Homily Notes: A Thorn in the Flesh

The Balance of Mystery and Persecution

2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9 (Epistle)

The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

[In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.]

It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord:

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows –how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

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.

*****

[This homily draws heavily from St. John Chrysostom’s homily on this reading.]

The immediate purpose of St. Paul’s autobiography:

  • Hyper-apostles; false-apostles. As dishonest as the Satan who disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).
  • Speaking against him and, worse yet, the Gospel he proclaimed to them.
  • There is a balance in his words: the depth of the persecutions (lashed x5; rods x3; stoned; shipwrecked, and in constant danger of physical harm) with the strength of the revelation

But, it gives us an opportunity to better understand the balance of Mystery and persecution.

  • Proximate meaning: a mental reminder to help St. Paul avoid pride.
    • Third heaven! Paradise!
    • “Thorn in the flesh” to remind him of his weakness (what is it)
  • Second Proximate meaning: that we understand that persecution is as much part of being an Apostle as are revelations
    • This is the lesson of the Gospel and the saints (SJC plays on this by comparing the Lord’s tomb to that of Alexander the Great)
    • It’s not enough to boast, to quote scripture, or to have a strong opinion!
    • People who see us will know that we have no power; that our joy is not because of anything that we have… but is due to who (and whose we are). As SJC wrote; persecution “secures the rest of men against entertaining a higher opinion of [Christians] than they deserve.”
  • Theological Meaning: There is causal link between persecution and mystery.
    • “For affliction rends pride away and prunes out all listlessness and exerciseth unto patience: it revealeth the meanness of human things and leads unto much philosophy.” (SJC)
  • Moral meaning: a calling to opposing the world (and to asceticism)
    • What do have to boast of? Third heaven – more! Paradise – more!
      • For I will not speak of Your Mysteries to Your enemies...”
      • St. Dionesius writes of the our baptism in cultic terms;
        • A student of St. Paul, he knew the glory of revelation (celestial hierarchies), but what he wrote the most powerfully on are the mysteries and worship of the Church!
        • Initiation, the beauty and reality of the Divine Liturgy,
    • Do we have a thorn in the flesh – or just things that feed our ego?

SJC (paraphrase):

Now that we enjoy peace, we have become lazy and have filled the Church with countless evils; but when we were persecuted, we were more sober-minded, and kinder, and more earnest, and more eager to study and proclaim the Gospel.

For as fire purifies gold, so to does affliction purify souls; wiping away filth, rendering men clean, making them bright and shining. Persecution leads us to the kingdom, but a lazy peace leads us to hell. And therefore the one way is broad, the other narrow (Matthew 7:13-14). It is for this reason that Christ Himself said, “In the world you shall have tribulation,” (John xvi. 33.) as though He were leaving some great good behind unto us.

So if we want to be true disciples of Christ, , we have to travel the straight and narrow way, without becoming disgusted or discouraged by the afflictions that are bound to follow.

For even if we are not afflicted because we are doing the right thing; we will inevitably be afflicted by other things that do us no good. For the envious man also, and the lover of money, and he that burneth for an harlot, and the vainglorious, and each one of the rest that follow whatsoever is evil, endureth many disheartenings and afflictions, and is not less afflicted than they who mourn. In this world, every one suffers; the righteous suffer for the Gospel (i.e. for the thing that is immortal and True) while the unrighteous suffer in their sin (i.e. for the thing that is mortal and broken).

Since then whether we follow this way of life or that, we are going to suffer: why not chose the way that offers “innumerable crowns” along with the affliction? For thus hath God led all the saints through affliction and distress, at once doing them service, and securing the rest of men against entertaining a higher opinion of them than they deserve.

*****

There is no doubt that the Church stands against the great powers and movements of this world. There is no doubt that the Gospel stands against the word of the world.

  • Until now, we could pretend enjoy the luxuries of worldly success at the same time we enjoyed the promises of the Gospel.
  • This was always an illusion… but regardless, it is not something that we can do now.
    • The coming persecution (it has happened before… recently)
    • Asceticism: the rise of monasticism vs. the rise of comfort
      • The life of ease does not offer the witness Paul (and Christ) gives us
      • It gives the wrong impression about how the Gospel works… and how we claim it works
      • It does not balance out the grandeur of the mysteries that we have been given

Final word:

  • We should not run from the opportunities the world offers to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel.
  • We should support our leaders as they proclaim the Gospel of Truth over the gospel of comfort in their actions and proclamations.
  • We must redouble our ascetic efforts as we delve deeper into the knowledge of God revealed to us through the Mysteries of the Church.

And thus being increasingly possessed by the love of the Lord, claim your inheritance to eternal life and all the gifts that have been granted to the saints through the the grace and love towards men of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom is all glory, power, and honor, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.