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.

Boasting in my Weakness

 Read 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Life is good. Life is tough.

Life is rewarding. Life is challenging.

I can see clearly. I don’t know the next step.

I’m on top of the world. I’m carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I am strong. I am weak.  And at my age, my mind says strong and my body says ouch!

I am running the good race. I am down for the count.

I am beaming with confidence in the Lord. I had better keep a low profile today.

I trust in the Lord with all my heart. But I am still swayed by my own understanding.

I am in great health. I ache from my afflictions.

Today’s message begins in Philippians 3.  It was a letter to another church but very much in tune with this part of Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, though time and geography separated the two epistles.

What is the common thread?  Paul said that he had good reason to boast in the things that this world counts as important. Those who opposed Paul were looking to discredit him. Paul said, ok, let’s have a measuring contest.  We will start with resumes.

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;  as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

In his life before professing Jesus and becoming his apostle, Paul—then known mostly by Saul—was a go-getter. He was a rising star. He had been granted authority and his bloodline was established.

He had the inside track on rising to the top.

Even then—at the time he wrote to the church in Corinth—he was an icon in the Christian world and in the Hebrew world alike.  Some might say famous and others might say infamous depending upon where you stood on all this Christ, the Law, and traditions business.

Paul had a resume that boasted for itself. Paul was the man!  You da man, Paul.

Paul didn’t need to bolster his resume. What do I mean?

A week ago, I added the following statement to my resume. It’s good to keep it current.

Assisted government and private entities in profitability.

All that I did was pay for my post office box for another year, but Assisted government and private entities in profitability sounds way better on the resume.

Paul didn’t need to bolster his resume, but God added to it with a preview of heaven—not the sky, not where the stars are, but the highest heaven.

Paul hesitated to share this information because some might think him conceited, but he wasn’t. He counted all of his personal accolades as trash, junk, or manure.

He said that he had no confidence in the flesh, but sometimes your flesh hurts. Sometimes your bones hurt. Sometimes your eyes hurt. Sometimes that arthritis hurts and hurts and hurts. Does anyone have something where the pain or discomfort or uneasiness is just the gift that keeps on giving?

Eventually, we all have something that we think could use some fixin’. Some hurt more than others. Some are constant annoyances. Some come and go but all of us have asked God to fix something or take away our pan at some point.

Sometimes, it seems like God would take away my affliction so I could go about his business. I want to be known as his disciple by my love, just without the aches in my knees or my back or my shoulder, or other parts that hurt from time to time.

I want to be a light unto the world, but I would like to be able to stand up straight and not have to deal with my lower back pain.

I want to take the gospel to this community and to the world, but it would be so much easier without these allergies.

Sometimes, we get the same answers to our requests that Paul did. My grace is sufficient for you. The fact that we are saved from our sins and live in the Lord’s favor is just going to have to be enough in some cases.

Great—well it really is. I’m saved from sin and death. I will be with the Lord for all eternity. Any suffering that I am going through now will be nothing compared to the glory that is to come.

One day we will realize that waiting on God to do things in his time was so worth it.

OK, I get it.  When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing it will be. I get that, I do, but sometimes I need some help in the moment.

Paul’s response to his present suffering—and we can only speculate as to what his affliction was—was unique but applicable to us. The fact that the lack of specifics of the ailment makes it easier to apply across a broader spectrum of trials and challenges in our lives.

He said my resume is like few others—it's top shelf—but I don’t boast in it. I do boast in my weakness. I will say it with a smile on my face and joy in my heart, I am weak.

What kind of mantra is that?  Paul was never going to coach a football team. Hey! Look at me. I am weak. That doesn’t intimidate the opposing team.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 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.

What is Paul saying?  We are not in this alone. God is not a vending machine that dispenses goodies, including healing. He is our companion in this thing called life and sometimes what hurts is just going to keep on hurting so we can get to know our Savior better.

Sometimes, we have to deal with hurt—physical and emotional, pain—mental and physical, separation—physical and spiritual, and stuff that just doesn’t make sense to us.

The stoic would just press on and do his best to ignore the suffering. My observation is that men more often than women are more stoic.  It’s not that men experience combat more than women. It’s that we have to contend with this thing called the man cold. We just tough it out with three or four days in bed and 14 bottles of Nyquil.

God tells us, don’t be the stoic. Be my partner in this thing called life.

God says, watch me work through your weaknesses. In our weakness, we will know God’s strength all the more.

The less that we can do ourselves, the more we rely on God. At least that is the message here.

Some choose hopelessness when it seems that God is not answering your prayers. Understand that God does hear and answer our prayers and sometimes the answer is that his grace is enough.

Sometimes God’s answer is not what we wanted. Sometimes, it’s not even close.  C’mon, God, that wasn’t even close. You are God. How could you miss by so much? Sometimes we don’t get the answer that we wanted.

Why?  Why would God not simply remove this pain or remove this cancer or take care of those payments or restore my vision?

Why?

Let’s understand our premises and foundation for this answer.

1.    God loves you.

2.    God will never leave or forsake you.

3.    God has good plans for you.

Children of God, understand this. When we ask and don’t receive what we asked for, expect God to work in your weakness, situation, or circumstance to bring you where you need to be.

God works in our weakness.

When we feel great, we should boast in the Lord. When something is working against us, we should boast in the Lord.

Sometimes, God removes the pain. Sometimes he works with us in the pain.

Sometimes, God removes the affliction. Sometimes he works with us in our affliction.

Sometimes, God changes the circumstances. Sometimes, he works with us through those circumstances.

Sometimes—no, all the time—we need to embrace the Spirit of God that lives within us in our victories and in our trials and afflictions. Understand:

1.    God loves us.

2.    God is with us.

3.    God is for us.

Keep on asking God to remove the pain or the affliction or the thing causing disruption in your lives, but be ready to put a smile on your face and joy in your heart and press on towards the goal when he says my grace is sufficient for you.

When we ask God to help with our pain or affliction, remember:

1.    God loves you.

2.    All affliction is healed in the age to come.

3.    God will show his strength in our weakness in this present age.

God answers our prayers. Sometimes that answer is my grace is sufficient for you.

We need to be good with my grace is sufficient for you and expect God to work in our weakness. This is a paradox but it is also a divine dynamic that is so powerful when we embrace it.

We need to embrace this divine dynamic. God works in our weakness as he continues to shape us like him.

Sometimes, trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts gets tough. It’s not that we are tougher, but our God is and he is with us and he is for us and he is working in our weakness.

Sometimes, my grace is sufficient for you seems like God doesn’t care, but he does. He loves us and has good plans for us.  We might only be able to see the next step but God sees all the way to whatever light is at the end of the tunnel.

That could be an hour or a day or the rest of our earthly lifetimes, but he knows what we need.  Who would have thought that God would explain this through Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.

You can't always get what you want

But if you try sometimes, well, you might find

You get what you need

Paul had reason to boast in his own resume. He was da man.

Paul chose to boast in his weakness for God was demonstrating his strength through Paul’s affliction.

How about us?

Can we boast, celebrate, seek his kingdom, and know how much God loves us in our strengths and in our weaknesses.

My prayer and my hope is that we can.

I am confident that we can trust the Lord enough for him to work in our weaknesses.

Amen.