Saturday 17th June
Read 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“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. 10 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.” (NIVUK)
The story is often told of a visit John Stott made to the University of Sydney many decades ago to present the gospel. By the end of the week, having proclaimed the good news as passionately and eloquently as he could, on the Friday evening his voice was done. He could barely whisper and it was painful to talk. The organisers suggested that he not speak, that he had done enough.
John spoke that night in a hoarse, monotone whisper. No theatrics at all. The number of people who had listened through the preceding four nights unmoved but who were saved in response to the Friday night message continued to grow. Many of them spoke to John in the following years describing that night. The kingdom grew.
What if John had been too proud to not speak to his usual standards? John knew and understood what Paul was talking about here in this letter to the Corinthians. God’s power is fully revealed in our weakness. Paul never spoke with rhetorical flourish in case the message was emptied of its power. He was happy to be considered weak and innocuous if it meant that the message of the cross – a message of strength amidst weakness, could be proclaimed clearly.
Are we too proud to speak weakly? Should we pursue perfection in our presentation of the message, in our singing and worship? Or should we humbly rest on the grace of God to work through our fumbling and weakness and hoarseness to display His glory?
The modern hymn writer, Stuart Townend captures Paul’s sentiment perfectly (ironically enough).
“I will not boast of anything- no gifts, no power, no wisdom,
But I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czB6vmIvyaU
