Sexagesima
Dear friends in Christ. Today’s epistle reading [2 Corinthians 11.19-12.9] is the longest one in the Church Year. In it, what is St. Paul doing? Is he bragging about all of his triumphs? No! Instead he is chronicling all of his sufferings for Christ. It’s not that because of all his sufferings he makes himself worthy of heaven and every spiritual blessing. Rather, Paul’s sufferings are evidence of his apostleship. What happened in the Corinthian congregation was that “super-apostles”—not one of our Lord’s apostles but false ones—came to the congregation and began to teach a different Christ and false doctrine of works. Paul had brought the Corinthians the true Christ. And by listing his sufferings, Paul proves by that, that a true servant of Christ carries the cross of Christ and drinks from His cup of suffering.
Although we are certainly no St. Pauls, nevertheless as we faithfully live our lives as Christians, as Christ is at work in us, we will often suffer on account of our faith in Christ. This is not self-chosen suffering; this is not a “martyr complex”; instead it is just the result of living out our lives as Christians in a world that does not like Christ and does not want to have anything to do with Him.
In our circles today, we will hardly suffer the life harrowing ways St. Paul lists in our text but will certainly endure the lesser sufferings of being labeled the religious fanatic of the family/group, of being “outside the loop,” the object of an unbeliever’s hatred, and maybe even being passed by for promotions at work. But here, take great comfort dear Christian as Jesus tells His disciples [John 15.20]: If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. Take the fact of your sufferings on account of the faith as outward evidence/ testimony that you are indeed a Christian. Don’t let it get you down; instead, wear it like a badge of honor. That’s like St. Paul does here in the first part of today’s Epistle—he points to his sufferings on account of Christ to show his opponents that he is truly Christ’s Apostle.
Now in our text, the second part of today’s Epistle, we read: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Here, in modesty, St. Paul refers to himself. He doesn’t say I caught a glimpse of heaven 14 years ago. Instead he says I know a man in Christ. He doesn’t know if he was there just in spirit or in body as well: whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows. But the Lord brought Him to the third heaven, that is into Paradise the abode of the saints and angels in the glorious presence of the holy Triune God; he sees the redeemed souls living in intimate communion with God and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter; this is what each of our Lord’s dear Christians who dies will see/ experience. Paul gets a foretaste taste of the bliss of heaven, lest he despair in the midst of all that he would experience and suffer as our Lord’s apostle.
But having seen/ experienced such a great and blessed thing, what happens? And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to beat me, lest I be exalted above measure.8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.9 And He says to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is being brought to completion in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
The Lord knows Paul best; so that Paul wouldn’t get proud/ conceited, the Lord allowed that messenger/ angel of Satan to harass Paul—what that is, no one knows. So what does Paul do? He prays that the Lord take it away/ keep the angel of the devil from beating him. And what is the Lord’s response? He says to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is being brought to completion in weakness." And so what does Paul do? Most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
How odd it seems to us what Paul says here and in the next verse: When I am weak, then I am strong. But that’s precisely the point we need to keep in mind in our lives; that’s precisely what Christianity is about—our weakness and Christ’s strength; that’s precisely what the upcoming Lenten season will all be about—our weakness and Christ humbling Himself, of Christ making Himself weak so that He may be strong and victorious over our spiritual enemies and that through faith Christ’s strength and victory is ours. Only when we are weak, do we rely on our Lord and His strength. And so our weakness is our strength.
1. This upcoming Lenten season, in particular, is the time for us to see our true spiritual weakness. Every day—but especially in Lent—let us hold our lives up to the mirror of God’s holy Law. There we will see that daily and numerous times throughout the day that we break God’s holy law, that we don’t do the good we should and that we do the evil we shouldn’t. In the light of God’s holy Law not only will we see the sin we commit but we will also then recognize our sinful condition—that from the time we are conceived and born we are sinful—and from that sinful state/ condition—what we call Original Sin—arises all the sins that we commit in thought, word and deed. We recognize our weakness and see that we do not and cannot satisfy God’s holy/ righteous demands. We see that we cannot satisfy God’s holy law. We see that we are never without sin. By that—because of our sinfulness and our sin—we know from God’s holy Law that we have earned and deserve only God’s wrath and damnation now and forever. Even our conscience is the voice of God’s law accusing us and condemning us. Any honest look at ourselves proves to us that we cannot earn God’s favor and heaven.
Examining our hearts and lives in the light of God’s holy law shows us our weakness and inability in things spiritual, in the things of God. It shows us our true inner condition. Even as Christians, who have the Holy Spirit in us leading us and empowering us—we are certainly not free of sin; we must confess as St. Paul did elsewhere [Romans 7. 20]: For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Although we are Christians, we still have our old sinful flesh—that old sinful nature/ self—with us until our dying breath. It never becomes holy and pious. It can only be crucified and drowned by daily repentance—but it is a lively bugger that keeps coming back. Again, even the Christian is weak.
On top of that, like St. Paul, we Christians have that messenger of Satan to beat us; that is, like he did on St. Paul, the devil wages war against us Christians. Not only are we attacked on the inside by our old sinful nature drawing us into sin, leading us into doubt and despair, but the devil attacks us from the outside and works together with our old sinful nature to lead us into temptation and sin. But here there is comfort—although the devil wages war against Christians, trying to destroy them and their faith, God uses that to try/ test/ to purify the faith of His dear Christians. In other words, the messenger of Satan becomes the unwitting tool of God.
So what does all this mean? To be weak is a good thing! God tells Paul in our text: My strength is being brought to completion in weakness. If you will, God wants us weak, that is, He wants us to recognize our weakness. How opposite this is from the world’s way of thinking that tells us we need a good self-image—and certainly weakness can’t be part of it, look to and trust in yourself, you’re really a good person, etc. In other words, spiritually speaking, God wants us weak; it is good to recognize our weakness and inability in the things of God and salvation. Why? So that God and the church can keep us down? Hardly! It’s the opposite!
2.s words to St. Paul: My strength is being brought to completion in weaknesss response: When I am weak, then I am strong. s parable [Luke 18.13]: Lord, be merciful to me the sinner!
The daily attacks of the devil, the messenger of Satan, that the Lord allows even serve this glorious purpose of making us realize our true weakness. The point is not that God wants us to feel bad; it’s just the opposite: He wants to give us true comfort. Just like when you’re sick, a doctor doesn’t just prescribe any medicine but he figures out what is causing the sickness so he can prescribe the right one. So too with God: our troubles, that we are beaten by the messenger of Satan, are not punishments. Instead, God is doing His strange/ foreign work—show us our sin, make us feel His wrath and condemnation—so that He can do His proper work: give us the forgiveness of sins, peace with Him, eternal life and every other heavenly and spiritual blessing.
He is our dear heavenly Father whose every thought and action is in our best interest. He wants to make us aware of our weakness—our sinfulness, our sin, our inability to save ourselves—to drive us to Him; to drive us to Christ and the forgiveness of sins and peace and reconciliation that He freely offers and gives us. How would we be driven to Christ, His work, His forgiveness, the grace of God except first that we feel and recognize our sin and weakness; except first that we simply acknowledge the truth: we are poor miserable sinners who by our sins have earned God’s punishment and wrath. Again, for us to be strong in the Lord, we must first be weak. After all, if we are strong, or think we are strong, what need do we have for our Lord and for the strength He gives us?
But as we feel our weakness and sin, let us turn to what is firm, solid, strong: our Lord’s word and promise— to the Gospel word, to our Baptism, to the absolution, to the Holy Supper. Here God gives and assures us of the forgiveness of sin, life and salvation. Then we are strong indeed. We don’t base our certainty of being in the faith and of our salvation on how we “feel” but we run to our baptism and what God has done for us there: washing away our sin, bringing us into His holy family, connecting us with Jesus and His death and resurrection. We don’t ask ourselves whether we “feel” something, whether we “feel” forgiven, but by faith we rest in God and His promises: when through the pastor Christ says, I forgive you all your sins, by faith we believe and receive it; when we feel our weakness and even our faith becoming weak, we run to the Holy Supper of our Lord for He has here promised us the forgiveness of sin and strengthening of faith. Our weakness is our strength as we feel and recognize it we then run to the Lord for His strength.
What a glorious strength we now have and enjoy and what a glorious peace we have as a result! It is based upon the word and promise of God and the work of Christ. A solid foundation indeed! Certain of the graces and blessings of our Lord, we have the glorious peace and confidence that He is our dear heavenly Father and we are His child and heir of heaven. We are certain that He is with us protecting and helping us in every need and He will preserve us in the faith.
Dear Christian, like St. Paul, let us recognize our weakness and then run to the Lord for His strength; then we are strong indeed—relying on His grace, promise and work. To us the victory is assured as we continue in the grace of God and His Word; then the Holy Spirit can work in us with divine power for when we are weak, then we are strong. Our weakness is our strength. INJ Amen