Sermon for Pentecost 6, February 16, 2025
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Amen.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 7Therefore, to keep me from becoming arrogant due to the extraordinary nature of these revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, so that I would not become arrogant. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that he would take it away from me. 9And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me. 10That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For whenever I am weak, then am I strong. (EHV)
When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.
Dear fellow redeemed,
St. Paul was one of the few men in history to receive revelations directly from God that showed salvation for mankind, and Paul was, perhaps, one of the most unlikely of those men to be given that grace. You see, Paul, back when he was known as Saul, considered himself a great enemy of Jesus, one who prided himself on destroying anyone who followed the Man called the Christ. Paul publicly admitted that he had been “a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; in regard to zeal, persecuting the church; in regard to the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:5-6) Then, after a blinding revelation on the road to Damascus, Jesus called Saul into a position about which the Lord would say, “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:16)
I suppose that sounds like Jesus was threatening an enemy, but He truly wasn’t. Purely by God’s grace, Jesus chose Saul to be rescued from the damning path he was following. Saul was on the road to hell while he was rejecting Jesus. Yet, Jesus didn’t reject him. Rather, the Lord met that persecutor on the road to Damascus and chose him to carry the Good News of salvation to the Gentiles. Of course, Paul’s new path wouldn’t be easy. Those who formerly would have praised Saul, now wanted to kill him. In addition, unbelievers never initially welcome Christ’s message of salvation. The natural man in each of us wants to believe that we can save ourselves, so until brought to our knees in repentance, it’s hard to believe a Savior is needed.
Here in his second letter to the Corinthian congregation, as Paul is defending his right to preach about Jesus, forgiveness, and salvation, Paul gets very personal and reveals something about himself that many didn’t know. Paul didn’t chose to be a missionary to the Gentiles. Paul didn’t even chose to believe in Jesus. Yet, for reasons only God knows, Jesus revealed Himself to Paul and showed him through visions much about Jesus’ work and victory. The natural man in each of us might have mistakenly and sinfully assumed that he himself had earned that precious look into the mysteries of God. Therefore, God made sure that couldn’t happen to Paul.
Paul doesn’t tell us what the thorn in his flesh happened to be. Many have speculated on what it might have been, but no one knows. It certainly caused him much distress. In fact, Paul prayed earnestly to the Lord that this painful condition might be taken away. Paul says he prayed three times for relief. Still, after those three earnest prayers, the Lord gave Paul His answer—“No!” Paul’s response to God’s, “No!” teaches us that When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.
It seems like some of the people Paul preached to didn’t find him all that impressive. Many questioned his credentials, his speaking skills, his appearance, and who knows what else. Worse yet, Paul had to endure great persecution from enemies of Christ and from various governing authorities. The list of times Paul suffered for his faith in Jesus is long. Yet, because God had so strengthened Paul’s faith, all those troubles, trials, and torments became almost a badge of honor to Paul. Yet, not honor for himself but for his Lord. You see, like many early Christians who endured harsh persecution even unto death, it was considered a privilege to suffer for Jesus, not to earn any merit, but because Jesus suffered so much for us, only to overcome it all in His resurrection from the dead.
That, therefore, becomes our lesson. No matter what kind of trial or hardship we must face in this troubled life, the solution is to focus not on our loss but on our everlasting gain in Christ Jesus. When Paul pleaded with God to remove the thorn from his side, God’s answer came to Paul and it carries the same message to us: “My grace is sufficient for you, because my power is made perfect in weakness.” God’s grace for us shelters us from everlasting condemnation. That is the reason Jesus came into this world. It doesn’t matter how rich or successful or famous a person might become, in the end, we all face death and judgment. Consequently, it is only whether we believe in Jesus that matters. Those who reject the Savior have eternal condemnation in their everlasting future. However, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” (Mark 16:16)
St. Paul wrote, “Therefore I will be glad to boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may shelter me.” Paul may have been mocked for whatever shortcomings his enemies thought he had. In the same way, Christians are today often ridiculed as being weak and foolish for believing what the Bible says. The arrogant unbeliever accuses us of needing Jesus as a crutch to help us through the tough times of life. Well, so be it. Christ Jesus covers us with His righteousness and shelters us from eternal condemnation. Though others may imagine themselves strong, they have no help in death, nor any real strength in life.
On the other hand, because of our faith in Jesus, we have an open line to the Creator of the world. The Savior who lived righteousness for us, then died to pay for our sins, and rose from grave triumphant over sin, death, and the devil has promised us, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.” (John 16:23) Therefore, let the world mock us. Let enemies persecute, betray, and kill us, they gain nothing but damnation, while we receive eternal reward in heaven. Concerning the enemies of true faith, Martin Luther wrote, “Take they are life, goods, fame, child, and wife, let these all be gone, they yet have nothing won; the Kingdom ours remaineth.”
There is no doubt that this world gives God’s people unending trouble, trial, and pain. The curse of sin alone causes grief to every person, believer and unbeliever alike. Still, there remains a difference between the Christian and all others. When illness, pain, and death come our way, we are not without hope. We have God’s sure and certain promise that all our sins are forgiven and that He works all things for our eternal good. We have God’s promise that His Son has been given authority to judge the world. How do you suppose the One who gave His life to save sinners will judge between those who gladly fell before Him confessing their sins and their confidence in His sacrifice as opposed to those who remain defiant before God? The Holy Spirit through St John, explained, “Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is an antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father. But the one who confesses the Son has the Father as well.” (1 John 2:22-23)
As long as we dwell in this sinful world, we will have trouble. Increasingly, it appears like persecution will again raise its ugly head against the believers in Jesus. Yet, no matter how weak the world might think us to be, our strength does not come from physical warfare, nor does it depend on wealth or worldly goods. Our Savior had no place to lay His head. His only possessions were the clothes on His back—well that and the holiness and power of the Almighty. But, Jesus did everything we need to be saved. He gave His back to the whips of the Roman soldiers, His face felt the beatings of their fists, His head their mocking crown of thorns, His hands and feet the nails that put Him on the cross for you and me. Yet, none of those things could defeat the Son of God, because He came to die for us, to pay the penalty of death each person deserves, and because of what Jesus did for us, those who believe in Him are counted righteous. Those who are baptized in His name are counted as children of God, bearing the name of God into an inheritance in heaven.
St. Paul wrote, “That is why I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For whenever I am weak, then am I strong.” Paul no longer cared what the world did to him. He didn’t put up a fight when they fought against his message, because Paul had learned by faith that the battle wasn’t his. The battle belongs to Christ Jesus who already won the war for us on the cross. Right in line with the work Jesus gave Paul to do, “We preach Christ crucified—which is offensive to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-25) So, When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength.
Dear friends, it is certain that you have faced opposition because you walk with Jesus. It is just as certain that you will face more and more opposition in the coming days and years. Yet, your future is already secure in the hand and judgment of your Savior. Jesus gave His life so that you will live. Jesus bled His innocent blood on the cross as payment for your sins. He rose from the grave on the third day just as He foretold so that you never have to wonder whether Jesus is who He said, or whether what He has done for you is sufficient. All your sins and transgressions have been forgiven for Jesus’ sake. No matter what the devil’s allies try to use against us, we have Jesus on our side. United with Jesus through baptism, “we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, [and therefore] we will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans 6:5) Therefore, When in weakness, shelter in Christ’s strength. Amen.
After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.