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Sufficient Grace
ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia! Our text is written in the 12th chapter of the
Second Letter to the Corinthians. We consider these words: “[The Lord] 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.”
We don’t understand how weakness
can be a good thing, so there may seem to be a contradiction in the apostle
Paul’s words. But it only seems like a contradiction. On the one hand,
Christians are to be thankful for the strength and ability God has given them,
and they should use these gifts for His service. On the other hand, Christians
must also confess their complete reliance on the grace of God, even to the point
that they realize that God will use their bodily weakness for their own welfare,
for doing His work. Paul was an example of one who both served the Lord and
trusted entirely in His mercy. So also was our sister Evelyn, now fallen asleep
in the Lord.
The apostle Paul was able to do
many things for the Lord. He was blessed with much energy, knowledge, and
ability. He went to many places and founded numerous mission congregations. He
brought God’s saving Word to many people. He could honestly say, “I have labored more abundantly than all of
them.” And yet, in spite of all his service and success, the
Lord gave him a certain bodily infirmity. We don’t know exactly what it was,
but he asked the Lord to take away this “thorn in the flesh.” The Lord did not take it away, however;
He said to Paul, “My grace is
sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” The
Lord told Paul to depend on the grace of God, and God would use also Paul’s
weakness to show forth His strength. By faith Paul was able to say, “Most gladly I will rather boast in my
infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” He
was brought even closer to the Lord and learned to rely on the grace of God. His
faith in and dependence on his Savior Jesus was strengthened.
Evelyn was also blessed by the Lord
with her own unique strengths and abilities. She was not blessed with that
vigorous nature that was typical of Paul—at least, not in the years that I have
known her. We are all blessed by God in different ways at different times in
our lives. Evelyn was much afflicted physically during my eight years here,
spending long periods of time in the hospital and longer periods resting at
home. Like Paul, there always seemed to be something that was making life
difficult for her. And don’t you suppose that, like Paul, Evelyn begged the
Lord numerous times to take away the afflictions that were wracking her body?
But it would seem that the Lord’s answer to her was the same He gave to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my
strength is made perfect in weakness.” This is one of the great
paradoxes of the Christian faith: when we are weakest is when, in truth, we are
strongest, for it is then that the Lord in His abundant mercy lends His
strength to our weakness. And so it was that Evelyn’s prayers, and our prayers
on her behalf, were answered, though not in ways we might have wished. As her
body failed more and more, her faith was made stronger. To be sure, this is a
different kind of strength, but it is the strength we should all desire, for it
is the gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
The Lord has gathered Evelyn to
Himself, to await the resurrection of all flesh at the Last Day. Her body now
rests from its labors; she has entered into the joy of the Lord. Her body will live
again, but it will be free of all the ills that made these last days so hard. And
when that day comes, she will live with the Lord and with all believers in a
joy and peace that will have no end. The resurrection and eternal life, which she
believed and so often confessed, will be hers, through Jesus Christ who died
for her and rose again. God’s grace was sufficient for Evelyn. It is sufficient
for you: sufficient unto eternal life. Alleluia!
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! In the name of the Father
and of the Son (†) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The
peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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