Supposing I ended up in 5b. It could happen, I’ve struggled with my mental health before. For those of you who don’t know 5b is the psychiatric unit of University Hospital Limerick. It is where people go to get help with severe mental illness in times of severe distress.
Would you be ashamed of
me? Would suggest that we search for a
new pastor? Would you be telling me to
keep it secret?
I don’t think being in 5b
is anything to be ashamed of. The church
is supposed to be a safe place for those who struggle.
This morning we are going
see that the gospel is more important than miracles, God’s ‘no’ can be more
important that his ‘yes’, and that our weakness is more important than our
strength.
The
gospel is more important than miracles (1-7)
I love miracle
stories. They can be a real
encouragement and they can strengthen our faith. They also can be a distraction. Jesus warns us that, ‘a wicked generation
demands a sign’ (Matthew 16:4). We must
not make miracles the main thing in our faith.
Paul has been forced to
talk about a spectacular vision he received fourteen years earlier. That places the vision in what’s known as Paul’s
‘silent years’—a period of seven to ten years after his conversion and before
the beginning of his public ministry.
Notice that this was a once in a lifetime event for Paul. He didn’t have this sort of vision all the
time.
He was caught up into the
third heaven. The first heaven refers to
the sky, where the birds fly. The second
heaven refers to space, where the stars shine.
The third heaven is paradise, where God’s dwells. There Paul saw things that he was not
permitted to share.
The only reason that Paul
talks about this vision is that the ‘super-apostles’ have been boasting about
amazing visions they’ve experienced, and they were trying to undermine Paul’s
credibility by saying that he has experienced nothing similar. He responds, ‘It embarrasses me to have to
say this, but I have had a revelation that surpasses anything you claim to have
had.’
It’s amazing that Paul
didn’t feel the need to talk about it before. If I had a revelation like that I would be
tempted to make it my platform. ‘Come
see the man who was in heaven!’ In fact,
it is not so long ago that there was a book and a film called ‘Heaven is for Real’,
about a boy who visited heaven. At one
stage there were a whole host of ‘heaven tourism’ books.
But Paul doesn’t want to
talk about this vision because he doesn’t want people to ‘think more of me than
is warranted by what I do or say’ (6). I
know a man who claims to have had great miraculous experiences. I reserve my judgement. But I want to know how much he makes of
Christ-crucified, if is he humble, if understand the place of suffering in the
Christian life and if the love of Jesus effects the way he treats people.
‘No’
can be more important than ‘yes’ (7-8)
Like all of us, the
apostle Paul was tempted towards pride. Such a surpassingly great revelation could
easily puff someone up and make them arrogant.
God loves Paul enough to care more about his heart more than his
comfort. God loves us enough t seek to
make us humble. God permitted Satan to
torment him with a thorn in the flesh.
We don’t know what this
thorn in the flesh was. He doesn’t
say. It might be that the eye condition
that caused Paul to have to rest in Galatia was a recurring condition. There are actually lots of suggestions to
what it might be. What we do know it
that it caused him severe suffering, and that it was humiliating for him. Maybe in a culture where there were plenty of
prosperity teachers he had to put up with being looked down on for having a
weakness.
I was actually in a small
group when someone claimed that God had removed the thorn from Paul. This person had no place in their theology
for suffering in the life of the believer.
Their ‘name it and claim it’ beliefs could not allow God say ‘no’ to a
prayer offered in sincere faith. But the
whole flow of this passage makes clear that the thorn was God’s will for Paul’s
life.
We see here that God is
committed to saving us from pride. Now I
wouldn’t call it a messenger from Satan and it didn’t cause me torment, but I
had to repeat my leaving certificate.
Then when I got into college I wanted a particular grade, in part
because my primary school principle had made it clear that she didn’t think I
was clever. I didn’t get it. I think that was God’s blessing to me. For if I’d done better I would be even more
arrogant than I am.
Success can be far more
dangerous to our hearts than failure. It might feel like the world has fallen apart
when the doctor tells us that the results are bad. It might feel like our dreams are shattered
when you are passed over for promotion, the business fails or you are let
go. It might be humiliating to pass
through a nervous breakdown or a time of deep depression. But our heavenly Father knows what He is
at. He is committed to shaping our
hearts. He is dealing with our pride and
causing us to depend on Him.
Our
weakness is more important than our strength (9-12)
God actually wants us to
boast about our weaknesses.
I messaged a friend who
is a New Testament lecturer and asked him if such weaknesses could include an
area of temptation that God allows us to experience to cause us to lean on Him
for strength. He suggests that that can
be the case. I wrestle with my appetite. I am tempted all the time to binge eat. I am ashamed to say that many times I give
in. There is nothing to boast about in
the sin. But I can also say that this
weakness humbles me and causes me to cry out to Him for help!
God did not remove the
thorn in the flesh from Paul. ‘But he
said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in
weakness’ (9). My grace is sufficient—you
do not need to be free from weakness in order to serve Jesus. My power is made perfect in weakness—not my
power is made perfect despite
weakness but my power is made perfect in
weakness. Your weaknesses are what
qualify you to serve Jesus.
Weaknesses causes us to
depend on Christ. Weaknesses drive us to
pray. Weaknesses make us realise that we
can’t live for Jesus in our own strength.
Weaknesses remind us that we are dependent on His power not ours. Will you allow your weaknesses direct you to
the prayer room, or to be honest with people about your struggles? Can you thank God for those weaknesses? They may be one of God’s greatest blessing
for you!
‘Therefore, I will boast
more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties, for
when I am weak then I am strong’ (9-10).
Are you willing to boast
about your weakness, or at least be honest about them? Do
you feel a failure as a mother or a father?
Do you feel a let down as a son or a daughter? Do you feel unsure when the topic of faith is
raised by your friends and family? Do
you have a daily battle to resist lust?
Do you have social anxiety? I
know I come across as very social but I struggle with this. Do you find it hard to pray? Most of us do. I sometimes have to wrestle with doubt. Not all doubt is rooted in stubborn unbelief,
as we see with Jude’s instruction to be merciful to those who doubt. Do your struggle to be patient with your
workmates? Do you find singleness lonely? Are there health issues that tempt you to despair? Did you ever lost face because you feel apart
in front of people?
All these weaknesses
drive us to Christ. All these weaknesses
cause us to depend on Him for His strength.
All these weaknesses show the loving heart of a God who chooses the weak
things of this world to shame those who think they are strong. All these
weaknesses reflect the beauty of the Christ who allowed himself be so weakened
that He could not carry the beam of His cross but needed the help of
another. All these weaknesses point to
the one who experienced a shame-filled death to make us His own. All these weaknesses give Jesus the
opportunity to show that He is all that we need. Yes, God’s gives His people talents and
gifts, but these will only serve to make us
look good if they are not used in dependent weakness.
Conclusion
So, what if I ended up in
5b? Would you start the search for a new
pastor? Would you be embarrassed for
me? Would you think it made less of a
Christian? It might be that the strains
of this ministry are too much for me and that I need to think of a different
way to serve God. However, it also might
be the best thing that ever happened to my ministry.
You might not struggle
with your mental health like I do, but we all struggle. All of us have experienced brokenness and
have weaknesses. Those weaknesses do not
mean that God has let us down. Those
weaknesses may be among His greatest gifts to us. God is glorified to show that He chooses the
weak to shame those who think they are strong.
God is committed to making us humble.
God moves us to depend on Him alone.
He comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort those in their
troubles with the comfort we have experienced.
He causes us to give up on our strength so that we depend on His.
‘I
asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn to humbly obey.
I
asked God for health that I might do all things. I was given infirmity that I might do better.
I
asked God for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I
asked God for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the
need for God.
I
asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all
things.
I
got nothing I asked for but everything I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers
were answered. I am, among men, most
richly blessed.’ (Anon.)
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