Embracing Limitations: Finding God in Our Weakness
Summary
In today's reflection, we explore the profound concept of embracing our limitations as a pathway to encountering God. We often live in a culture that encourages us to transcend our limitations, to push beyond our perceived boundaries, and to strive for greatness. However, the truth is that our limitations are not obstacles to be overcome but opportunities to meet God in our humility and dependence. The story of Advent, the coming of Jesus, is a powerful reminder of this truth. Jesus, the most sublime human being, chose to limit Himself by taking on human form. This act of divine limitation is the core of the Christian faith, the incarnation, where God became flesh and dwelt among us.
Throughout scripture, we see God using individuals who were acutely aware of their limitations. Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, and Abraham all expressed their inadequacies, yet God worked through them. Our limitations do not limit God; rather, they become the very place where we can experience His presence and power. The Advent story is filled with characters who were limited in various ways—Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi. Yet, it was through their limitations that they encountered the divine.
In our own lives, we are invited to move from a place of self-condemnation and resistance to one of acceptance and embrace. By acknowledging our limitations, we open ourselves to the sublime, the beauty beyond our understanding, and the divine presence that transcends our human experience. As we journey through Advent, let us offer our limitations to God, trusting that He knows what He is doing and that He can use our weaknesses for His glory.
Key Takeaways:
- Embracing Limitations: Our culture often tells us to transcend our limitations, but God invites us to embrace them. By accepting our limitations, we create space for God to work in and through us, revealing His strength in our weakness. [05:17]
- Divine Encounters in Humility: Throughout scripture, God uses those who are aware of their limitations. It is in our humility and acknowledgment of our inadequacies that we become open to divine encounters and the transformative power of God. [06:42]
- The Sublime in the Ordinary: The Advent story reminds us that the sublime, the beauty beyond understanding, is found in the ordinary and limited. By embracing our limitations, we open ourselves to experiencing the divine in the everyday moments of life. [08:13]
- The Incarnation: The core of the Christian faith is the incarnation, where God chose to limit Himself by becoming human. This act of divine limitation is a profound expression of love and a model for us to accept and embrace our own limitations. [11:00]
- Meeting God in Our Limitations: Our limitations are not obstacles but opportunities to meet God. By offering our limitations to Him, we trust that He can use them for His glory and that they become the place where heaven and earth meet. [12:49]
Youtube Chapters:
- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:25] - Introduction by Rick Blackman
- [01:32] - John Ortberg on Radical Acceptance
- [02:34] - Personal Limitations and Frustrations
- [03:49] - Scale of Acceptance
- [04:28] - Transcending Limitations Myth
- [05:17] - Offering Limitations to God
- [06:27] - Biblical Examples of Limitations
- [07:30] - The Search for the Sublime
- [08:55] - Advent and Limited Characters
- [10:02] - Liminal Spaces and Advent
- [11:00] - The Incarnation as Divine Limitation
- [12:17] - Treasure in Jars of Clay
- [13:39] - Closing Remarks by Alan George
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide
Bible Reading:
1. 2 Corinthians 4:6-7
2. Exodus 4:10-12 (Moses' limitation)
3. Jeremiah 1:6-8 (Jeremiah's limitation)
---
Observation Questions:
1. In 2 Corinthians 4:6-7, what does Paul mean by "treasure in jars of clay"? How does this relate to the concept of limitations discussed in the sermon? [12:30]
2. How did Moses respond to God's call in Exodus 4:10-12, and what does this reveal about his perception of his own limitations? [05:34]
3. What was Jeremiah's initial reaction to God's call in Jeremiah 1:6-8, and how did God address his concerns? [06:00]
4. According to the sermon, how does the Advent story illustrate the theme of divine encounters through human limitations? [08:55]
---
Interpretation Questions:
1. How does the metaphor of "jars of clay" in 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 help us understand the relationship between human frailty and divine power? [12:30]
2. In what ways do the stories of Moses and Jeremiah demonstrate that God can work through our perceived inadequacies? How might this change our view of our own limitations? [05:34] [06:00]
3. The sermon suggests that embracing our limitations can lead to divine encounters. How might this perspective alter one's approach to personal weaknesses or failures? [06:42]
4. How does the concept of the Incarnation, as described in the sermon, serve as a model for accepting and embracing our own limitations? [11:00]
---
Application Questions:
1. Reflect on a personal limitation that you find frustrating. How might you begin to see this limitation as an opportunity for a divine encounter rather than an obstacle? [02:34]
2. The sermon encourages offering our limitations to God. What practical steps can you take this week to offer a specific limitation to God and trust Him to work through it? [05:17]
3. Consider the idea of "the sublime in the ordinary" from the sermon. How can you cultivate an awareness of the divine in your everyday life, especially in moments of limitation? [08:13]
4. How can the Advent story inspire you to embrace your limitations during this season? What specific actions can you take to live out this inspiration? [08:55]
5. The sermon mentions the importance of humility in experiencing divine encounters. What are some ways you can practice humility in your daily interactions and decisions? [06:42]
6. Reflect on the concept of the Incarnation as divine limitation. How does this understanding of Jesus' life challenge or encourage you in your own journey of faith? [11:00]
7. Identify a situation where you have been resisting a limitation. How can you move from resistance to acceptance, and what impact might this have on your spiritual growth? [04:02]
Devotional
Day 1: Embracing Limitations as Divine Opportunities
Our culture often encourages us to push beyond our limitations, viewing them as obstacles to overcome. However, the Christian perspective invites us to embrace these limitations as spaces where God can work in and through us. By accepting our limitations, we create room for God to reveal His strength in our weakness. This shift in perspective allows us to see our limitations not as hindrances but as divine opportunities. When we offer our limitations to God, we trust that He knows what He is doing and that He can use our weaknesses for His glory. [05:17]
"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10, ESV)
Reflection: Identify a limitation you currently face. How can you offer this limitation to God today, trusting Him to work through it for His glory?
Day 2: Humility as a Gateway to Divine Encounters
Throughout scripture, God uses individuals who are aware of their limitations. It is in our humility and acknowledgment of our inadequacies that we become open to divine encounters and the transformative power of God. By recognizing our limitations, we position ourselves to experience God's presence and power in profound ways. This humility allows us to encounter God in ways that transcend our human understanding, opening us to His transformative work in our lives. [06:42]
"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'" (James 4:6, ESV)
Reflection: Think of a recent situation where you felt inadequate. How can you approach this situation with humility, inviting God to work through your limitations?
Day 3: Discovering the Sublime in the Ordinary
The Advent story reminds us that the sublime, the beauty beyond understanding, is found in the ordinary and limited. By embracing our limitations, we open ourselves to experiencing the divine in the everyday moments of life. This perspective encourages us to see the beauty and wonder in the mundane, recognizing that God often reveals Himself in the ordinary. As we journey through life, let us be attentive to the divine presence in the everyday, finding the sublime in the ordinary. [08:13]
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Hebrews 13:2, ESV)
Reflection: Reflect on an ordinary moment from today. How can you be more attentive to God's presence in these everyday experiences?
Day 4: The Incarnation as a Model of Divine Limitation
The core of the Christian faith is the incarnation, where God chose to limit Himself by becoming human. This act of divine limitation is a profound expression of love and a model for us to accept and embrace our own limitations. The incarnation teaches us that God is not distant but intimately involved in the human experience. By embracing our limitations, we follow the example of Christ, who demonstrated that true strength is found in humility and dependence on God. [11:00]
"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:5-7, ESV)
Reflection: Consider an area where you struggle to accept your limitations. How can the example of Christ's incarnation inspire you to embrace these limitations with grace?
Day 5: Meeting God in Our Limitations
Our limitations are not obstacles but opportunities to meet God. By offering our limitations to Him, we trust that He can use them for His glory and that they become the place where heaven and earth meet. This perspective invites us to see our limitations as sacred spaces where we can encounter God's presence and power. As we journey through life, let us offer our limitations to God, trusting that He will use them to reveal His glory and draw us closer to Him. [12:49]
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." (2 Corinthians 4:7, ESV)
Reflection: What is one limitation you can offer to God today, trusting Him to use it as a place of divine encounter? How can this change your perspective on your limitations?
Quotes
If we moved in the direction of accepting and embracing our limits, that that is the place that we would meet God, and I just thought that was so helpful. [00:01:16]
I want to start by inviting you to think about some area in your life where you have a limitation that frustrates you. I think about when I was growing up I would look at somebody else who is more athletically gifted and feel like my lack of greater coordination or strength or speed was frustrating to me. [00:02:30]
Generally in our world what we're told a lot, especially in our culture, in our society, is you can transcend your limitations, never be limited by any part of you, just try harder. And motivational speakers will tell stories of great athletes like Michael Jordan who was cut from his high school basketball team, the message being that he worked really hard and he became Michael Jordan. [00:04:24]
The wonderful news is that our limitations do not limit God. Very often in scripture we will find God coming to somebody and wanting to use them, and they will object because of their limitations. God comes to Moses, "Go and speak to Pharaoh," and Moses says, "But I'm slow of speech and slow of tongue." [00:05:24]
Not only do our limitations not limit God, our limitations can become a place where we can meet God. It is people with a keen sense of their own limitations, and their own fallibility, and their own inadequacy that have a kind of humility to be open to God. [00:06:24]
The sensation of feeling enriched by way of feeling diminished. In other words, it's my limitations and the humility that they bring that opened me up to experiencing something grander than myself. [00:08:16]
The Advent story, the Christmas story, involves people who are profoundly limited. Mary, of course, this young powerless impoverished woman, and Joseph, they were so poor that when Jesus was born they could not afford a lamb to sacrifice as a thanks offering. [00:09:35]
Advent is a time where we meet Jesus in our limitations, and we discovered the sublime story of Christmas. Subliminal liminal spaces we talk about sometimes in our day, and those are quite literally those in-between spaces, a hallway in a house. [00:10:34]
The reason that you and I can accept and embrace our limitations today is the great miracle in all of the Christian faith, the one that is at the absolute core and center of it, is the incarnation. God became flesh, and the incarnation was not God expanding himself; the incarnation was God limiting himself. [00:11:04]
God's greatest expression of love came not through expansion but through limitation. God's most sublime gift of love came when God, the creator of everything, chose to limit himself, and so now all of heaven and earth can be a liminal space where heaven penetrates earth. [00:11:41]
Today, whatever your limitation is, a body of intellect, a background of experience, of personality, don't deny it, don't resist it, don't live in frustration. Offer it to God. God, you knew what you were doing. Thank you that you made me me. [00:12:49]
Just as Jesus in the incarnation embraced, accepted human limitation, and used that to live and die on a cross and become one with us, so God, I now humbly receive my limitation as the place where I will meet with you. [00:13:08]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Jul 20, 2022. Do you have any questions about it?