[Notes of a sermon preached many years ago at Holy Trinity Norwich.  The allusion to the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ dates this sermon to around 1994]

BOASTING IN WEAKNESS, II Cor 11:16-33

The church at Corinth was Paul’s problem child. Of all the Christian congregations planted by the great Apostle to the Gentiles, this was the one that had given him the most sleepless nights. They’d had problems both of belief and behaviour. There were divisions, there was disorder, and there was doctrinal confusion.

The problems at Corinth were made worse by the arrival of certain teachers who regarded themselves as apostles of Christ, but who set about peddling their own version of Christianity which taught salvation by keeping the law of Moses, rather than by faith in Christ as Paul had taught. These men thought that they were vastly superior to Paul, and they made sure that the Corinthian Christians thought so too. ‘He is weak: bold as a lion in his letters, timid as a mouse when he’s here in person. He’s just an ordinary man, totally lacking in charisma, eloquence, courage and power. He’s a fool.’

The passage we’re looking at this morning shows part of Paul’s response to this hurtful and damaging criticism of his ministry. 2 Cor 11:16-33. We meet Paul first, in these verses, as

1. THE RELUCTANT BOASTER, 16-18

‘Boasting is sheer foolishness. The last thing I want to do is boast of my achievements. But since you are putting up with the boasting of others, bear with me while I do a little of my own.’

Boasting is what Paul’s opponents have been doing. Apparently, they brandished letters of commendation from Jerusalem, they bragged about the distance they had travelled to come to Corinth, they took great pride in the purity of their Jewish pedigree, they drew attention to their eloquent speech and oratory, they displayed a heavy-handed authoritarianism and they made a great meal of their visions, revelations, miracles and other supernatural experiences. They used these things to buttress their claims to be specially gifted apostles of Christ.

Paul is obviously in a dilemma as to how to reply to this. If he says nothing, the Corinthians will think he has conceded defeat and will swallow the deadly poison of these false apostles even more readily. if he plays their own game of boasting, he will be committing the same folly as his opponents.

You can see his hesitation. He knows that boasting is not the Lord’s way. How can we worry about what other people think of us, when our Saviour made himself of no reputation? Why would we fight to defend our own egos, when Christ ‘was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth’?

But Paul decides to do some foolish boasting after all. And why? It’s not just because he’s been criticised and needs to defend himself. It’s not even because his relationship with the Corinthian Christians has broken down and needs to mended. What is at stake is the truth and integrity of the Christian gospel itself and the very existence of the Christian church at Corinth. That’s why he feels compelled to react in this way. The Corinthians were entertaining ‘another Jesus’ and ‘another gospel’, peddled by self-styled apostles who were not really apostles at all. They were running the risk of receiving the grace of God in vain. That’s what forces Paul into his reluctant boasting.

Was Paul so reluctant a boaster? Let us also be very cautious about boasting. We certainly ought to have a realistic estimate of our own abilities as well as limitations. There may indeed be occasions when we need to give some account of our credentials as Christians. But we should be on our guard lest in doing so we exalt ourselves rather than our Lord. Pride is very subtle and deceptive; it cloaks itself in all kinds of disguises. Few Christians today would indulge in outright boasting about their spiritual gifts and achievements. But let us take great care lest deep down we find ourselves seeking the approval and applause of each other rather than of God.

Paul counted himself as one of those who ‘glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh’. He had already challenged the Corinthians on this point: ‘for who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?’

That’s Paul, the reluctant boaster. We meet him, secondly, as

2. THE GENTLE PASTOR, 19-21

Paul’s opponents were engaging in a pastoral ministry which was heavy-handed and authoritarian. The Corinthians had tolerated this: they had allowed themselves to be enslaved, exploited, taken advantage of and insulted by these false teachers. And Paul says, ‘You call me weak: well yes, I was too weak to tyrannise you like they have been doing. Paul’s model for pastoral ministry was the gentleness and meekness of Christ – content to be vunerable and prepared to run the risk of being considered ‘weak’. Paul knows that the word ‘ministry’ means ‘service’. As a gentle pastor he can put his hand on his heart and say, ‘We have wronged no-one, we have corrupted no-one, we have exploited no-one.’ For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.’

Christian ministers of all kinds should take this teaching to heart. There is a constant danger that those in Christian leadership will use their position or gifts to create a circle of admirers, to cause people to lean on them like a crutches, or to tyrannise people. And this warning could be extended to all those with leadership roles: parents, employers, managers, teachers, and so on. Their authority too should be exercised unflinchingly, yet always in a spirit of gentleness and humility. ‘Husbands, love your wives…Fathers, do not exasperate your children….Employers, do not threaten your employees. Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.’

That’s Paul, the gentle pastor. Thirdly, we meet him as

3. THE WEAK SERVANT, 22-33

We come now to the substance of Paul’s boasting. And it is only at one point that he attempts to match his opponents. He asserts that he is just as much a Jew as they are. But beyond this, he turns this whole business of boasting on its head. He chooses to boast, not of strength at all, but of weakness.

‘Let me tell you how I compare with these others as a servant of Christ,’ he says. I have worked harder; I have been imprisoned more often. I have been flogged more often and more severely. I have been in constant danger of

death„ have been beaten with rods’. I have been stoned’. ‘I have been shipwrecked’. I have been cast adrift at sea. And besides everything else that he could have added to this catalogue of suffering, he underlines the constant pressure of concern for the churches:- and that must have been the heaviest burden of all as his great pastoral heart was stirred with compassion for those who were weak in the faith and with indignation at those who deceived them.

‘If I must boast at all,’ he says, ‘I will boast of the things that show my weakness.’ Permit a few further words of application, as we compare this kind of boasting with the picture of the false apostles which is hinted at in these chapters.

(a) Whereas Paul boasted of his weakness, the false apostles boasted of their Paul refers to them ironically as ‘super-apostles’. Some Christians today are elitist. They are too ready, for example, to label themselves and their friends as ‘Spirit-filled’, and to denounce others, at least by implication, as worldly compromisers. But is this in keeping with the humility of the apostle Paul, whose ministry was anointed indeed by the Holy Spirit and yet who to the very end of his life regarded himself the ‘chief of sinners’ and the ‘least of the apostles’? He urges elsewhere: ‘Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or a cheap desire to boast, but be humble towards one another, always considering others better than yourselves.’

(b) Whereas Paul boasted of his weakness, the false apostles boasted of their Their version of the Christian faith was brash and self-confident. They despised Paul, whom they regarded as weak and ineffectual. Some Christian teachers today are a bit like that. They have an answer to every question, a solution for every problem, and a pill for every ill. They write books with titles like, ‘A Guide to Total Health and Prosperity’, and they teach that Christians can have anything they want – wealth and success, and complete freedom from disease; you just have to ‘name it and claim it’. But does this accord with Paul’s experience and teaching? He knows that God’s richest blessing is found not so much the removal of suffering and trouble, but in comforting and strengthening us in adversity and disappointment: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort that we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.’

(c) Whereas Paul boasted of his weakness, the false apostles boasted of their extraordinary mystical experiences. It is clear from chapter 12 that they dwelt much on their dreams, visions and revelations. They challenged Paul to match them in this respect. Some Christian people are rather like that today. There is a great deal of excitement about trances and visions, fainting and falling, shouting and laughing uncontrollably. But the fact that false apostles -servants of Satan – were boasting of their mystical experiences warns us that such phenomena are not necessarily prompted by the Holy Spirit of God. There is nothing distinctively Christian about falling over backwards, or making animal noises, or being helplessly convulsed with laughter. As far as I can tell, these things may be consistent with a genuine work of God. But extraordinary experiences do not by themselves provide any reliable evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work, however good they may make people feel. They can readily be duplicated by hypnotists, Eastern gurus, occult practitioners, and false apostles. It is especially worrying when these phenomena are allowed to interfere with the plain declaration of the word of God. But Paul says elsewhere, ‘we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God:

These were some of the areas in which Paul’s opponents thought they were superior to him. And his boast is not, ‘I’m stronger than you;’ but, ‘I’m weaker than you.’ Because that’s the way God works. ‘We have this treasure in earthen vessels.’ Throughout this 2nd letter to the Corinthians, Paul is at pains to point out that his ministry does not lack divine approval. ‘The weapons we fight with,’ he says, ‘have divine power to demolish strongholds.’ He too has experienced visions and revelations, has performed apostolic signs, and can bring forward evidence that Christ speaks through him. But for him, the surest marks of an apostolic ministry are these: humility and gentleness, weakness and suffering, helping people to come to faith in Christ and helping people to grow in their faith. And there is a greater than Paul who himself not only taught these things, but exemplified them in his own life-giving death which we remember as we gather around the Lord’s table.

“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”