Take Up Your Cross | A Sermon on Matthew 16:21-28

Introduction
Can you imagine what it was like to be a Disciple who walked with Jesus for three years?  To have heard His amazing teaching first hand?  To have experienced His loving grace?  To have seen Him perform the amazing miracles–feeding 5000 with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, walking on water and calming the stormy sea, healing the blind and the deaf and making the lame walk?  Walking with Jesus on the earth must have been an amazing experience for the 12 disciples.  And they sensed something great was about to happen as they made their way toward Jerusalem.  Was their Messiah finally going to kick out their Roman oppressors and restore Israel?  They hoped He would as the felt His ministry rising toward a great climax.  And Jesus knew their hopes and expectations when He spoke in Matthew 16:21-28.

Matthew 16:21-28
²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

²⁸ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

What Does It Truly Mean To Follow Jesus?
Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem to face the cross and fulfill His mission to die for the sins of the world. Now, He tells His followers that each of us must carry a cross of our own.

This is part of what it means to be His disciple.
Each of us must face the question: what does it truly mean to follow Jesus?

The disciples knew exactly what a cross was. Today, people often think of crosses as decorations in a church or pieces of jewelry. For Christians, the cross has become a beautiful symbol of God’s redeeming love. But the twelve disciples who walked with Jesus had seen people dying in agony on crosses. Sometimes those crosses stood along the roadside, placed there by the Romans to warn anyone who might challenge their power. So when Jesus spoke about carrying a cross, His words had a very clear and serious meaning.

Peter’s Rebuke
And Peter didn’t like it. Peter wanted nothing to do with a cross—not for himself, and certainly not for his beloved Lord. Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God. He had just said so in the passage before this one, and Jesus had praised him for his faith.

But Peter did not yet understand the true nature and purpose of the Messiah.

He was still thinking about political and military victory: overthrow Rome, restore Israel, and establish power. His vision was of a limited, earthly kingdom. Maybe he was remembering the glory days of King David’s rule. Or perhaps he was thinking of the more recent Hasmonean kingdom that arose after the Maccabean revolt—the Jewish uprising that people still remember today when they celebrate Hanukkah.

So when Jesus says, “I must suffer and be killed…,” Peter hears something very different. What he hears is, “Our movement is going to fail.” And Peter tries to protect Jesus—to protect the movement, and maybe even to protect his own dream of being part of the Messiah’s inner circle in a free and powerful Jewish nation.

But Jesus knows that His true purpose is far greater than Peter’s limited understanding.

Jesus’ Temptation
There’s something important we need to notice here. Jesus was tempted by Peter’s vision. Who wouldn’t be?

Imagine a choice like a game show. Behind door number one is suffering and death on a cross. Behind door number two is ruling as the powerful king of a free and independent Jewish nation—greater even than the glory of Solomon’s kingdom. Which would you choose?

It’s very tempting. Even for Jesus. In fact, it sounds a lot like what Satan said to Him when He was fasting in the wilderness for forty days. Do you remember the temptation? Satan said, “All this I will give you…if you will bow down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8–9)

Peter’s vision of the kingdom sounded easier. It promised success without suffering. But Jesus knew that God’s plan was far greater and far deeper. He had to reject Peter’s human vision because it led away from the cross.

So just as Jesus rebuked Satan in the wilderness—“Away from me, Satan!”—He rebuked Peter as well.

Reaching for God’s Kingdom without carrying a cross—that has always been humanity’s sin.
We want victory without sacrifice, glory without suffering, and resurrection without crucifixion.
But Jesus knows you can’t skip the cross and still reach the Kingdom.
The road to real life runs straight through surrender and sacrifice, while trusting God’s plan.

The Disciples’ Cross
So Jesus tells His disciples (and us) plainly what it really means to follow Him.

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Following Him means surrender, sacrifice, and dying to self. 

Yet Jesus also gives a surprising promise:  “Whoever loses their life for me will find it.” 
The cross is not the end of life—it is the path to true life.

So each of us must ask: What are we really trying to gain in this life? Comfort? Success? Approval? These things can be appealing, but if gaining them costs us our soul, they are a terrible bargain.

The Transfiguration
For many years I misunderstood the last verse of this passage.
I thought Jesus was talking about His second coming.
That was confusing, because He says that some of the disciples standing there would not die before they saw the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.
But all of those disciples eventually died, and Jesus has not yet returned in that final way.

But that’s not what Jesus was referring to.
Jesus was pointing to something that was about to happen very soon. In the very next chapter, Matthew tells us that six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John up onto a mountain.
There, something remarkable happened. Jesus was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, His clothes became dazzling white, and Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Him.

For a moment, those disciples saw Jesus as He truly is—the King in all His glory.
It was a glimpse of the true Kingdom.

And that moment is very important. Jesus had just told His disciples about suffering,
about crosses, about losing their lives.
But then, He allowed a few of them to see the glory that lies beyond the cross.

The Kingdom of Jesus is not only something that comes after suffering.
Sometimes, God allows us to see glimpses of His glory even while we carry the cross.
And that matters for us.
Because what Jesus said today is heavy. He has told us that following Him means sacrifice.
But the life of a Christian is not all doom and gloom.
It is a life where suffering and glory are strangely intertwined.
Along the road of discipleship there are moments when Christ lets us see His beauty—
moments of peace, moments of grace, moments when His presence becomes so clear that we know we are walking the right road.

The cross is real. But so is the glory.  So be encouraged. Be brave.
And follow Jesus with determination.

Yes, there will be suffering along the way. But there will also be glimpses of His Kingdom—glimpses of the glory of the One we follow.

And one day, the glory we glimpse now will no longer be hidden.
One day we will see Him fully, face to face.

Closing
But today, we need to accept the cross.  Don't let your hope in Christ be a worldly human thing where you settle for a cheap victory without suffering.  Because Jesus says, "If you want to be my disciple, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me."

 

Peace or Division | A Sermon on Luke 12:49-53

Introduction
Isaiah 9:6 calls Jesus the Prince of Peace.
In Luke 2:14, we hear the angels singing, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”  And many love the image of Jesus carrying a baby lamb, gently in His arms.  That’s why His words in our Scripture today are shocking.  Let’s look at them together in Luke 12:49-53.

Luke 12:49-53
⁴⁹ “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! ⁵⁰ I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. ⁵¹ Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! ⁵² From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.

⁵³ ‘Father will be divided against son
    and son against father;
mother against daughter
    and daughter against mother;
and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law
    and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’^[a]”

A World on Fire
Jesus’ words in verse 49 are startling.  “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!” 

In Scripture, fire often represents judgement, purification, and the Holy Spirit.  The prophet Malachi foretold Jesus using the image of fire when he said: “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes.”

Jesus’ very existence confronts our lives.  When He enters our world, hypocrisy is exposed, sin is confronted, and hearts are revealed.  You can’t avoid it.  When He draws close it burns away the fake facades we wear like masks.  He reveals who we really are.

So, some try to avoid the Fire.  They stay far away.  They hide in the shadows, running from the Truth.  The Pharisees had a great public image.  Everyone looked up to them and though they were model citizens, the most holy in all the land.  However, their public image masked a lot of private sin and wrong attitudes and selfish motives.  Jesus' teachings exposed their hypocrisy.  So they tried discredit Him.  When they couldn't, they tried to kill Him, thinking that would hide their duplicity.  But Darkness can never overcome the Light. (John 1:5)  The Crucifixion only turned up the heat even more to burn the farce they called “peace”.

What is Peace?
Peace is a word people love to hear.  We pray for “peace in the middle east”.  “Peace” was the slogan and logo of the 1960s—used by people on all sides of the conflicts.  Ironically, “peace” is usually the reason powerful politicians justify going to war.
They drop bombs on each other until one side submits and there is “peace.”  So what exactly is peace?  What does that even mean?

According to our faith, “True peace is life made right with God.”  The Hebrew word for peace in the Bible is Shalom.  It means wholeness, completeness, harmony, a right relationship, and well-being under God’s blessing.  Peace is the perfect state in which Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before they sinned.  It is the condition humans have been trying to find ever since we lost it, and it is the perfect peace God has been working in our world to restore as well.

But true peace, shalom, is always built upon a right relationship with God.  Apart from peace with God, all other peace is inferior and temporary or invalid.  It sounds good, but it does not deliver real harmony or wholeness.  And it does not last.

Jesus is the “Prince of Peace”, because He came to restore complete wholeness to the world through a right relationship with God.  He came to bring us back into the perfect peace of the Garden of Eden.  But to bring us back to God, all our other idols and false gods and fake peace must be burned up in the fire of God’s refining flame.

Disturbing the Peace
The Pharisees and teachers of religious law, as well as the Romans, said Jesus was “disturbing the peace”.  And it’s true.  He was disturbing their peace so He could re-establish true peace.  In Jerusalem, they killed Jesus on a cross in a vain effort to protect their way of life—which was just a fake kind of peace that rejected God to benefit people in power at the expense of the weak.

But you cannot escape the refining fire of Jesus’ Truth.  His very existence demands everyone choose with whom they will live in peace.  Will you be on God’s side or the side of someone else?  Will you follow Jesus unconditionally as Lord, or will you follow some other lord?  No one can remain neutral.  It is not one of the options.

And we see from Jesus words that our surrender to God leaves no room for compromise.  It is an unconditional surrender.  “Families will be split apart… Father will be divided against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother…”

Why?  Because these close relatives sometimes choose differently—one for the Lord and the other for someone or something else.  And the truth is, you may experience this in your life too, if you end up differently aligned with Christ than the people you love.

Jesus absolutely did come to bring peace—peace with God.  But when people must decide whether to receive that peace, it inevitably creates division.

Our Own False Peace
Before we think too much about divisions out there in the world, we should probably ask a harder question.  Where have we made peace with things in our own lives that God never intended us to live with?  Because the truth is, many of us have made a kind of false peace with our brokenness.

We make peace with sins we know are there but don’t want to confront.  We make peace with bitterness we’ve carried for years.  We make peace with habits we know are unhealthy.  We make peace with relationships that are wounded but never healed.

We tell ourselves, “This is just the way I am.”Or “This is just the way life is.” Or "This is just the way the real world works."  And over time, the brokenness begins to feel normal.  It becomes familiar.  It becomes comfortable.  And strangely enough, it begins to feel like peace.

But it isn’t peace.  It’s just settling.  It is selling out.
It’s learning to live with the darkness rather than stepping into the light.
And this is exactly why Jesus says He came to bring fire.  Because sometimes the most loving thing God can do for us is to disturb the false peace we’ve made with sin.

Jesus refuses to leave us comfortable in the things that are destroying us.  
He comes like a refining fire.  Fire is uncomfortable.  Fire burns. 
Fire exposes what is real and what is fake.  But fire also purifies.

The fire of Christ burns away the lies we hide behind.  It burns away the idols we cling to.
It burns away the broken patterns we have learned to live with.  Not to destroy us, but to heal us.
Because on the other side of that refining fire is something far better than the fragile peace we try to manufacture for ourselves.  On the other side is true peace. 
Peace with God.  Peace that restores what sin has broken. 
Peace that brings us back into the wholeness God created us for in the first place.

And that leaves each of us with the same question Jesus placed before the crowds.
Will we hold on to the false peace we have built for ourselves?
Or will we surrender to the refining fire of Christ and receive the true peace only He can give?

Because Jesus didn’t come simply to make us comfortable.  He came to make us whole.

Be Ready | A Sermon on Luke 12:35-40

Introduction
So far this Lent, we’ve moved from Determination to Commitment to Perseverance.  Today we will here Jesus call to Be Ready.

Luke 12:35-40
³⁵ “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks. ³⁷ The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat! ³⁸ He may come in the middle of the night or just before dawn.^[a] But whenever he comes, he will reward the servants who are ready.

³⁹ “Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would not permit his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

Be Ready
Jesus tells this story to exhort His followers to be ready.  Be ready for what? [His return…]
He said, “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning…”   It almost reminds you of the Passover back in Exodus.  God told the Hebrews slaves to be dressed and ready to go, for the Lord was about to delver them and they needed to have their sandals and and be ready to leave.

Jesus and His followers lived in a time before electricity, a time when you traveled on foot.  Imagine the Master of the home staying out late at a wedding feast—well past his bedtime.  It’s dark and he’s tired from a long wedding celebration—maybe up to a week of socializing.  Then the master has to walk home—maybe a long, long distance.  By the time he arrive home, he will be tired and thirsty.  

And as he approaches his home, he might find a dark home with no lights.  The servants he pays to help him are sleeping.  He has to wait for them to find lamps, fill them with oil, trim and adjust the wicks, and then light them.  And since there are no lighters at this time, they have to strike flints to get the lamps burning.  Can you imagine?  Then, they must dress (you can't greet tyhe master in your PJs).  So the master has to wait for them in the dark while they come to the door and open it.  Then he has to wait for them to go collect water from a well and make some refreshments (there aren't Ritz crackers in the pantry; everything is made from scratch).  He’s tired from the journey, but he has to wait because his servants have been lazy and aren't prepared.

If he has good servants, the master may find a home brightly lit home with lamps in the windows and perhaps along the pathway guiding him to the home.  His servants have been waiting diligently for his return.  They are already dressed to serve.  They've kept their lamps burning so the windows are illuminated and they can quickly answer the door.  They open the door as soon as their master arrives.  They already have refreshments on the table waiting to sooth him after his long journey.

Which servants would you want on your payroll?  Which servants do we want to be?  And since this parable is about the return of Christ in the Last Days, He is the Master, and we are the servants, what should we do if we want to be servants who are ready for our Master’s return?

Be Alert
We need to be alert.  Being ready means being proactive, not passive.  We see the example for this when we are seated and served at a restaurant.  A waiter or waitress  has "wait" is in their job title. A bad wait staff doesn't pay attention to you.  You have to constantly get their attention when you need them.  But a good waiter or waitress is attentive without being intrusive.  They pay attention to your needs from a distance and serve you before you even need to ask for help.

As you wait for Jesus return, are you watching & listening for signs about how you can serve? Are you obediently working?  Are you praying and listening the God's Word in Scripture daily? Are you sensitive to nudges from the Holy Spirit?  Do you look for reasons to serve, not excuses why you can’t 

Spiritual Maintenance
Jesus uses the image of a lamp.  The lamp He referred to would have been a clay vessel filled with olive oil that burned a flax wick inserted through a narrow spout.  These were finicky; the wicks need adjustment, drips must be cleaned up, you must keep at least one lamp burning or else you had to use flints to light the lamp, which could be tricky.

If we are going to be ready spiritually, our spiritual flame needs maintenance.  How do you tend your spirit from flickering out?

Tend Your Flame

Some ways you can help tend your spiritual flame, is through worship--gathering together with outer believers to honor and adore God.  It helps keep your prorities straight and invigorates your spiritual passion.  

Prayer and Scripture train you to share your life with God and be ready to hear His voice.  Don’t wait until you have an emergency to pray.  I mean, you can; but how much better is it if you have a daily/ongoing relationship with God.  Then we you need Him for a major issue, you already have a relationship and know you can trust him.

Through self-Examination, we evaluate our life and ask:

• If Christ returned tonight, what would you be ashamed of?
• What spiritual flame in your life has been flickering?
• Where have you been lounging in spiritual pajamas instead of wearing servant’s clothes?

Repent of your sin; be reconciled with God and your neighbor.  These are also essential acts that hel you tend your spiritual flame and keep your lamp burning bright.

Jesus’ Return is Good News
One thing I don’t want us to lose sight of is this:  The Master’s return is a good thing!  When we follow Jesus as Lord, His return is not an occasion for dread or fear.  When we stay alert and are ready, we know we belong to Him.  We know there is grace.  Jesus is not looking for reasons to be angry, but for reasons to reward.

We want to be found faithful.  And we know Christ will bless us when He comes.  Jesus Himself will sit us down and serve a heavenly feast.

Luke 13:29 says, “People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.”  And Revelation 19:9 says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Closing Meditation
Ask yourself:

If Christ returned tonight, what would you be ashamed of?

What spiritual flame in your life has been flickering, almost ready to go out?

Where have you spiritually been lounging in pajamas instead of wearing a servant’s clothes?

Count the Cost | A Sermon on Luke 14:25–33

Introduction
On Ash Wednesday, we read how Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem to fulfill His purpose to die on a cross to atone for our sin.  During the Sundays in Lent, we’ll study the stories of Christ’s ministry as He made His way to Jerusalem.  Today, we see that following Jesus is costly.  And we are invited to decide if it is worth it.

Luke 14:25-33
²⁵ A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ²⁶ “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

²⁸ “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? ²⁹ Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. ³⁰ They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

³¹ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? ³² And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. ³³ So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

Hate is a Strong Word
Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life.”

Hate is a strong word.  In fact, it’s a word our culture often condemns outright.  So, when Jesus uses that word, it stops us in our tracks.  But Jesus isn’t calling for hostility.  He is using strong language to make one thing clear: our allegiance to Him must be supreme.

Driving through Jackson, I often see signs that say, “Love is stronger than hate.”  I appreciate the sentiment.  We need more love and kindness in our world.  And love is powerful—especially if we mean the kind of love Jesus offered. 

But the love Jesus gave—the kind of love His followers are commanded to give—demands that Christ takes first place in our hearts.  Everything and everyone else must come in second.  And if we must choose between Christ or anything else, we must choose Christ.

Furthermore, if we love Jesus, we will hate sin, because we see what sin does.  Sin destroys people and rips our world apart.  Sin required the Savior we love to die on the cross.  He died so that we may live.  He died to destroy sin.  Therefore, let us hate sin.

The sacrificial love of Christ is more powerful than hate.  But His love requires everyone to decide if they will follow Him or follow someone or something else.

Count the Cost
When I answered call to ministry, I knew I would have to go back to seminary to get my master's degree (it was the requirement at the time for my denomination).  I called Candler School of Theology at Emory University (the closet approved seminary for me) and asked how much it would cost.  They said, "$7,000".  Now, my entire 4-year undergraduate bachelors degree in the 1990s cost $7,000.  So I asked, I asked, "Is that for the whole degree or per year?"  They said, "$7,000 per semester."  Understand, it was a minimum of 6 semesters to get my seminary degree.  

After I hung up the phone, I prayed, "Lord, there's no way I can afford to do this--especially if I'm about to quite my job as an engineer.  But I'm determined to follow Your call to ministry.  But if I'm going to do this, You're going to have to make a way."  And He did.  Over the next few years, God made a way through scholarships, grants, and generous churches to help pay my way through seminary.  I had almost no debt from seminary after I finished.  

When large crowds were traveling with Jesus, He didn’t say, ‘What can we offer to keep them interested?’  He didn’t redesign His message to be more appealing.  He raised the bar.  He said, “Don’t follow until you count the cost.”

In our time, the church has often tried to attract people by offering programs, events, activities—and many of those things are good. They serve real needs. They build community. They open doors.

But if what ultimately draws someone to church is comfort, entertainment, or convenience, there will always be something more comfortable, more entertaining, and more convenient somewhere else.  This is why attendance at many churches in America today has declined (or shifted to mega churches where they can offer a more entertaining, attractive experience.)

If we build disciples on attraction alone, we shouldn’t be surprised if people become consumers—shopping for the best experience.

But Jesus did not call consumers.  He called disciples.  He did not say, ‘Compare your options.’  He said, ‘Carry your cross.’  Jesus words today remind us what we are invited into.

We follow a crucified Christ.  We should invite others to decide if that’s who they want to follow too.

Jesus says, ‘Count the cost.’  He would rather have fewer genuine followers than crowds who disappear when the road gets rough.

Closing
Today, Jesus wants to protect us from shallow faith.  He says, “Don’t follow Me casually.  Don’t follow Me emotionally.  Don’t follow Me halfway.  Sit down.  Count the cost.  Decide if I am worth it.”

The truth is:  Jesus counted the cost first.  He knew what Jerusalem would cost Him.  He knew what the cross would require.  He knew what obedience would demand.  And He did not turn back.  He believed you are worth it all.

Discipleship is costly.  But it’s worth it.

An Invitation to the Altar
I want to invite you to do something physical today, because sometimes your body needs to move in the direction your heart is choosing.

If you need to count the cost…
If you need to recommit…
If you have been following casually…
If you have been consuming instead of surrendering…
If you have been near Jesus but not fully His…

Come to the altar.  Come kneel.  Come pray.  Come sit and count the cost.

Maybe your prayer is:
“Lord, I have been distracted.”
“Lord, I have been divided.”
“Lord, I have been delaying.”

Or maybe your prayer is simply:  “Jesus, You are worthy of it all.”

This altar is open and you are invited to come.

 

 

Let's Start with Weaknesses | A Sermon on 2 Corinthians 11:30 & 12:6-9

Introduction I’ve been praying quite a bit about what to say today. This is my first sermon with you, and it’s a chance to introduce myself a little—who I am, how I think, what matters to me. But above all, as in every sermon I preach, my deepest desire is to share God’s Word and draw people closer to Him. That’s always first. Still, as I open God’s Word with you, I hope you also come away knowing me a little better.

As I prayed about where to begin, I sensed the Lord bringing to mind something the Apostle Paul once wrote to the church in Corinth. The Corinthians were a troubled church. They struggled with unity, with pride, with spiritual immaturity, and Paul wrote to them more than once to help straighten things out. And they didn’t always appreciate what he said. And when some wanted to ditch Paul in favor of other more agreeable leaders, they compared Paul to those other leaders who claimed to be better than Paul.

But instead of defending himself or trying to out-shine the other church leaders, Paul took an entirely different approach. Let’s read what he wrote. 

BTW, I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation today.  It’s what I typically preach because: 1) It’s easy to understand, 2) It’s accurate and reliable, and 3) It’s different from what most of us are used to and that's important. Sometimes, we've heard Bible stories so many times and we're so familiar with them that we don't hear them with fresh ears. Because the NLT sounds different, it encourages to hear familiar stories with fresh ears.

2 Corinthians 11:30
30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am.

2 Corinthians 12:6-9

6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

Boasting in Weakness
The part the Lord wants us to focus on this morning is Paul’s choice to boast about his weaknesses.  Rather than saying the Corinthians should follow his leadership because he was better than his competitors, Paul boasted that he was weak. 

That’s the opposite of human nature, isn’t it–focusing on our weaknesses? When we first meet someone—especially when we want them to like us—we want to put our best foot forward.

We highlight our strengths. We polish our image a little. We might even boast a bit about our accomplishments or drop a few names.  It’s human instinct to lead with the best version of ourselves.

And in Paul’s case, it must have been especially tempting. Some in the Corinthian church were criticizing him. They said other leaders were better, more eloquent, more “spiritual” than Paul. They questioned whether he was worthy of respect. If anyone had a reason to defend himself, to build himself up, it was Paul.

But instead of doing that, Paul does something unexpected. He boasts—not in his strengths, not in his successes, but–in his weakness.

My Weaknesses
What would it look like for us to boast in our weaknesses? What would that look like for a pastor to boast about his weaknesses on his first Sunday with a new congregation?

Well, I have plenty of weaknesses. I'm terrible with names. And that's tough for a pastor learning hundreds of new names in a new congregation. I care about you and I want to know your name. But I will struggle to remember them. It will take a bit of time. But even worse than that, I struggle with the names of people I have known and loved for a long time. Their names will occasionally just slip from my mind--and I mean people I really know well. And usually it happens at the most in opportune time--like when I'm praying for them: "Lord, please watch over... Him... while he has surgery today." (And the "Him" in the story is thinking, "You've known me since high school. You don't even know my name?" That's one of my weaknesses.

And I'm forgetful. I forget things. A lot of things. People will say, “You remember that conversation we had three weeks ago?” And I’ll think, I can’t remember what I had for dinner yesterday.

And it’s not just that I forget — sometimes I misremember, which is actually worse. I’ll be absolutely convinced something happened. I’ll remember vivid details. I’ll think, I know this is true.

This usually happens with my wife, Kelly. I’ll say, “Remember when we went to that town and visited your friend? I remember it clearly — I was wearing these pants, we’d just eaten dinner, and I had steak.” And she’ll say, “No… we didn’t.”

Then she’ll pull out her phone — because phones never forget — and she’ll show me pictures and say, “We were four hours away in a completely different town when you think that happened.”

And I just stand there thinking, How does that happen?  Because in my mind, it’s all so clear.  That’s how forgetful I can be.

I tend to skip things in the worship service. You’d think after doing this for twenty-five years, I’d have it all down by now. But we’ll be moving right along in the worship service, and the children’s moment is coming up… and I’ll skip right over it.  Sometimes I’ll even skip the offering (and some folks out there are thinking, Amen! Skip it!  But the finance chair is thinking, No, no, no — don’t skip the offering!)

It’s not intentional. It just goes right past me. I’m already thinking about what’s next — and suddenly I’ve forgotten what’s right in front of me.

I have trouble focusing on more than one thing at a time. I can focus in on one thing like a laser. I'm great at that. But I'm a terrible multitasker. If two people are talking to me at the same time, I can't hear what either of them are saying. If a TV is on in a room and someone is trying to talk to me, I literally cannot stay focus on what they're saying. It's a weakness of mine.

I'm an introvert. I love having deep, one on one conversations, but I struggle with mingling in large crowds. I'm socially awkward. And some people are great at working the room, but not me. You'll usually find me standing to the side talking to one or two people. And I'm just not good at making my way around the room to get to everybody.

I can be messy. My wife can say amen to that. I can be messy — not because I don’t care, but because I get laser-focused on things, and tidying up doesn’t always make the list.

At my last church, where I served for fifteen years, I just finished packing up my office about a week ago. And I discovered there were things in that office I never even unpacked when I first arrived — fifteen years ago.

I promise I’ll try to do better. But I’m not going to stand here and tell you my office is going to be the neatest one in the building.  

That said, don’t think I’m unorganized — I do have a system. Sometimes my system is: put it on my desk, leave it there until I’m done with it, and then put it away.  And if after six months it’s still on my desk and I’m still not done with it… well, that probably means it doesn’t need to be done at all. So it goes in the trash.  That’s often how my system works.

I make mistakes.  I make lots of typos–especially when texting or writing with my phone. I promise you — I am an intelligent person. I don’t misspell words because I don’t know how to spell them. I misspell them because I start typing, and my brain is already three thoughts ahead of my fingers.

So sometimes you’ll see things on the slides and think, Is that spelled right? I’m looking right now — I think we’re okay today — but every now and then, something slips through.

Emails and letters can be bad enough, but text messages are the worst. My fingers are too big for those tiny buttons on my phone. I’ll type something out, send it, and then look back at it and think, What did I just write? That makes no sense. That’s complete gibberish.

Susan can probably testify to this, because we’ve been texting back and forth quite a bit over the last few months while she’s been serving as the SPRC chair. I’d send her a message trying to say something encouraging — something like, “I’m grateful for you and excited about coming to serve this church” — and then I’d look at what I sent and think, I promise I know how to spell these words.

I make mistakes. Not because I don’t care — but because I’m human and that's one of my weaknesses.

I struggle with visiting. I want you to hear this clearly: I love you. I truly do. I pray for you.  I lose sleep over you.  But the Lord gives each of us different strengths, and I want to be honest with you about mine — and about my weaknesses. Visiting is not my greatest strength. I do it, and when I do, I value that time.  But it hasn’t been my strongest area. 

Going back over the last twenty-five years, I think every church I’ve served would say I ministered to them faithfully — and they might also say, “I wish he’d visited more.”  That’s not something I’m proud of. It’s simply an area where I’m weaker. And I want you to know that upfront — not as an excuse, but as honesty — because God often does His best work right in those places of weakness.

None of these are things I’m proud of—but they are places where I depend on God, and where I depend on others.

But I love Jesus. He is God and He created me.  And he designed me for a loving relationship with Him. And even though I started out my life trying to live to please myself and do what I wanted, not caring what He wanted, Jesus forgave me. And I am ever grateful for His mercy. And I love Him. And I know I’m a citizen of His Kingdom and He’s my King!

And I want to invite as many people to follow Jesus as I can. We're designed for a relationship with Him. We need Him just as much as we need air to breath and water to drink. It's part of our DNA.

God Works Through Weakness
And somehow, God works through me–not because I’m great or talented or more spiritual than anyone else.  God works through my weakness when I am faithful.  It brings Him glory.

God worked through weak and unexpected people throughout the Bible. Jacob was the second born twin-son. The blessing is supposed to pass to the firstborn son. But God gave Jacob the Abrahamic blessing not Esau.

Moses was “slow of speech”, but God delivered the Israelites from slavery through him.

Ruth was a foreigner and a widow, but became the great-grandmother of Israel’s greatest king.

David was just a forgotten shepherd. When the prophet Samuel came to Jesse's house and said he wanted to look at all his sons and choose the next king of Israel, Jesse didn't invite David to the feast. He left him in the field with the sheep. But after looking at all the other sons, Samuel said, "None of these are the one. Don't you have any more sons?" And Jesse said something like "Well, there's David, but he'll never amount to anything so we left in the field with the sheep." And Samuel said, "Bring him here! We won't start eating until he arrives!" And then he anointed David as the greatest king Israel ever had.

And David's great, great, great... Granddaughter was Mary. She was too young, too poor, and lived in an unknown, backwater town. People said, "Nothing good ever comes out of Nazareth." But God thought differntly. He sent the angel Gabriel who said, "May, the Lord has found favor with you and you will bear His son and He will be the Savior of the world..."

God is always working through the weak, the unexpected, the overlooked, and the forgotten. He doesn’t choose the strong, because they might boast they did it on their own. God chooses the weak and He gets all the glory, because people can clearly see the only way they succeed is through the power of God.

And that’s what I want as I start with you.  I want God to get all the glory.

What Does This Mean For You?
So what does this mean for us—for the people of Stark Methodist Church? It means we don’t have to pretend here.  We don’t have to impress God. We don't have to pretend with each other. We don’t have to hide our struggles.  We don’t have to polish ourselves up before we come to Christ. The same grace that met Paul in his weakness meets us in ours.

Some of you may feel strong today.  Some of you came in feeling tired, worn out, or run down. Some of you came in feeling ashamed, broken, overlooked, or forgotten. The good news is this: God does His best work right there.

Paul didn’t hide his weakness — he offered it to God. And I wonder what might happen if we did the same.

What is your “thorn”?  What is the place where you feel insufficient, frustrated, or tired?
And what about this church?  What are this church’s greatest weaknesses?

Instead of asking God to wait until we’re stronger, what if we asked Him to work right there–in our weakness?  Because God says, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

So I want you to hold your weakness in your heart as we prepare to come to the Lord’s Table.  We don’t come because we are worthy.  We come because He is gracious.
This table is not for the strong—it is for the needy.  Not for the perfect—but for the forgiven.
When we receive Holy Communion, we are reminded that Christ gave Himself fully—even in suffering—so that our weakness would never be the end of the story.

Holy Communion