Just As I Am (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)

Just As I Am (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)

1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.

2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.

3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—

4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.

5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.

6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say,

7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

10 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.

In this world, there are those who are strong and those who are weak, those with much knowledge and those lacking in education, those with great wealth and those in poverty. Some boast of their possessions, others of their education, and still others of their power. The weak, however, have nothing to boast about. Boasting has become the privilege of the strong. Yet, the Apostle Paul boasts of his weaknesses and flaws. Paul's boasting is not about his children, spouse, success, money, or strength. Surprisingly, Paul boasts about his weaknesses.

The Corinthian church was founded by Paul. However, after he left, self-proclaimed apostles entered and distorted the gospel Paul had so diligently preached. These false teachers were so eloquent that the Corinthian believers began to favor their teachings over Paul's. Paul firmly calls their teachings "a different gospel," but their influence continued to grow. They even attacked Paul personally, claiming he was unattractive, inarticulate, and unqualified for apostleship. In 2 Corinthians 13, we see that when Paul revisited the Corinthian church, they personally insulted him. Paul expresses his frustration by saying he is "not in the least inferior to the 'super-apostles'" and mentions his vision of the third heaven, but quickly dismisses these things as worthless and states that he will only boast about his weaknesses.

It's easy for people to boast about their strengths and abilities. Most people unknowingly promote and boast about themselves. However, revealing one's flaws is not easy. Who would want to expose their shortcomings and risk ridicule or contempt from others? Even Paul pleaded with God three times to remove his "thorn in the flesh" because it had become a source of mockery. We tend to want to boast about our strengths rather than our weaknesses.

So why does Paul not only acknowledge his shortcomings but even consider them something to boast about? How can Paul willingly accept his weaknesses and view them as God's "anti-pride measures" for him?

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ... But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross suggests that we go through five stages before accepting death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Paul went through similar stages with his "thorn in the flesh," ultimately reaching acceptance and viewing it as God's grace.

The Bible doesn't portray humans as inherently strong or righteous. We are weak and prone to evil. Yet people often put on a facade of strength and righteousness. Paul says that weak humans "become strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10). Similarly, Isaiah describes Jesus as one without strength:

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain." (Isaiah 53:2-3)

Jesus became strong and courageous through complete obedience and dependence on God in his weakness. That's why Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 13:4, "For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him in our dealing with you."

God's grace and love reside in our flaws and weaknesses. Jesus told a parable about those who considered themselves righteous and looked down on others: The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, "God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector" (Luke 18:11). But the tax collector beat his chest and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13). Jesus said that the tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified before God.

Jesus came to save us because of our weaknesses, not to dominate us. He came to call sinners to repentance and make them children of God, not to call the righteous. The strong do not need God, but the weak thirst for his help.

What can we boast about before God or people? Our children, money, or education? We have nothing to boast about before God. Who can say they don't have a thorn in the flesh like Paul did? Can we stand confidently before God? If we have nothing to show before God and people, let's instead confess our weaknesses before God. He will turn our weaknesses into his grace. God is and always will be the God of the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the powerless, and the weak.

Paul boasted in his weaknesses and pleaded with God three times to remove them. However, he came to realize that his weakness itself was grace. We all have thorns: in our bodies, relationships, hearts, and faith lives. Our pride is often hurt, and we lose face. Sometimes, looking at our flaws makes us feel like we're living in hell. This is our true state. But God reaches out to us even in this hell-like reality.

We cannot acknowledge our weaknesses or reconcile with our dark sides on our own. Only God can do that. Even though I have many flaws, nothing special about me, and nothing admirable, God loves me as I am. He has compassion on me in my weakness. Paul didn't suddenly start boasting about his weaknesses on his own; God made it possible. A close look at the Bible shows that Paul wasn't the only one who prayed three times. Jesus also prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." God didn't grant Jesus' request either. Jesus couldn't compromise with the cross he had to bear. While Jesus prayed three times, sweating drops of blood, God calmly enabled him to pray, "Yet not as I will, but as you will." Afterward, Jesus, in the form of a weak lamb, was led by people to be crucified, crying out, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" and died.

But God raised this weak human Jesus from the dead. Yes, it is in such weakness that humans are strengthened by God's grace. When humans depend on God and seek his love in their weakness, they are strong though they seem weak. This is because we live not by our own strength, but by the power of Christ. It's not us, but God himself working through us. That's why the Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthian church:

"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." (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Jesus' life, which seemed infinitely weak and a failure, did not end with the cross. If the cross were Jesus' final event, the Bible would be a story about a man named Jesus who lived bravely against contradictory social structures. The resurrection is the climax and final chapter of Jesus' life.

What stage are you in now? Are you denying that you could die? Are you angry with God? Are you trying to bargain with God? Are you depressed and discouraged? Are you confessing that everything is God's grace? Neither Paul nor Jesus could say "my thorn in the flesh, the cross I must bear, is the Father's will and grace for me" in one go. It took at least three prayers to reach that point. Let's meditate on Psalm 119:92 and meet the God hidden in Paul's and Jesus' weakness:

"If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction."

We have never done anything that pleases you.

In fact, we didn't have the ability to do so.

We promised to be faithful when you showed us grace.

But we have never faithfully kept our promises to you.

We were lazy and idle,

and we clung to things that were of no help to our lives.

In fact, we couldn't live any other way.

We are humans with many flaws,

people with numerous thorns.

"Lord, accept us as we are."

Through the grace you bestow on the weak,

may you alone receive glory.