2 Corinthians 12:2-10
July 9, 2006
“Oh…The Pain!”
When I read this scripture, it brought me back to my childhood and a T.V. show I used to watch. How many of you remember the show “Lost in Space?” It was a show about a family that was sent out in a spaceship to explore new planets. The only trouble is, is that they had trouble with the craft and now can’t get home. There was a character on the show, named Dr. Smith. He would always complain that he was in pain. His unforgettable words “oh the pain, the pain,” reverberate in my memory when I am in pain. He would use this excuse to get out of doing his share of the work. He would always say that he was too weak to help out, he had a delicate constitution. He would get the youngest, Will, to do his share of work instead of “stepping up to the plate” and do it himself.
Pain...in life, we all have pain. Whether it is physical, mental or emotional, we all have it. It is what we do with our pain that really matters. Do we wallow in it or do we push through and continue on with life? Do we trust in our senses or do we trust in God? Our senses tell us that we can’t go on. We can not “Bear-up” under the pressure. But God tells us that His grace, kindness and love will get us through. Trust in Him and he will make a way for us to “get through” our pain.
In today’s Scripture, Paul talks about a “thorn in the side”, a weakness he had. He asked God three times to remove this impediment. God’s answer to him was “My grace is sufficient for you.” And God goes on to explain “for power is made perfect in weakness.” Now I don’t know about you, but when I am in pain I feel no power. I just want it gone. So what does God mean by “my Grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness?”
First we need to look at what God’s “grace” is. What it means for us as Christians. Why is it so important? When I looked up grace in the Webster’s Dictionary, I found some interesting information. It states:
a) It is unmerited Divine assistance given man for his regeneration and sanctification.
Well…to me that means that we are given “grace” so that we may grow as a result of our Christian commitment. It is not something that can be bought or stolen. It is given freely if we but only ask for it. It is there to assist us as we work out our salvation in Christ Jesus.
b) A state of sanctification enjoyed through Divine grace.
We are sanctified, made holy…we are anointed, consecrated and blessed by the grace that God gives us. We are given moral strength, goodness and the knowledge of right and wrong through this same grace of God. It is His grace that strengthens us to push through our affliction and continue on the path that He has laid out before us. It is by His means of grace that we can fulfill His purpose in our lives not by any means of our own.
This reminds me of a poem by one of my favorite poets of this day and age. It is called “God’s Grace”:
What a wonderful gift
undeserved and oh so great
He has given each of us
so blessed are we by the awesome
the wondrous nature of
His benevolence
His love for us
His outpouring in covenant
to His people, those who hear
and know the Master’s voice
paid by the price
of His Son’s blood
for you and me
Now that’s what I call grace and love. Given so freely to you and me.
The other part of this scripture that we need to look at is “for power is made perfect in weakness.” How many of you feel any real power when you are dealing with your “thorns” of life? I know for me, I feel as if I just can’t go on. How can I do all I need to do with this thorn constantly giving me a reminder that it is there? But God says there is power in weakness. So who’s power is He talking about? I know it’s not mine. It is His power and it is to His Glory this power is given.
I have discovered that when I am at my weakest point in life, I need to rely on God the most. This is a time when I am closest to God. This is the time when I find myself on my knees in prayer for God’s help…His strength and mercy. We, like Paul, ask for God to just remove the thorn, to stop the pain. What we do with God’s answer of “my grace is sufficient for you” is what really matters at this time in our walk with Him. Do we rely on Him or do we continue to rely on ourselves.
When we rely on Him, He can do great things through us. When we rely on Him, He is the one Glorified through us. When we rely on Him, all things are possible. When we rely on ourselves, we set ourselves up to fail. When we rely on ourselves, our weakness, our thorns, can lead us to sin. When we rely on ourselves, we receive our reward here on earth by man’s standards and not in heaven by God’s standards. Our rewards here on earth are temporal but our reward in heaven is eternal.
God has a purpose for our lives and by working, pushing, through our thorns, we become more Christ-like and learn to trust that God knows best…that He can and will help us in our weakness if we would only “let go and let God.” By working through the thorns of life, we can encourage others to do the same. When they see the grace and mercy poured out on us by God they want the same for their lives.
I know a woman…she has been in my life many years. Through her pushing through her thorns, I have seen this grace and mercy in action. I have seen her go through many sicknesses…Cushings Disease, Lupus, Cancer. I have witnessed her courage and strength through these times, her adversity. I have been in awe of her concern for others, reaching out in love to those around her, even though she is in the middle of a “battle” herself. It is one of the things in my life that has brought me to the place where I am now. It is one of the things that has made me who I am. It has helped me be strong and caring though everything around me may seem to be against me. It has taught me how to step out in faith and trust that God is there, holding my hand, leading me on the path set out before me. If we all had an example like this in our lives, think of how much we could accomplish for God. If we all could be this example, think of how many we could lead to God’s saving grace.
When we are made weak by the thorns in our lives, God is made strong. He is the one to receive the Glory in all that we do for the Kingdom of God, not ourselves. He is the one who strengthens us to do His will. It is not by our own strength. This is one reason why God uses ordinary people like you and me to carry out His work in the world. To be His disciples, His ambassadors of the Good News.
So…when we are lost in our weakness, when we are feeling the prick of the thorns in our lives, what are we to do? How are we to act? How do we receive God’s grace? How do we tap into this “spring”, this outpouring of God’s love and forgiveness?
When I was preparing for this sermon, I had the honor, the joy, of reading John Wesley’s sermon on grace. In it, he states that we receive grace by prayer, whether in secret or in the congregation. We receive grace by searching Scripture, by reading, hearing and meditating on it. And by receiving the Lords Supper in remembrance of Him. These are ordained by God as channels of receiving His grace. We are to wait for God’s grace through prayer.
Matthew 7:7-8 tells us to “ask, and it shall be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” All we have to do is ask and receive His gift of grace. When we seek, we find His grace, this pearl of great price. We need to knock, continue asking for and seeking His grace.
Isaiah 30:20-21 tells us that “Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And when you turn to the right or turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”” We are to fix our eyes and our lives on God and listen to that still, small voice calling to us, leading us on the path set before us.
In closing, I would like to share with you another poem by that same author as before. To me this is not just a poem…it is a prayer that I have learned to pray each day. It is called, “A Thorn in My Side”:
I am weak; thank you God
for my humility, for the impediment
to my vanity,
that forces me to rely on you,
on Your Grace
To lean on you and to place my trust
on fertile ground, to heed your call
to do your work, in the vineyard,
calling in the wilderness,
on the distant road, in foreign lands
My trust in you Oh my God
the God of my ancestors, of Abraham
and David
Made flesh in my Savior
my guide on this path you have put me on
Like Moses, with speech
or the pain in Jacob’s hip,
I am of clay, needing your strength,
your grace, to exhort, to testify
to use my gifts
in your service
The question I leave you with today is this, how will you react to the pain, the thorns of life? Will you be like Dr. Smith, not being able to do anything through your thorn, relying on those around you to carry the weight? Or will you turn to God with His ever present, wondrous grace given so freely to you and me? The grace that enables us to move mountains for God’s Kingdom sake. We all have “thorns” in our lives but when we are feeling the prick of our thorns, we should remember Christ and the thorns he wore for us. Thorns he wore freely. The thorns of God’s saving grace.
AMEN
by Pastor Ruth Foss
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