St. Thomas Evangelical Lutheran Church
3800 East Third Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47401
(812) 332-5252
Sermon for The Fifth Sunday After Pentecost (July 9, 2006)
Liturgical Color: Green
Reverend Dr. Lyle E. McKee
"My Grace is Sufficient"
Grace to you and peace from our loving God, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Therefore, 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, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 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.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."
This week, Marie and I were reflecting on our favorite movies. "Ground Hog Day" came up; so did "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "Shawshank Redemption." Another one is a rather long movie, "The Green Mile".
The story in "The Green Mile" is one of the few by Stephen King that I enjoy. It centers on a prison guard, Paul Edgecomb, and a remarkable inmate on death row, John Koffey. Paul slowly comes to realize that John has an amazing gift for healing and that he is innocent of the murders for which he has been convicted.
A fellow guard, Hal, has a wife, Melanie, who is dying of cancer. He has the guards over for a barbecue one evening and says a rather incredible thing. Even after they witness how much pain Melanie is in, he tells them that he thanks God that it is one of her better days.
Paul asks him, "What's a bad day?" Hal tells of unspeakable pain and delirious ramblings, and he repeats to Paul that he is happy that Paul is spared witnessing such things.
The grace afforded Melanie in the tale is demonstrated even more poignantly near the end, which I will refrain from recounting, in case you haven't seen the movie. But even in the earlier scene, the sufficiency of the grace of God is reflected in this simple conversation.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."
Hal, acting as host to his friends in the midst of an intense crisis, extends even further his obvious faith and care. He declares his experience of thanksgiving, gratitude, and grace both for himself and for his friends.
Where others might whine in the anguish of extreme circumstance and self-pity, he is able to see an occasion for gratitude. He presents poignantly the all-sufficiency of grace, the depth and sensitivity of character, and faith that perceives as did St. Paul in this great letter we examine this morning the intricate workings of grace within the most terrible of circumstances.
To give thanks while experiencing calamity! This may be one of the true tests of the Christian heart and spirit. The world whines about the weather, aches and pains, the Dow Jones average, the NASDAQ, the humidity, the cost of gasoline, the rudeness of clerks—an infinite multitude of daily annoyances. St. Paul and Hal, immersed in more trouble than many of us see in a lifetime, offer thanks to the God at whom, in similar circumstances, most of us would shake an angry fist and fire off a few choice words.
What gives!?
Let me turn to the text, today's epistle, which can appear as confusing and paradoxical as Hal's behavior. St. Paul's words surely must have been confounding to his opposition in the Corinthian church.
They had sought to engage the apostle in a battle of credentials, of one-upsmanship, in order to determine whose words should carry the most authority in the Corinthian church. But St. Paul doesn't fight fairly. He turns the idea of credentials upside down, and instead of laying claim to all his great works or listing all his accomplishments, he boasts only of his "weakness." "Whenever I am weak," Paul boasts, "then I am strong" (v.10).
Here we are again at a conundrum, a peculiar, paradoxical assertion. How are we to understand it?
Perhaps a few historical references may help to clarify:
- Why is it that we look back at the lean, cruel years of the Great
Depression and see in them a time of great strength in our communities
and families?
- Why is it that we recall our single greatest naval defeat, the
attack on Pearl Harbor, and see exhibited in it the great spirit and
loyalty of this nation?
- Why is it that we remember the dark, evil years of legalized
segregation, discrimination, and Jim Crow and see in them the seeds of
great demonstrations of love, commitment, bravery, and selflessness
exhibited among the Civil Rights workers?
- Why is it that many of us look at the crises in our own lives and find that through them we have come to a finer awareness of God, a fuller knowledge of ourselves, and a more significant connection to others?
When we are weak, it is then that we are made strong. Only when we keep our frailty directly in front of our eyes can we maintain a clear vision of ourselves and our mission.
In today's text, Paul admits to having experienced one of the most exalted epiphanies anyone has ever had-a personal tour of the highest heaven and access to information that "no mortal is permitted to repeat" (v.4). But instead of swelling up with pride or spiritual arrogance, recalling this vision drives Paul to an appreciation of his insignificance. He responds with a deep sense of spiritual humility and of thankfulness.
What gives with Hal in "The Green Mile" and with Paul as he faces his detractors in Corinth?
What gives, I believe, is profound and intimate experience of the grace of God. Hal gives it expression is a simple phrase: "I thank God this is one of Melanie's better days." St. Paul gives it voice in a theological masterpiece of a sentence born of struggle and delivered by God:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."
I remember a going for a haircut not too long ago—and not a very good one if you ask me. It was a very pleasant day, and there weren't even very many folks waiting for their turn. But on the way home, a guy cut me off in a way that nearly caused an accident. I was, to say the least, not happy. It ruined the drive home.
And I think, so what! If Paul, beset by opponents, working feverishly to keep the Corinthian church on the straight and narrow path of the gospel, could be so gracious, why do I let such trivia, such paltry and petty things, bother me?
My grace is sufficient.
We're told that Martin Luther had a kind of mantra that kept his faith close in times of trouble. "Baptizatus est". "I was baptized."
I think, for me, it would be simpler to remember God's grace directly. "My grace is sufficient for you."
Somehow, I suspect that if I had said that to myself as I returned home after the haircut, events would have settled into perspective. People have bad days and get rude at the wheel all the time. Nor am I the only person to have received a less than perfect haircut. Marie told me that on her beautician's wall is a sign that reads: "I'm a beautician, not a magician." Ouch!
Really, what right do we have to expect or imagine that anything will go right for us from moment to moment? How can we whine when so much is good and right? What's more, how can we not give thanks in whatever circumstance we find ourselves when we already know that God has so loved us that Jesus Christ was sent for us? When the magnitude of what God has done is set beside whatever else we might compare to it, that event, thing, or experience pales into insignificance.
That is how Hal could give thanks for what he was able to call a "better" day for Melanie. That is how St. Paul could be grateful even in the face of his "thorn in the flesh" and his opponents. That is how we are called to live our lives.
There is a pithy little saying that speaks to my point: "Jesus can turn water into wine, but he can't change your whining into anything."
St. Paul is just short of whining in this morning's text. Yes, he has been afflicted, and like all human beings, he has appealed to the Lord about it. He did not receive the answer he desired, but perhaps he received the answer he needed. At the very least, he received it, honored it, and delivers it on to us in the magnificent phrase: My grace is sufficient for you.
The Lord provides all that we need, but not necessarily all that we want. Again, when need is compared to want, how can we but give thanks that all that is essential is ours by God's hand?
Furthermore, God's "strength is made perfect in weakness". It is in times of weakness and hardship that the Lord's strength can be experienced most completely! For in such times we come fully to depend upon the Lord, and not upon our own strength or wisdom!
Rather than bemoan his trying circumstances, Paul glories in them! For it is in such infirmities that he has the opportunity to experience the power of Christ in his life. "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." (v. 10)
Rejoice in the Lord! Again I say, rejoice! Whatever befalls.
With Paul, may we know with all our hearts: God's grace is sufficient. Amen.
May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts
and minds through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, unto eternal
life. Amen.
