Sermon Notes
Pastor Jeff Stanfill

Weakness and Usefulness
June 4, 2006

WEAKNESS AND USEFULNESS
TEXT: 2 COR. 112:1-10
INTRO:
Last Sunday evening, we applied Scripture in the context of a day of self-endorsement and ability. Tonight, I point out our culture of triumph. We live in a time of winners. "No one likes a ( fill in the blank) - loser."

We dress in clothes, drive automobiles, eat at restaurants, build houses with particular features, and carry cellphones that say, "Look, I am a winner. My garments, gadgets, and garage all say I am a champion."

We buy books written by and about winners. No one offered Nick Saban a book contract until LSU won the national championship. Who lost the Super Bowl in February? Have to think about it don't, we? Losers are yesterday; winners are today!

This is not a modern, Western culture idea. It is a human nature idea. Apostle Paul lived in the day of winners. Olympic Games, gladiatorial combat and political power brokers were celebrated because they produced winners. And in that time and age Apostle Paul was accused of being a loser.
2 Corinthians 10:1 - He was a coward.
10:2 - He was worldly.
10:12 through chapter 11 - He was a second-class servant of Christ.
12:11-13 - He lacked spiritual experiences.
By people's measuring sticks of bravado and bigness, clout and control, spirituality and saintliness - Paul did not measure up.

I. THE REALITY OF PAUL.
1. Paul had supernatural experiences in His walk with God. Unlike so many of our day, he shirked from flouting them as a badge of power. READ 12:1-4. That is the reality - or partial reality of Paul.

2. The rest of the reality is a thorn. Instead of being able to taunt others with his experiences, he himself endured a thorn. The truth is no one knows what specifically this thorn was for Paul. We do know this. It was a source of discomfort; it was continual; and it wasn't going away. "To keep me from getting a big head, I was given the gift of hardship to keep me humble and dependent." Now that's a gift we all want for Christmas!

3. Paul did what we all should do with our circumstances - take them to God in prayer. And he did - three times! The Jews viewed three as the complete number for prayer. I am not saying that Paul understood this this way but other would - that three times was all one prayed for a matter. Three times meant you had prayed through about the matter. Jesus returned to the Father in Gethsemane three times and then accepted the will of the Father. Let's assume that Paul did think of prayer this way. He had prayed through about this. He was sure of the answer from Heaven which was - I am not going to change your pain so let's change your perspective."

4. It is said that a Christian never falls asleep in the fire or the flood but grows drowsy in the sunshine. Hardships, difficult times, seasons of loss, trying and tumultuous affairs keep us humble and dependent. Not all addition is growth; and not all subtraction is loss.

II. THE REAL TRUTH OF POWER.
1. It was in his weakness that Paul was most useful. It was his own powerlessness that made Christ's power so real. Two axioms of weakness and usefulness for us in this day of triumph:

2. Beware the dangers of strength; both real and apparent. Two men come to mind. One is Nebuchadnezzar. Dan 4:29-30. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" With the words on his lips, he welted into a wild man driven away from his power and majesty. Strength is fleeting and flattering. The other man is Uzzaih. 2 Chron 26:11-16. Uzziah had a well-trained army, ready to go out by divisions according to their numbers as mustered by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officials. 12 The total number of family leaders over the fighting men was 2,600. 13 Under their command was an army of 307,500 men trained for war, a powerful force to support the king against his enemies. 14 Uzziah provided shields, spears, helmets, coats of armor, bows and slingstones for the entire army. 15 In Jerusalem he made machines designed by skillful men for use on the towers and on the corner defenses to shoot arrows and hurl large stones. His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful. 16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. He was greatly helped until he became powerful. Strength inflates egos and incites errors.

3. Beware lest we fall. Trust not in the strength of horses or the legs of men (Ps. 147:10). Strength can be real; man is ingenious at times. The leg muscle is the largest and most powerful in the human body. Strength can only be apparent. ILLU: Owner of Johnny's Pizza, "I found that the big boys have deep pockets." His strength was only apparent but just as dangerous.

4. Embrace the strength of weakness. Three men come to mind here. Joseph is brought before Pharoah to interpret Pharaoh's dreams. Gen 41:15-16. Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." 16 "I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires." How unlike our culture of triumph when we take on titles and endorse ourselves with giftings! The second man has no name but is very significant for us. He is a man with a shriveled hand. Shriveled hands do not function, they are less than weak they are useless. And Jesus commands the man to do what cannot be done, "Stretch out your hand." (Matt. 12:13). His weakness is made strong in obedience. Our third man is a contrast to someone we met a moment ago. He is quite unlike Uzziah but very much like him as well. He, too, is a king - Jehoshaphat. Enemies come to attack him. He calls a sacred assembly with fasting and before the congregation of his subjects does what no king would do, he prays, 2 Chron 20:12. For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." Oh, how the political pundits would puff that one on the talking head circuit.

"Generally, genuine awareness of weakness is side-by-side with the experience of usefulness [in ministry]." Alistair Begg.

CONCL:
"God puts His treasure in breakable vessels."

Of concern for CCC, is that God makes us weak to make us useful. This is not to say that if people were standing along the walls several times a day, and that if our coffers were overflowing with dollars that we could not accomplish the work of God. It is to say that the real world, 85% of churches in America alone are under 200 people. Church analysts are awakening to the fact that God's plan may not be the megachurch, for average churches keep His people humble and they "confound the impressive institutions of the world." (John Rowland, Magnify the Small Church, pg. 149).

2 Cor 4:7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.