How to Draw Attention (July 7)

Readings, 2 Cor 12:2-10 and Mark 6:1-13
Image, St. John the Baptist Preaching, c. 1665, by Mattia Preti
 
This snippet of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians has two sections which have given rise to endless speculation. The first is his enigmatic reference to people caught up to the third heaven and paradise (whether in the body or not, Paul has no clue). The second is Paul’s reference to the thorn in the flesh, which plagues him despite his repeated prayers for relief. The first has given way to all kinds of theories, many specious and irresponsible, about the layers and levels of heaven, its secret wisdom and proofs. The second, numerous proposals as to what exactly tormented Paul – illicit desire, physical disability, spiritual torment?
 
Unfortunately, what this speculation misses, is Paul’s own efforts to draw attention away from these details. Paul is determined to deflect attention toward a more important and fruitful truth from which we all can glean comfort and wisdom: that Christ’s grace is sufficient, that even in our weakness we are strong.
 
Before arriving at what we heard, Paul has been defending his apostleship against those who have come to Corinth and sought to undermine him. They turned Paul’s own humility and simplicity of speech into a mark against him, and sought to diminish his commitment to the cause of the gospel. In his place they promoted themselves as “super apostles” (Paul’s term), eloquent in speech and elaborate in boasting. For this reason, Paul finds it necessary to cite some of his bona fides. He too is a Hebrew, Israelite, a descendent of Abraham. For the sake of the gospel, he has been imprisoned and flogged, lashed and beaten, shipwrecked and sleepless, cold and hungry. But like the thorn in his side, Paul does not use this suffering to justify his teaching or apostleship. He does not appeal to this as a basis of the virtue of his words or the righteousness of his authority. Instead, If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness… so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
 
This goes the same for Paul’s proximity to those who have experienced wondrous marvels, which Paul mentions, but does not elaborate. Paul could boast on behalf of such a one, but I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me and heard from me. Paul does not want to appeal to his own sufferings nor the stories of miraculous elation. He continually redirects the attention to Christ’s sufficient grace. If we see human weakness let us see through it to Christ’s sustaining strength. If we hear tell of the remarkable, let us give thanks to the crucified one who lives in the power of God.
 
For such is the task of the apostle: to point to Christ. Such is the mission of the church: to gesture towards and participate in what God has accomplished in Christ. This is the ground on which we stand, the gospel by which we live, the hope in which we are assured. Such a proclamation and promise does not need to be adorned and accessorised by superfluous stories of supernatural snatchings up to heaven, does it need to be accented by an emphasis on our ability to wade through thornbushes. Does not need to be proceeded by an enforced initiation into a foreign culture. We proclaim Christ crucified, live as witnesses to his resurrection, and participate in Christ’s acts of mercy and justice. The Christian is one who points beyond themselves to a grace sufficient for the world redeemed. The table of grace reminds us of this: bread and wine, body and blood, broken and poured out for us and for the world. It is by this we are fed and sustained, from this we are sent, and for this we labour. If this leads to suffering or exaltation, it is not for our own glory and legitimising, but serves as an opportunity for the power of Christ to dwell in us.  
 
For this is how apostles are sent out by Christ; two by two, with no bread, no bag, no money in their belts. Sent out to rely on the kindness of strangers and the authority of Christ. It is from a place of weakness and welcome that begins the ministry of reconciliation, the word of repentance, and the overcoming of the forces of Sin and Death. The good news is not spread through the eloquence and status of super-apostles, God is not glorified in the speculative stories of what belongs to God alone, the kingdom is not rightly heralded by those who arrive with the presumption of self-sufficiency, who can give and take, but never receive and grow. The gospel goes forth and God is glorified in the quiet, unassuming witness of those who do not hide their weakness but allow it to reveal the strength of Christ. It is in the vulnerability of those who set out relying on the welcome and care of others. It is in the everyday efforts of the many members of the one body living to repeat Christ’s ministry. For it is he alone who sends us out in our weakness so that through him we (and the world) might know real strength.