Sunday 18th June
Read 2 Corinthians 12:1…9-10
“I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord… 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. 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 temptation to rely on experiences as a substitute for godliness is great for many people. We are all tempted to boast in our achievements or gifts or strengths as if they somehow are not gifts from above and intended to point to the One reigning above. The humble soul longs to merely reflect the One above, nothing more.
St John of the Cross, one of the most famous Christian mystics in the history of the church wrote:
‘All visions, revelations, heavenly feelings, and whatever is greater than these, are not worth the least act of humility, being the fruits of charity which neither values nor seeks itself, which thinks not well of itself, but of others. Many souls to whom visions have never come, are incomparably more advanced in the way of perfection than others to whom many have been given.’
A sentiment that reflects Paul’s thoughts precisely. As does the sonnet Don Carson wrote on our passage this week…
“The glorious revelations you’ve bestowed,
Ineffable displays of holy light,
Call forth my joyful praise in sheer delight,
A foretaste of my heavenly abode.
Then why this ceaseless thorn, this painful goad
Of Satan? Why not spare me pain, the blight
Of persecution, malice, danger’s fright?
From what strange stream of love have nettles flowed?
Sufficient is my grace for you: indeed,
My power is perfected when you’re weak.
Will you for your own feeble prowess plead,
When bankrupt weakness brings the strength you seek?
Now insults, hardships, weakness are my song,
My joy: for when I’m weak, then am I strong.”
Don Carson – Holy Sonnets of the Twentieth Century (#36)
