Jars of Clay

Intro

Have you ever felt weak? Ever felt like what you are going through is too much to handle? have you felt like the world is coming at you from every side and you don’t know what to do? if that’s you my prayer is that today in 2 Corinthians we are going to find a comfort in why we as Christians experience this, and how we can find hope and direction in situations where it feels like we should have none.

2 Corinthians 4:3–6 “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Paul starts out by pointing out something that everyone one of us believers have seen in unbelievers, and that is the beauty of the Gospel, the powerful light of the Gospel the good news that Jesus has paid the penalty for our sins, it’s right there right in front of them and they just don’t see it.

He says the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. the god of this age is referring to the enemy, our advisary, satan himself.

God’s light is too powerful for satan to fight. The light of the Gospel is too powerful for him to put out. That is a fight he knows he cannot win. So he shifts his focus on clouding the vision of everyone he can to stop them from seeing the light of the glory of the Gospel.

1. The Light Still Shines, but the Fog is Real.

It can be so heartbreaking talking to an unbeliever who’s vision has been clouded. and they can’t see their need for a savior and how Jesus is the answer. Some of you as I say that are thinking of friends and family members who you know just don’t see it. Their vision is clouded and you dont understand why they cant see what to you as a believer is so obvious.

It is kind of like when you are driving on a clear night your headlights illuminate the road perfectly and you can see where you are going without any issue. But when there is thick fog it is a different story. I went on a trip with my youth pastor and 3 best friends in the 8th grade and we were staying for the night with one of his friends who ran a Christian camp in the middle of no where Virginia. It was midnight before we got close to this camp. and the last two miles before we got to this camp was just a straight road with just very trees on both sides. and the trees were all the way up next to the road so it almost felt like we were driving through a tunnel. it was creepy but everything was fine, until all of the sudden a thick fog rolled in and the same headlights that were shinning just as bright as they were a few minutes before now were only reaching a few feet in front of the car. We slowed down to 15 mph and we still missed our turn 3 different times. We finally made it and our reward was staying in a trailer at this foggy camp in the woods that made us feel like we were in a friday the 13th movie.

The light of the Gospel is just as powerful as it ever has been, so why does it feel like so many people can’t see the light. Just like the headlights that were just as powerful in the fog and out of the fog the light is still there but our enemy is doing great job distracting people from it. Pulling people’s attention away to the trivial. It is hard to realize you need the light of Gospel when we spend 6 hours a day looking at the light of our phones.

Our enemy does a great job at blinding people to the light of Gospel. but the type of enemy that has to resort to misdirection is the type of enemy that knows he is outmatched. and our enemy is outmatched. So what can we do in face of this challenge surrounded by people we care about who don’t see it because they have been blinded by the fog.

2 Corinthians 4:7–12 NIV

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

The treasure he’s talking about is the truth of Gospel the hope for the whole world. The knowledge that we can be forgiven of our sins and have relationship with God our father, the message that our enemy spends his time trying to blind people to. It is the treasure that God purchased through the death of Jesus on the cross. And Paul says that this treasure is stored in jars of clay.

If something that valuable is stored in it than jars of clay must be very safe, very secure, uncommon, and completely unbreakable right? lets see.

turns out jars of clay are not very safe, secure, or unbreakable and in Paul’s day were extremely common. So why would God want to store the treasure of the Gospel in jars of clay? We are are the jars of clay. we are so breakable, so fragile and yet we got to hold the treasure of the message of the Gospel. The hope for the whole world. why would he trust it to us?

2. Cracked Jars Equal Brighter Light

Verse 7 says we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. You guys don’t want a power that comes from me. and no offense I don’t want a power that comes from you. We are all weak and easily broken. but do you know what happens when you put something beautiful in something breakable and then the breakable thing doesn’t break. people take notice. The light cuts through even more of the fog. The enemies plans to cloud the vision of the lost starts to fall apart.

We may be ordinary, and a little broken but we serve an unordinary and unbreakable God, and when people see that they take notice. How do they see that. When they see us endure suffering, pain, and trials and still hold tight to the treasure that we have found in Jesus.

Look at verses 8 and 9. When we are hard pressed and it feels like the walls are closing in around us, when we are perplexed with how God could allow this trial to hit us, when we are persecuted by those who satan has blinded, when we are struck down by the circumstances of our life like a boxer who has to take a knee after taking a big hit.

When we experience all these things and us as ordinary jars of clay are still here still holding the treasure people notice, but they don’t notice the ordinary jars they notice the treasure inside.

The clay jars in Paul’s day were even thinner than the one that I broke, the Corinthians in his day even used them as laterns because the light would shine through the clay jars.

When we are hard pressed but not crushed attention is brought to the light, when we are perplexed and confused but we don’t despair instead we trust attention is brought to the light, when we are persecuted but hold fast to the truth that we have not been abandoned attention is brought to the light, when we are struck down we hit the mat in the fight and it looks like we are out for the count and we stand back up because we have not and cannot be destroyed attention is brought to the light.

God loves choosing ordinary flawed people to do incredible things, because it gives him more glory, cuts through more fog, so more people can experience the joy of the treasure of his forgiveness. God used a boy to kill a giant, a murderer to lead his people out of slavery, a lunchable to feed 5000, and the fact that he chooses me and you to carry the treasure of the Gospel. He chooses to use us to take the life preserver to our drowning friends who don’t know they are drowning. That is an even bigger feat and even more incredible. The bigger the feat, the weaker the vessel the more glory he gets, and more and more people get to see the treasure through the fog and the more glory he gets.

2 Corinthians 4:13–18 NIV

It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Paul finishes this chapter by going deeper into how he continues to live as a fragile jar of clay despite suffering and hardship without losing heart. He says that even though outwardly he is wasting away like we all are. Everyday we are closer to death than we were the day before. inwardly he is being renewed not by his accomplishments, not by his possessions, not by his relationships. but by the light. the treasure of believing in and knowing Jesus. How was he able to do it despite all the difficulties he faced in his life? How can we be renewed each day inwardly despite the circumstances we face every day? We fix our eyes on the treasure we cannot see

3. What You Fix Your Eyes on, You Follow

The treasure we carry now of believing the Gospel and receiving the Holy Spirit is the downpayment for the greater treasure we will receive when we experience the full glory of God. When we we will see him face to face. with no sin or shame between us, and we experience the eternal glory that makes our difficult circumstances we go through now not even worth comparing. Paul says this is how i am hard pressed in every way and don’t lose heart. I hold tight to the treasure of my salvation while keeping my eyes not on all this temporary stuff that the enemy wants to distract we might. but I keep my eyes on the eternal prize. The reason Jesus made my salvation possible, so that I could experience the uninhibited glory of the father.

The enemy blinds unbelievers, but if you aren’t careful as a believer he will distract you. Get you to spend your life chasing after things that start fading away the second you get them. He wants you to spend years of your life staring at screens with algorythms that are designed to make you feel worse about who God made you to be. and we let him.

Because we choose to take our focus off of the eternal glory we have waiting for us and instead choose to focus our eyes on what is right in front of us, what we can see easily, and what ultimately doesn’t matter.

Some of the greatest heartbreak I feel is when I see people I grew up with, family members, students who I have ministered to start out with their eyes fixed on Jesus and then along the way make the choice and instead turn and fix their eyes on the things that will give them temporary happiness at the expense of their eternal joy.

You can’t follow Jesus if your eyes aren’t fixed on him. If your eyes are fixed on money that is what you will follow, If your eyes are fixed on sex that is what you will follow, if your eyes are fixed on building your brand and reputation that is what you will follow. If I came up here every week and only got to say two words, which I am sure some of you would prefer. Those two words would be follow Jesus.

Don’t fix your eyes on what is temporary if you do you will follow it, and there will come a time when it isn’t there for you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, so you will follow him Into the presence of the eternal glory of the father.

Conclusion

If you are hear today and you aren’t a believer you have been blinded by the enemy and didn’t even realize it and today the fog started rolling away and you started to see the how beautiful the light of the treasure of Jesus is. Come down here and have a conversation with me.

Maybe you are hear today and you have been hiding your struggles, you’ve been hiding your weaknesses. You’re a jar of clay pretending you are bank vault. I want to challenge you to share with someone this week a challenge you are facing or have faced and how God’s strength is sustaining you. When we hide our weakness we also hide God’s strength. If we want our friends to see the strength of our God they have to know how he helped us when we were weak. Don’t hide it. Let your weakness show the world how strong and great our God is.

Lastly what are your eyes fixed on? are they fixed on Jesus and being with the father in all his glory. or are they on the business, that next promotion, the depth chart, your phone. What are your eyes fixed on. That is what you are following. Come down here this morning. Spend some time alone at the altar just you and God. I wont come over unless you ask me to. Confess to him what your eyes have been fixed on and with his help focus your eyes and on Jesus so you can follow him more fully.