Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever!

In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Of such a one will I glory [boast], yet of myself I will not glory, except in mine infirmities.  For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth.  But now I forebear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or than he heareth of me.

The holy Apostle Paul speaks these things having been compelled by circumstances to reluctantly divulge to the Corinthians that he, too, like those prima donna apostolic imposters touting their mystical experiences which his beloved Corinthians find so attractive, that he, too, has had revelations and visions.  Out of humility and for its sake, he is careful not to be enthralled and carried away by these spiritual experiences and elations, be they his or someone else’s.  Such, however, does not make the Apostle; such does not even make the Christian.  It is quite probable that Paul speaks of himself here – of his own spiritual ecstasy at what he has beheld – and not of someone else, by using a common technique of speaking of oneself in the third person, just as St. John does in his Gospel by referring to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (Jn. 13:23; 20:2; 21:20).  Thus, St. Paul says, “I knew a man in Christ more than 14 years ago . . . [who] was caught up to the third Heaven [Paradise] . . . and [who] heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”  Like so many of our saints of record, the Apostle was made privy to the indescribable and unapproachable glories of the highest Heavens!

But, he tells us, this isn’t important.  Such spiritual revelations and ecstasies are not the point of our salvation.  It is not why our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ has been made incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.  If we are to boast or glory in something, as he says, then let us boast in the Cross of the crucified God.  “In the Cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time . . . .,” he says.  “But God forbid that I should glory [boast], save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Ga. 6:14).  And, in his first Epistle to these Corinthians, Paul writes, “I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring . . . the testimony of God.  For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cr. 2:1-2). 

For this holy Apostle and saint of the Church, it is “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” – the Son of God “crucified through weakness, yet [alive] by the power of God” (2 Cr. 13:4) – that is the supernal eloquence and wisdom of God to be relished and gloried in!  Paul glories in the Death of Jesus Christ, so that, as he tells us, the Life of this Jesus might be manifested in him for the sake of the Church and through him to the world (2 Cr. 4:11).  Paul knows well – as does any of the saints – the kenosis of the Lord Jesus, that is to say, the Self-emptying of our Lord for the sake of mankind and the salvation of sinners (Pp. 2:5-11).  Paul relishes, then, his manifold weaknesses – boasting in them! – because thereby he knows the crucified and risen Jesus intimately.  Through his weaknesses and by them, he draws ever closer to the bosom of the Master Who was “crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God” (2 Cr. 13:4). 

We have heard this before from our Lord, but it bears repeating for it is the Truth: if we desire to live , we must die; if we wish to be raised up, we must first learn to be humbled.  This, beloved, is the paradox Christians of every time and of every place have known, and those most intimately acquainted with this paradox we venerate as saints of God.  Therefore, beloved,

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, . . . He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the Cross (Pp. 2:5-11).

Let us also recall, beloved, that God the Father perfected His only-begotten Son, Sacred Scripture says, “through sufferings [weaknesses]” (Hb. 2:10) thereby learning obedience through these weaknesses [sufferings] “though He was a Son.”  But, now “having been perfected, He [has become] the Author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,” for He has been “called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek’” (Hb. 5:8-10).  Hence, Paul can gladly say, as one so crucified and humbled by a multitude of weaknesses,

I have suffered the loss of all things [including his dignity and his pride], and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, . . ., but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know [Christ] and the power of His Resurrection, and the fellowship [communion] of His Sufferings, being conformed to His Death, if by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead (Pp. 3:7-11).

So, despite having been graced with supernatural mystical revelations and visions, Paul nevertheless prefers his weaknesses so that he may gain Christ God, and he views these weaknesses and sufferings as credible signs of his apostleship.  However, he has come to know this and embrace it only because he beseeched the Lord to remove from him what he calls his “thorn in the flesh” sent by God “lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of these revelations.”  We do not know just what this “thorn in the flesh” was for the Apostle.  Was it spiritual?  Was it physical?  Perhaps it was a combination of the two?  Some conjecture it was a severe health issue affecting his eyesight.  Some proffer that it was the great burden he carried daily for the churches while others infer that it might have been powerful temptations of the passions that plagued him so.  Still others wonder whether or not it was those prima donna super apostles themselves and their shenanigans that sorely tried him.  The fact remains – we don’t know.  But, then, we don’t need to know because the fact is, St. Paul saw in this “thorn in the flesh” the path of his salvation.  He counted it a blessing because it led him to Christ and to identify truly with his Lord’s Great and Holy Passion, just as all suffering does or has the power and grace to do. 

Three times, says the Apostle, he besought the Lord, the Great Physician and Healer of soul and body, to heal him of this malady or relieve him of it.  And, three times the Lord’s answer was the same, “’My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’”  “No, not this time, Paul.”  Through this “messenger of Satan” sent to “buffet [him], lest [he] should be exalted above measure,” the Apostle has come to both see and know the power of God in his life, and to experience the greater depths of divine mercy and compassion, just as the Prophet Job long before him.  In the hands of the Almighty God (Who is Master over all!), the thorn in the flesh is used by Him to make and fashion His Apostle for greater glory.  We know Jesus’ Sufferings so that we might know as well His Resurrection power.  This is the experience shared by many of our saints who, like Paul, have healed many but who themselves are not healed, leaving them to struggle with their own weaknesses and sufferings, weaknesses and sufferings which they count as in Christ, leading them to the Lord and to a deeper communion with Him.  This, beloved, is the crucible of sufferings and weaknesses in which Jesus Christ, the crucified Lord of Glory, is encountered by Whose grace we are being perfected and Whose strength we come to know more intimately in our weaknesses.  This, beloved, is our participation in the Lord’s exodus, our passing through the Red Sea waters, which is the path of Israel’s salvation, as well as our own. 

Let us, however, not mistake this for the folksy, pop psychology that tells us to “make lemonade when handed lemons.”  This is an actual participation – a communion – in the Lord’s Cross by which we come to know Him more fully and wholly.  For, there are times when lemons cannot be made into lemonade, brethren, when the thorn in our flesh cannot and will not be healed, when the weakness and Suffering of Jesus Christ is indeed our strength and our salvation.  “’Behold, God is my salvation,’” cries the Prophet sawn asunder, “’I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord is my strength and my song; He . . . has become my salvation’” (Ps. 117 [118]:14; Is. 12:2).  Can we dare to imagine Peter saying to Jesus in His great Gethsemane Passion, when it became clear that the cup would not pass from Him, “Well, Lord, when handed lemons, make lemonade”?!

“’My grace is sufficient for thee,’” says the Lord Jesus, crucified in weakness and raised by God’s power, “’for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’”  Healings and thorns, strength and weakness are in the hands of God the great Artificer of souls Who permits these “for us men and for our salvation” (Nicene Creed).  This same Apostle assures us in another Epistle, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rm. 8:28) because he knows the power of God (His grace) in the midst of weakness (Rm. 5:3-5).  It is for this reason, then, that despite a multitude of failings and weaknesses experienced, persecutions, threats, imprisonments, shipwrecks, floggings, you name it, he can thus still say in all truth, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.  Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”  How can this be, Paul?  How can you embrace weaknesses so?  His reply is quite simple and full of faith, “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me” (Pp. 4:11-13).  For the Lord Who has said to me, “’My grace is sufficient for you’ is the very One Whose eternal strength perfects my weaknesses.”  “If I must glory [boast], I will glory in the things which concern mine infirmities [weaknesses]” (2 Cr. 11:30).                

“I have become a fool in glorying,” he says.  But, he can only do so because he has come to know more intimately the Lord Jesus in His Death and in His Resurrection. 

Most gladly therefore will I glory . . . in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in privations, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!  Glory forever!

PROPERS:

2 Cr. 11:31-12:9

Lk. 8:5-15