It's 2009 - Get Over Yourself!

Every year at Grace Community Church, I preach a New Year's sermon. Below, I am publishing the sermon I preached this past Sunday. It is based on the encouraging text of 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, where Paul writes of finding Christ's strength overcoming his own weaknesses. It is a good reminder that this year we need to allow Jesus to do the work in our lives, not the person we see in the mirror every morning! This text continues to significantly minister to me almost a week after I preached it! I do hope you will find it helpful (though, the recorded version on our church's website is better). Here goes:

It’s 2009:
Get Over Yourself!
2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Before we get to the message today, I want to make you aware that next Sunday we will begin a series on the Trinity. The title of the series will be, All of God: Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity. We will go into more detail at the Home Fellowships, starting this week. I hope you will anticipate learning much about what many call the most important doctrine in Scripture. OK, on to this morning’s message.

I have an announcement to make this morning, which may or may not come as a surprise to you. I’m in love. I can’t help. In spite of all my efforts, I am madly in love. It may not be what you think, though. I have been in love with this person for over 55 years. You see, I am in love with – me. In fact, since Psalm 51 indicates that I was conceived as a sinner, this love affair with self actually began before I was born.

Is it wrong to love yourself? Not according to Oprah or dozens of authors whose books fill the self-help sections in bookstores and even find their way into grocery stores. Indeed, God assumes that we love ourselves. Ephesians 5: “Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.” And don’t forget that Jesus taught us to love our neighbors in the same manner that we love ourselves. The kind of love referred to in those passages is not the narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-focused behavior that is so common and encouraged today. It is true that if we fail to appreciate the person that God has made us to be, we will likely not have much to give to others. If we hate ourselves, our tendency is to be short with and even to despise others as well. Not liking moi usually translates into not liking thou. And when you think about it, a hatred of self is often the result of an unhealthy focus on self, anyway.

We should go ahead and love ourselves, then, so that we will love others, right? Not in the way we are encouraged to love ourselves today! When we love and pamper ourselves, 21st century style, there is little left for Jesus or for others. All the focus is on self. And, here we find ourselves at the beginning of 2009. Isn’t it time that we just get over ourselves? I think so.

Our text this morning is 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. Before we read the text, let me explain something in this passage that is important to our understanding of what the Apostle Paul was trying to accomplish with some of the language he was using. In Corinth, there were certain teachers who were attempting to slander Paul and render his teachings null and void. They didn’t feel that Paul was “spiritual” enough. They had received visions, and they spoke ecstatically with languages they did not know. In addition, they were wealthy, and surely their riches were a sign of God’s blessings. They considered Paul’s poverty and the persecution he encountered as signs of God’s disapproval.

Before we go any further, can I speak to those of you who are without a job? Some of you have been unemployed for quite some time. I would imagine it is very tempting to see yourself as being squarely in the crosshairs of God’s disapproval on your life. You feel like He is punishing you, or you feel like He doesn’t respond to your prayers, thus He just doesn’t care. I understand how easy it would be to feel that way in today’s world, but our text today will put that idea to rest, so if you are out of work, you may be the one more blessed than all the others in here. Sound absurd? See if it does by the time you leave church today.

Because Paul had been attacked and the very truth of the gospel was at stake, he had to defend himself. He felt like a fool offering his credentials – so much so, that he wrote quite hesitantly, speaking in the third person. By the end of our passage, though, Paul was boldly proclaiming his boast – in Jesus and in anything in his life that would drive him to Jesus. That which drove him to Jesus turned out to be hardships and weaknesses.

Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. Would you please stand for the reading of the Word?

1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.
3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows –
4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.
6 Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Did you sense Paul’s reticence to defend himself, even though it was absolutely necessary to do so? Fourteen years before he wrote this letter to the Corinthians, which would have been before his first missionary journey, God took Paul up into heaven. Paul asked, “Did my body go up to heaven, or was it an out of body experience? I don’t know – all I know is that I was shown and told some amazing things, some of which I can’t even repeat. That’s why I am an apostle and why you should listen to me. What I have to tell you will make the difference in your eternal destiny. I am not bragging; it’s just fact. But, I will tell you what I will brag about – my weaknesses!”

That doesn’t sound very much like our world today, does it? In fact, it would take a gigantic shift in our thinking to embrace Paul’s spirit that welcomes weakness because it allows Jesus to shine. Let’s look again at Paul’s heart coming through his pen. Verses 6 through the first part of verse 9:

6 Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

Now, it is important to recognize that our call to humility is not because we realize we are nothing. For Paul, it was the exact opposite – he had been granted an extreme privilege – taken into heaven and given secrets that he couldn’t even divulge. God knew the persecutions that were in store for Paul and it is likely that his close communion with God kept his perspective in tact.

Because of the gifts that Paul had been given, God sent him a reminder of the limitations that come to every human, whether they are children of God or not. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. Well, technically, Satan provided the pain, but Paul understood it to be in God’s plan for his life.

So, what was his thorn in the flesh? You may have a pretty strong opinion, and if you do, then you have a pretty strong opinion – and that’s all. One thing we know for sure it was not – his wife! Paul wasn’t married, so ladies, you are off the hook. I imagine some of you ladies would say to me, “Come spend a few hours at our house – you will see who the thorn is!” All kinds of physical and emotional ailments have been offered as possibilities. I doubt seriously that it was a struggle with sin. It is far more likely it was physical or emotional malady. Hey, when you think about it, it is probably a good thing that God leaves it unrecorded because it leaves room for fairly broad application. You and I both may have a thorn in the flesh, but they may have a very different look.

It is not that Paul initially welcomed his particular thorn. In the same way Jesus pleaded for God to accomplish our salvation apart from His sacrifice on the cross, Paul begged God, three times, to take the thorn away. God said no. But, He gave Paul an explanation, and in so doing, He provided an explanation for us as well: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

I don’t think there are too many Christ-followers who would say that humility is a negative quality. We would, rather, profess a desire for humility. Can we ever attain humility? Tim Keller shares just how great of a challenge it is to find humility. In the December, 2008 issue of Christianity Today, he acknowledges that we observe pride and arrogance all around us, and then says, quote, “If we notice a humble turn of mind in ourselves, we immediately become smug - but that is pride in our humility. If we catch ourselves doing that we will be particularly impressed with how nuanced and subtle we have become.” End quote. Indeed. You know that struggle, don’t you?

It is never a bad thing to be in a place that requires humility on our part. A physical handicap, a medical condition, a job loss, a family issue – you fill in the blank. There are all kinds of circumstances that cause us to make a choice about our response to the curves that life – no, Satan – no, God throws our way. Will we rest in God’s will for our lives and be humble, or will we take the easy route and succumb to humiliation? There is a difference, you know. Humility brings a positive spirit, an acceptance of our place in God’s world, in God’s kingdom. Humiliation, on the other hand, is the opposite, almost – it is a negative spirit that can manifest itself in absolute despair, or angry defiance. We can find ourselves humiliated when things go badly and when our security is based in who we are rather than in who God is, or in who we are in Jesus.

Humility begins when we rest in Jesus’ words to Paul, and thus, to all of His followers: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Most of us want to shine in this world. We want others to be proud of us, to admire us. But – Jesus doesn’t want us to shine. He wants to shine through us! And, if we walk closely with Him, we will want the same thing. Which would you rather have – you shining or Jesus shining in you? Well, theoretically we would prefer for Jesus to shine through us – but, since we are not really sure what it looks like, let’s go with “me” shining.

No, let’s don’t! It’s 2009 – let’s get over ourselves and allow Jesus’ power to come through us in our weaknesses. And, Jesus’ power in our lives should be our motivation to accept the messengers of humility in our lives. It is not that we welcome hardship in a stoic kind of way so that we can feel good about our strong will and self-discipline. Paul said that he would gladly boast in his own weaknesses so that the power of Christ could rest upon him. Do not miss this point! It is the same language that was used in John 1:14, where we are told that Jesus came to this earth and dwelt among us – or, literally, pitched His tent among us. In the same way, the power of Jesus rests on – or, Jesus pitches His tent among – the weak.

Now, I don’t know about you, but that seems backwards to me. Most of us do not think of Jesus pitching His tent among the weak. We think that we will find Him among the strong and the successful. Not so, according to God, and who are you going to go with, God or society? God, or the contemporary church? We ought to go with God.

So, stop and let 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 wash over your soul. I will give you just a moment to read those verses and think about them.

Verse 10: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.” Calamities, for goodness sake! The man was content with calamities! But notice how carefully his words are chosen. He didn’t say that he sought out hardships. Paul was no fanatic that found some sort of psychological satisfaction in self-inflicted troubles. He simply said that he was content with troubles when they came. And, he has already given the reason he was content with circumstances that forced him to be humble – it was for the sake of Christ! And, in those circumstances, Paul found personal gain, also – “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

We tend to go to great lengths to hide our weaknesses, don’t we? Even though we are well acquainted with the teachings of Scripture, we can easily find ourselves thinking – even if it is subconsciously – that troubles in our lives indicate a character flaw, or worse, judgment on our lives from God. Well, we worry that others think that, and so we hide.

But, what if this passage were true? Of course we believe it is true, but we have not embraced it as fully as we should, have we? One of the reasons we fail to actually sell out totally to the truth of this passage is that we are so full of ourselves. It’s 2009. It’s time we get past that. It is time we rest in God’s will for our lives. That doesn’t mean we quit working to make our circumstances better, but we must, for the sake of Christ, humbly accept the thorn in the flesh, the weaknesses that God has built into our lives. When I am weak, then I am strong. But I have to get over myself to get there. Let’s pray.