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St. George's Episcopal Church Roseburg, Oregon Proper 9 , 9 July 2006 Go To St. George's Home Page

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
Psalm 48:1-14
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA

I 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. And I know that such a person--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows-- was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. But 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, even 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. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but 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. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:2-10)

Perfect in Weakness: The Other Side of Pain
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop

     My nephew-in-law was a soldier in the Iraq war. He was among the many soldiers who served their time on the battlefield, and returned safely. But it was not so for Army staff Sergeant Hilbert Caesar.[1] He was in charge of a long-range 155 millimeter howitzer – a self propelled gun that looks a little like a tank. When on patrol near Baghdad, a road-side bomb exploded. When he regained his senses and looked down, he saw his right leg was severed in three places, and his foot was facing the wrong way because his leg was only held in place by skin. He thought his life was over. But he did not die.

     Caesar was transported to safety, eventually ending up at Walter Reed Hospital. His damaged leg was replaced by an artificial one made of plastic and steel. Although alive, he was in despair about his future, and he was in great pain. He was worried about how he would get along in life, and whether he would ever attract a girl friend. To make matters worse, while in hospital, he learned that eight of his comrades – including one of his role models – were killed by another car-bomb in Baghdad.

     But then something happened. Caesar began to meet other soldiers like himself. He heard from others about how they had lost their limbs, and listen to their stories of recovery. As a chaplain at the VA, I listened to many of these stories from many veterans over the years, and it was very clear that by sharing their stories, these wounded soldiers did more for each other than hours of therapy and counseling could accomplish.

     Caesar realized in time that he was fortunate to just be alive. And he now competes in marathons in a racing wheelchair, and works with the VA. He sees the loss of his leg as a minor set back, and believes he has more wisdom, compassion, and appreciation for life.

     Several psychologists and psychiatrists are beginning to recognize that not all soldiers return from war with shattered spirits or post-traumatic syndrome. Some are returning from the experience feeling enhanced; it can lead to personal growth. The psychological term for this phenomenon is “post-traumatic growth,” or “adversarial” growth. This is not an argument for war; war is not desirable or good. It is just the case that trauma sometimes has unexpected – and positive effects.

     And it’s not just soldiers who experience this. According to psychologists who work for the National Children’s Cancer Society, people being treated for cancer may also experience a variety of emotions that are positive such as pride, hope, joy, happiness and excitement about the future. Some of these feeling may be carried forth for the rest of one’s life.[2]

     The apostle Paul had a traumatic experience. In 2 Corinthians we read about the “thorn” Paul says was in his flesh. We really don’t know what it was, although a likely possibility is recurrent malarial fever initially contacted when Paul was a youth in Tarsus.[3] No matter what it was, Paul felt that it had the potential to side track him from his spiritual work; to leave him in a hospital bed like a war amputee.

     In the first century, it was a common practice for a warring army to dig pits and line them with sharpened wooden sticks with the hope that enemy soldiers would fall in and be impaled. These pits were the first century equivalent of a roadside bomb. In Greek, these sharpened sticks were called skolops, which is the same word that Paul used to describe his thorn. Skolops were also used as instruments of torture.

     Paul tells us that he was stabbed by a thorn that Paul considered a messenger from Satan to “torment [him], to keep [him] from being too elated.” Paul could have given up. He could have stayed in his hospital bed. Three times Paul asked God to remove the thorn, but God said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, because power is made perfect in weakness.”

     Perfect in weakness. As Hilbert Caesar put it, “It makes me appreciate life a whole lot more.” Another gulf war veteran who lost his left hand in Iraq said, “Sometimes it takes people a lifetime to realize what it’s all about … you go through something like this and it grows you up a little bit.” Tom McNish, a former air force pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war said, “There’s no question in my mind that the experience I had in Vietnam has had an overall positive effect on my life.”

     Please understand that these veterans are not recommending their experiences for anyone else. They don’t want to do it again. War is truly a time of suffering, after all. And many returnees suffer from post-traumatic stress. But times of suffering can also lead to post-traumatic growth.

     I’m sure there were times when you experienced spiritual growth. A shift in priorities. An increase in personal strength. A renewed appreciation of life. A deepening of personal relationships. Did these improvements in your outlook come from times in your life when everything was peachy? When it was smooth sailing?

     I know for me, spiritual growth seems to come when life itself turns upside down. Many years ago I lost a job that was very important to me. It was devastating; I felt victimized and my sense of self-worth hit an all time low. I felt my career was over. My first response was to wall myself off from every living soul. It was my time to wonder what I would make of the rest of my life.

     With time and with the gentle help of many friends and family members I was able to see something new. My confidence began to return, and my sense of self-worth grew once more. It was an incarnational moment where something totally new began to grow and develop.

     We can probably all tell stories like this. Paul tells us his story in his second letter to the Corinthians, and in his letter to the Galatians. Paul’s ministry involved taking three large missionary journeys. The first was to Natatean Arabia in the 30s, the second to Syria, Cicilia, and Galatia in the 40s, and the third to Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia in the 50s. This was his life’s work. But Paul’s physical infirmity that he speaks of in Galatians (Gal 4:13) and in 2 Corinthians (2 Cor 12:7b-10) seemed from what Paul says about them, to have set him back. His career was in danger; his reason for living in jeopardy.

     Traumatic experiences can have some unifying effects on us. First, trauma can moves us from isolation to community. Second, trauma shifts us from self-reliance to God-reliance.

     Traumatized soldiers find that they can gain strength and inspiration from each other as they talk about their injuries and recoveries. Their resilience increases as the offer and accept encouragement and support. The same is true of you and me as we come together in church where we talk honestly about our struggles, our foibles, or weaknesses, and where we share insights about our successes. Whether it is dealing with a new medical problem, a surgery, fear of loss of a loved one, managing money, or overcoming addiction, there is a tremendous benefit of moving from isolation to community – especially a community of loving, praying people.

     Paul’s journey of discovery led him from a persecutor of Christians to a place of total reliance on God. Paul had a relationship with Jesus that was absolutely transforming. It was that relationship that drove him to undertake three arduous missions. It was that relationship that moved him to rely less on himself and more on God.

     But Paul’s recurrent problem was an issue. Three times he asked God to pull the thorn from him, but God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul’s troubles were not removed from him. He still had the affliction, whatever it was, but his relationship with God was such that it provided him with strength and victory in the midst of his pain. Paul had a moment of post-traumatic growth. He learned that God’s grace was sufficient. He learned that reliance on God moved him from weakness to strength, from agony to ecstasy, from death to resurrection.

     Often it is our foibles, our flaws, our inabilities to do certain things, to overcome certain defects in ourselves that turn out to be our greatest assets. But we may never know that unless and until we are challenged by a traumatic event. Those events may become our growing edges. Now please don’t hear me saying that we should embrace pain or that pain is sent by God to test us or strengthen us. That is not my point at all. Things will happen in life that are just traumatic. Bad. Scary. Unjust. And sometimes they cause post traumatic stress. But other times they might cause post traumatic growth. My point is this: through them all: the good, the bad, and the ugly, God’s grace will be there. And it will be sufficient.

     In April 1989 a young woman known for a long time as the Central park Jogger was raped, beaten, and left to die. After a 14-year silence she finally revealed her name. She has since appeared on Larry King Live, and written a book. After she came out of her coma she had to overcome the horror of her physical and emotional injuries and memory loss. Yet at 42 she is happily married, and devotes her life to helping others who have been traumatized. Her book is one part of this effort.

     While this story is an amazing tale of human resilience, we also need to remember a few important things. God did not send the attacker or put her in a coma. But God’s grace and God’s presence was with her from the moment of the attack, through her recovery, and beyond.

     God’s grace is sufficient; and power is indeed great in weakness.

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2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, “Look, we are your bone and flesh. For some time, while Saul was king over us, it was you who led out Israel and brought it in. The LORD said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.” So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and at Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. (2 Samuel 5:9-10) David occupied the stronghold, and named it the city of David. David built the city all around from the Millo inward. And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.

Psalm 48:1-14

1 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain,

2 beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.

3 Within its citadels God
has shown himself a sure defense.

4 Then the kings assembled,
they came on together.

5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic, they took to flight;

6 trembling took hold of them there,
pains as of a woman in labor,

7 as when an east wind shatters
the ships of Tarshish.

8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the LORD of hosts,
which God establishes forever. [Selah]

9 We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.

10 Your name, O God, like your praise,
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory.

11 Let Mount Zion be glad,
let the towns of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments.

12 Walk about Zion, go all around it,
count its towers,

13 consider well its ramparts;
go through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation

14 that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will be our guide forever.

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

I 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. And I know that such a person--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows-- was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. But 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, even 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. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but 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. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Mark 6:1-13

He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Collect of the Day

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/25/AR2005112501502.html
http://www.beyondthecure.org/late_effects/index.html?ssection=psychological_issues#depression
John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed. In Search of Paul. ( San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004), p. 232

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Copyright © 2006, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
7 July 2006

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