Sermon 7/9/06
Deal-Breakers - 2 Corinthians 12:2-10, Mark 6:1-13
(view lectionary notes for this text)
You may have heard me admit that I’ve always had a bit of a problem with the apostle Paul. As a young person, my problems stemmed from what I thought Paul said about women’s roles in the church. I was furious about Paul writing women off, and thus I didn’t like much else of what he had to say either. Eventually, I learned how to read the scriptures with a more discerning eye, and I warmed up to Paul, but just a little. He had another issue that I couldn’t get beyond. Paul likes to brag and to boast. He denies it. He tries to smooth talk it – saying that he isn’t going to boast – about how good he is. But a quick internet search tells me that Paul uses the word boast, boastful, or boasting in his writings at least 40 times! (To compare, the words humble and humility occur a total of 9 times in Paul’s letters.) I can’t stand boasting! So Paul and I, while closer, still have somewhat of a strained relationship. We’re working on it.
Today’s text brings the perfect example. Paul talks about how he’s not boasting, but if he did, he’d be justified in so doing. What a humble man! He writes, “On behalf of such a one I will boast,” referring to the man who he heard has been taken to heaven by God. He continues, “but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in my weaknesses.” Sounding good, right? Yet he concludes, “but if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard form me, even considering the exceptional character of the revelations.” Ah, Paul, so close, and yet, so full of himself.
And yet, Paul doesn’t just leave it at that. Whatever else Paul is, he seems to be pretty self-reflective, always examining himself and his attitudes and behaviors. He’s willing and desiring to work on what he sees as his flaws, his weaknesses. He goes on to speak about a thorn in the flesh, which he sees as directly related to his tendency for boasting. “Therefore,” he writes, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, Paul concludes, “I will boast all the more gladly for my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” See, Paul can even boast in his weaknesses!
But really, I find Paul’s words moving. Paul, like Jesus often did, takes meaning and twists it around. Our passage finishes with Paul saying, “therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” We don’t know, today, exactly what Paul’s so-called “thorn in the flesh” is. He never says outright. It may be an illness he struggles with, or something of a more spiritual or emotional nature. We’ll never know. But we know how it made Paul feel – a thorn in the flesh, a constant pain in his life, one that he asks repeatedly for God to take away from him. And when he doesn’t get the answer he wants – he turns it into strength.
Could we do the same? We all have thorns-in-the-flesh, don’t we? But the temptation lies in turning our thorns into deal-breakers in our walk with God. A deal-breaker is the condition in a given situation where you won’t go any farther – the point on which you won’t compromise. A deal-breaker is where you will concede so much, and given in to the other party’s demands, but you absolutely won’t give in when it comes to certain areas. When we use deal-breakers in our relationship with God, we basically tell God that we’ll do what God wants as long as God doesn’t mess with that area.
Somehow, we always think we have a better plan than the one God prepared for us. God, we reason, does not understand how important a certain matter – the deal-breaker – is to us. We can prove to God, we argue, how good it will be for everyone if things just go our way. We believe God to be all-powerful, but perhaps, just perhaps our way could work just as well. If I could just come across a little money, just a small sum, I could get myself back on track… If I could just have a good, loving relationship with someone, I could really be happy… If I could just focus on myself for a while, then I could really start helping others… If I could just, just…well, then I might be able to make God a priority again. “If I could just…” Our deal-breakers.
Think of your own life and experiences for a moment. What is your thorn? What are you deal-breakers when it comes to you and God? What is the obstacle in your life that hinders you from doing what you could be and should be doing? What excuses do you give to God when you don’t want to follow where God calls? Perhaps your thorn is a physical one. Today, like in Jesus’ day, we are surrounded by disease and sickness of many kinds. A quick look at our prayer list will tell you that the physical thorns are very real, and they affect young and old, rich and poor. The physical in our lives affects the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. It can be a real thorn for us, a deal-breaker. A thorn can be emotional. Many battle with depression, anxiety, or mental illness. These thorns are so trying because it is hard to help or be helped in these situations. They are so personal and close-to-home. These emotional pains and struggles can be thorns in the flesh. The thorn can be intellectual, in the sense of being a true personal conflict we must resolve in our own minds and hearts. Our inner debates can be sharp thorns. It is so easy to put restrictions on our relationship with God. We have so much on our plates. We just need God to wait until we get some things in order, and then we’ll be ready.
But our scriptures are filled with stories of people who served God despite not being ready yet. People accepted God’s call without thorns-in-the-flesh being taken away. People accepted the call even though God didn’t listen to their deal-breakers, their conditions for service. Paul had a thorn, but he’s not the only one. Moses’ thorn was fear of speaking in public. He tried many deal-breakers to get God to send someone else. In the end, God sent him. Mary’s thorn was an unexpected and unexplainable pregnancy in a society not accepting of unwed mothers. David’s thorn was lust for the wives of other men. Thomas’ thorn was his need for proof. He insisted on hard evidence before he would believe. Peter’s was his reluctance to take risks. One thorn for Jesus was a hometown expecting him to be the boy they knew years ago. Imagine if it had been a deal-breaker for him. There are thorns. But so many examples from the pages we love to read should send the message – a thorn in the flesh is no minor event, but it isn’t enough to stop us from moving, to stop us from getting it done, or to keep us from sharing God’ love.
Paul’s thorn was transformative. It could have been a deal-breaker, but instead he used his weakness as his strength. Moses had a thorn, but God used him to redeem the Chosen Israel from the hand of the Egyptians. Mary’s thorn of public shame through pregnancy turned into a precious gift of the Christ child. David’s thorn of lust taught him humility and eventually produced the wise Solomon. Thomas’ thorn of doubt gave us, the reader two thousand years later a chance to realize that our doubts and questions were ok to have. Peter, in spite of his thorns, was made the rock of the church. Jesus, through thorns, both figurative and literal, brought hope to a world buckling under the weight of sin and broken trust. If God can use all of these people despite their thorns, then surely God has a place for us too. And if all of these people can follow God despite their thorns, then surely, we can too.
Letting go of our deal-breakers can be hard. We’ve got some of the very best excuses, because we ourselves have a hard time believing that God can work with us. We can’t imagine how God could use us. And we can’t imagine how we can let go of what’s been holding us back from giving ourselves fully to God. But Paul reminds us, like Jesus who makes the master a servant, and who makes the last first and first last, God has made Paul’s weakness into strength. And if God can do that in someone as full of himself as Paul, God can do that in you and in me. God’s grace is sufficient for us too, for God’s power is made perfect in our weakness, so that the power of Christ might dwell in us. Amen.