2 Corinthians 12:1-10 "Embracing Weakness, Experiencing God's Glory and Grace"

1:02With a straight face, Michael Scott replies, How about I tell you about my greatest weaknesses? I work too hard. I care too much. Sometimes I can be too invested in my job. A little confused, David nods his head and says, Okay, and your strengths? A little confused, or with the two. Which Michael here, betraying a bit of a smile, replies, well, my weaknesses are actually my strengths. We can all laugh at Michael, but the truth is, this scene hits a little closer to home than we might be comfortable with. Because just like Michael, we can have a very hard time admitting our weaknesses. No, we would much rather share the good things, the things about us and our lives that make us look strong, make us look competent and put together.

2:06And it's not simply that we are more comfortable sharing these things. It's that this is what the culture around us expects and equips us to do. But it's not just a problem out there in the culture. It's a problem in the church, too. Oftentimes, we can get the sense that church is a place where our lives have to be put together. Rather than being a safe place where we don't have to perform or impress, we can feel just like Michael Scott. Like each and every Sunday is a job interview where we need to come across a certain way, using certain words, acting a certain way, all in our Sunday bests with smiles on. I mean, just think about the miracle of the church parking lot. You can be in the middle of an argument with your spouse, with your child, with your parent, with a friend, in the Moment you pull into the church parking lot, bam!

3:04Instantly, you pretend your frustrations are gone as the angry or the sad look on your face turns into a smile. It's almost as if weaknesses and imperfections have no place here, certainly not on Mother's Day, right? But unfortunately, this only serves to highlight and to expose our weaknesses, at least internally, right? Because while we're busy projecting our best selves to those around us, we can hear the voice inside our heads pointing out all of our failings and failures.

3:44Can you relate? This morning, are you aware of your weaknesses? Do you feel weary? Are you tempted to act like you have it all together, finding it difficult to acknowledge and admit your weaknesses? I know I do. Well, if you can relate, I want to encourage you to hear what God has to say to you this morning through the Apostle Paul, because he has good news for you and for me. God has very good news for all who are weak and weary this morning.

4:26Because in our passage, we're going to see that rather than high. Or minimize our weaknesses, God desires that we embrace our weaknesses for His glory and our good. Rather than hide or minimize our weaknesses, God desires that we embrace our weaknesses for His good and for our glory. As we work through our text, we're going to unpack each phrase of that sentence, seeing the what we're called to do and the why. That's our roadmap this morning, the what and the why.

5:06First, the what. What is God calling us to do with our weaknesses? Well, the first thing we see in this passage is that God calls us to embrace our weaknesses. Look with me beginning in verse 1. Paul says, I must go on boasting, though there's nothing to be gained by it. I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. Well, if you're even vaguely aware of what the Bible teaches, I'm sure that Paul's opening statement catches you a little off guard. I must go on boasting. Isn't boasting wrong? Doesn't pride come before the fall? Isn't that what we're told? But here, Paul talks about going on boasting. He's been doing it, and he's going to continue doing it.

5:58Well, to help us make sense. Of this verse here and the rest of our passage, I think a little bit of background information will be helpful. The letter of 2 Corinthians is written in response to a letter that the church in Corinth had previously sent Paul. And in this letter, this letter contained attacks on Paul, on his ministry, and on his calling as an apostle by this group of people that he's taken to calling the super apostles. Now, this is no commendation by Paul. This is actually a stinging condemnation and rebuke of these people. You see, this group, these super apostles, had been criticizing Paul for his apparent weaknesses and his lack of polish. In their eyes, Paul was a shabby figure, and his lack of impressiveness made him a bad representative. It made him a bad spokesperson for Jesus and the gospel.

7:00But it's not simply that he wouldn't have been their first choice to be the face of Christianity. It's that in their mind, he was actually damaging the Jesus brand with all of his talk about humility, suffering, and weakness. Following the rules of Roman culture, which look a lot like the rules of American culture, appearance, achievement, and accumulation were all. All that mattered. And these super apostles excelled at boasting about all of their achievements, all they've accomplished, and all that they've accumulated for Jesus, of course.

7:44So here in 2 Corinthians, Paul is wanting, in a very ironic way, to show the Corinthians that not only can he match these super apostles' boasting, but he can actually one-up them. As we read in verse 1, Paul begins boasting about his visions and revelations. But as we're going to see, this boasting isn't really boasting at all. Because Paul doesn't even explicitly state in this passage here that he's the one who had this vision. Instead, he says that he knows a man. Right away, we sense that there's something different going on here. Here again, Paul's words beginning in verse 2. Paul says, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know. God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise. Whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know. God knows. And he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. I mean, talk about a vision. If this wasn't the Apostle Paul, Talking, we might be convinced that this person just simply ate something bad, that they were perhaps on a trip of some sort.

9:09But this vision did happen, this experience did happen, and it was remarkable. But again, notice Paul's humility. He refuses to say that it was him. And throughout the entire vision, he is passive. God is the one who is active. God is the one who is acting in Paul's life. He is the one who catches Paul up. He is the one who utters things which cannot be heard. This vision, this miraculous experience that Paul experiences, is not about Paul. It's about God and who he is.

9:45Paul knows this, and that's why in verse 5 he sums up his mindset towards this vision. He says, On behalf of this man, I will boast, but on my own behalf, I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. These super apostles were boasting about their grand visions, which certainly were less impressive than Paul's visions. And while Paul certainly had the right to boast about them, he refuses. You see, for Paul, if he's going to boast about anything, as we see at the end of verse 5, it's going to be in his weaknesses. Now, lest we miss Understand when Paul is talking about his weaknesses, he is not talking about sins. He is not saying that he boasts in his sin or in his disobedience. No, when Paul talks about weaknesses, he's referring to the things in each and every one of our lives that display our limitations, our inadequacies, our shortcomings. Our weaknesses are seen in the simple fact that we are finite humans with limited capabilities and capacities. For some of us, more limited than for others, especially those who've been diagnosed with a disability, a mental health disorder, those who suffer chronic illness, or those who have experienced some sort of trauma in their past.

11:20That's what Paul has in mind when he talks about weaknesses. Do you need help identifying your weaknesses this morning? If you're like me, you don't, but perhaps you're not like me. I would just encourage you to consider: your weaknesses are probably connected to an area of your life where you feel like you're never enough. Where you feel like you're never smart enough, competent enough, creative enough, strong enough, accomplished enough, holy enough. The list goes on. Where do you not feel like you're enough this morning? Where do you compare? Yourself to other people, and you're always found wanting. Chances are, your weaknesses are in that area.

12:09And as Paul says in verse 5, it's in these things that we are called to boast. Unless we think he's kidding, he makes this point four times in this passage. Starting in chapter 11, verse 30, Paul says, If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weaknesses. As we just read in verse 5, on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. In verse 9 again, he says, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses. In verse 10, he says, I will take pleasure in weaknesses. Friends, this is so different from the way that you and I normally think about our weaknesses. When it comes to our weaknesses, we're more like the man who dreams of a beautiful lawn that was thwarted by dandelions.

13:09When they first appeared, he would pull them, but they grew back. So he went to the gardening store and bought weed killer and applied it, but they grew back. So he put in all new sod and weed-resistant grass, but as you can guess, they grew back. Told that it must be because of his neighbors' dandelions. So picture this. He goes door to door to get his neighbors to kill their dandelions. Can you imagine? But guess what? They eventually grew back. After consulting every book and every expert to no avail, he decided to write the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Surely they would know what to do. What a guy. I mean, what's going on in your life where you do that? Well, after months of waiting, their reply finally arrived. Can you imagine this guy's excitement? He excitedly tears the letter open to read the following: Dear sir, we have considered your problem and we have consulted all of our experts. After careful consideration, we think we can give you very good advice. Are you ready? Those of you dandelions in your yard, are you ready? Here's their very good advice. Sir, our advice is that you learn to love your dandelions.

14:49Sir, our advice to you is that you learn to love your dandelions. Sisters. And brothers, God's very good advice for you this morning, aware of your weaknesses, is that you learn to love your dandelions. You learn to love your weaknesses. God does not want us to exclude them from our lives, but rather to embrace them, to willingly and joyfully embrace our weaknesses. Where are you feeling weak this morning? What are the areas of your life where you feel a sense of shame or embarrassment? Where do you feel weak this morning? Hear God's very good advice to you: learn to love your weaknesses. Stop trying to explain or excuse them away and instead love them. Boast and rejoice in them. That's the what. Confronted with our weaknesses, what are we to do? Are we to hide or minimize? No, God calls us to embrace them. Easy enough, right? Well, thankfully, God just doesn't give us this command and send us on our way. Instead, in our passage, we see that God, in His grace and His kindness to us, gives us two very compelling motivations for why we would want to embrace our weaknesses. He gives us two motivations that are meant to inspire. Inspire us to become the type of people who gladly take pleasure in our weaknesses. The first motivation is that when we embrace our weaknesses, we platform God's power. When we embrace our weaknesses, we platform God's power. Look with me at verse 7. Paul writes, So to keep me from being 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. In response to the glorious vision that Paul experienced, one that both God and he knew would tempt him to become conceited, to get a big head, Paul says that he was given a thorn in the flesh. Now, we're not entirely sure what this was, but regardless of whatever this thorn in the flesh was, Paul didn't like it. He wasn't a fan, as my kids might say. And so he prays for God to remove the thorn. In verse 8, it says that he prays three times for God to remove this thorn. Now, this here, it could refer to three individual prayers, perhaps in response to three particularly challenging moments when he. He was especially aware of his weakness. In this way, here, Paul could be connecting or alluding to Paul's three prayers, to Jesus' three prayers in the garden, where he asked God the Father to remove the cup from him. It's very possible that Paul's alluding to that. But his using this phrase, praying three times, could also just be a way of communicating that he was constantly praying. He was praying over and over and over for God to remove this weakness. Well, either way, in verse 9, we see God's answer to this prayer. Verse 9, we read, But he said to me, This is God speaking, 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. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with, or I take pleasure in, weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. As we see here, God's answer to Paul's prayers is request denied. God will not miraculously remove this thorn. There will be no quick fix for Paul.

19:30But that doesn't mean that his prayer went unanswered. Because even though Paul didn't receive the answer that he wanted, he comes to realize that God's answer was greater than anything he could possibly imagine. Because rather than removing the thorn, God promises Paul something much better. God promises him his power, which is made perfect in weakness. God promises Paul strength in the very places where he felt weak. And verse 9 is in the perfect tense, meaning that this is something that God was constantly telling him, constantly reminding him of. God doesn't want Paul to forget that it's precisely in the places where he is weakest that God promises to meet him and to be for him what he cannot be for himself. Oh, sisters and brothers, this is God's MO. All throughout the story of Scripture, we never see God meeting people on the basis of their impressiveness or their accomplishments. No, God always meets us at the bottom. Why was Paul so eager to boast in his weaknesses? Why can he say in verse 10 that he takes pleasure in them? Because he knows that it's only when he's weak that he'll experience God's Power. And Paul knows that there is nothing like the power of God. It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Oh, friends, we definitely need to hear this message today. We live in what one of my favorite pastors, Mark Sayers, calls a platform society, where everything in our lives has become a platform for us to stand on and promote ourselves. It is no surprise that we call things like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook social media platforms. Every day we are tempted to live like Michael in that interview, feeling like we need to turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, like we need to impress and be seen as impressive. But as Paul shows us, that's simply a fool's errand. Because to choose self-promotion is to forfeit the Savior's power. But when you and I, when we willingly embrace our weaknesses, when we acknowledge and accept that we have limitations and shortcomings, that we are not enough and we will never be enough, or that we are not sufficient for the things that God has called us to do, when we do these things, Paul tells us that we are on the fast track to receiving and platforming. God's power because it is in our weaknesses, not in our strengths, that God promises to meet us and empower us. So, how are you responding this morning? Moms on this Mother's Day, as you face your limitations and lack of sufficiency to do everything you feel you have to do, to be everything to everybody, to be everywhere at the same time, how are you responding? Has your response looked like telling yourself to work harder and do better?

23:05Or have you been crying out to God to display his power in these places of weakness? What about the rest of us? As you consider your limitations and shortcomings, when you come face to face with the reality that you're what the kids might call mid, how are you responding? We're all mid. How are you responding in the midst of that? Do you comfort yourself by comparing yourself to others that you feel better than? Or do you see those weaknesses as invitations to prayer and opportunities for God to make much of Himself in you and through you? Brothers and sisters, see your weaknesses. See your limitations as invitations from God to display Hispanic. His great power in and through you. Because we really only have two options in life: we can platform ourselves, or we can platform our Savior's power. Let's be the type of people who love our dandelions, knowing that it's in our limitations that God has promised to do his best work.

24:24This is our first motivations. Why do we want to embrace our weakness? Because when we do, we platform God's power. But in our passage, he gives us a second motivation. Why do we want to embrace our weaknesses? Because when we do, we experience more of God's grace. Look with me again at verse 9. But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Why didn't God remove Paul's thorn?

25:01Because in his great love for Paul, God wanted him to learn just how sufficient his grace is for him. He wanted Paul to see that it's in the areas of his life where he doesn't feel like he's enough, that God's grace is more than enough for him. And he knew that this was a lesson that Paul could learn only in his weakness. Mark Twain famously said, Said, he who holds a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.

25:39I just love that. Right? We all get what he's saying, right? Like, we could, at 11 o'clock, we could all stay in here and I could give the world's greatest seminar on what will happen if you grab a cat by the tail. But no matter how vivid and detailed and lifelike my descriptions are, If after this meeting you go around back and you find a cat and you grab it by the tail, when you do that, you are going to experience something that I could never teach you by talking about it. You will learn something that you could learn in no other way.

26:18And brothers and sisters, it's the same thing with God's grace. We will only learn that God's grace is more than sufficient, more than enough for us, when we grab our weaknesses by the tail. There is just simply no other way for you and for me to see that God's grace is more than enough for us, that God's grace provides everything that we need. We cannot learn that apart from our weaknesses, which is why Paul can say that he boasts in them. He takes pleasure in them. He makes much of his weaknesses because He wants more and more of God's grace, and he knows that it will only come in weakness.

27:08As we've been seeing in Romans these last few months, grace is God's unmerited, his unearned favor. It's a gift with no strings attached. Grace is not something that we receive on the basis of our strengths, our gifts, or abilities. If it was something that we could earn or that we could achieve, it would cease being grace. We didn't do anything to earn God's grace when we first received it at our conversion. And there's nothing that we can do to earn or be worthy of God's grace today. It is a free gift that God continues to pour out on us. And the only requirement, if you can even call it that, is that we grab our weaknesses by the tail as we humble ourselves. And friends, when we do this, when we grab our weaknesses by the tail, amazing things happen. Because it's in those quiet moments when we confess that we are not enough that God's grace comes to us, that God's grace whispers in our ear, telling us that it is more than okay, that we are not enough, because he is more than enough for us.

28:30It's in our moments of shame that God's grace comes to us, lifting our heads to see that Christ bore our shame on the cross, and now Christ invites us to draw near, to come close. It's in our moments of failure that God's grace comes to us, reminding us that God loves us without all of our accomplishments. It's in the moments when we've reached our limits that God's grace comes, empowering us to serve in the strength that He supplies. And it's in those moments when we don't feel like we have anything else we can offer that God's grace comes to us, reminding us that He'll strengthen and sustain us. I hope you're seeing why Paul was so eager to embrace His weaknesses and why He's calling us to do the same. Friends, He wanted to experience more and more of God's grace, and His desire is that you would experience more and more of God's grace. Having tasted God's grace at conversion, He wanted more. You can say that His appetite for grace was not easily satisfied, and He knew that the fastest way to get more of God's grace was to humble Himself as He acknowledged His limitations.

30:01Well, let's imitate Paul in this way. Let's become the type of people who embrace our weaknesses. There is simply no grace, and there is no hope in pretending to have it all together and hiding. But oh, there is more grace than you could possibly imagine when you embrace and accept them. Well, it turns out that in his interview with David Wallace, Michael spoke words that were truer than he knew when he said that his weaknesses are actually his strengths. Because as we've been seeing in our passage, this is exactly what God is telling you and me this morning. That our greatest weaknesses are our greatest strengths. Sisters and brothers, it has been my prayer for myself and for each and every one of you this past week that God will use this passage to help you reframe how you see your weaknesses, helping you to see that they're the very things that God most wants to use in your life to display his power and glory and to position you to see, to experience, and to enjoy his sufficient grace. And this really should come as no surprise because this is how God loves to work. And we need to look no further than the cross and resurrection of Jesus to see this most clearly displayed. Because it is through the weakness of the cross of Jesus, where he experienced the just punishment that our sins deserved, that God most clearly displayed his grace and his mercy towards sinners like you and me. And it was through the weakness of the death of Christ that God displays what Paul calls the immeasurable greatness of his power in raising Christ from the dead. And so now we can experience God's resurrection power in the very areas of our life where we feel most weak.

32:17Knowing this is how God works, as you and I go throughout the day today, this coming week, I just want to encourage you to consider those areas of your life where you feel most weak. I want to encourage you to turn that weakness into a prayer. Ask God to meet you in the midst of that weakness, to display his power, and to meet you with his sufficient grace. Perhaps reach out to a trusted friend. Admit that area of weakness and invite them to pray for you too. And as you do, grace is coming your way. For those of you who are here who have yet to trust in Christ this morning, You would not consider yourself a Christian. First off, I just want to thank you so much for being here. It's just a delight to have you. But second, I just want to acknowledge out front that this message might sound foolish to you. I mean, it certainly did to Paul's original readers. Embrace weakness. Are you crazy? Who would want to do that? Perhaps for you, the most important thing in life is to win and to be seen winning. It's to be looked up to and to be envied by those around you. It's to be an influencer and gain a following. And this certainly doesn't happen by admitting our failures. If that's you, again, I understand why you have that perspective. And this morning, I just want to encourage you to consider the rest and the freedom that God is offering you in this passage. Because the truth is, no matter how successful or strong you might be or you might become, the truth is it will never be enough. You will always need just a little bit more money, a little bit more power, a little bit more beauty or success to hide your weaknesses. It is a treadmill that never stops. And it's into this situation that God speaks, offering you freedom from feeling like you have to justify your existence, or freedom from constantly needing to prove to others that you are worth. Being around as God invites you to embrace your ultimate weakness, your inability to save yourself from God's just punishment for your sin and rebellion, as He invites you to acknowledge that ultimate weakness and turn to Jesus and to see that through the weakness of the cross, Jesus did for you what you could never do for yourself, so that by placing your trust in Him, you can experience His grace and His power. As you probably already feel deep inside, you know that you are not enough. But the good news of the gospel is that God's power and grace are not dependent on you being enough, just the opposite, actually. It's in knowing that you're at naught, but looking to Jesus who is. So, this morning, I would encourage you to turn to Jesus, to place your trust in Him, and experience the freedom that comes from embracing your weaknesses. Let's pray.

35:42Oh Father, we are so grateful that Your Word meets us in the deepest places. Your Word speaks to us in the midst of the feelings that you most. The realities of day-to-day life. Father, we are grateful for your kindness in speaking words of grace to us in the midst of our weakness, that we do not have to hide or minimize them, but we can joyfully embrace them. Father, knowing that when we do so, you promise to be at work in us.

36:26Father, we pray that by your Spirit, you will give us the faith to believe the good news we have heard today. Oh, and give us the grace that you know we need to live in the good of it. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.