“For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak…”                                                                                                                       (2 Corinthians 10:19a.)

 

The above titles and the above Scripture is something a writer, probably all writers hear if they write in a, “weighty and powerful” style.  This is something Paul certainly hear often as did our Lord Jesus. When our Lord’s Authority was questioned it was the same challenge that Paul faced and endured.  A person that was probably a person of a slight build that might surprise you is Samson.  Think about it for a minute.  Is it a surprise when a person of a tremendously muscular build does something impressive? Probably not, this muscular person, male or female trains long and hard to do what they are able to do.
With this being the twenty-fifth (25th) Anniversary of WWE”s Monday Night Raw, let me use some examples from the WWE.  Is it ever a surprise when a well established name defeats a much smaller, no name, opponent with ease?  Was it really a surprise when Hulk Hogan bodyslammed Andre the Giant thirty-one (31) years ago? The answer to all these questions is no, of course not.
Keeping the above in mind, would anyone be surprised by Samson if he were a large and well trained fighter?  Again, the answer is no.  However, what if it was a man of average size and strength or even less than average size and strength or appeared to be?  To see a man of average size or smaller carry a city’s gates over his head or to snap bindings, to slay a lion…like another small…boy, who would become King.

You see, for God to be glorified in the eyes of His people and His enemies, He would choose the WEAK, the BASE, and the FOOLISH out of the world.  Samson, with respect, was all three (3) of the above at different times of his life, as have we all and may still be at times. Therefore, it is this writer’s position that Samson was no man of great size as most consider him….remember….To God be the Glory and He will not share this Glory with another.

Others who were, nothing to speak of, in their own persons include: Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, Jael, and the disciples of Christ.
* Moses, when he was Called by God, from the Burning Bush, and directed to confront Pharoah, responded with his weakness and poor speaking skills.  Yet, empowered and enabled, and accompanied by God’s Strong Presence, was more than the King of Egypt could stand or his fallen kingdom.
* Gideon, was a boy, who God called, “A Mighty Man of Valour,”  Gideon asked confirmation from God more than once and God provided that confirmation.  Gideon was told, by God, to take upon himself the role of Iconoclast…a destroyer of idols and false gods.  A word about Gideon’s request for confirmation…Gideon was not doubting God, but demonstrating a doubt in himself.
* Jeremiah, when we was called, thought himself to be a child and therefore unable to act on God’s behalf. God disproved this as Jeremiah was the “Last man standing.”
*Jael, was “just” a woman and she was only mentioned once in Scripture.  Jael was a woman, who was forced to hide the enemy general, Cisera, in her tent.  Cisera knew no one would enter a woman’s tent without permission of that woman.  Jael was being held hostage in her own tent by a deadly man of war.
Cisera demanded water from his captive and instead of water the wise Jael provided the general with milk. This caused the unwise Cisera to let his guard down and took to a nap. Jael, the considerate captive…..took a tent spike and a hammer and fastened her enemy and captor’s head to the ground.  As Sherlock Holmes would say, “Never trust a woman.”  I’m kidding about the trusting a woman comment…or am I?……………..Dun Dun.
*Paul and the other disciples of Christ were discounted at every turn.  Among Christ’s original disciples were, “ignorant and unlearned fisherman,” and a tax collector, who was considered a traitor to his own people. A racist…”can anything good come out of Nazareth?” and other “low rent” persons.  Yet, it was these…stupid fisherman, this traitor, this racist, and these other “low rent” persons…..even a prostitute that turned the “whole world upside down.”  Praise God for the weak, the base, and the foolish and praise Him because we are counted among them.
Today and throughout history, post resurrection, kings, queens, princes, princesses, presidents, and other honourable politicians take their place along side landscapers (me), fast-food workers (me), Custodians…(without the custodian, we would shop, learn, worship…live short lives and die early among germs, viruses and disease. Next time you see a janitor or custodian, thank that person; I’ve been hospitalized almost thirty (30) times in the last decade. and I have learned so much. I have learned that the custodian and the doctors do the same job. The doctor fights disease on the person and the person’s insides, whereas the custodian wars againt disease on the outside before it get to the inside).  Today, persons in proverty and persons among the one (1%) percent name the Name of Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Back to Paul, The apostle was a man that bore constant ridicule by those that differed with him. One needs only read chapter eleven (11) of his second (2nd) epistle to the Corinthians to see all that he endured and suffered from.  You will find a litany of beatings and dangers he faced on a constant basis.  Paul was small or bent over, hook nosed, and bow-legged according to early descriptions of him.  His appearance was probably due to his, “enduring all things for the elects sake.”  The description you read is a description that would fit a career pugilist or Roman/Greek grappler….or a car accident survivor. Yet within this man was a soul encased spirit that was larger than Goliath, and mightier than Samson.

How do you think paul responded to his backbiters?  Read what they said again in out Scripture text above……………………………………  This was Paul’s response, “Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.  Paul then continues in weighty and powerful words.

Reader, Bible student, Church attender, enemy of God and His chosen servants,
The man of God is no wall flower, he is no door matt and if he appears to be look very closely at that door matt…..do you see them?  Those are not plastic bristles…..No, they are metal spikes.  If the minister appears to be that wall flower, I mentioned, look closely…that soft to the touch wall paper is laced with itching powder.
My point reader, is this, the Same Spirit that allowed the greats of the Old Testament like, Samson, Jael, Gideon, Joshua, Moses, is the Same Mighty Spirit that inhabited the greats of the New Testament, like the disciples, the Apostle Paul, and the Son of God, Himself. It is the Same Spirit that strengthened the saints of the Old and New Testaments that inhabit the mind, the heart, and the instincts of God’s ministers today in a greater measure than most born again saints. To the enemies of God and His chosen army, “Greater is He that is in [us] than he that is in [and of] the world.”

Please note the above metaphors (itching powder laced wall-paper and steel spiked door matts, and jael’s spike and hammer), were just that, metaphors.  This writer is not inciting, suggesting, or directing any one to violence.

Summary: It matters not what others think or whisper about you, child of God.  If you are in the will of God, you should accept the whispers, the jokes, the exclusions as a token of your standing in the kingdom of God and a token of the whisperers, jokers, and excluders standing outside of the kingdom.  On the other hand, if someone, even an unsaved person, criticizes you for something and they be right and proper, do not ignore it but rush to the throne of grace and address it quickly.  Another point that was posited; we can do great things for God, regardless of our age, our “place” in society, our financial standing, etc.  There is an old hymn that says, “There is nothing small if God is in.”