2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13
The Reverend Paul DeLain Allick, St. George’s Episcopal Church, July 5, 2009

Paradox, from the Greek, paradoxom (os), meaning, “conflicting with expectation.” Paradox, from para meaning “beyond” and doxa meaning “thinking” or “opinion.”

Christianity at its heart is a paradox. At the heart of Christianity is the cross of Christ. This cross conflicted with the expectations of Jesus’ original disciples and it continues to conflict with our thinking. The incarnate God, the divine Son of Man, going to the cross remains beyond our thinking and opinion.

St. Paul describes this paradox in our Epistle today. He tells us of a man, we believe that it is Paul himself, that was caught up into the third heaven, into paradise where God dwells. He heard things there that cannot be told or uttered by any human. But Paul is not boasting of this experience. He can’t because he is aware of his weakness; that particular “thorn in his side.” Paul asked the Lord to remove this thorn three different times. It was not removed. The Lord spoke to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul shares with the Church what he learned, “For the sake of Christ…I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paradox.

We don’t know for sure what this thorn was. I could have been a physical or mental illness, an issue of temperament, or the opposition to the message Paul preached. Whatever it was the struggle with this thorn, this thing that kept Paul’s life from being perfect, taught him to rely solely on the grace of God. It taught him about the paradox of the cross; the beyond thinking nature of God among us in Christ.

Many of us come to Christ to escape the thorns. And, yet, what we find is even better than an escape. We find how to have faith among the thorns.

Human life is dramatic. All of us face thorns. It could be illnesses, mental or physical, it could be a temperament or habits that we try to overcome, it could be opposition to the way we see things. The drama of human existence is persistent. Even when our life is going fine, we are surrounded by the drama of others and the culture around us.

We can’t come to our religion to escape the drama because we find it there as well. For instance, we have been reading through the stories of Samuel, Saul and David in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. Talk about drama. Today we read how David finally becomes King of both Judah and Israel. Just as if we were glued to wall to wall coverage on cable news, we have seen how Samuel was sent to fight the corruption of  judges and priests who were defrauding the people. How the people pleaded to have King, a savior who would never let them down. We have seen how God sent Samuel to find two unlikely kings among the people: Saul from the most humble family from the least of the tribes and David who was the most unlikely among his brothers to be a king.

No, our Christian tradition is not an escape from the drama of life. Our Holy Scriptures are actually teaching us how to remain faithful in the storm.

Jesus enters his own drama today. He returns home and is met with skepticism. He knows these neighbors and relatives. The drama of that family and community system is well known to Jesus. He doesn’t get stuck in a fight with them. He heals those who are open to it and moves on. And then he sends his disciples out on the mission among the thorns. He tells them and us how to go about it. Travel in pairs for safety and for companionship. Travel light. Accept hospitality by staying put and move on when the thorns are so powerful that you cannot engage; wipe the dust from your feet. But go out there and heal and cast out demons.

The paradox of Christianity tells us to have faith even when there is no reason to have faith. When we maintain our faith among the thorns, then we actually know what faith is.

The Prayer Book teaches us that every baptized person is sent out there among the thorns on a mission. Not because we are adequate to the task, we all have thorns in our side, but because in faith we are strong even though we are weak. The grace of God is sufficient.

What thorns in your side are you using as an excuse not to be about the mission of the Church? What is holding you back from working to reconcile all people to God and each other through Christ? Is it a physical or mental limitation? Is it a perceived inadequacy? Are we holding back because we think we aren’t educated enough in Scripture or Tradition? Are we afraid of opposition?

The Episcopal Church as a whole has many thorns in its side holding us back. Here’s the list: We’re too small, People don’t relate to our worship style, We don’t have enough young people, We are torn apart by debates about sexuality and gender, Our music is too old fashioned.

The list is long and is totally false. We have a grand Christian Tradition reaching back 2, 000 years. The majority of Christians in the world, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican worship and sing this way.

Maybe, just maybe, all of those thorns we identify are really things God is using to express His almighty power. Maybe our inadequacies are here to keep us humble. Those thorns, either real or perceived, are not excuses to abandon the mission of the Church. God in Christ has given us everything we need to be the Church. And God has given us just enough limitations and concerns and conflict to make sure we really mean it.