God’s Grace is Sufficient based on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Life can be hard sometimes. When life is hard, we might be tempted to give up hope. During the time of Gideon, life was hard for the people of Israel. Judges 6:1, 3-6 describes their troubles, “1 The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. … 3 For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 4 They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. 6And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.”

The angel of the Lord went to Gideon to bring help to the people of Israel. What was Gideon doing? Judges 6:11 tells us, “Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.” When Gideon was told the Lord would be with him, Gideon said, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Judges 6:15). Gideon did not seem like a very good candidate to save the people of Israel from their enemies.

32,000 men were ready to fight against the enemies of Israel under the leadership of Gideon. Since the Lord God did not want Gideon and the people of Israel to think their own strength could save them, He had Gideon send home all the men except for 300. The odds did not seem good. 135,000 enemy soldiers against Gideon’s 300 men. Gideon’s 300 men were holding trumpets in one hand and empty jars with torches in the other hand. Around 10 p.m. at night the 300 men blew their trumpets and broke their jars with the torches inside at Gideon’s signal. The enemies were thrown into a panic and they ran for their lives. Gideon’s men chased them and called other men from Israel to chase after their enemies. A great victory was given to Gideon by the Lord God. God chose Gideon for his weakness. God showed His power through the weakness of Gideon.

God taught this same lesson to the people of Israel over and over again. God would become angry with them as they worshipped the false idols of the nations around them and let their enemies get the best of them for a while. Then the people of Israel would repent of their wrongs and humble themselves. God would then deliver His people in response to their cries for help against their enemies.

God’s power working through human weakness is best seen in the life of Jesus Christ. The Son of God became man as He was born of the virgin Mary and placed in a manger. When King Herod wanted to kill the baby Jesus, Joseph took Mary and Jesus to the land of Egypt for safety. Jesus later humbled Himself and became a servant, even though everyone should have bowed at His feet. Jesus set His face to go to Jerusalem at around 30 years of age and He knew He would be betrayed and killed. Jesus willingly gave up His life on the cross as a sacrifice for all the people of the world. Jesus died quicker than the two men on crosses beside Him. The weakness of Jesus on the cross shows the amazing power of God to forgive and show mercy to the people of the world. Jesus died and arose to take away all the sins and wrongs of the people of the world. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 tells us plainly, “18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”

Those who depend on their own strength and resources will never be able to save themselves from their sins and wrongs. Those who trust in the strength and gracious favor of Jesus Christ, who was crucified and raised to life again for us, will be saved and forgiven of all sins and wrongs. Those who know they are weak and need God’s mercy trust that they are given God’s strength and steadfast love through the gift of faith in Jesus Christ, who was crucified and raised to life for us.

Whatever trouble comes our way, remember the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7–10, “7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 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.”

God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ is sufficient for us. We do not know exactly what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, but Paul tells us that his problem kept him from becoming proud and conceited. Not knowing what Paul’s thorn in the flesh is a good thing. Whatever weaknesses we struggle with in life help us to identify with Paul and his thorn in the flesh.

“A pastor tells of a woman, the happy and efficient wife of a fellow pastor, who was experiencing her full share of life’s sunshine and shade, but no real darkness had come her way. Then without warning her husband died of a heart attack, leaving her terribly alone and afraid. When the pastor visited his colleague’s wife, he found her in the vice-like grip of fear, so tyrannized that most of her time was spent in bed. She was so terrified that she became bedridden.

“When the pastor saw her again two years later, he was pleasantly surprised to find a poised, serene woman, working as a receptionist in an insurance office. When the pastor asked her to explain her amazing recovery, the woman replied, ‘The work helped, of course, but I couldn’t work at all until I faced my fear and saw it was basically a selfish rebellion against God and what I thought was God’s will. When I saw that, I began to pray that God would forgive my selfishness. And as I prayed, I became aware of God’s hand reaching down to me, and the Holy Spirit moved me to reach up in faith until I finally clasped that hand. And then to my amazement, I found his hand clasping mine, and I knew that he really cared and that he would help me as long as I held his hand in faith.’” (From Donald L. Deffner, et alii, Sermon Illustrations for the Gospel Lessons (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1980], p. 25.) In other words, God’s grace is sufficient through faith in Jesus to see us through even the worst things in life.

The Lutheran Confessions, the Book of Concord, gives the following comments relating to 2 Corinthians 12:9, “True and worthy communicants, on the other hand, are those timid, perturbed Christians, weak in faith, who are heartily terrified because of their many and great sins, who consider themselves unworthy of this noble treasure and the benefits of Christ because of their great impurity, and who perceive their weakness in faith, deplore it, and heartily wish that they might serve God with a stronger and more cheerful faith and a purer obedience. This most venerable sacrament (Holy Communion) was instituted and ordained primarily for communicants like this, as Christ says, “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Likewise, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Likewise, “The power of God is made perfect in weakness.” (Theodore G. Tappert, ed., The Book of Concord the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press, 1959), 582.) Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.