It Would Have Been Enough

 

Read 2 Corinthians 12

Extra Reading: Dayenu: It Would Have Been Enough

So, we come to the words, “My grace is sufficient for you.” You will hear more on that in the next service, but let’s do a little background work first.

God gave these words to Paul. Do you think he was surprised?

He shouldn’t have been. I will take you two places this morning. The first is a glimpse at Psalm 136. We have done this before in antiphonal format as it was written, usually with me reading the lead and the congregation responding with, “His love endures forever.” It will sound familiar.

Psalm 136

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods.

His love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords:

His love endures forever.

That’s the antiphonal format—the call and answer. You know when I mention that I have these conversations with God. They are mostly on my walks and sometimes on a long drive. I ask in my mind and he answers via the same routing.

I get to ask whatever I want. Sometimes, I know exactly what the response is. Sometimes, I’m surprised.

The psalms encourage us to have out loud conversations with God, about God, or about God's mighty acts—you get the drift. They are aloud and generally spoken among a group of believers.

Paul knew the psalm and the antiphonal format. He was also a Jew and a Hebrew, and he knew the Dayenu. It was a significant recounting of the Exodus of Israel  in verse or song.

Dayenu (“It Would Have Been Enough”) is a song traditionally sung during the telling of the story of Exodus at the Passover seder. The song’s stanzas list a series of kindnesses God performed for the Jewish people during and after the Exodus and concludes each with the word dayenu — “it would have been enough.”

I thought that most of the antiphonal stuff from the Old Testament was done marching to the temple, but I watched the current season of The Chosen—at least the season you don’t have to pay extra for to see it as soon as it’s released—and loved the presentation.

Each disciple sat around the table and led one part. That means every disciple knew every part, as every Hebrew should have. Here is how it goes.

If He had taken us out of Egypt and not made judgments on them, it would have been enough for us.

If He had made judgments on them and had not made them on their gods; it would have been enough for us.

If He had made them on their gods and had not killed their firstborn, it would have been enough for us.

If He had killed their firstborn and had not given us their money, it would have been enough for us.

If He had given us their money and had not split the Sea for us, it would have been enough for us.

If He had split the Sea for us and had not taken us through it on dry land, it would have been enough for us.

If He had taken us through it on dry land and had not pushed down our enemies in the Sea, it would have been enough for us.

If He had pushed down our enemies in [the Sea] and had not supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years, it would have been enough for us.

If He had supplied our needs in the wilderness for forty years and had not fed us the manna, it would have been enough for us.

If He had fed us the manna and had not given us the Shabbat, it would have been enough for us.

If He had given us the Shabbat and had not brought us close to Mount Sinai, it would have been enough for us.

If He had brought us close to Mount Sinai and had not given us the Torah, it would have been enough for us.

If He had given us the Torah and had not brought us into the land of Israel, it would have been enough for us.

If He had brought us into the land of Israel and had not built us the ‘Chosen House’ [the Temple], it would have been enough for us.

Sourced from https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/dayenu-it-would-have-been-enough/

So when Paul asked God to take away his affliction and God told him that My grace is sufficient—enough—for you, do you think he was surprised?

Nor should we be surprised in our current reading.  This grace that we have is a sufficient answer to our every prayer. It’s not always the answer that we want, but it is always sufficient.

It is always enough.

This week, consider the fact that even if God never answered a single prayer the way we wanted him to, it would still be enough.

There’s something to chew on.

Let’s chew on it in the context of “My grace is enough for you.’

Amen.