Lent,, Day 13 - March 9

Our Daily Readings are: Psalms 56, 57, 58, 64, 65; Jere 1:11-19; Rom 1:1-15; and John 4:27-42

I had a difficult time concentrating through those Psalms this morning. I eventually found Psalm 65 to beautifully describe the wonder of God in his creation, and from there everything opened up. Jeremiah and Paul both recount "mission" and "calling" from God -- and it's clear that what they were called to do was not easy.

This word "weakness" continues to dominate my Lenten meditations. Paul's statement to the Corinthians is translated in the NASB (my favorite version): 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NASB)
9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

In the NIV it's translated: 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

In the NewKJV it's translated: 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NKJV)
9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

In several other translations the pronoun "my" is inserted in the translation -- but that is an interpretive notion since there is no personal pronoun in front of strength (the greek word for "strength", or "power" is dunamis, from which we get dynamic and dynamite).

A literal reading is awkward, but goes something like this: "He said to me, grace (my) is sufficient, for the power comes to an end in weakness."
You'll notice that the word usually translated "perfect", or "perfected" is in this literal translating, "end". Its root is from the greek word "teleos", which is translated usually "to complete, to finish, to bring to an end, to fulfill." So for example, Matthew 7:28 says, "Now when Jesus had finished saying these things...", and the word "teleo" signifies completion. There's another word that is often translated "perfected", but it's not the one Paul uses here in 2 Cor. 12:9

Among many translators the interpretive sense has been that God's power would come in when there is weakness, and to a certain extent that is true. But, I think there's more to this in this passage. I want to explore that further, but for now, let me share at the end another way of looking at what Paul's saying.
So, the question becomes "who's power" comes to an end in weakness?
Perhaps the translation of 2 Cor. 12:7-10 would be better understood like this:

"...to keep me from being too elated, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to knock me about...Three times I appealed to the Lord concerning this, that it might depart from me, but he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for your power is brought to an end in weakness.' All the more gladly, then, I will boast in my weaknesses that the power of Christ (not mine) may tabernacle upon me. Therefore, I take delight in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions and calamities for the sake of Christ, for when I am weak, then I am strong."

Let's come back to this, but for now, let me leave us pondering a quote from Kierkegaard:
"Just try to imagine that the pattern is called a 'Lamb'. That alone is a scandal to the natural mind. Who has any desire to be a lamb?"

A Prayer:

"Oh God, because without you we cannot worship you and we cannot see you, and we cannot hear you; please come in your mercy and allow us to enter into your grace. Most of all, help me to see the end of my power and the magnificence of your grace as it comes into my life at that time. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."