The Rest of Your Life

8/5/07

II Corinthians 12:1-10

One of my favorite rides at the amusement park is the roller coaster. It causes me to have great anxiety as well as intense euphoria. Strangely, for a pilot, I am afraid of heights, and when the roller coaster reaches its highest point, I am greatly bothered by looking straight down. Matter of fact, I force myself to look off into the distance, rather than look down. As much as I trust modern technology, I worry about equipment coming apart or seat belts not holding fat me. But as the car whizzes down the track and then starts to pull the second hill, there is no greater joy or thrill for me. Life can be like a roller coaster. We experience intense joys and highs along with fears and hopeless bottoms.

In today’s Scripture passage, we travel with the apostle Paul to his greatest high in life and to his lowest point. Paul wrote several letters to the Corinthians: He was their spiritual father; he had started the church there on one of his missions. We have two of the Corinthian letters in our Bible, but the second one is no doubt a compilation of several letters, and there are others referred to that we do not have. Despite the fact that Paul had started the Corinthian church and had spent quite a bit of time working there, the church was at the point of possibly failing. People had come in from the outside and challenged Paul’s apostolic authority, and others had emphasized teachings different from Paul’s and were causing a schism. The situation had caused Paul great sorrow and also brought about harsh responses at times.

In the first 10 verses of chapter 12, Paul shares his greatest joy in life and then his greatest pain or low. It seems Paul was raptured into heaven and experienced things that were beyond words. Imagine for a moment times of great joy, when words cannot express what is felt, when laughter, tears, shouts are the only response. That was Paul’s experience. He tells the story in second person, bragging about it but saying that we shouldn’t brag about such experiences. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that revelations and visions do not make you any better than any other Christian; no doubt some of his distracters were bragging about special spiritual experiences. Yet, this was an experience that was no doubt a high point in Paul’s life.

Next, Paul shares about a low point in his life, the complete opposite of his being lifted into heaven. He says that God allowed him to have a thorn in the flesh. The Greek word that is used clearly is something that is physically painful, not simply something that would go on in Paul’s mind.  The actual term describes a stake with a sharp point, which was placed in the bottom of pits on the battlefield, so when you fell in the pit you would be stabbed by the stake. That is what Paul says he is experiencing. Talk about being stabbed in the back. I am sure he felt that way about what was going on in the Corinthian church, but, again, the word he uses implies an actual physical ailment.

Paul saw the Christian life as being one of cosmic struggle and that we are in battle with Satan, so his use of a term describing a battlefield trap makes sense. Paul believed that Satan was trying to prevent the Gospel from going out by causing him physical pain. Paul also believed God could take away the “thorn,” and he prayed and asked for God to help three times. Instead of removing Paul’s obstacle, God conveyed the news to him that his grace is sufficient and that his power is made perfect in weakness. In closing, Paul affirms that God can work through our weaknesses and that he had learned to be content in hardships, weaknesses, insults, persecutions, because Christ was strong in his weakness.

Paul had learned to live a balanced life. He did not live in a state of elation all the time because of his spiritual blessings and experiences. Nor did he stay in the pits because of his physical sufferings. So many people tend to become cynical when physical suffering comes or when tragedy strikes. Paul realized his weakness; he prayed and asked God to help him.  Seeing our reality and seeking help is the starting point for God’s help.  Paul didn’t look deep into himself for inner strength; he didn’t pull himself up.  Paul prayed and asked God to help him. God’s answer was not what Paul requested, but it was an answer that helped Paul to move on. Our weaknesses and suffering do not mean that our mission has come to an end; nor do they mean good things can’t happen. Paul said that he had learned to be content, to approve of the hard things that came into his life, because it was at these points that God’s power is demonstrated.

So even though we might have fantastic highs when good things happen, God’s power is revealed even more at low points. It is at those points we learn to trust God’s grace even more, and we witness the power of God accomplish things that we realize we could never do on our on. That experience lifts us from feeling down up to continue the mission God has called us to with hope and joy. Amen