Key verse: The Apostle Paul declared, "...Therefore I have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses, because they mean a deeper experience of the power of Christ" (2 Corinthians 12:9b).
Introduction
Witnessing paschal faith communities, in all traditions, religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups are called by God, to reveal and manifest the life of Jesus Christ, as the fully orbed Son of Man, throughout our planet earth (Matthew 6:9-10, John 14:6, Mark 8:31-34). To fulfill this divine commission and responsibility, witnesses must be inclusive and Christ-centered. They must live their lives in the mind of the spirit. In faith, humility and obedience their thought-life, attitudes and actions must be guided by God's agape love and empowered by the renewal and restoration of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-17).
Through inquiry, initiation, purification and illumination as witnesses, believers progressively learn to reject the pervasive and destructive inner call of the mind of the flesh to reject God's plan of agape love, renewal and restoration. Witness must not set their hearts and minds on thing seen (Romans 8:5-9). Spiritually awake witnesses, within witnessing paschal faith communities, in all traditions, religions, cultures, ethnic and secular groups, seek to follow Jesus Christ in fulfilling God's plan to live the Paschal Mystery, in the mind of the spirit (Romans 8:12-17). They seek and learn to set their minds on unseen, eternal and heavenly things (Mark 8:31-34; 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 12:9). They seek and serve Christ in the spiritual body and spiritual core of Jesus Christ, all persons, and love their neighbors as they love themselves (Mark 12:28-34).
Paul's vision and revelations of kingdom living here on earth
In today's Epistle, the Apostle Paul describes one of his many mystical experiences of the Godhead's glory in Paradise (Luke 17:20-21). He called the place of God's abode the Third Heaven. Paul found that normal human language, could not describe nor explain his authentic experiences of the Godhead's presence, majesty and glory, which he experienced in the mind of the spirit. Paul believed he actually discerned and experienced the Reality of the invisible, spiritual kingdom of heaven, which Jesus Christ declared is forever within himself, among us, in our midst and within the spiritual bodies and spiritual cores of every person (John 17:20-26, 2 Corinthians 12:2-4).
The Godhead's presence and glory in the midsts of affliction
Some commentators have suggested that Paul mystical experiences of the Godhead may have occurred during periods when Paul was mercilessly stoned and dragged our of the city of Laodicea (Acts 14:19-20). Rather than seeing these periods of rejection, suffering and persecution for the sake of the Gospel of Christ, as God's chastisement, Paul saw them as occasions to reveal and manifest his human weakness, but more importantly to deepen his experience and encounter with the presence and mystery of the risen, living and incarnate Christ, God's image, likeness and agape love, in and through his spiritual body and the spiritual core of all persons (2 Corinthians 12:5-6, Colossians 1:24-29).
Paul's Thorn in his flesh
The Apostle Paul had a constant challenge and obstacle in his life. He called it a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan, which caused real pain, distress and suffering in his life. To Paul these manifestations of Satan (the mind of the flesh in his life), also reminded him of his human weakness and inadequacy, in fulfilling his ministry of reconciliation. He affirmed they served to keep him humble and totally dependent on the Godhead. Paul believed in and was totally dependent on God's promise of the all-sufficiency of Christ's indwelling presence, grace and truth, in the midst of his weakness (John 1:14-18, 2 Corinthians 12:7-8, Colossians 1:24-29).
Finding pleasure in infirmities
In the mind of the spirit, Paul paradoxically found pleasure and greater awareness of the Godhead's presence in every area of his life. He experienced the Godhead as an invisible and eternal abiding, protecting, enhancing and sustaining presence, in the midst of weakness, insults, hardships, persecution and difficulties for Christ's sake and the Gospel of Christ. He declared, "For when I am weak, then I am strong" (Acts 17:22-28, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Conclusion
Are you like the Apostle Paul, experiencing criticism, challenges, rejection and insults within your witnessing paschal faith community, because you seek, serve and love Christ, God's invisible image, likeness and agape love, in the spiritual body and spiritual core of Jesus Christ and all persons? Have you found comfort and reassurance in Paul's understanding and description of the all sufficiency of Christ, in his reconciliation ministry, in today's Epistle. Are you like Paul, following Jesus Christ in living the Paschal Mystery in the mind of the spirit (Mark 8:31-34, 2 Corinthians 12:2-10)?
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Season of Pentecost, Proper 9
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