MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT…
Funeral for ___________
February 9, 2006
This question has come up a few times in the last week or so: Which is better, to die suddenly or slowly? If one dies suddenly there is no chance for goodbyes, for last words, to make things right with loved ones, to ask forgiveness. A sudden death leaves family in a state of shock. On the other hand, to die a slow death is painful in its longevity. Family gathers around the deathbed and grapples with the conflicting desires to see the loved one get better or to be released to eternity.
The final answer is that there is no painless way to die as far as the surviving family members are concerned. Death is our enemy and God forbid us that we should ever get used to it.
_____’s death was rather quick. Her illness came on without warning. And though she spent several weeks in hospital, I believe we are all still stunned at her passing. How do we find strength to endure the resulting sorrow?
When Abe came to my office on Friday morning, the day before _____ died, he told me that _____ had requested that I speak at her funeral. Abe also said that he and ______ did not want a message that glorified her works or the things she did. It is by grace she has been saved, he said. Shortly after that, Christ’s words to the Apostle Paul began repeating in my head and it has not stopped since that morning: “My grace is sufficient for you…my grace is sufficient for you…”
These words came to Paul as he struggled with what he called a thorn in his flesh. He had seen incredible visions of heaven and of the glory of the Lord. As Paul tells it, the thorn in his flesh was given to him to keep him from becoming conceited after having seen such things.
Someone said that it was appropriate that Paul does not specify what that thorn in the flesh was. If he had been specific and said his problem had been epilepsy or glaucoma, the majority of us would not be able to relate to his struggle. As it is, Paul has left us with a more or less perfect reflection of the trials we experience in our own lives. We all have thorns to deal with.
We can also relate to his pleading with the Lord to take away this thorn. Paul pleaded three times with the Lord to remove this thorn and the Lord did not remove it. How many times did we pray in the month of January that God would restore _____ to health? How many times did we plead with the Lord to remove the obstruction from _____’s abdomen? You see we can relate to the thorn and the pleading.
And what was the Lord’s answer? “My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness.” It is the power of God’s grace and love that I want to share with you this afternoon. I believe it is the power that will help you to see past the grief of _____’s passing.
Grace and Salvation – How do we understand grace? Our first thoughts should turn to salvation. That is the first place where we meet the grace of Jesus Christ.
We each begin this life with a thorn in the flesh known as sin. It is not always apparent to us that this thorn is embedded deeply in our flesh, painful as it is. We are oblivious to our situation. Once we discover that sin has been attached to us all this time we are horrified to discover we are not perfect. Our aim in life becomes one of trying to prove that our identity is not wrapped up in this thorn. Of course we fail to remove this thorn, or hide it, or overcome it with our great deeds.
As this reality becomes apparent to us, this is when grace is introduced to us. Christ on the Cross is the only grace that can power us past the curse of the thorn we call sin. There is nothing we can do, we realized, but there is everything Christ can do to save us from sin.
When I visited _____ at the hospital in Steinbach, realizing this time that she was dying, my pastoral senses told me that I should ask about her faith. I didn’t know quite how to word my question. How do you ask about a person’s assurance without offending them? Finally I said, “How’s your faith in all of this?” ______enthusiastically bubbled that she was born again, that she trusted in God’s love and faithfulness despite this cancer. No, there was no doubt in her mind that she was saved by grace through Jesus Christ…then she trailed off, weary from talking.
(her husband) found this verse on the last page of her diary: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). This is the grace that overcomes the thorn of sin.
Grace and Trials – But grace is not just about salvation. The grace of Jesus Christ is evident in the life we live after we have been saved. Christ provides us with the power of endurance we need to face the trials and troubles of life.
Paul told the Roman Christians “…we also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us” (Rom. 5:3-5).
The grace of Christ does not remove the thorn of our trials. Grace is the favor of a loving God who carries us through the trial so that we do not collapse under the burden of our trial. Those without the grace of Jesus become bitter and angry over their misfortunes – it consumes them. Grace actually teaches us, using the trials we face to shape us and to give us hope.
When I think of ____ and _____’s story I am reminded of this grace. What a trial it must have been for _____ to raise four children on her own when her husband of 16 years died. But grace enabled her to be a single parent for the next 19 years. And the grace of God allowed two people to meet and share this life together for 15 more years. It is grace that we should marry once and know love; it is even more abundant grace that they should be able to know love twice in a lifetime. The trials don’t end though, do they? One wife succumbs to cancer, then another faces the same testing, not once but twice, finally being overcome by it. Through it all, it takes grace to believe that God is still faithful, still loving, still God.
From my observations, I found no bitterness in ______ that she was dying. And I have found only sorrow in (her husband). In both I see the evidence of grace that has lifted them up under the heaviness of this trial.
Grace and Grief – Grace is amazing. John Newton was correct in his description of: “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…” Grace sees us through the trial and when the trial seems to have won and beaten us, grace comforts us in our grief.
“(God) comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (2 Cor. 1:4).
Let me share this comforting thought with you. Jurgen Moltmann wrote that the Holy Spirit was present with Christ while he suffered and died on the cross. He was right there feeling or absorbing or whatever or however the Spirit was sharing the pain of Christ. In some sense the Spirit suffered the experience. Moltmann went on to say that the Spirit, through that experience, now suffers with all who suffer.
When the Jews at Auschwitz witnessed the execution of their fellow prisoners they cried in despair, “Where is God in all of this?” One Jew replied, “Right there,” and he motioned to the place where the prisoners were suffering. God in his Spirit suffers along with us. He was with Ellie in that hospital room. He is with you now as your heart breaks over your lost wife, mother, grandmother and friend. Because his heart is breaking too. That is the grace of God in our grief.
Amazing grace…(her husband) told me that standing by ______’s side, caring for her, helping with her needs, and watching her slowly die…despite all that, he would do it again. It was worth it to love her and have her for the time God allowed. Just imagine how God feels…he says its worth it too.
Grace and Death - Finally, grace helps us to face death itself. Again I will rely on (her husband) testimony concerning _____’s death. He said he didn’t know why anyone would fear death. _____’s breathing grew slower and slower until she had a couple of hiccups and stopped breathing.
The truth is that there are many ways to die; some peaceful like _____’s and some rather horrific. Trusting in the grace of Jesus, ______ gave herself over to the fate of death. She is a testimony to me of simply trusting.
Remember that Paul said, “…I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).
The grace of God helps us to face death and not fear. Nothing can separate us from the love of God…so what is there to fear? The only thing to fear is that you have not put your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins as of yet. You are still waiting; God is waiting. He is gracious and is patient with you. But on a day like today, when we are burying a loved one who was at once healthy, now gone to be with the Lord, there is no time to wait. We live by the grace of God and who knows what tomorrow brings.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong…
I have talked about the grace of God; the family requested that I speak of the love of God. Really, you can’t separate the two. I want to close with the words of a song that speak of God’s love…I think _____ would have liked this choice:
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to
The lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave his Son to win;
His erring child he reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints and angels song.
F. M. Lehman
AMEN
