Last week I started my sermon by saying, “Made rich in every way.  Where do I sign up?”  This week I want to start by saying, “Made strong when I am weak.  Where do I sign up?”  Boy, if there are two things in life I’d really like to be, it’s richer and stronger.  Also, taller would be nice.  But mostly richer and stronger.  That way I would have the resources within myself to tackle any problem that comes my way!

Leave it to Paul, though, to promise riches only when we give generously and cheerfully, and strength only when we admit we are weak.  Apparently we are not meant to have within ourselves all the resources we will need to tackle all of life’s problems.  God wants to be the one who provides for us.  And even God can’t fill a vessel that’s already full.  That’s why we need to learn to give generously and cheerfully, so God can fill us up with things that are even better!  And that’s why we need to learn to embrace being weak.  Because it’s only when we come up against our limits that we can tap into the unlimited power of God.

This “thorn in the flesh” Paul wrote about, we really don’t know what it is.  There are many theories, including a physical ailment like epilepsy.  Maybe it was a spiritual temptation that he had to wrestle with.  Maybe it was doubt or fear.  We don’t know for sure.  What we are certain of, though, is it was painful and unpleasant.  It was not Paul’s first choice for himself.  Three times Paul prayed and asked God to take this painful situation or ailment away from him.  God did not take the painful thing away, but instead gave Paul the strength to bear it.

We might call that a consolation prize.  You know, the consolation prize is what you get when you didn’t win the grand prize.  But as Paul wrote this letter, as he was looking back on his life, he had become convinced that the consolation prize was the grand prize!  Having within himself all the resources to tackle every problem that came his way would have been nice.  But that’s not how this human being thing works.  Instead, coming to the end of our rope allows us to more fully connect with the God who holds the reigns.  Finding that God can make us strong in our weakness is another example of what Paul was talking about when he said we would be “made rich in every way.”

I’ve had my own experiences with thorns in my flesh, I imagine all of us have.  But the biggest thorn in my life is being a person who only has 168 hours in a week and needs to sleep for almost a third of those.  I also need time to take care of my home, my relationships, and my body.  I need time to play and have fun.  I need time to worship and tend my soul.  I simply cannot work all the time!  But being in ministry means there are always more things that can be done.  Always another person to call, another email to write, another article or book to read.  I really wish I had unlimited time and energy.  Then maybe I could be the super pastor I’ve always wanted to be!

As ambitious and driven as Paul was, I imagine he often felt the same way.  But instead of getting his first choice—superman powers—what Paul got instead was a thorn in the flesh.  He got a painful reminder that he is only human.  And amazingly, this is how he ended up getting the best gift of all:  the grace of God.  Given to him not as something he earned with his hard work.  But given to him as a gift, because being a generous, cheerful and gracious giver is who God is!

This week I spent some time reflecting on how God wants to give the grand prize, the best gifts, to me and you.  What I notice about myself is, God’s strength when I am weak almost always comes through other people.  But!  It’s not always easy to ask for help from other people!  If I can take care of it myself, I generally do.  Sometimes that’s very efficient and works out great.  But other times, that leads to me being the bottleneck.  My limited time and energy become a problem.  As much as I wish God would give me more time and energy, God has a different, and far better way of addressing things: God gives me other people!  When I am weak, when I come up against my limits, that is when I tend to open myself up most to help from other people.  And as satisfying as it is to personally check off to-do items from my list, it is way more satisfying to work together with others!

So this week, in an effort to allow God to make me strong when I am weak, I have asked my husband Phil to give part of our sermon.  He recently attended the Laity Academy and took the preaching course.  He was asked ahead of time to write a short sermon, and he chose to write about a special gift he received many years ago.  I thought this was a great illustration to help us think about the best gifts God gives us.  Yes, God gives us spiritual gifts and responsibilities to be in ministry.  But also God gives us limits and constraints, and even at times, permits painful experiences to help us experience weakness to we will open ourselves to receiving strength from God.  And how do we receive strength from God?  Often it’s through other people’s words and actions.  I hope you enjoy this short message from Phil.

 

“The Blue Pen”

By Phil Newcomer

Matthew 7:9-12

 

I’m an attorney, and much has changed in my profession since I started practicing law in 1990.  Today, all my court filings are done electronically, but when I was fresh out of law school, you physically took your paper brief or motion or complaint to the courthouse to be filed, along with several copies.  The clerk would time-stamp the original and copies, keep the original for the court, and give you back the time-stamped copies for your file and to send to your client and opposing counsel.  It was important to sign the original document in blue pen.  This way, you could distinguish the original document for the court from the black and white photocopies you were taking back to the office.  Signing the filing in blue also signified that the document was finalized, and that you were attesting to its accuracy.

Not long after I started practicing law, I noticed that many of the senior attorneys at the firm carried nice pens that they used to sign legal documents.  I soon was eager to ditch my disposable BIC blue ballpoint pens in favor of a handsome fountain pen that could be filled and refilled with blue ink.

My in-laws were always thoughtful gift-givers, and they weren’t shy about asking me what I might want for a birthday or Christmas.  In the Fall of 1990, my father-in-law, Ray asked me what I would like for Christmas that year.  I told him that I was tired of signing legal documents with a disposable blue pen, and that I would love to have a nice, refillable blue pen to use at work.  “A blue pen?” Ray asked?  “Yeah, a blue pen,” I said.  “That’s what all the lawyers at the firm use.”  Ray smiled and thanked me for the suggestion.

Fall turned to Winter, and my wife and I made the trek Northeastern PA to celebrate Christmas with her folks.  As we exchanged gifts, Ray handed me this box. [HOLD IT UP]  I unwrapped it, and found a Waterman fountain pen with a blue-marbled finish.  [HOLD UP THE PEN]  “That’s what you were hoping for, isn’t it? A blue pen!” Ray exclaimed.  My mother-in-law chimed in, “You won’t believe how hard it was to find that.  Plenty of stores sold fountain pens, but Ray had to look all over to find a blue one.”  “Store after store” she said, her voice trailing off as she shook her head in disbelief at Ray’s efforts.  “Oh!” Ray added.  “You won’t be able to use it without this.”  Ray passed me a small present which I unwrapped to reveal … you guessed it … a bottle of black ink.

I thanked my father-in-law for the blue pen, and I chuckled to myself about our breakdown in communication.  I never had the heart to tell Ray that what I really had wanted wasn’t a blue pen, but a pen with blue ink.  It wasn’t long, though, before the blue pen became a treasured possession.  It’s not the pen I would have picked out for myself, but my father-in-law had searched long and hard to find it for me.  This blue pen was evidence that Ray valued me, that he was glad I was his son-in-law, that I was worth the effort. Ray wasn’t someone to talk openly about his feelings for others, but the gift of the blue pen spoke volumes.  This blue pen helped me see my father-in-law and my relationship with him in a whole new light.  I bought myself some blue ink for my blue pen, and I carried it everywhere when I was working.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had something to say about parents giving gifts.  He said, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”  (Matthew 7:9-11 (NIV)) Some folks take this teaching to mean that God will give us any good thing that we ask for.  I don’t read it that way.  I think Jesus is telling us what God is like, not what we can get from God.  Jesus wants us to know that God is generous and loving – even more loving than the best parent we could imagine.  We may not receive everything we ask for from God, but we can be confident that God isn’t mocking our request.  That would be cruel, like giving a smooth brown stone to a child who asked for a dinner roll.

God gives good gifts.  Our lives are filled with them if we would only stop and notice.  In 1897, a Methodist minister named Johnson Oatman, Jr. penned the words of a little hymn called, Count Your Blessings.  He probably used a blue pen to write it.  The first verse says this:

 

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

 

I think Pastor Oatman was on to something back in 1897.  God is generous.  And if we take time to remember the many blessings God has given us — people and experiences and opportunities God has brought into our lives — we will see God, and our relationship with God, in a surprising new light.  Like my blue pen, God’s good gifts may not always be exactly what you asked for.  They’re not always gifts you would have picked for yourself at the time, but I can guarantee you this: You will come to appreciate them because they’ve been chosen just for you by someone who loves you more than you can fathom.  It’s hard to ask for more than that.  Amen.