money, or at least a plastic card!) They were not to take any defensive weapons to guard against wild animals. They were to go just as they were, and to throw themselves on the mercy of others.
That takes a lot of humility and a lot of courage. But as well as being thrown on the mercy of other human beings, they had to learn to rely totally upon God.
Years ago, when Actionaid first started to encourage people in the West to "adopt" a child from a poor country and pay for his or her upbringing, one British woman sold her house and all her possessions in order to give the money to Actionaid and those disadvantaged children. She lived on faith.
Most of us would quail at the thought of going quite that far in faith, but we need to remember that great truth which St Paul discovered in his life with God. The weaker we allow ourselves to be, the stronger God is within us and the more God can work within us. The more we insure against all calamities, make water-tight plans for the future and demand complete control over our lives, the weaker God will be within us and the less God can work within us.
The disciples on their mission and Paul in his life found that God's grace was sufficient for them. Is it sufficient for us too? Is God's grace sufficient for our church? Our 21st century Western life is so cushioned that perhaps there is little room for God to manoeuvre. Perhaps we too should take more risks for God, so that his strength can become perfect in our weakness.
