Reflections on “Hey, it’s Paul Again” Philippians 1: 27-30; 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10

This was the final sermon of the summer preaching series on Paul.   I began the series with a first-person sermon and finished with Paul visiting again.  I had someone tell me they'd never been part of a church where the minister did first-person sermons.  I have beend oing first-person sermons since I began in ministry.  I find that the first-person allows me to speak in a different way than a normal sermon.  It gives some latitude to imagine what a person like Paul might have been thinking and feeling, instead of just analyzing and interpreting the biblical text.

It is always interesting to watch the congregation during a first-person sermon.  Some are obviously engaged and connecting; some look resistant to this mode of sermon; and I suppose some are just trying to get through the sermon like most Sundays!  

From a presentation standpoint, it was not my best first-person sermon.  I found myself drifting in and out of Paul's voice.  I also used my phone with my script instead of memorizing/extemporizing it like I used to do.  I'm not sure if I spend less time prepping the first-person sermons than previously, or if it's just harder for me now to prepare a first-person sermon.

 “Hey, it’s Paul Again”  Philippians 1: 27-30; 2 Corinthians 12: 1-10; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; August 23, 2026; Footsteps of Paul series

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel 28 and in no way frightened by those opposing you. For them, this is evidence of their destruction but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. 29 For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well, 30 since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Hey, it’s Paul again.

last time I talked to you was before I began traveling to all the different places.

I ran into someone on my way in, and they thought I’d been her just a few months ago,

but, really, but it’s been about 25-30 years since last we met back when I was starting in my journey..  

Lots of miles since then,

a few shipwrecks,

some jail time,

and lots of letters,

I may not look that much older, 

but I feel it.

I’m not just older, but I’ve been changed by all my time among the people in so many different places;

changed by all the conversations,

changed all the people joining me in following the resurrected Christ 

even changed by all the rejection.

I see some of you out there have a few years on you -  I bet you can look back and see how you have changed,

and maybe remember a few of the things in your life that made shaped and formed you.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what has changed me so much, and I realize that I’ve been changed by lots of things, 

a few I might mention a few today.

Move 1: I have been changed by my jail time

I’ve been imprisoned one way or the other 5, maybe six times.

I think I have the record among my fellow leaders for how many times I’ve been imprisoned.

not a record you necessarily want, 

but I did get a lot of letters written while in prison, 

some imprisonments have been more memorable than others.

too many times beating came with the jail time,

But there were also some exciting times in prison that God used in amazing ways.

I remember in Phillipi when Silas and I were thrown into jail for casting out the evil spirit from the slave girl.

you know they weren’t mad that we cast out demons

they were mad because it meant the slave girl could not make money for her bosses anymore, 

they got so mad they riled up the authorities.

Angry guards beat us and then threw us into  jail

We did not have much to do and didn’t feel like sleeping,

so about midnight Silas and I were praying and singing hymns to God, 

a joyful time in jail

and would you believe it, 

the prisoners were listening to us.

Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the whole prison was shaking, 

and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 

the jailer had been sleeping through our singing, but the earthquake woke him up.

When he saw the prison doors wide open, he went into a panic

he thought he would get in trouble if the prisoners escaped, so he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, 

so I called out to him:  “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 

The jailer[e] called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before us.

Then, he got up, took us outside, and then he said,”  what must I do to be saved?” 

We told him what we had been telling people every where we traveled: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household can do this.

he believed, and then took us to his house.

We shared with him and his whole family God’s word.

he washed our wounds

We baptized him and his entire family.

they all became believers that day.

Was it worth it to be beaten - I’m not sure.

But I don’t remember the pain and the wounds,

all I remember is how God was at work changing the life of the prison guard,

giving new hope and calling him and his family to be new creations.

I carry with me the scars of beatings and imprisonment,

but I also carry memories of letters written from prison,

relationships strengthened through those letters

Being in prison always gives me time to think and pray

so I think about about people and churches a lot.

and I pray for the saints in all those place,

and I pray for those who are still looking and have not yet come to believe in jesus Christ, the resurrected one.

Now, I’m headed back to Rome, 

and probably more imprisonment, 

time in jail has shaped and formed me.

Move 2:  I’ve also been thinking  about the places I’ve been, 

      which reminds me of Jerusalem

now, I was not a stranger to Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was the center of my Jewish faith,

the place where people traveled to go the Temple.

in my work as a follower of the resurrected Christ,

jerusalem was also a place I traveled to meet with the other leaders of the faith.

We had a lot to discuss as we had many disagreements over how we were to engage those who had not yet come to believe in the resurrected one.

Should we only reach out to other Jews?

Or should we turn to the Gentiles and offer the hope we had discovered.

Should believers have to abide by the food restrictions and other Jewish regulations like circumcision?

or were they free from those rules and regulations as they followed the resurrected Christ?

We had lots of discussions,

more than a few arguments,

but we came to an agreement on how to  reach out to Gentiles and Jews, alike.

and how to deal with Jewish rules,

in our agreement, we were reminded that we were one in Christ, bound together in ways that mattered more than any of our disagreements.

Do you know what that is like?

I also confess that Barnabas and I parted ways after we gathered in Jerusalem.

we could not agree on whether we should take John Mark with us 

Even as I believed and preached our unity in Christ, 

I sometimes could not live it  out.

I carry that reminder of my imperfection with me.

One of this things we all agreed to do was "remember the poor,”

So we continued  to take up collections to support the struggling  saints in Jerusalem.

As I have said before, the church is one body, made up of different parts.

but we need each part,

we need each other to be the body of Christ together.

If the saints in jerusalem needed help,

we needed to provide.

Barnabas and I had already brought funds from Antioch when the saints in Jerusalem were faced with famine.

I also took funds from Achai and Macedonia

In Corinth we even set up a system where the people would set aside a portion of their income on the first day of every week, so the giving to help the church in Jerusalem would become a part of who they were.

yes, the collection was desperately needed in Jerusalem,

but the Corinthians, just like other followers of the resurrected Christ,

maybe even you,

needed to give.

Giving is what we do.

if we are made in God’s image, then shouldn’t we be people who give, just like God keeps giving to us?.

so we gave to help our brothers and sister in Christ in Jerusalem,

we gave to help ourselves live into our calling as followers of Christ.

I learned so much in and around Jerusalem.

Move 3:  I suppose you have questions about the thorn in my flesh

everywhere I go, they ask me about it.

Let me begin by saying this - I do not share publicly the specifics of my thorn- it is my burden to bear.

although I have heard the rumors, about what my thorn could be.

maybe you have to,

Some of you probably think it is physical, and maybe you are correct.

I have heard that since sometimes I write in large letters some of you think my thorn it visual problems.

Maybe.

Some assume since I call it a thorn, it is some ongoing sharp pain in my side,

  maybe even a splinter embedded in me that cannot be removed.

Maybe.

some have said my thorn must be the way I look or sometimes the way I talk.

apparently some don’t like my looks or my talking style

Maybe that’s it.

some of you think it is just my mental state because sometimes you think I seem overwhelmed,

or angry,

or moody.

As if a demon attacks me and my mental status.

Maybe.

I choose not to tell you the specifics of my “thorn in the flesh”

because it is my thorn, and mine alone.

A reminder to me each day of my own vulnerability.

A reminder that all of you have that in common with me

none of us go through life unblemished.

we all carry our own pains

some seen

others not seen

some physical

some from unrealized dreams

some from being rejected by others

I asked God more than once to heal me or remove my thorn,

and each time God answered me: ”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

So we learn about how God chooses to work among us.

God who sends Christ to live among us and join us in our suffering.

God who uses all things for good.

God who transforms each of us and calls us to new life,

despite, maybe because of our humanity and vulnerability.

I do not fully understand Gid,

but I know that nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

that’s the God whose resurrected son I met on the road to Damascus so many years ago

the God whom I have proclaimed every day since.

the God whom you know.

Conclusion:  So off to Rome and whatever it brings.  

as surely as I know God is with you,

so I know God will be with me.

12 It is necessary to boast; nothing is to be gained by it, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3 And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— 4 was caught up into paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 6 But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7 even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep[a] me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated.[b] 8 Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9 but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power[c] is made perfect in weakness.” So I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.