He Shall be Called: Mighty God

December 4, 2022

We’re continuing our message series, “He Shall be Called”. It’s from Isaiah 9:6, which says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Last week we talked about asking Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor, what we should do, and seeking His guidance.  Next week, Rev. Bill Worley, our UCC Conference Minister for Penn Southeast, will be here, and he will preach on whatever he wants to! It’s always a blessing when he comes. On Dec. 17, our message is He Shall be Called the Prince of Peace. Today, our message is on our Mighty God.

A question that interviewers often ask during a job interview is what are your strengths and weaknesses? That is often asked, what is your greatest weakness. D’oh! We’re supposed to impress during an interview, to sound great so we’ll get hired. So, we aren’t supposed to give a real answer, like “sometimes my back goes out and I can’t work for two weeks,” or “I’m often late to work.” Instead, at least I’ve been told to answer with a weakness that sounds like a strength: “My weakness is sometimes I just work too much.”

We don’t want to be weak in other ways. Many people don’t like going to the gym. They don’t want the gym regulars to look at them and think that they’re out of shape and weak. We don’t like to talk about our mental health issues, or our financial problems, or our fear of the dark! We don’t want to be seen as weak.

The Apostle Paul was just like us in that way. He had some kind of a weakness. He doesn’t exactly say what it is. In 2 Corinthians 12 the Apostle Paul talks about how he had a vision of paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. Paul says that he had this amazing vision. He could boast about his vision, it is incredible! Paul says in verse 7: “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” We all wonder, what was this thorn in the flesh? Some think Paul had a speech impediment. For someone who preached often, that could be tough. Other ideas are that Paul’s weakness was temptation, a chronic eye problem, malaria, migraines, or epilepsy.

Paul says in verse 8: Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. It would be great to live without weakness, Paul thinks. He could do even more for the Lord. But God didn’t take his weakness away. Instead, God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” God is saying, “Paul, you don’t have to be perfect. I give you my unearned love, and my undeserved forgiveness. I lend you my power when you are weak. That’s all you need.”

Then Paul realizes, Oh! My weakness is where God meets me, where God lifts me up. This is good! So, Paul says. “Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” Paul says now I delight in weaknesses, insults, difficulties, persecution. For when I am weak I am strong!  When we are weak, our mighty God meets us and lends us his power.

God is mighty and all powerful. We don’t need to be the strongest one. We don’t have to hide our weaknesses. We can be our real selves.

Hiding our weaknesses doesn’t make them go away. It makes us feel even more shame when we can’t talk about weaknesses. Some years back I attended the “Step Up Tamaqua” meetings in Tamaqua on drug addiction. Step up Tamaqua seeks to provide support, treatment, enforcement and prevention of drug addiction. Tamaqua is a small town. So, one meeting, I heard of a young man who had just died of an overdose. I didn’t know him, but I heard his name.

A day later, there was a piece of paper on my kitchen table, and it was that same name. I said to Kevin, “Where did that paper come from?” He said the Lutheran pastor was on vacation, so he was asked to do a funeral for a young man. I told Kevin, he died of an overdose. Kevin went to talk to the family, who he didn’t know, and ask them if they could tell him a little about their son for the funeral eulogy. The parents told Kevin the story of their son’s life, but they never mentioned his addiction to drugs. So, when they had finished talking about their son Kevin said, “This isn’t for the funeral, but how did he die?” The Dad was uncomfortable. He left the room. The mom started telling Kevin about her son’s issues with drugs. He did go through rehab and get off drugs. Then he had surgery, and he was given opioid pain pills. that led to being addicted again, and he died of an overdose. The Dad had walked out of the room, but soon he walked back in the room, and he started talking too. He talked about how their son was wonderful! Of course, they loved him. It was hard to talk about their son’s weakness. But they were relieved, in the end, when they didn’t have to hide it anymore and they could talk about the real struggles their son had, and how hard it was on them.

Our weaknesses mean we need God. Our weaknesses mean that we can see when a miracle happens: we know it must be God because we are just humble humans. Our weaknesses mean when we do something amazing, we say, God must have been working there! Praise God! Our weaknesses mean we don’t get conceited. They make us humble and down to earth. When we are weak, our mighty God meets us and lends us his power.

Our weaknesses also mean we need other people. When you have trouble with your computer, who helps you? When you have car trouble, who do you ask for advice? When you want a good cookie recipe, who can you ask? Who will cheer you up when you’re down? It would be a shame to live as a hermit in the wilderness, and not need anyone! It’s good we have weaknesses. They help us realize how much we need others, and that makes us treasure them!

My homework for you this week is to think of a weakness you have, and praise God for it!

The apostle Paul hated his weakness! He prayed for God to remove it. But God taught him to delight in his weakness. God’s mighty power is made perfect in our weakness. For when we are weak, our mighty God meets us and lends us His power. Amen.