Proper 9, Yr B (2024) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
Proper 9, Yr B (2024) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.
There is a line in today’s Scripture passages that jumped out to me.
These are the words Paul recounts that God said to him:
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power
is made perfect
in weakness.”
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”
I’m guessing we all give thanks for God’s Grace,
and we’d rather do without weakness.
I share with you a story told by fellow preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor:
“It is a true story, about a woman whose life was coming apart at the seams.
“When one of her friends told her about a silent retreat at a nearby convent,
she decided to give it a try.
“She had never done anything like that before.
“Once she arrived, she received her room assignment
and was standing in the dormitory elevator with her suitcase in her hand
when a short, plump nun stepped inside with her.
“The woman pressed the button for the fourth floor.
“The nun pressed the button for the third floor.
“Then the nun said,
‘What brings you to us, my dear?’
and the woman spilled her guts.
‘My mother has just died,
I think my father may be an alcoholic,
my marriage is falling apart,
and I feel like I am going crazy.’
“Before she could say any more,
the elevator went ‘ding’
and the doors opened.
“The nun gave the woman a funny little smile.
‘God must love you very much.’ she said,
and disappeared through the closing doors.”
(BBT in Home By Another Way, pp 168-9)
What?!
God must love her very much?
What in the world does that mean?
We don’t normally consider a string of catastrophes as a sign of God’s love,
but somehow that nun was certainly making some connection.
In today’s epistle reading,
Paul seems to be making a similar connection.
As he finished up his laundry list of horrible things that have happened to him,
he also concludes that God must love him very much.
Now, I must say that personally I do not believe that God afflicts us to teach us lessons.
I believe that we suffer any number of calamities,
either at our own hand or at the hands of others,
because we have not yet learned how to truly love ourselves or others,
whether in principle or in practice.
But, I do think that in the midst of our hardship and suffering,
we can lean into those words that Paul recounts from God:
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”
Today’s reading from 2nd Corinthians is actually quite humorous.
Paul is boasting while claiming to not be boasting!
Not a surprising claim for Paul.
He is speaking about “a person,”
who is actually Paul himself,
who was caught up in the third heaven and has “exceptional revelations.”
And, he’s man enough to admit that because of his human tendency to think more of himself than he should, that he suffers a “thorn” in his side which keeps him humble.
He begs of God three times to remove the thorn, and God’s response is:
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.”
In other words, God says,
It’s not all about you and what you can accomplish, Paul.
It’s about my Grace, and you are a vehicle of that Grace.
These are words I think we can all lean into…
to keep us both humble and strong at the same time.
Paul’s “thorn”…his suffering in his flesh, whatever it may be,
keeps him grounded,
it keeps him from being disconnected from those around him,
it keeps him humble.
So, Paul says,
he will boast of his weakness
so that the power of Christ may be manifest in him.
Power is made perfect in weakness.
Our scriptures this morning also tell us that power is made perfect in humility.
2nd Samuel contrasts Saul as a “king over us”
with David, who is a shepherd king…
a king of lower estate who leads the people to have their needs met
and who protects them from danger.
In today’s gospel, Jesus - dismissed by the arrogance of most in his hometown –
sends out the disciples two by two,
equipped with nothing but each other, sandals, and one tunic…
in other words, equipped in utter humility and dependence upon God and their hosts.
Jesus sends them out to enflesh the healing power and Grace of God.
And they do!
They cast out many demons and cured many who were sick.
“My grace is sufficient for you,” God says,
“for power is made perfect in weakness.”
Each one of us has some thorn:
something that keeps us grounded,
keeps us humbled,
and keeps us connected with those around us.
It may be a physical illness,
an emotional trauma,
a spiritual wilderness
or some form of isolation or disconnection.
However, our thorns are opportunities for us to recognize our humanity –
our finiteness –
and realize our dependence upon God and others.
Our thorns also give us the opportunity to understand the pain of others
and to offer our support, comfort, counsel, love, and grace.
Without our thorns,
without our weaknesses,
we come to rely only on ourselves.
We come to think too highly of our own power and abilities.
We become frightened at the vicissitudes of life.
We lose sight of our need for God and for each other.
It is often not until the world seems to fall down around us,
that we then turn away from ourselves toward God.
It is then that we become aware of God’s abiding presence,
aware that God’s grace really is sufficient for us,
that power is made perfect in weakness
and that God really does love us very much.
As we go forth into our week ahead,
I pray that each of us may feel wrapped in God’s love,
knowing that God can work in and through us more than we can ask or imagine,
being fully aware that God’s grace is indeed sufficient.
AMEN.
