INTRODUCTION:

When Ben Franklin was the ambassador to France for the newly independent United States of America, his quick wit and well-thought wisdom opened many doors for him and for this new country. At one dinner in 1781 where the guest list included the powers of the day, the French foreign secretary began the dinner with a toast to King Louis XVI, "To His Majesty, King Louis, the Sun, whose shining presence radiates the earth of France."

Not to be outdone, the British ambassador rose with the toast, "To King George the Third, the Moon, whose brilliance lights up the skies of Britain."

With a twinkle in his eye, the venerable Ben Franklin slowly rose and said, "I cannot give you the sun nor the moon, but I give you General George Washington of the United States, the Joshua who made the Sun and Moon stand still when he commanded." (1)

A certain older woman was trying to impress the guests at a party. "My family's ancestry is very old," she boasted. "It dates back to the days of Alexander the Great." Then, turning to a young lady standing quietly at her side, she asked condescendingly: "And how old is your family, my dear?"

The younger woman smiled and quietly came back, "Well, I can't really say. All of our family records were lost in the Flood."

What is it about human nature that makes us want to boast? We all do it. We all get together and somebody tells a story and pretty soon we all start playing that little game of one-up-man-ship. We may not do it very often but we all succumb to boasting from time to time. So, let's look at what the Apostle Paul says about boasting.

2 Cor. 12:2-10 (NRSV)

[2] 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.

[3] And I know that such a person--whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows--

[4] was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.

[5] On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.

[6] 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,

[7] 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.

[8] Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me,

[9] 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.

[10] 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.

That is so counter to what we see and hear from society isn't it? We're told we have to be strong and independent. That's part of what this country was founded on. I still remember the Charles Atlas ads in the comic books. You remember the ones about the 99 pound weakling and the guy who kicked sand in his face?

We haven't changed much. If you watch any television, you know it's still the same hype, there's just more of it. There's the Crossbow, Bowflex, weight machines, rowing machines, Nordic Trac, Aqua Joggers Cardioglides, stair steppers, treadmills, you name it. Now don't get me wrong, We need those things. We all need to exercise and most of us don't get enough of it.

But we've bought into a bit of the marketing of America. Instead of getting fit we want to get strong. Instead of being healthy we want Hollywood looks. Because a well chiseled body not only looks good, it makes us look strong. None of us wants to appear weak.

Yet Paul espouses a completely different message. This is counter culture message. It goes against everything we've been taught. Every thing that Hollywood and Fifth Avenue have been feeding us for years. Paul says God isn't interested in our strength. God is only interested in our weakness. Paul says: "We are made perfect in our weakness. For whenever we are weak then we are strong."

Let's look at WEAKNESS IN STRENGTH, STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS AND STRONG IN HIS WEAKNESS.

I. WEAKNESS IN STRENGTH:

What does he mean when he says: "We are made perfect in our weakness. For whenever we are weak then we are strong." From a worldly point of view, that doesn't make sense. How can we be weak when we're strong?

But REMEMBER, we no look at life from a wordly point of view. You and I are heirs of the Kingdom. You and I have experienced Alpha and Omega moments that have changed how we think. We belong to God. And God's way is different. In the upside down Kingdom of God, strength can be weakness and weakness can be strength.

The best way I know how to explain this is through a story.

There was a young boy who was helping his father work in the yard. This young man was doing his best to lift a rock that was much too large for someone his size. He grunted and groaned and huffed and puffed as he tried various methods and angles of lifting the rock.

In spite of all his efforts, the rock wouldn't budge. His father walked by and, after watching his son's struggle, asked if he was having trouble. The boy answered, "Yes, I've tried everything, and it won't move."

The father asked, "Are you sure you have tried everything? Are you sure you've used every resource at your disposal?"

The boy looked up and shot Dad one of those looks and grunted out a "Yes!"

With a smile kindness on his face, the father bent over and softly said, "No, son, you haven't. You haven't asked for my help." (2)

How many times are we like that young man? We struggle with our problems but we're unable to solve them. We don't ask for help because we don't want to appear weak. And yet the help of God, our Heavenly Father, is always there.

When we say we are strong and can do it on our own, we don't allow room for God to enter or act in our lives. You see, the strong don't need God, they are self sufficient. They don't need anybody. It's only the weak who know they need God.

PAUL WAS RIGHT, SOMETIMES THERE IS WEAKNESS IN STRENGTH.

II. STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS:

BUT, IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THERE IS STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS. Because in that weakness we are made perfect and we find strength beyond strength.

"Remember: We are made perfect in our weakness. For whenever we are weak then we are strong."

The big green angry guy from the comic books, the Hulk, has burst onto the movie screens this summer. You might say he's a negative example of being strong in our weakness. You see his strength comes from his weakness. Mild mannered Bruce Banner, can only get the strength when he is angry. And he can't always control his anger.

You and I don't have to be angry to made perfect in our weakness. You and I are made perfect in our weakness when through faith in Christ, we put that weakness into the strength of God's hands. And when we put that weakness in the strength of God's hands for use as God sees fit.

This building is a testimony to that, but then so was the other building and the building before that. Every Church is a living testimony to this idea. God takes the weakness of our individual little bits, combines them all and then molds and shapes them into something for more wonderful than we ever imagined.

There was once a king once owned a large, beautiful, pure diamond of which he was very proud. It had no equal anywhere. One day the diamond sustained a deep scratch. The king called in the most skilled diamond cutters and offered them a great reward if they could remove the imperfection from his treasured jewel. No one could repair the blemish.

The king was sorely distressed. After some time, a gifted lapidary came to the king and promised to make the rare diamond even more beautiful than it had been before the mishap. The king was impressed by his confidence and so entrusted his precious stone to man's is care.

The man kept his word. With superb artistry he engraved a lovely rosebud around the imperfection and he used the scratch to make the stem. (3)

A writer expressed this idea about weakness: "Let your weakness be what it will; one of the strangest paradoxes and, at the same time, one of the most encouraging facts in human life is that your weakness can be your greatest asset. Men, like kites and airplanes, rise against and not with the wind."

Oswald Chambers wrote: "God can achieve his purpose either through the absence of human power and resources, or the abandonment of reliance on them. All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him made possible the unique display of his power and grace. He chose and used somebodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources." (4)

IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THERE IS STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS.

"Remember: We are made perfect in our weakness. For whenever we are weak then we are strong."

III. STRONG IN HIS WEAKNESS:

A. And that's the basic philosophy and theology behind stewardship. You see, WE BECOME STRONG IN HIS WEAKNESS.

Jesus gave Himself on the cross for our sakes. He took on the weakness of our flesh to overcome death and sin. In His weakness He became stronger than sin and death. And because of His gift of life and His gift of new life, we are able to live the upside down life of the Kingdom that says: "Remember: We are made perfect in our weakness. For whenever we are weak then we are strong."

When we live that upside down life, we acknowledge our dependency upon God as the very first and most important thing in our lives.

As a consequence, God becomes first in our giving.

B. I like the story about the man who was watching a couple of fellows at work in a local park. One man would dig a hole and the other would fill it back up with dirt. After this went on for some time, the man went over to the workers and asked why one was digging holes while the other was filling them back up. One of the workers spoke up, "Well, the man who plants the trees is on vacation." (5)

Too often that's a parable for the church. Too many people forget about the future. They don't see what they are doing or not doing as connected to the continuing ministry of the church. They don't consider those who will follow. They don't consider the continuing costs of ministry.

That's why we have Stewardship Campaigns. Stewardship deals with both the future and the priorities of our lives and faith now. Stewardship is about putting God first in everything. In every aspect of our lives and ministry.

And that's why we talk about money. Because God should come first even in our finances. The little that we give may not pay for all the light bill or Sunday School literature or the air conditioning. It might not cover all the water that the VBS kids drank or flushed down the toilet but remember the passage from last week?

2 Corinthians 8:15 "As it is written, 'The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.'"

It's not how much or how little you give that makes the gift. It's the attitude of the heart that is important. For when we give out of our love for God. God takes the little that we give and God multiplies it, like the Loaves and fishes, for God's purpose.

That's what is happening right now. God is taking our little and multiplying it. God is using our gifts to build for both the present and the future. We're simply called to "Remember: We are made perfect in our weakness. For whenever we are weak then we are strong." YOU AND I BECOME STRONG IN CHRIST'S WEAKNESS.

CONCLUSION:

Two taxidermists stopped in front of a window in which an owl was on display. They immediately began to criticize the way it was mounted. Its eyes weren't natural; its wings weren't in proportion with its head; its feathers weren't neatly arranged; and its feet could certainly be improved.

Just about the time they finished their criticism, the old owl turned his head and winked at them! (6)

REMEMBER SOMETIMES THERE IS WEAKNESS IN STRENGTH. IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD THERE IS STRENGTH IN WEAKNESS. AND WE ARE MADE STRONG IN HIS WEAKNESS. REMEMBER.

1. The Autoillustrator, (Greeley, CO, 1993) 970.330.1925 (Autoill@AOL.com)

2. The Autoillustrator, (Greeley, CO, 1993) 970.330.1925 (Autoill@AOL.com)

3. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), August 1986

4. Oswald Chambers, in Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 134

5. LectionAid, 3rd Quarter, 1995

6. Parables, Etc. (Saratoga Press, P.O. Box 8, Platteville, CO, 80651; 970-785-2990), May 1991

www.SermonWriter.com (Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 2000)

www.SermonMall.com

www.deaconsil.com

www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermon.html (Richard Fairchild Lectionary Resources)

Homiletics, (Communications Resources, Inc., Canton, OH)

Lectionary Homiletics, (Lectionary Homiletics, Inc. Midlothian, VA)

Dynamic Preaching, (Seven Worlds Publishing, Knoxville, TN)

The Clergy Journal, (Logos Productions, Inc., Inver Grove Heights, MN)

Preaching Magazine (Preaching Resources, Jackson, TN)

Circuit Rider, (The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN)

The Interpreter's Bible, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1953)

The New Interpreter's Bible, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1995)

Lectionary Preaching Workbook, Cycle A, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 2002) SermonPrep Version.

Preaching the Miracles, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 1998) SermonPrep Version.

Preaching the Parables, Cycle A, (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH, 1997) SermonPrep Version.