Smoke Showing

2 Corinthians 12:3–9 ESV

And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 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 of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Introduction

We continue our journey through Pre-Lent with Sexigesima. This week is approximately sixty days before Easter. Not only do we hear Jesus’ teaching about the seed and the soil, but we get insight into suffering and the Lord’s response to us through it.

The year was 1978. I was a probationary firefighter in Cherry Hill, NJ. I got called to my first dwelling fire and my heart was racing. The captain told me to stay beside him. While I had been through fire school, training is a whole lot different than the real thing. There were real dangers in that house. A floor that could give out and collapse on us- we weren’t sure where the fire was hiding. Sounds of breaking glass, chopping, and saws on the roof. All sorts of stuff falling down on our helmets. Lots more sirens outside. Inside there was no visibility- thick black smoke had banked all the way down to the floor. There was the buzzing of a fire alarm somewhere in the house. And the heat was almost unbearable as we entered the front hallway. It was a scary time, but I trusted the seasoned men who surrounded me and pushed forward.

Our crew had the job of advancing a line into the house. The ladder crew had already entered and were performing a search for victims and to find the seat of the fire. They directed us into the back laundry room where through the thick, black, boiling smoke I saw a little twinge of orange from the flames. We hit it hard. But then came a wall of steam out of that room as the droplets of water from our fog nozzle hit the intense heat. We had our turnout gear and air masks on, but any part that was exposed, like your ears, felt like there was a vice pinching them. The fire was knocked down in about five minutes, but we were on the scene for several hours ripping out walls, and checking for extension. We wanted to make absolutely sure the fire was out and that it wasn’t yet hiding in the walls, ceilings, or other spaces. It’s always an embarrassing thing to get called back for a rekindle and find the whole house ablaze!

Having taken a break, I went back into the house to assist in overhaul. They let me play around with the hook a bit, but most of the jobs were being taken care of. I had my flashlight on, and I noticed that I could see the beam of light illuminating the smoke. It got me thinking that here it was, high noon, with the sun at its apex. If I were to shine this light outside, I wouldn’t be able to see the beam— only the dot where the light hit. But inside this now water-laden, ashy, smokey house, I could see the beam very clearly. It looked cool- kind of like those old fashioned lights that they used to shine up into the sky for carnivals.

Suffering is like smoke. When it is all around it brings darkness, horror, pain, and maybe even death. We often cannot see God’s presence in it. But it takes the smoke of suffering to be able to see the beam of God’s perfect light, that light that always surrounds us from that God who will never leave us or forsake us. The smoke may obscure it from time to time, but it is there for you. And often, it is only in the smoke that we can see it.

The Thorn

And so we go to Paul’s account in our text today.

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.

Paul has just spoken about boasting in good things. He speaks about this man who was caught up in paradise and saw some of the awesome wonders of our God, things which are unspeakable. It was some kind of mystical experience by an unnamed individual where he was caught up into the highest part of heaven. There is no other mention about this in Scripture so we are left with this. But Paul’s point is clear, most people, including Paul, boast in the great things of the faith. Some of this may border on the theology of glory, like when people have special spiritual gifts of healing and tongues and lord it over those who do not.

But Paul turns this around a little bit. His boasting is not in glory, but in the Cross— both Christ’s and His own. Yes, he has had monumental moments in his walk with Jesus, yes he was given the gift of tongues, yes he was given the glorious gift of evangelism. But these did not remove his suffering; they were often the cause of his suffering.

When a person suffers for the sake of Jesus we call that “a cross”. Saying a person “bears a cross” because of intense suffering due to earthly issues, we are wrong. We only use that for persecution, or sacrifice, or when the suffering comes because of his or her service and dedication to Jesus. The Martyrs of today bear a cross. The persecuted church bears the cross. The person who witnesses to the darkness of the world and is chastised because of it bears a cross. That I get sick, or that something breaks down and causes me to suffer is not a cross.

Paul calls his suffering, “ a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being conceited.”

Paul does not tell us what this suffering is that God allowed to take place in his life. Some think it was an antagonist— someone who always nitpicks, criticizes, tears down, incites division in the congregation, and is deluded that he or she is saved. Every congregation has them. Some think it was hard-hearted Israel who sought to go after him for defecting as a Pharisee. Still others see this as some kind of physical ailment or condition that interfered with his ministry- like his vision or some other physical situation. We don’t know. But it was an issue. There was a lot of smoke in Paul’s life.

Three Times I Pleaded

So what does Paul do when he suffers? He goes before the Lord in prayer. The same thing that the Lord calls us to do. “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.” “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest..”

He speaks of this:

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.

This is not given to us to put a limit on prayer— like if there’s a problem we can only ask three times for the Lord to intervene and then we’re on our own. Rather, this shows that Paul prayed fervently to the Lord that whatever it was would be taken away. Smoke is showing.

How about you? What are your thorns? What are those things that are holding you back from serving the Lord in your life? Not enough time to do everything you want and come to church? Not enough energy to pray at home? Not enough money to support your family or the work of the Lord here? Physical limitations? People attacking you at home, in the community and at church due to no fault of your own that you can tell? Our temptation when these things happen is to allow the smoke of suffering to overtake us and not fight back.

This shows us a pattern. You need to take these things to your Heavenly Father in prayer through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and ask Him to remove the thorn. Just because he did not removed Paul’s does not mean He will not remove yours. Or, He may let them continue to jab you as thorns do, but He does so for your own good.

Listen to God’s Answer to Paul:

And God said...

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Whoa! God is allowing the suffering in Paul’s life for His own good. He is allowing it so that in the smoke of suffering Paul can see the light of God’s power. He wouldn’t be able to see the beam if there were no smoke. But that beam is shining brightly and Paul sees it.

My grace is sufficient for you. Grace— God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. Remember, it is God’s grace that saves you. Faith receives the grace; it is not the cause of salvation. What saves us is God’s love and mercy and power. “From the cross forever beameth all Thy bright redeeming light.” Salvation is in Jesus. God accomplished that, believe it or not. But to receive this as our own the Holy Spirit gives us faith. He is the one who causes us to believe in the Name of God’s one and only Son.

When we have God’s grace through faith we have everything. So, come suffering. Come illness. Come cross. Come thorn. God’s power is made perfect in your weakness. Your weakness is the smoke that enables you to see God’s light. Without our thorns we’d not understand His ever abiding presence and love for us. All suffering comes because of the Fall into Sin. And Jesus triumphed over sin by His resurrection into which we have been Baptized.

And Paul Said,

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Embrace your suffering. Plead with God to remove it. When He does, rejoice! But if He doesn’t, and it isn’t because your living in sin, look for the light in the smoke.

And the peace of God that passes understanding keep your hearts and minds in faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.