For my power is made perfect in your weakness. 2 Corinthians 12.

What we have in the bible as 2 Corinthians is more than likely to be 2 and 3 Corinthians. Textual criticism can uncover at least two distinct letters penned by St Paul. That means the Corinthians were the recipients of the largest corpus of Paul’s correspondence. Why? It was a church that had big problems. Corinth was a very tough nut to crack. It was pagan, materialistic, Hellenistic (that is steeped in Greek religion and culture), and of course riddled with corruption at the highest levels. The forces aligned against the new teaching that the Jewish Jesus of Nazareth was Lord and Christ were formidable.

The major problem was Greek cultic religion and culture, which focused on intellectual pride, distain for the physical world in favour of higher wisdom and knowledge of the spiritual, boasting and competition within the young church, cultural arrogance, and admiration of public power, style and polish. And on top of that, Paul’s apostolic authority was being challenged by those who didn’t like it. So it’s little wonder that Paul wrote two, three, and perhaps as many as four letters to the church at Corinth.

Paul’s pastoral concern for his church shines through in the determined way he writes. He doesn’t want to lose anyone and see them return to Greek cultic paganism. He writes passionately about what life in Christ is about and shows how different it is to what they have previously known. He covers issues such as being a new creation in Christ; how we are renewed daily through our walk with him by faith and not by sight; being treasure in clay jars, responding to the call of God and handing over to him our weaknesses; how we are recipients of much generosity from God and therefore are expected to respond in like manner through the work he gives us to do.

This morning, we take another look at our weaknesses, only this time about how Christ’s power is made perfect in those weaknesses.

Let’s begin 3000 years ago when Israel and the Philistines were at war, again. But instead of allowing a blood bath to happen, each side chose a champion. One man is to fight the other in a duel to the death, and whoever won, that side won. The Philistines chose a huge man, Goliath. Armour so heavy that no one else could wear it and a sword so heavy that no one else could lift it. In the Israelite camp, nobody wanted to go up against him. I don’t blame them. But, one young man put his hand up. A shepherd boy called David with a stone and sling. He wasn’t strong enough to wear full armour, let alone lift a broad sword. It was a foregone conclusion – or was it?

Goliath swore, mocked, ridiculed, and laughed. But what did David say in reply? You come against me with sword and javelin, in other words trusting in your own strength, but I come to you in the name of the Lord, who you have defied. And you all know the outcome of the story. David put a simple stone in his sling, swung it round and launched it with pin point accuracy against Goliath, and Goliath was killed instantly with a cracked skull.

Now let me ask you this question. Whose power was made perfect that day? David said, I come to you in the name of the Lord. God’s power was made perfect through David’s weakness. Goliath didn’t stand a chance. God’s grace was sufficient for David.

The David and Goliath story is of the defeat of self-reliance and the spurning of trust in God. It can also be the story of secular religion, which idolises human power and strength. And how so often do we see that? I can do it my way; my ego rules the day so follow me; narcissists; tin-pot dictators; self-made billionaires; self-serving politicians; gurus who will peddle every philosophy under the sun rather than acknowledge the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who has the real power of life and death, resurrection, and justice. It is he who rules, it is he who reigns, and it is he whose power is made perfect in weakness. And then there’s the supreme example of God’s power made perfect in weakness: the cross. Who would think that a crucified man would amount to the establishment of an eternal kingdom? Did not Paul preach Christ crucified to be the power of God?

Now, let’s look briefly at this morning’s reading from 2 Corinthians where St Paul recounts Jesus’ answer to his prayer to take away a thorn in his side. We don’t know what the so-called thorn was. Paul doesn’t say. He just describes the problem as a thorn. But whatever it was, it caused Paul problems which he thought interfered with the way he conducted his ministry and therefore weakened it.

St Paul was, in every other way, a tower of strength. He was intellectual giant; a Pharisee; a student of Gamaliel, one of the most respected rabbis of the day; and his energy as being zealous for the law was second to none. But all that changed in a moment when he met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. It was extraordinary experience, and he writes of another that he describes as being caught up to the third heaven and hearing things which mortal man may not utter.

I can just imagine it. Paul the tele-evangelist lauding all these credentials. Viewers will flock; ratings will be sky high; money will flow. And then it is no longer the work of God, but the work of Paul. It becomes his ministry, his flock, his ratings, his cause. Jesus becomes the object of Paul’s cause, and Paul is in charge of it, self-elevated and self-made. So as a check to all this, Paul is given a problem with the explanation that, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Change of scene, change of tune, as it were. Paul writes, Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. It is all about Christ. I wonder how the questioning goes at ordination selection conferences. Do the candidates boast all the more gladly of their weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon them?

Let’s now look briefly at this idea of human weakness in ministry and what can be done about it.

In John’s gospel, we are reminded of Jesus’ teaching that apart from him we can do nothing. In other words, all that we do in ministry must be rooted in Christ alone. Much afflicts us. We suffer from anxiety, confusion, tiredness, apathy, temptation, self-serving, and the list goes on. For example, you may be experiencing a spiritual winter of anxiety or confusion. Your prayer life may seem dry, but if you are faithful and persist, you will find that unseen roots sink deep into the ground, ready to produce the fruit of a new and exciting relationship with Jesus.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught us not to be anxious. The meaning of the Greek word for anxiety carries the idea of division: divided minds and hearts. Should I do this or that? Which way shall I proceed? My prayer life is riddled with anxious thoughts, and I don’t know what to focus on. I am torn between trusting my worldly instincts for survival in the worldly affairs of my time and circumstances, and trusting in God’s good provision for me in his time and circumstances. Don’t we all relate to that one?

Or are you a tired and exhausted Christian? You keep running on and on, climbing higher and higher, and you end up with burn out. Hitting the ground running, climbing every mountain, may seem like the strength of chasing achievement, which is how it goes in the world of secular religion, but in Christian ministry it’s a serious weakness. Why? Because there is little that delights the enemy, the devil, more than a burnt-out Christian. Satan will exploit ego, self-reliance, resistance, stubbornness, and temptation to the nth degree until he renders you useless.

So what can we do? Well, we can begin by noting that St Paul’s thorn was not the hinderance he thought it was, but his ego was and that’s what had to be held in check, because that’s what Satan would have exploited. How should it be held in check? By submitting to Jesus’ authority in your life; by praying such things as, search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts from psalm 139; and from psalm 90, let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands, yes establish the work of our hands. Note how that line is repeated for emphasis in psalm 90. It is God who establishes the work of our hands, not us.

Ladies and Gentlemen, what I am leading up to here is the formidable power of prayer. Dietrich Bonhoffer wrote that the richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayers, not the poverty of our hearts. Prayer is the solution to the power of Christ being made perfect in our weakness. Submission to prayer changes us. Prayer is a privileged time and space where we can be at home with our Lord, being attentive to him. There we find depth, energy, guidance for choices, and space to be with God to consider and reflect. Prayer is our coordination of life. We need to understand prayer more as a relationship and less as something we simply do. Prayer makes us available to God.

Here's a well-known example of a life changed by a simple prayer. John Newton was an English slave trader in the eighteenth century. On one of his trips, aboard the Greyhound, he awoke to find the ship caught in a severe storm off the coast of Ireland. It was close to sinking, and Newton, in his obvious situation of weakness, prayed simply, Lord have mercy on me, after which the storm began to die down. After four weeks at sea the Greyhound made it to port and Newton was a changed man. His personal experience of deliverance from certain drowning became the hymn he wrote called Amazing Grace.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved wretch like me!

I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

John Newton went on to become a very effective Anglican priest and abolitionist (that is, one who worked to end the slave trade). His life and work are a testimony to the formidable power of prayer at an intense time of weakness and his ministry beyond it.

We’ve come a long way this morning, from David and Goliath three millennia ago, to John Newton two and half centuries ago. So what shall we say of us today? Perhaps we need to understand that the thorns and thistles of our ministries are not the hinderances we think they are. They could be there for a reason. Perhaps we should pray, Lord in my weakness, show me the way I should go, search me and know my anxious thoughts. His amazing grace is sufficient for us.

So, I encourage you to set aside your so-called strengths, confidences, and merits. Instead, why not begin to develop an appetite for authentic intimacy with God. Immerse yourself in his word and prayer, and explore the quiet but profound joy of loving God and being loved by God, of truly knowing him and being known by him. It is a foundation of fellowship; it is to drink from the water of life such that your soul thirsts for it. For that is when we discover that his power is indeed made perfect in our weakness.

Philip Starks
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