Sermon preached by the Rev. Richard Lampert
The 5th Sunday after Pentecost
ARE WE LIKE PAUL? Cor.12.2-10 (Eph.6.10-18)
I’ve always been a great St. Paul fan! I’ve imagined Paul to be so very human (up’s and down’s like me), totally open and honest, back and forth his whole life between his own very strong pride versus God’s Grace and strength. The good and bad news is that Paul had an exceptionally strong will which never readily gave up! I always figured that I was a lot like Paul and that belief gave me strength. Now mind you, I never had any heavenly visions like Paul, but as a young priest some forty years ago I did have a lot of pride and when I went through stages where I used to speak at national conventions, etc. and I began to think that I was pretty hot stuff. Then in July 1975, Molly and I went off to Mexico as Missionaries and a year into the job which I really loved I got very sick with intestional problems. I was scared! Thank God the doctors were eventually able to control it and for most of my life since then it’s not been a problem. Nevertheless, through all the years I’ve always thought of this disease as my, “Pauline thorn in my side.” I’ve always been a big St. Paul fan, partly because of a health condition & also due to my own strong will.
If we look at Paul’s Epistle today what do we really find? We discover two Paul stories and one Godly promise. First, we have Paul’s anger & boastful story about, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was transported up to the third heaven, to paradise.” Paul’s talking about himself in the third person! Commentaries all agree that this vision took place in his missions to Syria and Cilicia; seven years after his conversion on the road to Damascus. Before this letter he had never publicly boasted, but now he’s became so upset over the Corinthian’s “super apostles”, internal boastings, defections and attacks on him so Paul cried out, “You drove me to it; I am not at all inferior to those superlative apostles!” Secondly, then the story says that in order to keep Paul from becoming too prideful about his visions God sends him a messenger from Satan to put “a thorn in his side.” The epistle tells us that Paul pleaded three times to God to take it away, but The Lord refused. Third, we have the Godly Promise: 2 Cor.12.9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” also // Ephesians 6.10-18 “ Put on the full Armor of God…We are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities (in our hearts- our souls).” [ 2 Great Pauline Statements] Paul’s talking about the eternal hu-man struggles , his life-long battles ( + The Corinthians) and our own personal fights and feuds.
One of my favorite writers is the Canadian Baptist, The Rev. Henry T. Blackaby now living in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Henry & Marilynn Blackaby have five grown children all work-ing in full-time Christian ministry. Years ago at Good Shepherd in Venice, I used his book Experiencing God for an adult small groups course and then later on two dear friends gave me his Exper-iencing God Day-By-Day Devotional which I loved. This past Christmas, Molly gave me Blacka-by’s book, Spiritual Leadership which I also really like.. Listen to some of what Henry Blackaby has to say about Paul’s story and boasting and pride and God’s strength in our weakness:
“ Human strength can be a strong deterrant to trusting in Christ. When we rely just on our own strength, resources and knowledge, we assume we can handle situations without any help from God….. So, if you feel especially strong in an area of your life, Beware!” Devotional p. 283 …
In chapter 10 (The Leader’s Pitfalls) of his book on leadership, Blackaby examines the ten most common dangers: Listen!:“Pride may well be the leader’s #1 worst enemy; its subversive, it can be couched in pious terms, creeps into peoples lives and shows up in a variety of disguises…… Pride makes leaders unteachable, think they are self-sufficient and left unchecked it can destroy them!” Spiritual Leadership pp. 230-237
So, am I like Paul? You bet! Are you? What do you think? Are we salvageable? Of course! What can we do?
Here area few suggestions for you and for me: (1) Thank God often and regularly. (neither pride nor anger grow well in the soil of thankfulness); (2) Take care of the confession of your sins and sincerely try to forgive others and yourself; (3) Accept defeats grace-fully. (They hurt terribly, but do move us out of self-centeredness); (4) Laugh at life’s absurdities; laugh at your own! Dear Lord, may You ever direct and rule and sustain our lives! AMEN!