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We Are
Weak; He Is Strong
Exodus
3:7-12; 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 25th
Sunday after Pentecost, Year C A sermon preached at First UMC, DeQueen
on November 18, 2007 by the Revd David S Williams Pool Of Tears Trevor Hudson, a South
African pastor working outside of We come into worship
today with our own “pool of tears.” Some are tears of grief. The recent loss of your loved one keeps you paralyzed by pain. You are in transition trying to acclimate to a new job. You
had to say Good bye to the job you
loved for so many years and it seems things will never be the same. You are filled with deep sadness today,
because you loved Rockey and Cindy deeply. You wish
them well, but you are struggling to accept their loss. Some of our “pool of tears” are tears
of grief. Some are tears of bitterness. The world is not the way it used to be and you
grieve the simplicity of life, the easy acceptance of a general moral standard,
the respect and dignity that were so prevalent toward our elders. Now, it
seems society is “cast a drift,” has lost its moral compass. We live filled
the uneasiness of change and fear of the unknown. You are bitter because of
the war and you are bitter because the family feud is still fuming under your
breath. Life has dealt you a raw deal and it seems that your bitterness
spills out on everyone else. Some of our “pool of tears”
are tears of bitterness. Some are tears of joy. You are welcoming new opportunities in life – a new
career, a recent job promotion, he finally proposed, she found forgiveness
and renewed faith, a new friend, a new ministry. You have come to worship
today with a heart filled with joy and gratitude, thankful for the little things
in life that we all take for granted. Some of our “pool of
tears” are tears of joy. Today is a new day, a day of new beginnings; a new day for our family, and a new day for our
church family. You have had to walk through your own “pool of tears,” saying,
“Good bye” to Rockey and Cindy. The same is true of
our family. We left behind friends, family and a dear faith family in The first night in the
parsonage (a beautiful parsonage by the way), our Hannah cried herself to
sleep as I caressed her hair. Her “pool of tears” was grief – she was missing
her best friend, Cassen. My sense is that most of
the times we are walking into church with shoes
soaking wet because our lives are somehow filled with “a pool of tears”
that represent all or some of these realities – joy, sorrow, and broken bitterness. People’s Pool of Tears Today, we are not alone.
The people of Israel are dog-paddling neck deep in their own
“pool of tears” and they sure hope for the day when things will be different
– when they will be able to walk out on the porch of their own newly
purchased home, sitting on their own nice piece of property, going to a good
job with benefits, with dignity and a fresh outlook on life. They are wishing
for a day of freedom. The story says, “After a long time the king of The Scripture says that
the people of And God heard their cry, remembered and took notice
of them (2:24-25). That is biblical shorthand for God is on the move to act,
to change the situation, to liberate them from bondage. God doesn’t just remember for sake of nostalgia. God’s way of remembering is
getting involved in the suffering
of his people. God hears the
deepest cries of their hearts and
God notices their “pool of tears.” Moses Extraordinary Ministry And this is where the scene in the story turns to one of the most unlikely heroes in all
of Holy Scripture – Moses. Moses is living in his own “pool of tears.”
Moses is a fugitive that has fled from his past, seeking refuge in
the hills of Midian. Midian is the place in life
where we think we can hide from God and from our painful past, but unbeknownst us, God is present in Midian.
Moses is in his daily
routine when God shows up. Isn’t
that like God? It is not always in
the church service, in the rush of accolades, or the feeling of approval by
others that God is present, that
God is blessing. It is in the ordinary pots-and-pans of life, out
rustling the cattle, mopping the kitchen floor, driving to and fro work that God shows up. And God’s presence fills
the ordinary mundane things of life
with the grandeur of holiness, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary.
God calls an ordinary Moses to an extraordinary task. No sooner does God
drop the bomb and tell him God was enlisting him into the ministry of
liberating God’s people – from shepherding
sheep to shepherding God’s people
– that Moses is struck dumb with a series
of excuses why he is the wrong guy for the job title and job responsibilities.
Moses feels inadequate, Moses is a man of few words, Moses is a man who lacks
faith, and Moses simply wishes God would go find someone else to pick on –
someone with more credentials, credibility, and class. Paul Persuasion Against Power In 2 Corinthians, Paul
has been defending his authority as
an apostle of Jesus Christ. The
Corinthians are enamored with credentials, credibility and class. And Paul
apparently was not the most gifted preacher and the most credentialed kind of guy. Paul has not lived up to all their expectations
of “apostleship,” of power and greatness. So Paul boasts to them about an encounter with
someone he knows who had an incredible extraordinary revelation of being raptured into the very presence of God. It’s Paul’s way
of setting himself up against the kind of things that make the Corinthian
community “ooh and awe” – a guy who has had an “out of body experience.” Later, in the text, we
realize that Paul is actually talking about himself. But Paul doesn’t boast
about such spiritual elations. Rather, Paul insists on boasting about his “weaknesses”
(v. 5c). We live in a world hungry for power – from power politics, power
games, power plays and pre-emptive strikes – we live in a world hungry for
power. However, Paul persuades
these Christians with weakness, not
power. How counter-intuitive,
counter-cultural is that? That, of course, is the ministry of Christians – it
is the ministry of the cross. Paul says he was given a
“thorn in the flesh” to keep him humble. And Paul cried out to God three times to take the thorn away,
but God responds, “My grace is
sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). Paul never tells us what
his “thorn in the flesh” was. When serving my first church out of seminary, I
had “two Thornes.” Quite literally, their last
names were “Thorne.” I suppose on this week of Thanksgiving I should be
grateful I only had two not three! Paul never tells us what
his “thorn in the flesh” was – maybe Paul had an arrogant personality, maybe
Paul was tempted continually with lust, maybe Paul struggled internally with
a painful past. Whatever it was, we
don’t know. What we do know is Paul
sat in his own “pool of tears.” And those tears
were transformed into the sweet
fragrance of a ministry of weakness
that was more worthy of boasting
because in weakness the “power” of
God was found. God’s “grace is sufficient” in our weakness. God’s grace is enough. ü
Just when
you thought your spouse would never change – God’s grace is enough. ü
Just when
you thought your children were out of control, no point of return – God’s grace is enough. ü
Just when
you thought you were going to be overcome by your trials and tribulations,
temptation was more than you can bear, you were going to overrun by your
provoking enemies, you were going to drown in your own “pool of tears” – God
says, “my grace is sufficient.” My grace is enough. Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me
so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong. For Christians, God’s power is revealed in weakness.
And the power that Paul is talking about is the power of God revealed at Moses had a weakness and he prayed, “Oh Lord, take
away my task.” Paul had a task and he prayed, “Oh Lord, take
away my weakness.” And God says to
both of them, “My grace is sufficient.”
It is enough. Invitation: Our Ministry of Weakness Maybe that is a good
place for us to begin our ministry together. Not in our strength –
I’m looking forward to learning more about your story, your heritage, your
gifts, graces, your strengths. Often times my motto has been to “soar with my strengths and manage my
weaknesses.” But maybe it should be “I
am weak, He is strong.” I’m convinced it will be
in discovering our weaknesses that
we will learn to lean on God who is
enough. That is where God’s power
is made manifest in our lives. After all, it is God who has called us together, brought us together. So it will be God
who will see us through to the end.
Soon the honeymoon will
be over, we will be wondering just what in the world God has plagued us with
and God will say, “My grace is
sufficient.” Dear people of God, let
us begin by sharing our story, by partnering in the gospel together, by
sharing in the ministry of weakness, where our “pool of tears” meets the God
who says, “My grace is enough.” The best place to accent
our ministry – we are weak; He is
strong. In the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, our
lives have been caught up in the incredible work of your redemptive plan for
the world. But we are overwhelmed by our weakness and we say, “O Lord, take
away our task.” We are privileged to participate in your good and holy work
in the world. But overwhelmed by the task that requires our humility and
persistence we say, “O Lord, take away our weakness.” Give us the grace to
respond to you faithfully, to live our lives fully shadowed by the power of
the cross, and to live our lives bearing the wounds of the Christ who died
and is alive for ever more. For us, that will be enough. In the name of
Jesus. Amen. |
