Being Real in an Instagram World

Father, we, your word, Father, teaches us that we flatter ourselves too much to detect or hate our own sin,

that we do not see the true condition of our own hearts.

And so, Father, we ask that you would bring your gospel home very clearly to us this morning,

that we would have a better grasp of what your Son did for us to make us right with you and to make us your children.

And as we are gripped, Father, by the gospel, may you also reveal to us the true state of our hearts,

that we might turn to you for amendment of life, for wholeness and for freedom,

that in our day-to-day lives we might bring you glory.

And all this we ask, Father, as you pour out your Holy Spirit, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Please be seated.

It's funny how many times I think about this fellow who, I think it was one of my last summer jobs before I was ordained.

I had a job working with a master painter, and we were in a big building,

and we went to one of the part of the building, you know, where there's all the heating units

and the air conditioning units and all of that type of stuff that virtually nobody ever goes to,

and we had to paint it.

And I was his assistant helping him.

And he liked taking long breaks.

And one of his, he very early on, somehow or another, I can't remember now how that happened,

but he discovered that I was a Christian.

And so for the whole summer, he would sort of grill me on it.

And, but one of the things that he kept going on over and over and over and over again,

especially if I brought in some type of argument or reason to deal with his objection,

he would say, you know, I just don't understand this God that you talk about.

Like, why doesn't he just give me a vision of him or just a vision of heaven or something like that?

If he just gave me some type of vision or something like that, then I would believe in him.

Why doesn't he do that?

You know, through the years, if I had a dollar for every person who said something like that to me,

well, I wouldn't be able to buy a house or a car.

It doesn't happen that much.

But I'd have quite a few really good state dinners somewhere

if I had a dollar for every time a person's asked me that.

And maybe some of you are thinking about that.

And I don't know if you noticed,

but the Bible text that Ken read in 2 Corinthians,

actually the Bible tells us why God doesn't do that.

So it'd be a great help to me and a help to yourselves if you open your Bibles

and turned to 2 Corinthians chapter 12.

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

Open your Bibles and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 12.

2 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

And we're going to start looking at the first verse

because the Bible, in a very, very powerful way,

addresses this particular question.

And once again, if you don't have your own Bible,

you can get that one there or you can just listen along.

So, and just so you know where it is in the course of the letter,

we're coming to the end of the text.

In fact, one of the verses that we're going to read today,

most scholars say it's the basic message of the entire letter.

In fact, I'll just tell you what it is right now,

that most scholars, when they study this letter,

they say if you want to pick up one short little sentence

that describes everything that Paul's trying to do

in this part of the Bible, it's,

my grace is sufficient for you,

for my power is made perfect in weakness.

But just in the context,

Paul is in the middle of what's called the fool's speech.

Just last week, we looked at how he said,

I'm going to play the fool.

And I'm going to play the fool and talk like a fool

and boast like a fool.

And Paul is doing it in the hope that by acting like a fool,

he'll sort of puncture the problems

and the opponents that he has in that church.

Because he's dealing with a group of people

who are very good looking.

Just think of George Clooney.

And they're very suave.

They're cultured.

They're sophisticated.

They know how the culture works.

And they've come into the church

and they're very impressive,

very well-educated, very well-spoken.

You know, they don't have a hick accent,

but they have a cultured, well-educated accent,

good diction,

very, very clever and smooth with words.

And they're trying to get the church

to be more culturally accommodating.

And they're also trying to get at the same time,

the church not only to be more accommodating

to the pagan culture that they live in,

but he's trying to encourage them

to take on rules and regulations

which they claim really go back

to a better way to understand

what we call the Old Testament.

And so they're trying to give them new rules

and new regulations to really up their life.

And the third thing that they're doing

is they want to go on and on

about the visions they've had.

And that's what we're going to see.

So that's where we are in the letter.

He's halfway through his full speech.

And that's why it begins like this.

He says, I must go on boasting.

See, by the way, you know, context is so important.

Like if you come across somebody who's going on boasting,

they say, no, I'm just following the Bible.

In 2 Corinthians 12, 1, it says, I must go on boasting.

No, if you go back a little bit,

he says, I'm going to be a fool

and I'm going to talk like a fool.

It's a full speech, okay?

I must go on boasting.

Though there is nothing to be gained by it,

I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.

I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago

was caught up to the third heaven.

Just pause here.

This is a poetic way of referring to the highest heaven.

In a moment, we're going to see the word paradise,

which is sort of another way of saying the third heaven.

And it's where God actually is.

It's like going to the throne of God,

where God is, and the image of paradise

that we're going to see in a moment.

It's a lone word from another culture

that really is a way of saying like the Garden of Eden.

So it's trying to say that he's like the Garden of Eden

that's in heaven where God walks with people.

That's where I've been.

Okay, it's just some poetic language.

We'll read up again verse 2.

I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago

was caught up to the third heaven,

whether in the body or out of the body,

I do not know, God knows.

And I know that this man was caught up into paradise,

whether in the body or out of the body,

I do not know, God knows.

And he heard things that cannot be told,

which man may not utter.

And just sort of pause there for a second.

It's not immediately obvious here in the English,

but in the original language,

the idea is that God told him

he's not allowed to speak about it.

So it's not that he can't find words,

but that God told him after the vision

that you're not allowed to talk about it,

what you've seen and heard.

Verse 5.

On behalf of this man, I will boast,

but on my own behalf,

I will not boast except of my weaknesses.

Though if I should wish to boast,

I would not be a fool,

for I would be speaking the truth.

But I refrain from it,

so that no one may think more of me

than he sees in me or hears from me.

And just sort of pause for a second.

I don't know if you've noticed,

it's very subtle,

and he's going to make it clear

in the very next sentence.

This man that he's talking about is himself.

So here we have the very thing

that I would say hundreds of people to me.

There would not be a year

where I don't have four or five or six people

tell me if God wants me to believe in him.

Why don't you just give me something

like a powerful vision,

like, you know, of him or of heaven,

or just something like that,

some type of vision or revelation.

You know, every year I have people

who say that to me

once we get into a conversation

and they find out that I'm a Christian.

And so here we see that

Paul is claiming that he had that very thing.

In fact, he's had more than one of them.

And so the question can be,

well, okay, if Paul had them,

and it's really odd that if Paul had them

that God told him he wasn't allowed

to talk about it,

but George, if it happened to Paul,

why can't it happen to me?

Why can't it happen to me?

Well, Paul goes on to talk about it.

And just note the first thing.

He says, verse seven,

so to keep me from becoming conceited

because of the surpassing greatness

of the revelations,

a thorn was given me in the flesh,

a messenger of Satan.

Some of you already,

you're a bit nervous about this.

to harass me,

to keep me from becoming conceited.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this,

that it should leave 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

of my weaknesses

so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Now, it's a very, very,

it's a very curious thing, isn't it?

And just first of all,

let's just,

okay, you know,

I, you know,

God humbles me up here all the time

and it could,

it probably is the case

that I'm vastly more wicked

than everybody here.

But if you're,

if many of us are honest,

if we had a choice

to spend five minutes reading the Bible,

where God said,

you'd have five minutes reading the Bible

or five minutes of a vision of heaven,

what would we pick?

Unless I'm the only wicked person in the room,

I would pick the vision from heaven.

So you see,

on one hand,

part of the reason that we're so troubled

when people say to us,

if God wants us to believe me

and to believe in him,

why doesn't he give me some type of vision?

Part of the reason we're so troubled with that

is that we agree with them.

If you could put up the first point,

Andrew,

if we're honest,

the Bible and the gospel

seem weak and paltry

compared to my own vision of heaven.

And if those of you who've read,

I think it's called

A Series of Unfortunate Events,

by paltry, I mean,

by paltry, I mean,

weak, thin, gruel,

not very much,

very, very little.

That's what paltry sort of means.

I just had to throw it in.

But the Bible and the gospel

seem weak and paltry

compared to my own vision of heaven,

of me being able to have

a vision of heaven,

or a vision of God,

or of angels,

or of the supernatural,

or of the spiritual.

If we're honest,

that's how we think as Christians.

You see,

this is the wonderful thing

about the Bible,

that when you actually think about it

and meditate upon it,

all of a sudden,

not only is it going to be answering

a question that others pose to you,

it actually is starting

to pierce our own hearts

and reveal to ourselves

something about ourselves

that we did not know before.

In fact,

if you could put up the next thing,

Andrew,

here's the issue.

Remember in verse 7,

it says,

so to keep me from being conceited

because of the surpassing greatness

of the revelations,

a thorn was given me in the flesh,

a messenger of Satan asked me

to keep me from being conceited.

In the Bible,

when something said twice like that

so close,

it means we're supposed

to pay attention.

And here's the second thing,

private revelations and visions

make me think I'm superior.

You know,

that's what happened to Paul.

He started to think

he was superior to other people,

that he was better than other people,

that God loved him

more than other people,

that not only that he just

had this vision,

but it probably meant

he thought he had

far better views on politics,

on food,

on all sorts of things,

because that's what happens

when we get conceited,

when we're full of pride.

And, you know,

that's one of the reasons

why Paul says in the text,

if you just go up a little bit

here in the text,

in verse 6,

though if I should wish to boast,

I would not be a fool,

for I would be speaking the truth,

but I refrain from it,

so that no one may think

more of me than he sees in me

or hears from me.

You see,

it's,

because one of the things,

I've met people

who claim to have

many, many visions

and stuff like this,

and here's one of the

characteristics of a lot of them,

not all of them,

but a lot of them,

their lives are a train wreck.

Their lives are a train wreck.

And in many cases,

if you were to ask me,

would you like to go

on a drive to Armprior with them,

if you're from out of town,

that's like a 45 or 50 minute drive,

I'd say no.

No.

And so,

but often people who've had

or claim to have these visions,

or maybe they have,

and, you know,

because God did it to Paul,

he can do it.

But what they want

is they don't want us

to look at what they actually say

and how they actually,

what they actually say

and what they actually do.

They want us to somehow

evaluate them

as, in fact,

being somehow superior

because of the vision.

You see,

it's a human problem.

It's a human problem

that Christians share

because the problem

of being conceited

is a Christian problem

and a Muslim problem

and a Hindu problem

and a Buddhist problem

and a secular problem

and an atheist problem.

It's a human problem.

But let me tell you,

it stinks

very deeply

for a Christian

to be conceited.

And so here's the thing

as well

about this same idea,

right?

If the Bible

and the Gospel

seem weak and paltry

compared to my own

vision of heaven

and if private revelations

and visions

make me think

that I am superior,

hope that says,

yeah, okay.

Then here's the third thing

if you could put it up,

Andrew.

The Gospel

and the Bible

are an open,

public revelation

from God

which humbles me.

Go back

to that first thing.

Okay, George,

God says to me,

you want five minutes

reading my word

or five minutes

of a vision?

vision,

you know,

because,

you know,

often God,

the Bible

puts me to sleep,

God.

It does not get me

all fired up.

And here's part

of the problem.

You see,

the Gospel

and the Bible

are an open,

public revelation

from God

which humbles me.

The other day

I was in a meeting

and I know there's

a lot of lawyers

in the room.

I was going to give

this example anyway,

even if there were

no lawyers in the room.

So I'm not picking on you

but I was in a meeting

with a lawyer

and it turned out

that there was a bit

of a question

amongst the committee

meeting that runs

an organization

as to what was legal

or not

and he said

what he thought

he gave,

he told us.

And so I then said,

you know,

I always,

I hate being in a room

in a meeting

where there's only

one lawyer present

because in my experience

if you have

one lawyer present

he or she

will tell you

what the law says

and we all think

well the law is

pretty esoteric

what are we going

to say against

a lawyer

and we go along

with it.

But in my experience

when there's two lawyers

in the room

they disagree

about what the law says

and everybody

in the room laughed

and then the lawyer

who was a really good fellow

he said,

George,

you got that wrong

and he said

when there's one lawyer

in the room

he gives you a ruling

when there's two lawyers

in the room

they give you three opinions.

And part of the issue

is,

you see,

is that for many of us

law is esoteric.

It seems like

there's lots of big books

and then if you get

whatever number

of big books

there are for the law

if you go for

government regulations

you can like

triple it

or make it ten times

with a number

and who can read it all

so it's very esoteric.

But you see,

here's the thing

and visions are very esoteric

it's special knowledge,

right?

But the thing

about the Bible

is it's a public

open revelation

from God

that in that Sunday

school class

two-year-olds

are having the Bible

read to them.

They don't even know

how to read

but they can hear

the Bible

they can learn it.

And,

you know,

it's one of the great

problems for theologians

and pastors

is they can give

their great learned

things about

what's going on

in the Bible.

And then over coffee

you know,

some working class

guy or gal

who hasn't finished

grade 10

can say,

well,

George,

that was all

very interesting

but in this text

it says this.

And it can be humbling

because the Bible

and the gospel

is an open

public revelation

from God

for us

to read

and to hear

for the illiterate

and for the literate.

And right from

the early days

of the New Testament

because of Jesus'

command to go

into all of them

every single people

group on the planet

and tell them

about Jesus

and make disciples

teaching them

to obey

all that I have

told you

and from that

from the very,

very early days

the early Christians

understood that

they were to

translate the Bible

into the words

of the people group

and not have

the people group

have to learn

their language

because it's

a public

open revelation

from God

which humbles us.

It's the complete

opposite almost

of any type

of a vision

which is private.

So that's

exactly here

what's going on

in the text.

But now some of you

might say

well George

okay that's

very, very interesting

but you know George

you often do this

it seems.

What about the thorn?

What about the messenger

of Satan?

Like let's just be honest

it's not just Christians

but for many, many,

many, many people

in our culture

we have a great

there is a great fear

that if you get

too close to God

God will tell you

to do something

like wear a suicide vest

and blow people up.

God will tell you

to go and shoot people

in a mosque

or a church

that God will tell you

to behead somebody

in a bus

like it is a great

great fear

in our culture.

And some of us

can just easily imagine

what it would be like

if we went back

to our university

or our workplace

and we were to read

this text

and the people

in the office

might not feel comfortable

but if they noticed

if they hadn't fallen asleep

they'd go

whoa

a thorn in the flesh

a messenger of Satan

they'd miss all that

other conceited stuff

it would be an elephant

in the room.

So George

what about that?

Well let's look at it again

look at verse 7

so to keep me

from being conceited

because of the surpassing

greatness of the revelations

a thorn

was given me

in the flesh

a messenger of Satan

to harass me

to keep me

from becoming conceited.

Three times

I pleaded with the Lord

about this

that it should leave 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

of my weaknesses

so that the power

of Christ

may rest upon me

for the sake of Christ

then I am content

with weaknesses

insults

hardships

persecutions

and calamities

in other words

he's just described

his thorn

we'd say

George

weaknesses

insults

hardships

persecutions

and calamities

are not a thorn

that actually

the word thorn

can also be translated

as steak

I don't mean

the type of steak

that you eat

I mean

you get one of those

really rough

things

where it hasn't been

sanded

and it's nice and long

like this

or even longer

and it's just roughly

cut at the bottom

and you can hammer it

into the ground

the very same word

that's translated as thorn

can be translated as steak

for the sake of Christ

then I am content

with weaknesses

insults

hardships

persecutions

and calamities

for when I am weak

then I am strong

so is the Bible here

just telling us

to be masochists

what's going on

thankfully

it's quite a few years ago

but my only brother

had a season in his life

where he had some heart trouble

and he had to go in

for some surgery

it was a bit of

an emergency surgery

and unfortunately

it was one of those cases

that he ended up having

the doctors

had to go back in twice

I believe

and in each case

they had to open him up

my brother is a joker

the first time

he

after his first surgery

when he was going

to his own

to a doctor

a specialist

to check on some

you know

there was a bit of

an infection

or something

anyway

he went to the office

and they were doing

an intake interview

with him

and they said

you know

are there any

serious things

in your family history

that we should know about

and my brother said

yes

everybody in my family

history has died

and the nurse said

oh

what was their problem

and he said

well they're all mortal

human beings die

after the doctors

had cut him open

a third time

and he had to go in

for a checkup

he taped a zipper

, uh, onto his body

from here to here

so that when they

opened him up

they saw the zipper

and he said

I'm tired of you

hammering my body open

I thought next time

just install a zipper

and it will make it

a lot easier

uh, but anyway

here's the thing

uh, you know

we all know this

that, uh,

if we have a little kid

and they've, uh,

they really scraped

themselves

and, uh, uh,

it, you know

you put a bandage

on it

and you need to keep

taking the bandage off

and putting new cream

and ointment on it

and washing it out

so that the cut

will get better

and if the cut

is maybe over here

or, you know,

somewhere where there's

hair on their body

they cry

because it hurts

to take the thing off

and those doctors

to save my brother's life

and to save his life again

and then to save his life again

they had to crack open

his sternum

and make a huge big cut

and go in and do

all sorts of cutting

and it would have really hurt

and it was really inconvenient

but they did it

to keep him alive

and we all understand that

but here's the problem

with this text

if you can put up

the next point

here's the problem

not with the text

but with us

I see conceit

and pride

in others

as a problem

it is hard for me

to see my own conceit

and pride

it's even

it's hard for me

to see it

or see it

as a problem

you know

one of Jesus'

most famous sayings

is

it is so easy

for us to see

a speck

in our own eye

and not see

the log

in another person's eye

in other words

I have this little speck

you know

I see this little tiny speck

I have a huge stake

sticking out of my eye

and I can't even see it

I just think it's normal living

and I think I can see better

than other people

I think I'm more healthy

I think I'm more whole

I think I'm more wise

and if I'm one of those

two lawyers in a room

and we give three opinions

I told the right one

every time

and unless we have

a really good husband

or wife

who reminds us

when we were wrong

we don't even remember

when we're wrong

and that's what it means

to be a human being

but in God's eyes

our conceit

and our pride

is unbelievably deadly

unbelievably deadly

because it keeps us

from grace

it keeps us

from God

you know

there's an old saying

you can't look up to God

when you're looking down

your nose

at other people

it is humanly impossible

to look down your nose

at other people

and look up to God

at the exact same time

even if I do this

I'm still just looking down

my nose

my eyes aren't up there

Andrew if you could put up

the next thing

here's this great verse

which is so important

in the text

the Lord said to me

my grace is sufficient

for you

for my power

is made perfect

in weakness

my grace

is sufficient for you

for my power

is made perfect

in weakness

and in the original language

the way this is expressed

it's expressed

a little bit

almost like Hebrew poetry

so that grace

and power

are seen as synonyms

because as we all know

in this life

a lot of times

people have power

but they have no grace

and a lot of times

people want to offer us grace

but they have no power

but in this text

it's telling us

that God's grace

is powerful

and God's power

is always

full of grace

and my grace

is sufficient for you

for my power

is made perfect

in weakness

and in fact

in a very very

subtle

and subtle way

Paul is pointing to this

even as he's telling

the story

you might have noticed

a little bit

this odd thing

about praying three times

like is the Bible

telling me George

that okay

you know I have this

I have this knee problem

God heal my knee

didn't do it

God heal my knee

doesn't do it

God heal my knee

okay now I'm not allowed

to pray for it anymore

like is that what the text

is saying

no no

it's a very very subtle thing

it's a bit of a literary thing

to make us think

see you know

one of the problems I have

when I read the Bible

is I like to gallop

through the Bible

and galloping through the Bible

is good to get a bit of

you know a big sense

of what's being said

in God's word

but also we need to

to pause with the Bible

and we need to think about

the different choice of words

and to realize that

God is not an idiot

when he had his Bible

put together

that there's subtleties

there in the Bible

that he wants us to see

and to notice

and so go back

and look at verse 8

three times

I pleaded with the Lord

about this

that it should leave me

who

for those of us

who are Christians

who prayed about something

three times

Jesus in the garden

of Gethsemane

you see on one hand

three times

is just a bit of a synonym

of say

it's just a sort of

a bit of a poetic way

of talking about

a season of prayer

because that's one of the

interesting things

about this text

it's telling us

that there's a season

whereby we pray something

and then at some point

in time in the season

we might come to a realization

that God has in fact

given us an answer

but it's not the answer

that we had hoped for

but he has in fact

given us an answer

but at the same time

that he's communicating

that with this language

of three

he's also pointing us

to another person

who asked the father

for something

and the father

did not say yes

to the request

and if you are here

and you're a seeker

you don't know the Bible

very well

in the garden of Gethsemane

Jesus leaves his disciples

he goes to a place

to pray

he knows

that the soldiers

are even now

heading towards the garden

that he's been betrayed

by one of his friends

that the soldiers

are coming on behalf

of civil and religious authority

that they are going to

arrest Jesus

they know that he's going

to be found guilty

and he knows

he knows that he's going

to die upon the cross

the very very next day

he knows that

he does not even have

24 hours to live

and in the garden

he says

father

if it be your will

may you take this cup

from me

father if it be your will

may you take this cup

from me

father if it be your will

may you take this cup

from me

and

the cup

there's lots of imagery there

it's

you know

one way to understand

the state of our lives

is if you could just imagine

that all of a sudden

it would be like

a little bit like

a horror movie

or a science fiction movie

and you have the really

evil person there

and the evil person

takes a bit of a cut

or something

and something black

and foul drips out

and it's some of their evil

and it goes into a cup

for another person

to drink

and you know it

well it's somehow

communicating the evil

through the cup

and there's these

Old Testament

Tanakh images

of somehow

another

one other way

to understand

that my sin

my shame

the evil

that I've done

the evil that I've thought

the good that I should have done

that I didn't do

and if you could just imagine

that every time

that's a little bit of

black foul stuff

that goes into a cup

and a bit of

black foul stuff

that goes into a cup

and if you're at all

honest about your life

you know

eventually it would be

like a lake

it would be too big

to drink

so just imagine

that every time

it happens

the moisture

drips

you know

fades away

and it just becomes

more and more

and more and more

and concentrated

and one of the ways

to understand

what Jesus does

for us on the cross

is that the cross

is not just about

his death

but that God

the Son of God

whose own cup

would have nothing

black or foul

in it

because he has

never sinned

but that on the cross

he takes my cup

all of that

black foul stuff

from my life

all now represented

in a cup

and on the cross

when Jesus dies

three times before

he dies

he says

Father I don't know

if I can drink

this for George

and for

and for Deborah

and for Daniel

and for Jonathan

and for Yasmin

and for Shirley

and for Dick

and for Shannon

and for Dana

and for Carl

and for Earl

and for Jeremiah

but if that is what

you are calling me to do

I will drink it

and on the cross

what you see

with him dying

is him

in a sense

figuratively

drinking

my cup

and

you know

if you could put up

the next thing

Andrew

the God

remember I told you

how the great fear

of our generation

one of the many great fears

of our generation

is if you get too close to God

you're going to end up

with a suicide vest

blowing innocent people up

or you're going to

behead a person on a bus

or you're going to do

all these horrible things

here's the thing

in our worldly imagination

the gods of this world

either abandon us

or tell us to kill people

but the true and living God

revealed in an open public revelation

which reveals God's gospel to us

the true and living God

who has revealed himself

in his word

loves people

and dies to save them

the gods of this world

either abandon us

the gods of this world

that we fear

tell us to kill people

the God revealed

in the Bible

the true and living God

doesn't tell his people

to kill people

but it tells a story

of God drinking

the cup of wrath

the cup of evil

from each life

he dies to save them

that's why you see

the gods of this world

cannot understand the cross

the gods of this world

in many cases

like in Islam

they don't believe

that such a great prophet

like Jesus

could actually die

upon the cross

they believe that God

did one of two things

but it was another person

who died there

not Jesus

because Jesus

is the second greatest prophet

and the gods of this world

that love money

and power

and wealth

and prestige

and boasting

inevitably

as they start to look at Jesus

they say

oh you know

that stuff about the cup of wrath

is so

you know

it's so

it's how Hicks talk

it's how uneducated people talk

and they want to make Jesus

into an example

but not a sacrifice

because the gods of this world

love power

and cannot get their mind

around the idea

that the true and living God

the creator

and sustainer of all things

the one who is sovereign

and will bring all things

to their proper end

that he would love

people like you and me

and that what characterizes him

is not just power

but grace

and that out of his power

and his grace

seeing you and me

he loved us

even though we were at enmity with him

even though we feared him

even though we believed lies about him

even though we didn't want him

to come close

even though we're mad

that he doesn't do what he wants

and in face of all of that

still he loves us

and he

he rescues us

by becoming weak

and dying upon the cross

and that's what's revealed

in the Bible

so you see

here's the thing

we're going to wrap this up

very quickly

with three little

simple points

if you want to try

to write them down

later or something

go on the webpage

if I go through them

too quick

but here's the thing

you see in the eyes

of the world

text like this

my grace is sufficient for you

verse 9

for my power is made perfect

in weakness

therefore I will boast

all the more gladly

of my weaknesses

so that the power of Christ

may rest upon me

enter if you could put

the next one up

oh sorry

that's not the one

I wanted to put up

but anyway

put it up anyway

we'll get that in a moment

this text

we're going to see it more

in the prayer

that we're going to do next

therefore I will boast

all the more gladly

of my weaknesses

so that the power of Christ

may rest upon me

that word rest

is the same word

that's used in the Old Testament

of God

through the tabernacle

being present

in the center

of his people

so that he would

guide them

protect them

speak to them

love them

it's an image

of pitching his tent

amongst them

to be fully

in their presence

though same word

falls many times

in the book of Revelation

when it talks about

the day

when there's

the new heaven

and the new earth

and we dwell

with God

and he dwells

with us

it's the exact

same word

as is used

in John 1 14

the word

the word became flesh

and dwelt among us

dwelt

rest upon

read it again

my grace is sufficient

for you

for my power

is made perfect

in weakness

therefore I will boast

all the more gladly

of my weaknesses

so that the power

of Christ

may rest upon me

that Jesus

himself

will pitch

his tent

in my life

for the sake

of Christ

then I am content

with weaknesses

insults

hardships

persecutions

and calamities

for when I am weak

then I am strong

see what this text

is calling us

to is not

resignation

resignation

is self-centered

and passive

Jesus did not

resign

himself

to going

to the cross

this text

is calling us

not to be resigned

to being a jar

of clay

but to accept it

resignation

is self-centered

and passive

acceptance

is other-centered

and active

and that's what you see

with Jesus

with the cup

for God

in his love of God

and for his love

of you and me

he accepted

the cup

and he walked

towards those

who were going

to kill him

and as Christians

have famously said

for generations

it was not the nails

that held him

to the cross

but his love

for you and me

that held him

to the cross

so you see

from the eyes

of the world

and the eyes

of the powerful

to say

that somehow

or another

accepting

that I am

a jar of clay

that God

can use me

even though

I am a jar

of clay

and that I am

weak

and that God

can use me

and that it's

his power

well if

that doesn't sound

like I have

healthy self-esteem

but if it's true

it means I'm actually

living in the real world

I was born powerless

I lived the first

nine months

of my life

in my mother's womb

I lived as a child

for a long time

and even now

you know

for many of the things

that are most important

I'm very powerless

and when I die

I will be completely

powerless

and our addiction

and love

of power

is mostly

just conceit

in pride

that we see

and hate

in others

but we do not

see and hate

in ourselves

and the fact

of the matter

is

is I am a jar

of clay

who had a beginning

and a jar

of clay

who will have

an end

but this is not

to leave me

to be depressed

because God

the son of God

died upon the cross

to redeem me

to live in me

and to live

and walk

with me

always is a jar

of clay

his is always

the power

so just in closing

yeah here's the one thing

the quicker I stop

flapping my arms

and trying to fly

and let him

strap me into his plane

as his passenger

the quicker I will fly

so it's a bit corny

but what the heck

next one

Lord help me

to grow

in accepting

that I am

a jar of clay

whom you redeemed

and with whom

you will live

you will forever

pitch your tent

that's what the text

is telling me

promise of the gospel

you see it's

it's only in the context

of the gospel

that we are to understand

that we're jars of clay

and not be depressed

but to understand

we're living in the real world

I am a jar of clay

book of Ecclesiastes

describes human beings

as a vapor

with a longing

for eternity

in their heart

isn't that beautiful

a vapor

that has a longing

for eternity

a longing for heaven

in its heart

that's us human beings

next one Andrew

final one

dear Lord

please help me

to be gripped

by the gospel

and then die

to my conceit

and pride

and live free

as a jar of clay

in the embrace

of your grace

and power

all to your glory

and praise

this is what the text

is inviting us

to pray

could you please stand

if the Lord

has touched your heart

would you pray that

with me

and you know

if you're here today

and you don't know

where you are

with the Lord

and maybe you've been

thinking that just

reading the Bible

isn't as good

as having a vision

I don't know

maybe this is

God has touched

your heart

if you have not

given your life

to Jesus

and you feel

a bit of a pressure

inside of you

stop fighting

the pressure

surrender

stop running

and turn to Jesus

and say

Jesus

may this prayer

may this prayer

be my entrance

into your kingdom

may this prayer

be the prayer

that begins me

as your child

forever

I encourage you

if you feel that pressure

to not push it off

but to say yes to it

please join with me

in praying

dear Lord

please help me

to be gripped

by the gospel

and then die

to my conceit

and pride

and live free

as a jar

of clay

in the embrace

of your grace

and power

all to your glory

and praise

Father pour out

your Holy Spirit

upon us

make us these jars

of clay

embraced by your grace

and power

and learning to live

whether we are lawyers

stay at home dads

or stay at home moms

or pastors

or missionaries

working in the government

wherever we are

learning to live

for your glory

and praise

in Jesus name we pray

Amen