Redeemer Lutheran Church

1106 Shreveport-Barksdale Hwy

Shreveport, LA  71105

(318) 868-5778

Pastor Perry Culver

Come join the family

THORNS

In 1986, I was working for Capitol City Savings, in Austin, TX, as a loan analyst. 1986 was not a good year to be working in the Savings and Loan business, nor any banking related business, because the real estate market was crashing. I remember sitting in my office, listening to a Houston Astros game, my boss was also from Houston. We didn’t want to leave the office because of the seriousness and importance of that game. The Astros needed to score to win. It was a nail-bitter game. I remember this game for another reason. It was a painful game for me. As we sat in our office listening to the game, the Astros scored! I was so excited that I jumped up for joy, but as I came down, my knee caught the edge of my desk and separated my knee. I was in severe pain. I kept ice on it for about 3 days when I decided I needed to go to the doctor, because it was still extremely painful. I wanted some drugs to take away the pain. I went to a orthopedic specialist who specialized in sports medicine. He was the orthopedic specialist used by the University of Texas Athletic department. They twisted and prodded at my knew and shot x-rays from all different angles. When it was all over, he told me my knee would heal, but it was going to take time, maybe up to six months. That was good news. I then asked for the prescription for the pain medication. He looked at me and said "NO". …. I told him that it is extremely painful to move my knee, to walk, or just to sit down. His response was good. He wants the pain to stay, so that I won’t do any more damage to it. He told me if he gave me some drugs to take away the pain, I would overuse my leg and make matters worse. I was not happy. I wanted a second opinion and told him. I wanted my drugs. He smiled and gave me three different doctors and told me which ones would give me the medicine I so desired. He then told me that I have a right to get a second opinion, but he told me that my pain was my friend. He told me it hurts for a reason, and that reason shouldn’t be masked by pain killers. He wants me to stay off my leg as much as possible and that the pain is my friend that will let me know when sit down. I was still mad when I drove home, but I started thinking about what he said. It made sense. It was also at this time that I was preparing a Bible Study on the lesson today about Paul’s thorn. My knee doesn’t bother me anymore, but I will never be able to read about Paul’s thorn and not be able to think about my knee and the pain I had to endure.

A couple of weeks ago, we heard about the storms in our lives. Storms have a way of getting our attention. This week, we hear Paul speak about "thorns". Thorns come in many shapes and sizes. Thorns can bring physical pain. Thorns can also bring mental pain. When we run around outside and step on a thorn, you know it! It’s impact is immediate. You change the way you walk and you become obsessed with trying to get the thorn out. The thorns of life could be a family problem, a health problem, a financial problem, --- whatever kind of thorn you have, we all have thorns. Paul writes:

Paul states that he has a thorn in the flesh. A thorn can be anything that distracts you and causes you to lose focus of the task at hand. We all know that a thorn in the foot will stop us and we spend time trying to remove it. Is the pain unbearable? Usually not, but it can be very distracting. When a headache starts, it often starts with a low-grade pain that increases over time. The pain at first is mild, but you lose focus as you shift your mind from the task at hand to the oncoming headache. Often it is little things that annoy us and cause us to lose focus. A thorn can also be a larger problem, such as a health problem, a job related problem, a financial problem, or a socio-economic problem. We often focus on these problems and not on Christ. Thorns can also be such a large problem that it renders you helpless and you are fully dependent on God to get you out of a situation, or to at least deal with it.

Scripture does not indicate the nature of Paul’s thorn. It was obviously not God’s intent to reveal the specifics. We should see in it an application for any and all that suffers torment from one of Satan’s messengers. Paul’s thorn was no accident. It was given to him. It is comforting to know that even the great apostle Paul had thorns in his life. For all those preachers who preach, "believe in Jesus and have health, wealth, and prosperity", Paul shows us that we all suffer from thorns in our life, even Christians.

Whatever thorn ails you, like Paul, we are to call upon the Lord for strength. Thorns can be a gift from God. Thorns cause us to rely on God instead of ourselves. It is often noted that poor people have greater faith than rich people. A lot can be said about this. Being poor can be a thorn. It is easier for a poor person to see God’s hand in their life than for a rich person. A poor person depends on God for the very necessities of life. A rich person depends on himself for the necessities of life. It is easy for a rich person to forget where his money comes from; it comes from the Lord! The less dependent you are on the Lord, the easier it is to focus on yourself than Christ, thus eventually falling away. Don’t misunderstand me; there will be many rich people in heaven and many poor people in hell. We live in a world where the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and loose sight of the rich blessings we have on "our side of the fence". Thorns can be a gift in that they bring us closer to God. A couple of weeks ago, the sermon show how the Lord works in our lives through storms. Last week, the Lord taught us faith through the death of a child. This week, Paul teaches us that thorns in our life draw us closer go god.

Thorns can cause us to focus on what really matters. Now I ask you, what really matters to you. Does it really matter if you are poor, but have the greatest gift of all—Salvation? Does it really matter that you have a health problem when you know that on the Day of the Lord, you will be restored and have a perfect body! Does it really matter that someone else appears to have it better than us if our name is in the Book of Life! We often want to say, "Yes, it does matter". Paul had prayed that his thorns would be taken away. He didn’t want his thorns. But his thorns caused him to sharpen his focus. Paul writes:

Paul prayed for help three times, and Jesus answers his prayer "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Christ’s answer to Paul is also an answer to many of our prayers. Jesus came to Earth, was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, crucified and was buried. He rose again from the dead, and brought faith and Salvation to you. You have received the greatest gift of all. Yes, we have weaknesses, but Christ said, "My grace is sufficient for you!" Having the greatest gift, eternal life, Paul states, "I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. The closing words are powerful.

The words "for I am weak, then I am strong" are powerful. Thorns are given to us for many reasons, but let us rejoice that we are made strong by our weakness, because of our faith that was given to us. We have faith. We have Jesus. We have eternal life. We have Salvation. His grace is sufficient for us. The grass on this side of the fence is just fine.

Amen.