Strength Through Weakness

Daily Office Devotional, Thursday, June 3, 2021

The Week of Trinity Sunday

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrase for reflection in today’s reading:

v. 9, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Martyrs of Uganda. (See below.)

Daily Office Lectionary readings

AM Psalm [70], 71; PM Psalm 74

Ecclesiasticus 44:19-45:5; 2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Luke 19:28-40

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Epistle, 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

12:1It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— 4was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 5On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 6But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. 8Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

David's Reflections

Today's reading contrasts with yesterday's. In yesterday’s reading, Paul was being lowered over a wall in a basket to escape arrest. In today’s epistle, he is being caught up into heaven in ecstatic bliss. His weakness and woundedness, so graphically portrayed yesterday, united him with others who suffered weakness and united him with the crucified Jesus. And, surprisingly, his ecstatic experience, though an experience of the power of resurrection, made him vulnerable to conceit by elevating him above others. Would we expect such a profound ecstatic encounter to threaten the spirituality of the person who experienced it?

Something painful entered his life. He does not say what--a physical illness, some sort of emotional or mental anguish, a difficult person. The exact nature of his thorn in the flesh will remain a mystery. We know that it was excruciating for him and that he thrice asked God to remove it. What a vivid metaphor--to have a thorn burrowing into your flesh that you cannot extract, so that your routine daily movements in that area of the body bring pain.

Rather than remove it, God responded that his grace would be sufficient for Paul. Paul's thrice-repeated prayer would remain unanswered in the form he phrased it. God's refusal brought Paul hard up against his only alternative, to accept the painful weakness and allow it to deepen his dependence on God's gracious help each day. He found his life flooded with God's empowering grace as a result.

In retrospect, Paul came to see that the thorn was God’s gift to counteract the threat his ecstatic experience posed to his spiritual life. The unique ecstatic experiences could lead to conceit, to self-elevation. His adversaries had fallen prey to just such a temptation in response to their ecstatic experiences; they felt superior to Paul. Note Paul’s insight in verses 7-8–7even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.

What might your particular "thorn" be? Is God putting you hard up against the wall of your human frailty through a physical illness, an addictive tendency, an emotional or mental malady, a difficult person, a trying circumstance? Could you, as did Paul, reframe that adversity as essential to your humility and as a force that drives you toward God. How do we know whether God desires to deliver us or whether we are to continue suffering a particular weakness? Consider the answer of Matthew and Dennis Linn.

"How do we know whether God wants us to ask for healing or to stay weak so that God (He) can draw us closer to Godself (Himself)? The answer lies in discerning whether the weakness, illness etc., is making us God-centered and neighbor-centered or more narrowly self-centered. If we are growing more self-centered, then this indicates that God wants to work a healing." *

Paul’s suffering obviously was transforming him into a more God-focused and other-focused person. We can reframe our weakness and suffering as uniting us with the crucified Jesus. Paul says of Jesus in the next chapter that he “was crucified in weakness.” Just as our moments of triumph and ecstacy come about through our union with the triumphant,risen Christ, our weakness and suffering unite us with the crucified, suffering Jesus.

*Dennis Linn and Matthew Linn, Healing of Memories: Prayer and Confession--Steps to Inner Healing (New York: Paulist, 1974), p. 2.

Collect of the Day, Trinity Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Martyrs of Uganda. (died 3 June 1886 CE).

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Uganda.htm

Collect of the Feast of the Martyrs of Uganda

O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: Grant that we who remember before you the blessed martyrs of Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom they gave obedience, even unto death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect for Protection

O God, the life of all who live, the light of the faithful, the strength of those who labor, and the repose of the dead: We thank you for the blessings of the day that is past, and humbly ask for your protection through the coming night. Bring us in safety to the morning hours; through him who died and rose again for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, 124)

For Peace

Almighty God, kindle, we pray, in every heart the true love of peace, and guide with your wisdom those who take counsel for the nations of the earth, that in tranquility your dominion may increase until the earth is filled with the knowledge of your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 258)

In the Order of Worship for Evening

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, creator of the changes of day and night, giving rest to the weary, renewing the strength of those who are spent, bestowing upon us occasions of song in the evening. As you have protected us in the day that is past, so be with us in the coming night; keep us from every sin, every evil, and every fear; for you are our light and salvation, and the strength of

our life. To you be glory for endless ages. Amen. (BCP, 113)

A Collect for Mission

O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 125)