July 4, 2021                                                                            Text:  2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Have you ever had to list or describe your strengths and weaknesses?  Job interview?  Entrance to college?  In conversation?  With your therapist?  As a Pastor we do a self-evaluation tool that we fill out that churches see if they want to call us. 

Which one is easier for you?  Strengths . . . or . . . weaknesses? 

            In our culture weak is bad and strength is good.  On this July 4^th we don’t shoot off fireworks because we are an inferior nation.  We celebrate because we have freedom and the strongest military in the world.  Because of who we are as Americans we try to cover our weaknesses.

            St. Paul says in our text that he can boast in weakness.  Huh?  Let’s see if that is true . . .

“IS THE POWER OF CHRIST IN OUR WEAKNESS?”

            We could give a sermon today where we kind of skirt the issue.  You know talk in generalities about strengths and weaknesses and not try to pontificate on Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.”  We could do that but that is not what you expect from your Pastor in a sermon.  Let’s actually see an example of the power of Christ in our weakness.

            One of my strengths is self-evaluation.  Like Paul I know my weaknesses and the “thorn in the flesh” that has caused me the most grief in life.  This comes as no surprise to our friends from Shawnee, Kansas here this morning or to many of you but the answer is my competitiveness.  What is interesting about this weakness is that at times it’s a strength.

            Paul knew this.  He needed no annual review.  He could be proud of what he accomplished.  Intelligent.  A way with words.  Preaching to thousands.  That can all go to your head.  But his background and “thorn the flesh” kept him humble.  In his weakness he could boast about Christ crucified.  This ailment was annoying.

            Ever had a splinter?  Bothersome.  They can get infected.  At our house Dr. Lueck would go to work with needle, tweezers and someone holding a flashlight.  The thorn in the flesh would be removed.

            Paul is talking about something a little more serious.  Was it opposition to his ministry?  A temptation he couldn’t overcome?  A physical problem?  It was a serious impediment because Paul prayed three times to God to remove it. 

            Paul felt it a distraction and he would be better off without it.  But God saw it differently.  God knows if nothing every goes wrong in our lives, why would we need Him?  We’d think we could make it on our own.

            I’ve been competitive as far as I know since birth.  It has at times been a distraction.  Turning over the Candyland game when losing to my sister.  Technical fouls in basketball.  Umpires and coaches and parents and loved ones giving me lectures.  I know how I got to this point.  It was ingrained in me when my uncle, now a District President in the LCMS, was studying to be a Pastor and he lived with us during my junior high years.  He and his seminary buddies were competitive.  I would play basketball with them and they would slap the walls and react to missed shots.  My thoughts:  these guys were going to be Pastors!  I had never seen this from my own Pastor.  It made an impression.

            These thorns in the flesh cannot be dug out with needle and tweezers.  They are there because we are weak, sinful people living in fallen world.  Can you relate?

            Jesus Christ, the Son of God, put on our weak human form to make the payment demanded for sin.  Jesus humbled Himself.  Born of woman, He became weak.  Weak enough to die.  Paul said in 1 Corinthians that the world saw the cross as weak and foolish.  Even in weakness, God is stronger than man’s strength.  Jesus accomplished what no weak man or woman could.  He made atonement, paid for our sins.  The thorns on his head and the spikes holding Him to the cross won our salvation.  In becoming weak, Christ conquered Satan and sin for all time.  On Easter, He defeated death for each of us, once and for all.

            Let’s get back to our sermon question.  Paul writes in verse 9, “But he (The Lord) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  Paul’s weakness in some ways helped his ministry.  He stayed humble.  He stayed focused.  He let the message of Christ dominate and He never took His blessings for granted.

            My weakness as I said can be a strength.  By making everything a competition, the Holy Spirit helps me stand strong in God’s Word.  It gives a voice when needed.  I’m not afraid to mix it up if that is what is called for.  Then two things have happened in the last few years.  People who have competed with me or seen me at games have remarked how this competitive nature has let them see this weakness and how they appreciate that I am a human being.  Things come full circle because these comments came from young men studying to become Pastor’s.

            So yes the power of Christ is in our weakness.  He can use it for His good.  Like Paul, we all want to do better in our weakness.  But our amazing Savior uses even this for His glory.  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect – perfect – in weakness.”

                                                Amen.   

June 27, 2021                                                                                  Text:  Lamentations 3:22-33

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Between 1931 and 1935, the Hoover Dam was constructed.  If you walk along the dam you can see the dam’s face on one side and Lake Mead on the other.  The combination of power and productivity is seen clearly.

            What do you notice about the timing of its construction?  It was built during the Depression.  Men traveled from all over to work on this project – 47 different states in all – and we only had 48 then.  Out of national suffering came what was the tallest dam at the time and the largest hydroelectric plant in the world.  In the midst of suffering, people saw great power and wonderful work.

            Our text for this morning offers a glimpse of God’s great power and work in the midst of suffering.  Israel has been exiled to Babylon; Jerusalem has had a siege against her with her walls and temple torn down.  We then get this voice of lament.  In the middle of the book is an amazing revelation about God’s faithfulness.  Let’s meditate on this text and see that in the midst of our suffering . . .

“GREAT IS GOD’S FAITHFULNESS”

            When we suffer, our grief has many voices.  The same is true of Scripture.  The Book of Lamentations has five laments with each one being different.  Our text is part of the third lament. 

            This third lament is personal.  It is the cry of a man who has seen suffering.  He has seen people exiled.  He has seen God’s judgment on his people.  The man is grief stricken over what he has observed.

            His grief is such that he speaks about God not to God.  He can’t speak to God because physically, mentally, emotionally, this man has experienced the judgment of God and reached the point where his endurance and his hope from the Lord have perished. 

            Have you ever gotten to that point?  The suffering is so overwhelming that you figure God isn’t listening, so why bother?  The hurt so intense that the Creator can’t do anything for me?  You lament your troubles and internalize them until you are ready to burst and not in a positive way.

            The man in our text is there but what we see in Lamentations is what the man remembers.  The love of God never ceases.  His mercies never end.  The Lord is the portion he can put his hope in.  God restores this relationship and the man can speak to God rather than about Him.  The man says, “Great is yourfaithfulness.” (v. 23)  Not great is God’s faithfulness.  Great is your faithfulness.  God is not going to forsake His covenant.  He comes near to the man in faithfulness and love.

            What do people do today?  They read God according to their lives.  God’s love is measured by their life experiences.  If God has delivered them from suffering, then He is powerful.  If God has blessed business or family then He is loving.  If life begins to break down, however, so does their God.  The rabble-rousers of our world fall into this category.  They may not believe in God or the church but who gets the vile words spilled against them?  They lament against others and God because someone has to take the blame.  Why are they so angry and hateful?  Because they are not comfortable with who they are.  They need our prayers.

            There are times we may not be comfortable with ourselves.  But we don’t waver in faith because of life experiences.  We hope in God because He is love and compassion and mercy and faithfulness.  In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus God showed all of these traits.  In love, He died for you.  In compassion, he sympathizes with your weaknesses.  In mercy, He forgives your sin.  In faithfulness, He is always with you to the very end.  It is all of that that brought you here today and will go home with you.

            There is a plaque at Hoover Dam created by Oskar J.W. Hansen to commemorate the workers who died as the dam was constructed.  It pictures the dam, and in front of it is the figure of a man.  His arms are outstretched, and he rises above the water.  Above him a symbol of the electrical power provided by the dam and then, extending outward to both sides, are stalks of wheat, clusters of grapes, gourds, and the fruits of the earth.  Across the middle of the plaque are the words, “They died to make the desert bloom.”

            This plaque calls to mind the human sacrifice involved in creating this center of power and productivity for our country.  Christians have a symbol that calls to mind an even greater sacrifice that brings greater power and productivity to all creation.  That symbol is the cross.  When Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross, He bore the sins of the world and the curse that had fallen on creation.  Dying under the burden of sin, Jesus broke its power, and rising from the dead, He brings life to all who trust in Him.  Life from death.  Joy from sorrow.  A new creation from a fallen world.  Of Him, it may truly be said, “He died to make the desert bloom.”

            Great is God’s faithfulness.                 Amen.