July 19, 2026 | Under Pressure to Compare? | 2 Corinthians 12

Is your To-Do list overwhelming? Do you feel constant pressure to perform-at home, at work, even in your downtime? Sometimes it can feel like you're barely keeping up. 

Our culture pushes us to achieve, finish, and win-but what happens when it's all too much?

In 2 Corinthians, we meet someone who knew the pressure firsthand. The Apostle Paul faced expectations, criticism, and weakness-yet he discovered something surprising: God works powerfully not through our strengths, but through our weaknesses.

Transcript

It seems funny to talk about being under pressure during summer. Summer's supposed to be like fun loving and that either like chill or it's like, but we are continue to talk about being under pressure.

Well, this last week was really weird. It was a really weird week. At the cabin, we got rescued not once but twice. Once because with an issue with a jet ski. My son and a friend of his were stranded in the middle of the lake and waved down a stranger on a pontoon who came over and dragged back to her dock. Then, because I didn't have the right tools to fix the issue, I wandered down the road and I knocked on a few doors until I found someone who had just gotten home, had the right tools, and proceeded to spend about two hours in the very hot weather helping us fix the jet ski. Later that day, I realized, we got rescued twice today. They were pivotal moments to making sure that the boys were safe, and that we didn't wreck the machine. It was so obvious because it was nothing we had done. Both of the people were strangers. It wasn't like we'd been building relationships with these people and you know, they came to our rescue in the nick of time. It was totally god. It was a hot, hot day and we are very grateful for those rescues.

Now, you might say, well, that's like no big deal. To go, god or it's just something to be grateful for but let's talk about what really matters. Me, I was with the boys at the cabin because of a soccer tournament and I had a lot of work to do. I didn't have time looking for them, wondering if I had to go rescue, I didn't have time to stand with this person and like fix this thing. I didn't have time for this. I totally failed. As your pastor in terms of an employee, I did not work my hours that day. It was a failure. I had a lot of things to get done but I do have here in parentheses, I did get a good... So, did I win or lose? Was it a success or wasn't it?

One of the ways we are under pressure sometimes is to succeed. But also, how do we measure what is winning? What is success? Now, the answer is going to make you wonder if sometimes I just rewrite the same sermon over and over because I feel like that's a little bit how it is in second Corinthians, and I would also say, I hope you essentially hear the same thing every single week from this pulpit. Because the good news is quite simple. And yet, we all know in our daily lives it's a lot to unpack.

We're in a series about finding hope while you're under pressure, and we've used second Corinthians because the letter writer, Paul, is under pressure to perform, to succeed, because there are these other super great leaders around who are kind of making him look like a goof. And Paul is trying to remind them to focus on Jesus. He's under great pressure to succeed in the eyes of those who are looking at him and measuring him against others, and Paul is coming up short. Paul is also under pressure to make sure that he is staying true to the true good news about Jesus and not some of the other messages that these — what the Bible calls super apostles — are talking about. These other messages, although it doesn't say it, are not the same. The other messages seem to be forgetting that weakness and suffering on the cross is part of the good news, if not central.

Last week, we talked about vulnerability. And that the success and the good news of the coming of the kingdom is great, but it has to go through the cross. There has to be vulnerability of Jesus, the weakness of god made flesh, in order for us to enjoy that victory, and the cross is not just the means to our own salvation, but it's an invitation to a way of life. By all of us.

Now, Paul chose a unique solution to defend himself, last week and this week, he decides to boast. But the things he boasts about, you kind of want to take him aside. So much so, last week, as I talked about it, it was like, wow, this is really funny to read out loud, which is how letters would have been shared back then, because very few — he not only told them about his suffering, he boasted. He rejoiced over the shipwrecks, the beatings, the hunger, the lostness, that he felt. At the end of chapter 11, he then boasts about when the going got tough and he was being chased, he escaped, and not just like by running away. Someone helped him escape by luring him in a basket. I mean, this is just a movie scene.

Then, in chapter 12 verse one is where we'll pick it up. Paul says, "I must go on boasting although there's nothing to be gained. I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord." Okay, now we've got this. Paul is going to start telling us about his spiritual prowess. "I know a man" — spoiler alert, he's talking about himself. Most commentators, most scholars see this as Paul trying to be subtle, humble, but he's really talking about himself.

So, "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up in the third heaven." Probably some sort of spiritual, amazing experience. He didn't know how — whether it was in the body or out of the body, he doesn't know, but god knows. And he knows that this man, whether in the body or apart from the body, he doesn't know but god knows, was caught up in paradise. And heard inexpressible things. Things that no one has permitted to tell. Either because he just doesn't have the words, or it was so intimate and so amazing, it's like you can't even say it out loud. Paul says, "I will boast about a man like that, but I won't boast about myself. Except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so that no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times" — anyone familiar with the "three times" people have asked things of Paul and Jesus? "Three times, I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But God said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you. 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. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults" — here we go again — "in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

This moment that Paul is referencing is fourteen years ago, but he still speaks of it like it was yesterday. It was out of body, in body — I mean, he still doesn't even have the words. He's thought about this over a decade. Only then does he boast about his weakness.

So, imagine boasting about weaknesses. I told you all last week about the weakness of a century — me forgetting to get visas, which are essential when you travel to China, and I didn't have them when we got to the airport, and we found out we didn't have them. So here we are. That vulnerability, an unanswered prayer — we're hoping that we get to go a week from tomorrow, but we still don't have all of our visas.

You know, when you have a leader who fails a lot, are you like, "I want you to know about my pastor. Do you know what she did? She's a loser. She forgets. She forgets appointments." All these crazy things happen to them. Their cars blow up, their house burns down. Do you see how this might be the case for Paul? And he shares a story about the spiritual revelation that's fourteen years old. Some of you are fourteen. Imagine if I didn't have any fresh stories except from when you were a baby. Would you start to wonder, have you connected with Jesus lately? So, even though Paul is boasting about his spiritual revelations, this is an old story.

I went to a conference once with one of my favorite mentors ever, and I was in the front row taking notes. And do you know what? Every story she shared, she had published in her book — that I had read. And to this day, I have kind of lost some respect for her. Like, do you have any new stories? Paul is under pressure, y'all.

And then he has this thorn in the flesh. It's not enough that people think he's a loser; he has something going on. We don't know what it is. Some people think maybe it's speech — there's some references in Galatians — or maybe it's his eyesight. Do you remember how he was struck blind when he got together with the Lord? He had scales on his eyes that fell off. Maybe he has poor eyesight. We don't know, and it kind of doesn't matter. We just know it's a thorn in the flesh — rough words, a messenger of Satan to torment him. Whoo. Yes, three times. "Lord, please, really?"

Now, it is important, friends, please hear me say this. When you read a section of scripture like this, don't take it out of context and make a bumper sticker about it for all things and all times, in all seasons, okay? If you, for instance, have something that you've prayed and asked the Lord to take away and god has not, please do not automatically assume, "Well, this must be given to me to torment me, a messenger of Satan to keep me from being conceited." Okay? If a bad thing happens, sometimes I hear people say, "Well, maybe the Lord had that happen so that..." I am not going to speak for god. What did Paul say — in the body or out of the body? He doesn't know, but god knows. God knows. Okay? I would never take this passage and say to you your suffering is for you to keep humble. I would also urge you not to use this passage for someone else who's struggling to say, "Well, you know, the Lord is probably keeping you from whatever success so that you can stay humble." Are you with me on this? This is how heresy starts. This is how, I don't know, the lack of compassion of Jesus followers can begin.

Instead, what we know is that Paul asked for god to remove it. If you're struggling with something, pray about it. God doesn't always say no. God does give victory — we probably all have stories of like, thank you Jesus. Okay? Secondly, read scripture and the history of people who have suffered — the Psalms. They're clearly lamenting, clearly calling out to god for help. Okay?

We also know that in this conversation that Paul had with the Lord, the Lord gave him a word, and you've probably heard this verse before: "My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness." So, the word "grace" is the word "charis" — maybe you know someone named Charis. Grace. Rejoice. It's connected to the word "glory," and the word "boasting." When we boast about something, we're rejoicing. We're grateful for it. And that's connected to the same word. God's grace, the reasons for rejoicing, the things that we boast about from the Lord — all of these words are connected. It's what Paul has been doing.

What I encourage you to do is to boast about the good things — okay? Paul also does that. What about your weaknesses? Yep, I royally screwed up. I haven't seen the rejoice part yet completely. Maybe when I'm on a plane eventually, I will. But there are times when we mess up that we can see, "Oh, this happened because of what happened." Paul hears that grace is sufficient.

Now, I feel like this word is sort of like lowballing what this means, right? If you were to cook dinner for someone and you said, "Hey, how was it?" — "Good." Next time the server comes, "Is everything alright?" You could say to the server, "It's sufficient." Okay? This is why I look up what words mean. It means to be content. You've had enough. That's what we say when we've eaten something. It means that we have been given enough, and anything more would be support for us. It's fulfilling. It's a glass of cold water on these 98-degree days after you've mowed the lawn. Yeah, right? It's waking up before your alarm and going, "I think I had a good night's sleep." Anyone? Oh man, those are good days, aren't they?

God's grace — that rejoicing, that boasting — did everyone just hear the children out there? Yay. That's grace. Is sufficient. God's grace is sufficient where? In our weakness. And not just is it sufficient, it says that it's made complete, perfect. Alright, again, some theology lesson everyone: was god's grace insufficient without my weakness? Does god lack something until I get vulnerable and admit my faults? No. God doesn't need us — right? God isn't lacking something that we are going to somehow provide wholeness for god, or satisfy god. No, no, no, no. This is about us and our weakness. God's grace, god's power is always there. It is who god is, right? However, once we admit our need for that power — or realize, "I am very thirsty and I need water" — the water fulfills and satisfies me once I receive it. Thankfully, in our culture, we have access to that cold water.

Ephesians one says that there is a power that raised Jesus from the dead, and Paul prays that that church would understand and access the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. God doesn't need us to tap into his power to have power. But there is a wholeness once we admit our need for it. Does that make sense?

So today, as you think about what this passage has to do with you — maybe you have some weaknesses, maybe you don't. If you don't, maybe ask someone who lives nearby, or a good friend, and they will help you find one. God's grace is sufficient for you, and you can receive it today. Do you have a weakness that you could admit to the Lord today? Maybe it's in the quietness of your own heart. Maybe take a risk and share that with someone. If you're home online, jot it down. Make a phone call later. Talk to someone before the service is over.

The word "silly" came to mind when I thought about weaknesses. What is silly in my life? And how am I satisfied when I've been vulnerable or silly, okay? So, come with me in my brain. There's this woman called Melanie on social media, and if you're at my stage of life — without getting into all the particulars, okay, my stage of life and development, perhaps hormonally — and girls, if you are not here yet, listen up, alright? It's a public service announcement. Melanie is a woman who started sharing on social media just things that she was experiencing, and she has become a hot topic. She has books. She has a club. She has a whole thing. Okay. So, part of her social media, amazing things, are "sisterhood incident reports." If you want to Google her later, she's hilarious. She does this whole thing, okay? These are some of the examples that women have shared that they are experiencing. Ready?

This is what a woman said: "I couldn't remember the word for toaster, so I called it a pop tart maker." "I got into the passenger seat of the car, then I realized I'm the driver, because no one else was going anywhere." "I spent the last [several] minutes using the flashlight on my phone to look for my phone." "I couldn't remember the word for ambulance, so I called it a 'woo woo.'"

Please be kind to us. And when we're thinking about sharing our weaknesses with you, we really do choose to share it with vulnerability, and it's hilarious and it's real. You also, in those stories, you can decide which ones maybe are personal stories and not just ones that Melanie has shared. I've actually thought about telling her about my Chinese visa thing and seeing if I could get on social media. Anyway, maybe you're not going through what I'm going through as a woman. Maybe it's just like you've also made errors, but there's something in sharing it with other people that brings a certain joy. We are talking about misery loves company, sort of like that — not so we can all be depressed, you know what I mean, belly-button navel-gazing, that's what we call it. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about being vulnerable with you, and someone else says, "Oh my gosh, me too," and you have this moment that's magical. And you suddenly feel like, wait, I'm not alone in this. And you realize, wait, god might have community for me in this. Wait, I just said something really that I'm ashamed about and embarrassing, and I finally took the risk to say it out loud, and someone went, "me too." That's grace sufficient in our weakness, I think.

The power of god in Christ living in us and through us as followers of Jesus can be made so much more clear when we are weak. Sometimes those amazing stories are inspiring, and you're like, wow, I can't believe that happened — you get these amazing testimonies or whatever. But then there are other times where I'm like, wow, good for you. I'm over here like barely making rent. I feel like I haven't heard from the Lord in years. I am stuck in a terrible relationship. And where is god for me? What does it look like for us to believe and live as though god's grace really is sufficient for us while we are weak, and being honest with the Lord and with trusted friends. I'm not talking about necessarily posting all of this on social, okay? I'm talking about really sharing it, being vulnerable with someone face to face. That's vulnerability. Posting it online, I don't know — the Lord can figure out what that is in terms of vulnerability — but sitting down and talking with someone, I do know that that's vulnerability.

What does it look like for us corporately as a church to boast about our weaknesses? What does it look like for god's grace to be sufficient for us, and his strength being made perfect in us corporately? Paul says we can rejoice in our weakness because Romans 5:6 says, "You see, just at the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Jesus did this for us before we became weak or vulnerable, before we admitted our sin, before we were ready to understand Jesus — Jesus did it for us. It has nothing to do with us. It doesn't really have anything to do with our vulnerability and weakness, because — how vulnerable, how weak do I need to be, Lord? No, no, no, no. This is about receiving something that god initiated.

Sometimes we're under pressure to... and I would say Jesus inverts the message of the world and says, "I'm going to blow your mind right now." Those things that you think you have to hold together, and you feel the pressure to keep it in the box — you know those Tupperwares you just can't get the lid on? God just says, "You rip the lid off. You do not need the lid." When we were unable to save ourselves, Jesus made a way. Grace gives us faith and the ability to respond to god.

So, today, maybe you have not believed unto Jesus for your salvation. Maybe that's something you have never done. Why not today be the day? Admit that you need Jesus, that you have sin that you cannot manage, and you need Jesus and forgiveness.

What about for the rest of us? So many pressures to succeed, to at least accomplish — maybe not even like win or get an A, but to finish the darn thing. What does it look like for us? Well, weakness before god can also be called humility. Something that I have posted on my bulletin board is called The Ladder of Humility. Have you ever heard this? And Brian, did we have a QR code for that too, that they can scan at some point? Oh, it's in the app. This is in the app. So do you see this? This is Saint Benedict, a father of our faith.

As I think about what it looks like to be humble — okay, this is just helpful for me — the first step is what I just said: fearing the Lord, acknowledging that the Lord is the judge, is the ruler, makes the standards, makes it pretty clear: "Be holy as I am holy." And I hope that that is the message you hear every week — that god is central.

Now, secondly, submitting to god. There's an understanding of who god is, and then a choice that I am not in control of my finances. I am clearly not in control of my vacation time. I am not in control of my work days. And you can fight and push against that, or you can submit to the Lord. Secondly, to submit to each other. Being a believer, a follower of Jesus, does not mean that you get to do it alone and just figure it out with the Lord, and to heck with everybody else. You are choosing to be part of the community of faith. Ephesians five tells us to submit to one another. Philippians tells us to think of others more highly than ourselves.

The next rung on the ladder is patience. I will admit that when I pull into parking lots at soccer games, it is hard to love my neighbors with the big trucks. You know, I have a saying about big trucks, okay — comes up from time to time. When you're in a parking lot, you cannot see, and these trucks take up a parking space and a half. Just have patience. As someone reminded me, some of these people were probably carrying six to eight children and all their gear. They needed their big trucks. I just wish they didn't have to park by me.

Being honest about ourselves and our sins — James says to confess our sins to one another and we will be healed. If you're trying to keep those sins in that Tupperware, that Tupperware is hard to shut. In the church, you don't have to contain that stuff. That is why Jesus went to the cross. Then there's a depth of awareness of your sin and weakness, and I will say that day at the airport, I was very aware of my weakness. Then, there's a step of speaking less — those moments where you just have nothing to say, and we start to listen to one another. The last rung, as Saint Benedict says, is that we are transformed, that we become like Jesus.

I'm going to invite the worship team back up. Here at Community Covenant, as Elijah tried to say so clearly, we want to connect you with Jesus and Jesus with your world. We want to connect you to Jesus, and we want to encourage you to become like Jesus. You can't get any closer to Jesus than you are right now, even if you have not yet accepted Jesus. Jesus is here, living in some of us, walking around you, drawing you closer to the Lord.

We all, I think, can take steps to become more like Jesus. Jesus chose humility. His idea of success was the cross, and the resurrection. I also want to say this: I think the world is watching the church in ways now that is different, at least from other times of my life, and they're under the same pressure to try to succeed. There's so much hope in Jesus. And if we're striving to be strong, to try to succeed, we can so easily miss what Jesus is doing around us. It might not look like what they expect — strength does not look like much of what I expect sometimes in this world of following Jesus. But our invitation is for us to boast about our weakness, rejoice, and god promises us that his grace is sufficient for us.

Amen.