10-16-22 “Paul was ALL IN while struggling triumphantly”

Scripture  2 Corinthians 11:21-29 & 12:7-10
 
          Like last week learning how Peter was ALL IN while “failing forward”, today we learn from the master, the apostle Paul, what it means to triumph through struggles. No one faced more challenges and had to constantly figure out and adapt to his circumstances to spread the gospel and grow the church.
Philippians 3:7-11
          But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
 
Around the turn of the century, a young man named Ole took his girlfriend on a summer outing. They took a picnic lunch out to a picturesque island in the middle of a small lake. She wore a long dress with about a dozen petticoats. He was dressed in a suit with a high collar. Ole rowed them out to the island, dragged the boat onto shore, and spread their picnic supplies beneath a shade tree. So hypnotized was he by her beauty that he hardly noticed the hot sun and perspiration on his brow. Softly she whispered to him, "Ole, you forgot the ice cream."
Ole pulled the boat back to the water and rowed to shore. He found a grocery store nearby, bought the ice cream, and rowed back to the island. She batted long eyelashes over deep blue eyes and purred, "Ole, you forgot the chocolate syrup."
Love will make a person do strange things. Ole got back into that boat and returned to the store for syrup. As he rowed back toward the island, suddenly he stopped. He sat there in the boat the rest of the afternoon, fascinated by an idea. By the end of that afternoon, Ole Evinrude had invented the outboard motor. And by the way, Ole later married the girl who waited so long on the island.
Ole Evinrude illustrates a basic principle of Christian living: When life delivers a problem or pain, force it to pay dividends. If life gives you a thorn that you can't, and God won’t remove, make it produce a rose.
No one in scripture lives out this kind of life for Jesus more than the apostle Paul. For any unfamiliar with him let’s look at an overview of his life.

 

The Apostle Paul’s Birth & Education
C. A.D. 6 Born a Roman citizen to Jewish parents in Tarsus (in modern eastern Turkey)
c. 20–30 Studies Torah in Jerusalem with Gamaliel; becomes a Pharisee
c. 30–33 Persecutes followers of Jesus of Nazareth in Jerusalem and Judea
Conversion
c. 33–36 Converted on the way to Damascus; spends three years in Arabia; returns to Damascus to preach Jesus as Messiah
c. 36 Flees Damascus because of persecution; visits Jerusalem and meets with the apostles
36–44 Preaches in Tarsus and surrounding region
44–46 Invited by Barnabas to teach in Antioch
46 With Barnabas visits Jerusalem to bring a famine relief offering
Mission Trips
47–48 First missionary journey with Barnabas, to Cyprus and Galatia
49 At the Council of Jerusalem, Paul argues successfully that Gentile Christians need not follow Jewish law; returns to Antioch; confronts Peter over question of Jewish law
49–52 Second missionary journey with Silas, through Asia Minor and Greece; settles in Corinth; writes letters to Thessalonians
52 Visits Jerusalem and Antioch briefly; begins third missionary journey
52–55 Stays in Ephesus; writes the letters to Galatians and Corinthians
55–57 Travels through Greece and possibly Illyricum (modern Yugoslavia); writes a letter to Romans
Paul’s Arrest & Death
57–59 Returns to Jerusalem and arrested; imprisoned at Caesarea
59–60 Appears before Festus and appeals to Caesar; voyage to Rome
60–62 Under house arrest at Rome; writes letters to Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon
62–64 Released; journeys to Spain?; writes letters to Timothy and Titus
64 Returns to Rome; martyred
 
2 Cor 12:7-10
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
 

    What was this thorn? We don't know. It was some very painful, chronic affliction. Sometimes Paul was totally disabled by it. The best guesses are that the thorn was epilepsy or migraine headaches or a malarial fever common in the eastern Mediterranean area.
    Notice that Paul refers to the thorn as a "messenger of Satan." The Bible teaches that all diseases and death came into the world because of sin. God's perfect original creation did not include disease or death. People do not get sick and die because God wills it. People get sick and die because our world is flawed by sin.
    A thorn in the flesh in modern terminology might be called "a pain in the neck" or a pain in some other sensitive part of one's anatomy. A thorn is whatever causes you pain or frustration or sadness. Thorns come in all shapes and sizes: migraine headaches, bad backs, arthritis, depression, anxiety spells, shingles, an unhappy marriage, an impossible boss, a child on drugs, and on and on. Though thorns vary in length and severity, most of us have at least one at any given time. Do you know what your thorn is?
As you think about that let’s look at what Paul did about his thorn and how God responded: "Three Times I Besought The Lord About This." Paul prayed to God on three occasions, asking Him to remove the thorn. But God did not. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane that he be spared the agony of the cross. But God's answer was no, and Jesus accepted it.
Country music often tells stories. Do you remember some time ago a Garth Brooks song which told about a young man who along with his wife returned to his high school for his 10th-year reunion? There he encountered his old high school flame. Right away he noticed that her current appearance did not compare well with his memories of her. The years had been tough on her. He sort of clutched his wife's hand a little tighter, so happy that he had ended up with her instead of the old flame. But he remembered many occasions ten years earlier when he had prayed fervently, "Lord, I ask only one thing of you...help me win the heart of this girl." Then comes the refrain of that country song: "Thank God for unanswered prayers."
Some prayers do not receive positive responses because God in his wisdom knows that something else is better for us.
But what about our prayers for sick people? We know that God desires healing instead of illness. Why do some prayers for healing seem to be answered positively while others are not?
I pray for the healing of sick people all the time. I believe that those prayers are always answered. God heals in three ways. The first and most common means of healing is through the regular medical channels that God has given us. Penicillin is a gift of God. So is bypass surgery. A second way God heals is beyond our understanding. Some healing is just beyond our understanding; we call these "miracles." They are rare and wonderful. Almost every veteran physician can point to a few of these he or she has witnessed. I pray for miracles frequently. A third way God heals will be experienced by all of us Christians. I refer to the healing that we will receive on the way to heaven. After all, most of us will die because of some illness. If we have claimed Jesus Christ by faith as Savior and Lord, he will heal us completely between earth and heaven.
Why does God heal one person through medical channels and another person by some miracle and still another on the way to heaven? We don't know.
Despite Paul's thorn in the flesh, he had a powerful ministry. He was the world's greatest missionary. He referred to himself and us as "more than conquerors." What was his secret? He tells us in verse 9. This is one of the greatest verses in all of scripture and I urge you to memorize it. It is a promise from God to Paul and to us: "My Grace Is Sufficient For You, or as it is rendered in the New English Bible: "My grace is all you need." In other words, God's power will be given to us in sufficient quantities to handle anything that we must face. That grace enables us not only to cope with a thorn but also to bring some good out of it.

Bill Bouknight, pastor of Christ Methodist in Memphis tells a story about this kind of grace: Years ago, he says, he visited a boy of about 12 in a facility for children with major medical problems. Tony was born with a spinal deformity; he was paralyzed from the waist down. Because of multiple surgeries, he had spent lots of time in a body cast. More of his young life had been spent in institutions than at home. Tony had a handsome face and a quick smile. On the day that he visited Tony had been watching his beloved Clemson Tigers on TV. He was able to see the TV by looking through a mirror. We had a friendly chat. His morale was amazing. Then I suggested that we have a prayer. And just before he uttered the first word of the prayer, Tony said in a soft and very sincere voice, "God sure has been good to me."

Bill responded to that in his own words: Well, I tell you, I had trouble speaking. Those words caught me completely off-guard. Something in me wanted to cry out, "Are you kidding me, Tony? God sure has been good to you? I can't see how. Look at what you have had to endure!" But Someone greater and wiser whispered to me this message: "Bill, don't be surprised at Tony's words. I have been here with him night and day. Remember, he belongs to me. I love him even more than his parents do. I have been "gracing" that boy."
There is one tragedy that Christians must never allow to happen--to have pain that causes no growth or a thorn that produces no rose. When life hurts you soul-deep, pull hard on the grace of God. Look life right in the eye and say, "You are hurting me badly but this pain, by God’s grace, will yield some good." Paul also wrote Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
I have known couples whose thorn was their inability to have children. Sometimes, despite much prayer, that condition does not change. Some of these couples have decided that with God's help they will force this thorn to bear dividends. Some have adopted children. In some cases, these have been so-called "hard to place" children. Others have become foster parents for children in crisis situations. These brave adults did not become bitter or bemoan their fate. Instead, they forced that thorn to produce a rose.

Morris F. Udall, former Secretary of the Interior and U.S. Senator lost an eye in an accident when he was six years old. Children would tease him cruelly about the eye. In self-defense, he started poking fun at himself. Eventually, that kind of humor became part of his personality. He learned early on to compensate for that lost eye by working harder than other kids. In his junior and senior years in high school, he was editor of the yearbook, quarterback of the football team, led the basketball team in scoring, had his own dance band, and wrote a political column for the weekly newspaper. Later he became a national leader. He traced part of his success back to that lost eye. That eye could have been his excuse for failure. Instead, he made it a challenge to excellence. His thorn produced a rose.
Those who experience life abundant are not people without thorns. They are persons of faith and courage who live by this code: If life delivers a thorn that God doesn’t, and I can't, remove, I will force it to pay dividends. I will make every thorn produce a rose! Amen.
          Just like Ole Evenrude, the apostle Paul was always having to find solutions to the greatest problem humanity has ever faced – the need for salvation. Paul’s struggles were way more than forgetting the ice cream and chocolate syrup and having to row back to get it…
2 Cor 11:21-29
What anyone else dares to boast about — I am speaking as a fool — I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.   Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? --- "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

    In Philippians 3:12-14, Paul also said, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.