Boasting:

Strength, longevity, skill, beauty, toughness,

“I am the greatest!” Mohammed Ali

“I did it my way!” Frank Sinatra

 

In the church, we can use spiritual gifts as a boast.

“I led 50 people to Christ last weekend”

“God told me to tell you I don’t like what you are saying or doing!”

“I speak in tongues more than you do”

“I give more and talk about it”

We pick up in 2Corinthians in the middle of an argument. Always dangerous to butt in without knowing the substance of the debate. Paul is arguing against teachers and speakers who could out-rate anybody for debating skills, good humour, better powerpoint presentation, better intellect, better stories, more followers on Facebook, you name it they could demonstrate that compared to Paul they were real spiritual leaders.

Paul’s answer is to boast back about the trials and tribulations of his missionary life. At the end of chapter 11 he says

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised for ever, knows that I am not lying.

And we pick up in verse1 with

I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained,

He speaks of visions that he has had to underline that even the things the super-apostles bragged about were experiences others had but did not boast about.

Then in verse 7 he sets up the main point of his argument. And he comes at it from a bitter experience. Paul, we know, was not a healthy man. Fit enough to travels the known world but struggling with various ailments. We believe he had eyesight problems, but what he speaks of here maybe some other problem.

I want you to take note of a few things.

First, God did not send illness, Satan did. They were permitted to prevent him from being conceited but they were not sent by God. This is what is talked about in Job. Satan, the accuser, sends destruction on Job’s wealth and family and painful boils on Job. God only permits these to show Job’s faithfulness.

Secondly, Praying is what you do when you are ill. It wasn’t wrong and is never wrong to pray for healing. God’s answer here is crucial to our understanding of status and labelling, but it is always right to ask for healing. It is not a right to receive it.

Thirdly, listen to what God says.

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

There are several very important messages here.

First a message for those struggling with unanswered prayer. To you God says My grace is sufficient for you,

In mathematics there are two critical conditions necessary and sufficient. The first tells us what we need , the second tells us we have at least enough, probably more than enough for what we need.

We are not told grace satisfies the necessary because grace is more than enough , it is sufficient. This is not sufficient in the sense of enough to keep you going, it is sufficient to cover every eventuality. Listen grace is sufficient. When Jesus died on the cross he cried out “it is finished” that was no cry of despair but of triumph. The floodgates of God’s mercy burst open and poured out the blessing of grace on all who believe.  In that terrible three hours your sins and mine were atoned for; the debt of sin was paid in full; grace removed even the memory of your sin from the mind of God. At the cross your failures, your mistakes, your errors and your blank the disobedience were washed away. You had nothing to do but receive the grace that is offered by God.

God says My grace is sufficient for you,

There is nothing further that can be done to improve on the offer and there is nothing further you can do to make God love you more. As it says in Romans 8, there is no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus.

But sufficient grace is not just enough to get by, it is not just forgiveness of sins but it is new , eternal life. It is not just eternal life but here and now the presence of the Holy Spirit to be with you at all times. It is not just the presence of the Holy Spirit at all times, but the future is prepared for you by Jesus himself.

My grace is sufficient for you,

And it’s for you. It is for you to receive this morning. If you have never opened your heart to Jesus, confessing your sins and receiving forgiveness then do it now, discover this essential truth

My grace is sufficient for you,

Paul was struggling with debilitating illness but God’s grace was and is what transforms the most difficult and distressing circumstances of life. If have never received Jesus, then do it now. God says to you

My grace is sufficient for you,

But there is more. Not only is

My grace is sufficient for you,

 but also God says

 my power is made perfect in weakness."

This is the revelation of Jesus in 7 words. The long expected Messiah, the Saviour of the human race did not arrive in a spacecraft but was born to a virgin in a backwater of the Roman Empire. He entered Jerusalem on a donkey. He refused to engage in battle, only used his powers to heal and teach people spiritual truths. He surrendered to Judas’ squaddies and allowed himself to be abused and crucified on a cross. He died on a cross, a death used only for terrorists and slaves.

But we celebrate that death because it unleashed the greatest power the world has ever known, salvation, New life,

God says

 for my power is made perfect in weakness."

The visiting leaders to the church in Corinth bragged about the great prowess. Paul had discovered the Jesus way. Power is released by weakness.

Are you struggling with faith today? Good, because God is looking for little-faiths to demonstrate his power.

Are you struggling to love your family or friends or other church members? Good because God can show his grace in you.

Are you missing out on joy? Then God wants you to rejoice. 

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

It may be the hardest lesson to learn but it is important. Paul’s summary at the end of this passage is a classic paradox:

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

We plan prepare, measure our strength, our faith, our bible knowledge and use that to guide our actions. Jesus says something quite different. He says,

Feeling weak? then you are strong,

prayer-life a total disaster? Then God says  “I hear you!”

Does telling the good news leave you tongue-tied? Then God wants to use you to show his transcedant grace to others. The basic problem is when we are strong, we rely on our strength. If we are good talkers, then we natter away to no effect, but when we are weak, we are inclined to call on God for help, when we are reticent, we ask for courage to speak out, when we lack faith we are commanded to ask for it. If you don’t know what to do, James tells us to ask for wisdom.

He called his disciples little-faiths and then told them that little-faiths move mountains.

Soo Paul is right, when we are weak, God can demonstrate his power, because then we do not glory in our ability but his. And that is the point of all this. God wants to reveal himself to the world through us the church. When you believed and were saved you discovered that the universe revolves around Jesus, not you. Jesus is seeking followers, not for self-aggrandisement but because you were created to follow him, that is your destiny. The glory is his because he deserves it. But we get wound up with our own gifting and skills and abilities and essentially block his power at work through us. So this morning the call of God is to be weak, not strong, to be on your knees not on your feet, to be little in faith not proud of your faith.

 This may seem a contradiction to the commands to stand firm, but that is because we fail to read the whole sentence. You are to stand firm in your faith, wearing the armour that God provides, not depending our your own ability to dodge and weave but on his ability to protect you, strengthen you and pour his Holy Spirit through you.

1 Corinthians 1:²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’

God has chosen you, because he wants to reveal his amazing power to your family, your friends, your neighbours and to the rest of the world. That is your destiny. Embrace it, be weak that God may show his greatness through you.

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