Wednesday, May 09, 2018

Sermon for 5/9/18: Funeral of Evelyn Bierman

This is the link to Evelyn's obituary.

RIGHT-CLICK HERE to save the audio file.



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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