I want you to think back to either when you were a child, or for those of you
with children, think back to the last time you or your child brought a toy forth
to be fixed. Some fixes are easier than others. Barbie’s head usually pops right
back on. Legos just snap back together. Building block towers are re-built.
Sometimes, the fixes need a little more work. Super glue is needed to put the
wheels back on the truck, the arm or the ear torn off the teddy bear needs to be
sewn back on. But when they bring you the dinosaur that is broken in two, you
then need to explain to them that sometimes things can’t be fixed. When they get
older the repairs get harder. Skinned knees can be fixed with a band- aid and a
kiss, but their first broken heart isn’t so easily fixed. As parents all we can
do is tell them we love them, but that doesn’t make the hurt go away. No matter
how many times they ask us to make it better, we just simply can’t. As adults:
lost jobs, failed marriages, financial problems, troubled children all have us
asking for it to be fixed. If our parents are still living we might turn to them
to help with the problem. We turn to friends, neighbors and strangers to search
for answers. And then, when all else fails we turn to God. How many times have
we turned to God with these problems crying out “God, fix it.” “God, fix me?”
In our scripture today, Paul asked God to take away his “thorn.” We have no idea
what Paul’s thorn was. It has been speculated that Paul’s thorn was epilepsy,
eye trouble, malaria, or assassination of his character. We do not know what the
“thorn” was other than it bothered Paul and he called out to God to remove it.
Instead of removing it, Paul was told “My grace is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness.” For many Christians, that word “weakness” is
a bitter pill to swallow. Weakness goes against everything that this country
stands for.
The Corinthians were not that much different than Americans in the fact that strength and power were valued qualities. “Pulling yourself up by your boot straps” was probably as prized in Corinth as it is in America today. Why would Paul then boast about his weakness? How can God’s power be perfect in weakness?
Physical problems leave us weak and unable to cope, relationship problems bring
confusion and stress, battles with addictions make us feel defeated, and
financial or job demands damage our self-worth. No one likes the frustration and
fear of facing challenges which are too big to handle, but God can use them for
our good. Maybe you have never considered inadequacy a blessing. After all, it
arouses all sorts of uncomfortable emotions that make us feel useless,
insignificant, and weak. But God can turn all the negatives into blessings if we
acknowledge our helplessness, depend on His strength, and step into our
challenges with confidence in Him. As Earnest Hemingway said, “Life breaks all
of us, but some of us are strong in the broken places.” I am not mentally ill
enough to believe I am God, nor am I about to propose that I have the answers as
to why bad things happen to good people. I would like to explore with you how we
can be strong in the broken places.
There is a country song that starts out “I’m down here on my knees because it is
the last place left to fall.” How many times have we been on our knees, crying
out to God, because we have run out of options to try? How often do we try to
“fix it ourselves” before we turn it over to God? How often do we tell ourselves
and others “I’ve got this”? when in reality, the only thing we have is heartache
and confusion. It’s usually not until we have nowhere else to turn that we turn
to God. It is in that time of weakness that we turn to God, that God can start
to use us.
To try and help us understand this, I would like to read today’s scripture from
The Message.
Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I would not get a big
head, I was given the gift of a handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was
a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in
stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse,
accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! As so the weaker
I get, the stronger I become.
Without our limitations, we would not let God take over our lives. We need to appreciate the gifts our limitations. God cannot pour more into us until we are empty. God cannot use us until we admit we are not the ones in control and we need to depend on God. When we allow God to pour God’s self into us, we relieve ourselves from the burden of trying to do God’s will in our own strength. Pride says we are strong enough to be able to do it on our own. But, when we allow ourselves to be filled with God’s power, we are stronger than we could ever be on our own. When we allow ourselves to be filled with God’s power, we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. We become vessels that God can use. We become strong in the broken places.
When we allow God to work in our lives, we provide God an opportunity to
demonstrate what He can do. We allow God to use people and situations that
humans cannot conceive of being useful to the work of the kingdom. Paul started
out persecuting Christians. An act that most humans would not consider useful to
the work of the kingdom. But, it was because of the persecutions that
Christianity was spread to the ends of the earth. At least the known ends of the
earth at that time.
This church has been involved in situations that some would not consider useful
work of the kingdom. We have open up our building to people that the rest of
society considers useless. The people who use the services of the Spring City
Clubhouse, the Donna Lexa Art Center and even the Hand to Hold daycare are
considered useless by society because they have mental and physical challenges
or even because they are struggling financially. These ministries have been so
successful because it isn’t about personal egos or prestige. It is about God
using what humans wanted to throw away. It is about God’s power being greater
than human imaginings. It is about being strong in the broken places.
Dependency is seen as a weakness, and self-sufficiency is prized. On any given
day, if you take a look at the TV listings, you will find all sorts of reality
and awards shows. These shows are all about fame, fortune and “getting the
prize.” As Christians, we need to follow Paul’s example in 2 Corinthians. Verse
10 states “That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in
hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am
strong.” God’s strength is greater than any we could accomplish on our own. We
need to hold on to that strength and go boldly into the future.
One of my favorite quotes is “When you have come to the edge Of all light that
you know And are about to drop off into the darkness Of the unknown, Faith is
knowing One of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on
or You will be taught to fly.” Many times we come to the edge of the light. We
lose our jobs. Our spouse dies. Our child dies. We are in the midst of
addiction, and we can’t see the end. It seems the world is against us, and at
times it seems as if it would be better if we were not here on this earth. Those
are the times we need to hold on to the Faith that there is either solid ground
under our feet, or we are going to learn how to fly. Nothing is impossible with
our great God. It doesn’t matter what our brokenness is, God is able to use it
and make us stronger in that broken place. God can only use that brokenness if
we are willing to give it up to God and allow him to use the brokenness. It is
in the broken times of our lives that people tend to turn away from God. It is
in those times I am reminded of the words of a Casting Crowns song. “I’ll praise
you in this storm. And I will lift my hands. For You are who You are no matter
where I am. Every tear I’ve cried You hold in your hand. You never left my side
and though my heart is torn I will praise you in the storm.”
Praising God in the midst of the storm is one of the most difficult tasks we
have as Christians. When we are in the midst of the storm, people’s first
tendency is to cry out to God that God has abandoned them, otherwise this
brokenness would not have occurred. They don’t realize that God has not
abandoned them, God is just waiting for the brokenness to be offered to Him in
order for God to make them stronger in the broken places.
When we are able to take a step back and realize Who it really is about, despite
the circumstances we find ourselves in, we are able to experience the “Peace
that passes all understanding” that is promised to us in the Psalms.
The comfort given to us by our gracious and loving God allows us to be able
to live with the pain. To be stronger in the broken places. I want to leave you
with a story. The story is told of a Renaissance artist who made the world's
most prized vases. A foreign visiting apprentice came to observe his method.
After laboring for many weeks with one piece of clay--firing it, painting it,
baking it--he placed it upon a pedestal for inspection. The apprentice sat in
awe at this thing of unspeakable beauty. But it appeared that the artist was not
yet finished. In a shocking and dramatic moment, the artist lifted the vase
above his head and dashed it against the floor, breaking it into a thousand
shards. And then, quietly, he reconnected the pieces by painting them with a
paint of pure gold. Each crack reflected invaluable gold. In the end, this
magnificent, but imperfect, piece became the most valued piece in the
collection. It was the piece’s imperfections that allowed it to be valuable. It
is our imperfections that allow us to be valuable to God. Are you willing to let
your brokenness shine for the glory of God? AMEN.