Boasting and the true state of my heart

So, I don't know, you know, when I was reading 2 Corinthians, and I don't know if you noticed it when Jeremiah was reading it,

there was a particular phrase that really, really jumped out at me, and it's verse 30.

I don't know if it jumped out at you when you were listening to it.

You know, I know it can be hard to listen to Scripture, but it says this in verse 30,

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

And that's a bit of a complicated phrase if you think about it.

I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

Like, is this text saying to us that if Usain Bolt was a Christian, I have no idea whether he is or not,

but that Usain Bolt should say that he's actually pretty slow and terrible at running?

Should he actually try to become a worse runner so he could say this?

Like, is this telling us that Serena Williams should say that she has a terrible serve?

Or that Haley Wickenheiser can hardly play hockey at all?

Or that it's wrong for them to try to get better at their sports, that they should try to get, like, worse at it?

Like, when it says here, I will boast of the things that show my weakness,

like, is that one of these just, you know, religious or spiritual things?

And yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It just sort of means you confess your sins, but, you know, you go on living life.

Like, if you were to read this in your office or at your coffee shop, would people roll their eyes at it?

Is it one of those things?

Would people say, you know, George, I think texts like that are just the way that religion tries to sort of say,

oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a rich, powerful person.

I'm just acknowledging my weakness.

But it's really just a way for rich and powerful people to keep poor people poor.

Because the rich and powerful don't believe it, but they want the poor to believe it.

And then they can stay strong.

Like, what's going on with that?

It's a very, it's an odd statement, isn't it?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

In fact, you know, for some who might actually really be struggling with things in their life,

and they come maybe to a church service like this, where they come to read the Bible,

hoping that they can find some meaning in their life,

like, a text like that can end up making you think,

well, you know, George, I'm already really beat up by life,

and I'm already feeling pretty weak.

And I don't know, George, I'm looking for something that will give me some type of peace

and some type of inner calm and self-possession and strength.

I'm not really looking for something that's going to make me weaker.

So it's a very curious text, isn't it?

So let's look.

Let's just look at it in this context.

It'd be a great help if you open your Bibles.

And the text is 2 Corinthians 11, beginning at the 16th verse.

It'd be a great help if you open the Bibles, and let's look and see.

Maybe the context makes it better.

Maybe the context makes it worse.

Maybe what's going on in the text.

Is anything at all going on?

And just so you know, as you're starting to read the text,

just before this, Paul was talking about he was having trouble in the congregation.

And the congregation, part of the problem in the congregation was that there's this group of people

who are trying to lead the people astray.

And you can sort of imagine they all sort of look like George Clooney or take your favorite actress

who just looks good-looking and poised and knows how to dress and knows how to move

and knows how to charm.

And at the same time, they're sort of very culturally connected and culturally savvy.

And they're trying to recommend a way of living that's far more culturally sophisticated and culturally savvy.

And they're sort of convincing the congregation that Paul is a bit of a, you know, a bit of a rough hick type

whose gospel has too many rough edges and they want to smooth them out, you know.

And that's what's going on just before this.

He ends up saying that they're really more like the way the serpent was with Eve.

And if you remember the story in Genesis 3, the serpent says to Eve, did God really say?

Did God really say?

And what's going to happen after this, which we'll look at next week,

is Paul's talking about somebody who's had a spectacular vision of heaven.

And so anyway, that's what goes on on either side.

Look at, let's start with verse 16.

And here's how it goes.

I repeat, because he said this earlier, let no one think me foolish.

Okay, so he said, I'm not a fool.

But even if you do, accept me as a fool so that I may, but even if you do, in other words,

even if you actually do think I'm foolish, because you've been listening to these people

who've said that I'm a bit of a hick, accept me as a fool so that I too may boast a little.

What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would, but as a fool.

Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.

Now, what Paul's sort of sitting up here is he's going to say, to try to make a point,

he's going to play the fool, to make a point.

It's a little bit like a, yeah, he's just going to play the fool in the hope that by playing a fool,

he's going to sort of disarm them and get them to sort of understand a few things.

And then in verse 18, just before we go any further, I'm just going to say a few things about this.

And I want to, they're going to be a little bit provocative,

but it's actually a really significant sentence to understand this whole thing about weakness.

And it's in verse 18, it's actually pretty significant.

Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.

Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.

See, one of the things that we're going to see as we go on is that what Paul is doing in this full speech

and this statement about weakness, he's sort of, he's trying to understand,

he's going to help us to try to understand two different types of weakness,

and he's going to help us to try to understand what boasting, human boasting reveals about our hearts.

Because that's always what the Bible is wanting to do.

The Bible is wanting us to understand our heart,

this sort of the command center of our lives in light of the reality of the living God.

That's what the Bible is always pushing us towards.

And so Paul is going to play the fool, but here's these, a couple of provocative statements.

If you could put the first one up, Andrew.

The flesh boasts.

The flesh boasts.

And now what the Bible here means, it's not just, in this case, the flesh doesn't just mean,

you know, just our body, like the physical stuff,

as if there's somehow every human being is, there's a physical stuff,

and then there's some type of divine spark within us which is eternal,

or that the soul is closer to God and the body doesn't really matter.

That's not what he means.

In the Bible, one of the uses of the flesh, the most common in the New Testament,

is to describe that there's something in human beings which likes to either ignore God or rebel against God.

That there's something in every human being that loves to ignore God or rebel against God or resent God.

If God's not doing anything to bug us, that's fine.

We can just ignore him.

But once he starts to do something that sort of intrudes upon our interests,

there's a resentment to him, an enmity towards him, not a longing.

And that's what's meant by the flesh.

And so one of the things that the Bible teaches and that Paul is saying here in verse 18

is that the flesh boasts.

The next point, Andrew.

In fact, the flesh, that part of us which is in rebellion against God,

not, I mean, the soul, our mind, our heart, our will, our affections, our imagination, our memory,

there's part of everything that makes us us that is in rebellion against God and resents him.

And the Bible is also trying to tell us that the flesh, that part of me, is addicted to boasting.

Just as some people can be horribly addicted to crack cocaine and it can ruin and wreck their lives,

that the flesh in human beings is addicted to boasting.

And then the final controversial thing,

all human beings are addicted to boasting, myself included.

All human beings are addicted to boasting, myself included.

If any of you are interested in writing any of these things down,

it's all going to be on the webpage tomorrow if I go too quickly.

So in this little verse 18, behind it is this basic sense,

some of which Paul has been pointing out throughout the book of 2 Corinthians

and in 1 Corinthians, his first letter to Corinth,

is that all human beings boast.

All human beings are addicted to boasting, myself included.

And some of you think this is probably wrong.

I'm going to try to illustrate it later on in the sermon.

But I just want you to understand that this is a bit of a context within which Paul is playing the fool

and he's going to talk about weakness as being something that he wants to learn to boast in.

So let's continue on.

Let's continue on verse 19.

Sort of lost my place there for a second.

19.

Now he's still talking to the congregation.

For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves.

For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you or devours you

or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or strikes you in the face.

To my shame, I must say we were too weak for that.

Now just pause.

This is a combination of irony and sarcasm.

Many of us don't realize that sometimes the Bible uses irony.

You know, irony isn't just something that hipsters invented.

Like, it's something that goes right back.

Like, the ancients understood irony and sarcasm.

The hard part is that often Christians, you know,

who always think that the Bible has to be unbelievably serious,

that it never has a bit of a joke or never using irony or sarcasm.

And Paul is just going to, you know, because you see,

what these false apostles have been doing that have been causing the trouble

is they're getting paid lots of money to teach.

And who knows, maybe they're really all of a sudden,

as we're going to see in a moment,

if they're starting to put a whole pile of rules on them

and they're beating them up and poor Paul says,

you know, I was just too strong to take any money for you.

I did everything for free.

You know, he means,

it's too bad I was beating you up in such a terrible way

by only giving to you and never receiving a penny from you.

And it's too bad I was only trying to teach you about grace

rather than having you weighed down with a whole pile of advice you can't keep,

where people then mock you because you can't keep the advice.

So he's being sarcastic.

He's being, he's full of irony with them.

He's trying to use the irony and the sarcasm to make them think,

oh yeah, Paul did all of this for free,

but you want hundreds and hundreds.

I remember years ago, there was a guy who used to come to the church

and I mean, you know, he was like a lot of Anglicans.

I don't want to make anybody feel guilty here,

but he's like a lot of Anglicans.

I think he put like two bucks a week in the plate or something,

a hundred bucks a year,

maybe an extra 50 at Christmas, you know.

Anyway, he told me,

he had a really messed up life

and he told me that he'd just gone off on a weekend

and this is about almost 20 years ago

and he went off on a weekend

and he paid somebody 850 bucks.

I don't know what that,

like today in today's dollars,

that'd probably be like over two grand.

And he paid them this for a weekend

for the guy to just basically keep yelling at them

and the basic message is

you need to make a distinction

between women you just want to sleep with once or twice,

women you want to sleep with for six months,

and women you might want to marry.

And he paid 850 dollars to be yelled at about that.

And he put two bucks in the plate at my church.

I could have told him that for free.

Except that I would have said,

don't sleep with women, you know.

I mean, and that's what he wouldn't have liked, right.

So it's, you know,

the fact of the matter is that a lot of times

people will do all these crazy things with their money, right.

You know, I didn't say this when I was talking about money,

but you know, if our culture thinks

it's not messed up about money,

I learned this from John Maxwell.

Many people in our offices

and many people that we see on the street,

because they use credit cards and line of credit,

they spend money they don't have

to buy things they don't need

to impress people they don't like.

And then they think

that they have no problem with money

and Christians are uptight

about talking about money.

The Bible wants to free us

from doing all that stuff, right.

So that's a bit of a long aside.

But here, so get,

what's going to happen next?

Verse 21 again.

To my shame, I must say

we were too weak for that.

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of,

I am speaking as a fool.

I also dare to boast of that.

Are they Hebrews? So am I.

Are they Israelites? So am I.

Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.

Are they servants of Christ?

I am a better one.

I am talking like a madman.

Pause right here.

Two things about boasting.

Now, most of you couldn't give a hoot.

I almost said a bad word.

Couldn't give a hoot

about that list of qualifications.

Right?

Who cares?

In fact, in our culture,

with a bit of an increase in anti-Semitism,

it might actually be a bad thing

for many in our culture.

That's one of the things about all boasting, you know?

Like, it might very well be

that the thing that we put down in a resume

or the thing that we like to boast about,

if we went to another culture,

they'd go,

yuck.

Or that future generations will go,

yuck.

Like, you know,

couldn't you see that,

like in a certain point in time

in South Africa,

one of the things that they would put down

is that they've always maintained

the color ban.

Couldn't you see that Christians

in the American South

at one point of time

could have had,

in fact,

it's one of the things on Hell on Wheels,

if you've seen that television series,

is the guy gets a promotion

in the first season

because he was good at managing slaves.

How would we think about that

on a resume today?

So that's one of the things

about all these things

that we boast in

is that we boast in them.

We think they're really important right now,

but in another part of the world,

they'd go,

yuck,

or who cares?

And it might very well be

that for some of those things

that in 20, 30, 50, 100 years,

if they were to find it,

if your great-grandkids

were to find it,

they'd go,

oh, that's terrible.

I don't want anybody to know

my parents were like that.

The other thing about this

is it shows a little bit

about what Paul is dealing with here.

And some of you know,

there's certain types of Christians

who have like an unhealthy fascination

with Jewish people.

And it's almost like,

friends like Daniel Avitan

and Daniel Gilman can tell you

that if people,

like there's some Christian circles,

if they find out

that the person's Jewish,

it's almost like they want to touch you

because they're going to get extra blessed.

Or something.

And it's,

you ask them.

It's a real thing.

And so it looks as if

maybe one of the things

that's going on

with these false apostles

is not only do they look like George Clooney

or not only are they culturally smooth,

but they're probably trying to trade in

with their Jewishness

or some type of Jewish claim.

They're probably more like

that guy Boyden,

the author claiming native hair,

doesn't have any, right?

You know the guy.

And, um,

but they're trying to,

and it's probably something

a bit Jewish

and rule oriented

that they're going with

as opposed to grace.

Anyway,

that's,

that's just the thing

about boasting, right?

It's to try to,

just,

you see the Bible,

at first it can look boring

or irrelevant,

but if you actually spend

some time thinking about it,

you realize it's,

um,

sorry.

Anyway,

let's go back to 23.

Are they servants of Christ?

I am a better one.

I am talking like a madman.

I mean,

you should almost yell it

if you were reading it,

okay?

Now,

just pause.

What do you put in resumes?

Okay,

here's the fact.

If you,

in fact,

took nine years

to get your four-year degree,

you don't,

you usually try to figure out

some way to get around

that inconvenient fact.

Right?

You know,

if,

if grade nine

was the three best years

of your life,

you,

you tend to not want

to put that

in your resume,

okay?

And so,

how would a Christian pastor

want to,

like,

if you're looking

for a new pastor

after I,

you know,

I,

I move on,

and you know,

what would you want to say?

You'd want him to say,

well,

you know,

I planted six churches,

you know,

the last church grew

to 5,000 people

on a Sunday.

I don't know,

you know,

10,000 people

have come to faith

through my message.

You know,

some of the people

who've,

you know,

that I discipled,

you know,

they're now,

like,

Regis professors

of divinity

at Oxford.

I mean,

that's what you're

looking for,

right?

That's what resumes

do,

right?

So,

Paul is trying

to impress

these people,

right?

What does he say?

With far greater

labors,

far more imprisonments,

that would really

impress a search

committee.

I've been in jail

10 times.

My record

is as long

as my arm.

With countless

beatings

and often near death,

five times I received

at the hands

of the Jews

the 40 lashes

less one.

That means

he pissed off

the Jewish people.

Three times

I was beaten

with rods.

That means

he got the pagans

mad,

different punishments.

Once I was stoned.

Three times

I was shipwrecked.

A night

and a day

I was adrift

at sea.

That means

24 hours.

On frequent

journeys

and danger

from rivers,

danger

from robbers,

danger

from my own

people,

danger

from Gentiles,

danger

in the city,

danger

in the wilderness,

danger

of sea,

danger

from false

brothers,

and toil

and hardship

through many

a sleepless

night in hunger

and thirst,

often without

food,

in cold

and exposure.

And by the way,

in the original

language,

with the verb

tenses,

the implication

is this is just

a sample,

not exhaustive.

And apart

from other

things,

and in the

original language

as well,

it culminates

in verse 29

as the greatest

thing which

has beset him,

that's hurt him.

And apart

from other

things,

there is the

daily pressure

on me of my

anxiety for all

the churches.

Who is weak

and I am not

weak?

Who is made

to fall

and I am not

indignant?

If I must

boast,

I will boast

of the things

that show

my weakness.

The God

and Father

of the Lord

Jesus,

he who is

blessed forever,

knows that I

am not lying.

And we'll just

sort of pause

there for a

second and

think about it.

So,

it's a bit

of a weird

thing.

And we

need to

think a

little bit

about all

of these

things that

have happened

to him that

are very,

very hard.

In fact,

in the eyes

of the world,

many of these

things in this

list would show

that Paul's a

loser.

They wouldn't

be things that

show there's

any particular

excellence in

him.

It would show

that he's a

loser.

But Paul

goes and

puts them

all out

before them

as a

people.

So,

what on

earth is

going on

here?

And some

of you

might say,

George,

okay,

I can just

imagine one

of the guys

that I talk

with all the

time in

one of the

Starbucks.

Just the

other day,

he was

telling me

how,

he always

asked me

how many

people came

to church.

And he

sort of

nods,

you know,

and says,

well,

you know,

that's not

very many.

And he

really likes

to make

me feel

good.

And then

he says,

you know,

George,

like young

people are

all just

leaving the

church and

our whole

culture is

going away

from this.

And you're

on the

losing side

of how the

culture is

moving.

He just

said this

to me this

week,

actually,

and I

said to

him,

well,

I almost

said his

name,

we'll call

him Bob.

Well,

Bob,

first of all,

whoever thinks

that opinion

polls tell you

the truth,

that taking

a vote

will tell you

what's true

and false.

And there's

lots of

examples of

cultures leading

people astray,

you know.

And,

but he would

take a text

like this and

just say,

you know,

there's nothing

in this,

you know,

being boasting

of your

weakness,

George,

you gave me

the context,

but it's not

very helpful.

And it's

only made

Christianity

look a bit

weird.

Let's just

look at these

last,

the thing,

the culminating

thing in

the list,

29,

30,

and 31.

And just

keep in

mind,

in fact,

what I

remember I

said earlier,

that the

flesh boasts,

the flesh is

addicted to

boasting,

and all human

beings are

addicted to

boasting,

myself included.

Look at

29,

the pinnacle,

who is weak

and I am not

weak,

who is made

to fall and

I am not

indignant.

If I must

boast,

I will boast

of the things

that show

my weaknesses.

The God

and Father

of the Lord

Jesus,

he who is

blessed forever,

knows that

I am not

lying.

Now,

you see,

if you're a

very careful

reader,

you'd see

that Paul

is contradicting

himself.

You see,

in verse 29,

when it says,

who is weak

and I am not

weak,

who is made

to fall

and I am

not indignant,

and indignant

could also be

translated as,

have my heart

burn with

fire,

a hot fire.

he doesn't

think these

things are

good,

this type

of weakness

and falling.

And then he

says he's

boasting in his

weakness.

Well,

maybe he's an

idiot,

but maybe

it's wisdom.

God does not

desire the death

of the wicked,

but rather that they

would turn from

their wickedness

and live.

In fact,

the original

one is,

God desires

not the death

of the wicked,

but that he

would turn from

his wickedness

and live.

And that's a

very,

very powerful

phrase.

It's a very

gospel phrase.

It comes,

it's said three

times,

virtually word for

word in the

book of Ezekiel.

So it's just

the book of

common prayer

quoting it.

And it's a

very,

very important

verse and

idea to

understand everything

in the Bible.

God takes no

delight in the

death of a

sinner,

but rather that

he or she

would turn from

their wickedness

and live.

And just to

paraphrase it

very slightly,

but in a way

which is in

complete congruence

with the text,

God does not

take delight in

anyone dying.

God does not

take delight in

anyone being

diminished.

God does not

take delight in

anyone being

beaten up.

God does not

take delight in

people understanding

how frail and

weak they are,

per se.

What he loves

is when,

whether it's

thinking of your

own mortality

and realizing

that one day

you die and

there must be

something more,

whether it's,

like in my

case,

it was my

weakness which

led me to

Christ.

It was my

diminishment

and my

brokenness

that led me

to Christ.

That's what

Christ loves.

That's what

God loves.

So you see,

there's a type

of weakness

and a type

of brokenness

and a type

of diminishment

and an attempt

and a type

of just getting

weaker and

weaker and

weaker that God

takes no

delight in.

There's nothing

good or holy

about that.

This isn't

teaching us,

this text isn't

teaching us

to cut

ourselves or

whip ourselves

or beat

ourselves up

so that somehow

or another

we're more

holy.

It's not

talking about

that at all.

And this

other weakness

that Paul is

talking about,

it's talking

about,

it's a little

bit like this.

I know it's

a bit of a,

you know,

I don't know,

I was worried

about whether

this is going

to be an

analogy that

will help

you.

Humpty Dumpty

sat on a

wall.

Humpty Dumpty

had a great

fall.

All the

king's horses

and all the

king's men

couldn't put

Humpty

together again.

All of us

are Humpty

Dumpty.

Every one

of us

will fall.

And when

we fall,

all of the

ingenuity

of Apple

and of

Google

and all

of the

power,

whether it's

Trump and

Putin and

China and

all of the

power can't

put us

back together

again.

And one

of the

things that

the gospel

is all

about is

that God

sees that

we are

Humpty

Dumpty.

And God,

the Son of

God,

became weak

and he

became broken

and he

became poor

and he

dies the

death that

every human

being has

to die,

but he

dies it in

such a way

that it

is for us

that when

we receive

this gracious

act of

God's,

you know,

what is it

in Isaiah?

He was

wounded for

our transgressions.

He was

bruised for

our iniquities.

The punishment

that brought

us peace

was upon

him,

for by

his wounds

we are

healed.

By his

wounds

we are

healed.

And the

gospel is

this message

of unimaginable

grace,

that God

seeing human

beings that

are addicted

to boasting

and pretending

that they're

God and

walking around

as if they're

God and

wanting to

have only

intermittent

connections with

God and

God seeing

human beings

like that

and still

he loves

us and

still he

loved us

and sends

his son to

die upon

the cross

for us

knowing full

well what

we are

like.

And he

dies our

death and

dies our

and takes

our punishment

so that

he takes,

as I like to

put it,

our doom.

And as he

takes our

doom upon

us, he

offers us

his destiny.

In other

words,

another way

to put

it is,

and this

is sort

of something

that's all

the way

through the

New Testament

about changing

stories and

changing states

of being,

that in a

sense I'm

humpty dumpty

and as I'm

falling,

and before I

hit the ground

and fall into

all these

pieces,

and I call

out to Jesus

for mercy,

and he

comes and

grabs my

hand.

You ready

for this?

and he

turns me

into the

ugly duckling.

Here's where

I'm not sure

if the

analogy would

work.

But you

know, in

the ugly

duckling,

the story of

the ugly

duckling is

that you're

a swan,

and the

swan egg

breaks amongst,

opens up

amongst the

ducklings,

and the

ducklings make

fun of the

swan because

it's big and

gangly and

everything like

that, and

then eventually

the ugly

duckling becomes

a swan, and

the other

ducks are

just in

amazement at

this unbelievably

beautiful and

glorious creature.

And in a

sense, what

happens in the

gospel is that

God changes

the story of

our lives

when we

give who

we are in

the story of

our lives

into his

hands.

And God

takes

humpty

dumpties and

turns us into

swans,

who right

now we're

sort of living

like ugly

ducklings.

If you could

put up the

point,

Andrew,

when I

accept the

gospel, I

cease being

humpty

dumpty, and

God himself

makes me his

ugly duckling.

But some of

you might say,

well, the

ugly duckling

suffered abuse,

the ugly

duckling was

sad.

But why is

the ugly

duckling sad?

This gets to

what's going on

in this whole

text and the

whole issue of

human boasting.

The reason the

ugly duckling

was sad is

because she

did not

know who

she was.

And the

other reason

that she

was sad is

because she

believed she

should be or

needed to be

like a

duck.

Her

longings and

her yearnings,

the things that

she desired to

boast in,

were what going

around in her

culture, and

she didn't

realize that she

was a swan.

listen again to

verses 29, 30,

and following.

Who is weak

and I am not

weak?

Who is made

to fall and I

am not indignant?

He doesn't take

any pleasure in

just seeing

Christians persecuted,

having things

robbed from them,

having things

stolen from them,

seeing them fall

morally, seeing

them get confused

theologically.

That doesn't

please God's

heart, it

doesn't please

Paul's.

If I must

boast, I will

boast of the

things that show

my weakness, the

God and Father

of the Lord

Jesus, he who

is blessed

forever, knows

that I am not

lying.

In the context

of his weakness,

he makes this

great claim that

only the God

who really does

exist, who is

the Father of

the Lord Jesus,

he alone is

blessed forever.

I want to

share you a

terrible thing

about my

heart.

God, you

know, I

am quite

comfortable if

something goes

very well with

something I

organize or

something in my

family or

something in the

church.

You know, I

have to confess

before you, I'm

quite comfortable

if I get all the

glory and don't

think about God

at all.

Maybe I'm the

worst person in

the room.

And I have to

confess that

most of my

attempts at

holiness,

as I'm

trying to learn

to be gripped

by the

gospel, is

that at times

I realize that

that's wrong.

And so, if

I'm honest, what

I really hope is

that I still get

most of the

glory, but God

can get a

little bit.

And then as

the Holy Spirit

starts to convict

me, maybe I

think to myself,

okay, God, I

know you need to

get all the

glory as long

as I get a

little bit.

Yeah, yeah,

yeah, you're

blessed forever

in George.

That's the

story of my

heart.

And the

gospel wants

us to move

to this place

to understand,

George, you

were humpty

dumpty falling

towards a great

fall, and all

the king's horses

and all the

king's men

wouldn't be able

to put you

together again.

And you

called out to

me for mercy,

and I, in my

grace, no matter

how deep you

had fallen, no

matter how broken

you already were,

I went far

deeper still and

was completely

and utterly

broken, even

broken in my

relationship with

Almighty God, and

I bore all that

in myself.

By my wounds, you

are healed.

And when you put

your hands in me, you

could do nothing.

You were about to be

broken.

I did this

unbelievable miracle

in you.

I turned you into a

swan, a creature of

beauty and glory, who

can fly and can soar.

And George, shouldn't

the desire of your

heart be that God

gets all the glory,

and you are quite

happy and quite

content if you get

none?

George, isn't that

wisdom?

I want to just ask

you, remember

earlier I said that

people are addicted to

boasting and maybe you

think that that's not

true.

How many of us, maybe

even within these past

few days, have felt a

little bit beaten up

because we've said to

ourselves, I thought by

this point in time, you

know, I don't know,

here I am, I'm 24 years

old, the guys and

gals I went to high

school with, they're

already finished

university, they're in

law school, or they

have a job, and

they're, you know, maybe

they're an engineer,

they're doing something

making $75,000 a year,

and here I am living in

this crummy apartment

with a whole pile of

people, and I'm still in

school.

I thought it would be

better.

I thought I'd be done

by now.

How many of us are

beaten up thinking,

you know, I thought by

now I'd be healthier.

I thought by now I'd be

more popular.

I thought by now I

would be slimmer.

I thought by now I

would be stronger.

I thought by now I

would be richer.

I thought by now I

would have that special

person in my life.

I thought by now I

would have more

promotions.

I thought by now I

would be more

important.

I thought by now I

would be a more

superior Christian and

people would

acknowledge it.

I thought by now my

church would be bigger.

I thought by now I

would be more

talented.

Am I the only person

who ever thinks any of

those things?

you see, here's the

thing that this text,

if you take for a

second and say, let's

just assume for a

moment that Paul was

not an idiot.

Let's just take for a

moment if Jesus really

died and rose from the

dead and will come

again and that he was

able to teach his

apostles to write words

of wisdom that touch

our hearts, that reveal

our hearts, so that our

hearts would become more

tender and open to him.

Let's just assume for a

second that the Bible is

wise and spend some time

thinking and meditating

upon it.

What we see is this, if

you could put it up,

Andrew, boasting and

shame slash self-accusation

are two sides of the

same coin.

Why?

Because I'd like to

boast.

You should see my

promotions.

You should see the size

of my church.

Boy, am I ever

articulate.

Boy, do people ever

like me.

Next point, Andrew.

The idols which

shape my longings to

boast shape my shame

and self-accusation.

If we make an idol of

having that special

person in our life, if

we make an idol of

having the right type of

relationship, we make an

idol of having a certain

amount of power, if we

make an idol of

popularity, if we make an

idol of money, if we

make these things, some

of which are not bad in

and of themselves, but

they become the source of

our identity.

They become the source

that gives us meaning.

They become the thing

that we surrender

ourselves to, become the

things that we want to

give ourselves to.

And they are just

ephemeral things.

Some of these are

things that if we put

them down in our

resume or if we were to

actually say them out

loud in public, people

would want to turn

from us, especially in

Canada.

Some parts of the

world you can go ahead

and boast in Canada

it would be viewed as

tacky to say a lot of

these things out loud.

And some of the things

that we might put down

in our resume that we

wish that we'd had this

by now, you know, if

we're 20 and by the

time we're 50 we look

back and we think that

was so ridiculous.

Or if our kids or

grandkids were to see

it, they'd look, gosh

is that ever lame, dad.

And yet we give our

lives to that.

We think that is

important for our

meaning and our

identity.

Next point, Andrew.

The boasts which I

base my identity on

become my relentless

and merciless accuser

as we suffer shame

and four o'clock in the

morning times that just

go on all night because

we can't fall back

asleep.

Too bad the gospel is

too weak.

And wants to tell us

about God's grace.

What is it that the

Bible wants us to tell?

Here's the thing.

Andrew, if you could put

up the next point.

To my fallen heart, I can

only be a god or garbage.

To my idols, I can only be a

god or garbage.

And what is the gospel?

Next slide, Andrew.

To the gospel, in the gospel,

I am never a god and I am

never garbage.

I am always a jar of clay

redeemed by God's grace

alone through faith alone

in Jesus and his saving

death alone.

I am always a jar of clay

who will live loved by him

for all eternity.

Just turn back in your

Bibles to 2 Corinthians 4.

2 Corinthians 4.

And listen to what Paul says

just earlier.

Therefore, having this

ministry, and the ministry

is telling people about

Jesus dying on the cross,

about the fact that we're

jars of clay.

Having this ministry by the

mercy of God, we do not

lose heart.

But we have renounced

disgraceful, underhanded

ways.

We refuse to practice

cunning or to tamper with

God's word.

But by the open statement

of the truth, we would

commend ourselves.

He's commending the

message to everyone's

conscience in the sight of

God.

And even if our gospel is

veiled, it is veiled to

those who are perishing,

humpty dumpty.

In their case, the God of

this world has blinded

the minds of the

unbelievers to keep

them.

What is it to keep them

from?

What is it that the

serpent wanted to keep

us from?

To keep us from seeing

the light of the gospel

of the glory of Christ,

who is the image of God.

For what we proclaim is

not ourselves.

I boast in my weakness.

But Jesus Christ is Lord.

Blessed be the God and

Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ, who is blessed

forever with ourselves as

your servants for Jesus'

sake.

For God, who said, let

light shine out of

darkness, that's in

Genesis, has shown in our

hearts when we receive the

gospel to give the light

of the knowledge of the

glory of God in the face

of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in

jars of clay to show that

the surpassing power belongs

to God and not to us.

We are afflicted in every way

but not crushed, perplexed

but not driven to despair,

persecuted but not forsaken,

struck down but not

destroyed, always carrying

in the body the death of

Jesus so that the life of

Jesus may also be

manifested in our bodies.

That when Jesus takes us

into himself, he takes us

into himself.

He takes us into his death

for us and into his

resurrection.

That enters into us and we

enter into him.

Verse 11.

For we who live are always

being given over to death

for Jesus' sake, we always

stay jars of clay.

So that the life of Jesus

may also be manifested in

our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us

but life in you.

Since we have the same

spirit of faith according to

what has been written, I

believed and so I spoke.

We also believe and so we

also speak knowing that he

who raised the Lord Jesus

will raise us also with

Jesus and bring us with you

into his presence.

For it is all for your

sake so that his grace

extends to more and more

people it may increase

thanksgiving to the glory

of God.

You see, Usain Bolt should

never say, I'm going to

hurt my legs so I run

slower.

Einstein, if he was still

alive, should say, I'm

going to start taking, I'm

going to start smoking lots

of marijuana because it

will make me dumber.

That's actually true by the

way.

No, they should say, I'm a

jar of clay.

God has blessed me with

this speed but he is the

one who is blessed forever.

I will die.

My legs will become

crippled and not able to

move.

They will become dust.

But my hope is found in

the one who has defeated

death, who died for me,

who has loved me and loves

me now and will love me for

all eternity.

And I do not get my

identity from my speed.

I am so grateful for God

for my speed.

It doesn't make me special

but I'm so grateful for it

that God has blessed me

with such a thing.

Keep going.

Let's go to verse 12 again.

Since we have the same

spirit of faith according to

what has been written, I

believed and so I spoke.

We also believe and so we

also speak, knowing that he

who raised the Lord Jesus

will raise us also with

Jesus and bring us with you

into his presence.

For it is all for your

sake so that as grace

extends to more and more

people it may increase

thanksgiving to the glory of

God.

So we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is

wasting away, our inner self

is being renewed day by day.

That part of us which

belongs to Jesus, which will

become more like him, which

will be glorified and live in

the new heaven and the new

earth for all eternity.

For this, verse 17, this

slight momentary affliction is

preparing for us jars of clay,

an eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison.

As we look, not at the things

that are seen, the ducklings who

say that we're an ugly duckling,

but to the things that are

unseen, to the God who does

exist and who lives, to Jesus

who is now, who died for us, we

can no longer see it, we can

only hear about it.

For the things that are seen are

transient, but the things that

are unseen are eternal.

For we know that if the tent that

is our earthly home is destroyed,

we have a building from God, a

house not made with hands, eternal

in the heavens.

For in this tent we groan, longing

to put on our heavenly dwelling.

If indeed by putting it on we may

not be found naked.

For while we are still in this

tent we groan, being burdened, not

that we would be unclothed, but

that we would be further clothed, so

that what is mortal jars of clay may

be swallowed up by life.

He who has prepared us for this

very thing is God, who has given us

the Spirit as a guarantee.

In the gospel, I am never a God, and

I am never garbage.

I am always a jar of clay.

I am redeemed by God's grace alone,

through faith alone, not my works, in

Jesus and his saving death alone.

And I am always a jar of clay who

will live loved by him for all

eternity.

As the gospel grips me, the Holy

Spirit frees me up to say, if I must

boast, I will boast of the things that

show my weakness.

I invite you to stand.

If you're here and

maybe you've heard the gospel explained

in a way which has touched your heart

for the first time, and maybe you

wouldn't call yourself a Christian, or

maybe you'd say you're a lapsed Christian,

if God is, there might be a pressure in

your heart to do something in terms of

God, and what that pressure is, is God

is inviting you to surrender and let go.

And to lift your hands to him and say,

Jesus, save me.

Thank you that by your wounds I am healed.

Thank you that your punishment has brought

me peace.

I want to be yours forever.

I want to get off of this treadmill of

either being a God or garbage.

I want to know I'm a jar of clay saved

by you and eternally loved by you, and I

want to have my identity formed by that.

I give myself to you.

Just don't have to use my words.

Just say, Lord, I give myself to you.

I give myself to you.

I never want, I just only want to give

myself to you.

Your own words.

There's no time better than now to say it.

And for all of us who struggle with being a

God or being garbage, there's no better time

now than to just say out to God, Lord, I want

to be gripped by the gospel.

I want to be a disciple of Jesus who's so

gripped and rooted by the gospel that it so

forms my affections and my identity and my

longings that I can live free in this life.

It's time to just surrender to the Holy Spirit

and do that as well.

Just bow our heads in prayer.

Father, if there's those here who are maybe

crossing the threshold of hope to put their

faith and trust in you, pour out your Holy Spirit

upon them.

Guide their words.

May your Holy Spirit flood them so they know

your peace and assurance and receptivity as

they surrender their lives to you.

Father, for those of us who are maybe here and

we're still searching, we're not ready for that,

pour out your Holy Spirit and your love upon

them.

Make the gospel real to them.

And Father, for those of us who have put our

faith and trust in Jesus, and we know that he

is our Savior and Lord, but Father, we struggle

with boasting.

We struggle with being either a God or garbage.

Father, we struggle with idols.

And Father, you know the struggles of our heart,

and we thank you so much that you have saved us,

that you will never let us go.

And we ask that your Holy Spirit would move a mighty

work in our heart, that your word would do a mighty

work in our heart, that we would become, grow day by day

to be ones who say no to idols, that are gripped by the

gospel and are learning to live day by day as jars of clay,

confident in your love and living for your glory and not our

own.

Father, do this work in our hearts, we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.