Jars of Clay

Mum’s

One of the things that I love about the way God operates, is that he so often builds patterns into our every day life which can teach us about Him. This is particularly the case when it comes to the family.

Now I know that families are not perfect. We are subject to sin. So we do have to be very careful when looking at examples in a family, but in both the mother and father we can see glimpses of God.

Now this being mothers day, I want to take one little glimpse of God that we can see which will then help set us up for the lesson that we will see from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

Now excuse me while I talk in generalisations (I do recognise that there are plenty of exceptions to this). But when a child stubs their toe, or has their feelings hurt - who do they run to? Mum

We’re in a time now when due to pandemic, most kids are home doing home-learning. In most households, who is doing the bulk of the teaching? Mum’s.

You see, Mum’s seem to have this inbuilt ability to take something broken, and make it beautiful. A hurt feeling can turn into a nice warm hug from mum. The tears resulting from that impossible maths problem are wiped away by the gentle hand of a mother on the back of the child.

Now what I believe we are seeing is just a small little glimpse of what God does for us.

We come to him broken. He makes us beautiful.

In a family, the mother is so often the hidden glory. Often the mother falls in the background, but she is so vital to the operation of the family. And it’s a wonderful thing to observe.

The ungrateful child

Now let’s just imagine a situation for a moment. Let’s imagine that a child is going through a tough time. Now the mother is able to help this child through and it all works out in the end - but instead of being thankful - the child says to his mother - why did you let me go through that tough time in the first place? Why couldn’t you have kept me in the good place all along?

Now, for the sake of the argument, let’s just assume that the mother could have theoretically ensured that the child kept out of the bad time. But as she keeps her child from harm, the child loses freedom and the ability to learn.

The child doesn’t realise, but in the process of going from trouble to comfort, a certain glory has been revealed.

Now don’t push this idea too far - remember it is just a glimpse. But as we look at the mother, we actually can start to see the start of some of the ideas that Paul is going to draw out for us today.

2 Corinthians

You see, as we continue in this second letter to the Corinthians that we started last week, we see that Paul describes the struggles of the ministry which we have been given as Christians.

If you were listening last week, I described the city of Corinth which was an important trade city and attracted a wide variety of people, but also a fertile place for the spread of the gospel.

Now one of the big challenges faced by this church was that being located in a fast paced and prosperous city, the church easily transposed many of the same values into ministry.

Ministry was to be big and glossy. They loved the spectacular and the amazing.

Now while right here and now in Tanilba Bay, we might be accustomed to slow life-style (relatively speaking), but yet living in a prosperous and technologically advanced country, some of the same temptations can exist for us.

Now aiming for excellence is actually a good thing - but there is a danger.

It doesn’t allow any room for things to go wrong.

Now, when the focus becomes completely on the spectacular, it’s not long before we become like that little child I described before who doesn’t know why the mum let him get hurt.

Third Chapter - glorious new covenant

Now if you look at the third chapter, which is the one before the one I will focus on today, you’ll see that there is reason for thinking everything should be pretty special.

Paul describes the glory of the new covenant. He contrasts that which was given in the Old Testament, which he characterises as being veiled, to that which we get in the New Testament, where the veil has been taken away.

And as such he talks about this freedom we have. A freedom which has come because of what Christ has done. A freedom that means we each have access to the Spirit, and therefore we can all do amazing things through Christ which strengthens us.

So with that background, it’s perhaps not surprising that these Corinthian Christians think that everything they do should succeed. Failure should not be an option.

Fourth chapter - our frailty

But as we get into the fourth chapter, Paul then addresses what would have been seen as the big inconsistency with his message. That is, if Paul is living in the age of the unveiled covenant, with freedom in the Spirit, and with ever-increasing glory… then why is Paul so unimpressive and with a life of so many hardships.

You see, it becomes apparent, particularly in this second letter, that these Corinthians just can’t make sense of Paul’s life. He taught them some amazing things - but why isn’t it translating into something more impressive.

Now it’s worth pointing out, while we look back on Paul and see the impressive legacy he left, particularly with his writings, but from the perspective of the people in the Corinthian church, they were comparing him to some other people who were a lot more eloquent and Paul was not on their level.

The fake good life

But there’s something which I’m sure many of you have noticed in life. I’m sure you’ve all noticed those carefully manicured celebrities. On the surface their lives look glamarous. People look at them and think - I wish I could have their life.

But you don’t have to scratch too far and see a messy life underneath. Depression. Drugs. Relationship breakdowns.

The reality is, we are all living in the world. We are all subject to the frustration of its brokenness.

And as Christians, we are not immune.

The fact that we have freedom in the Spirit. That we are in the new unveiled covenant, does not negate the fact that we are in the world.

Paul addressing the problem

And for this reason, in verse 2, Paul states clearly that they don’t need to resort to secret and shameful ways. They don’t need to use deception or distort the word of God.

They don’t need to pretend that everything is hunky-dory, because the gospel isn’t about some pretense that all of our earthly needs are fine.

If you keep going into verse 4, he describes the god of this age that has blinded the minds of unbelievers.

Now it’s easy to misunderstand this verse. You see, we could misunderstand it in the way that the Corinthians were probably thinking. That is, that because of the age we’re in, we’re blinded to the way God is breaking through.

Now there is actually some truth to this. God is breaking through in powerful ways.

But let me explain why I call it a misunderstanding.

It is because we’ve misunderstood what it means to see God’s glory being displayed. And this is where Paul’s reference to the god of this age comes in.

You see, the god of this age changes our perspective of what we think it means for God to show his glory.

We think God breaking through means no troubles, or lots of money and glamour.

But that’s not the gospel. In fact the gospel is way better - and if we take the time to actually look at the gospel, we will see the light it brings.

Not us but Jesus

So let’s keep looking because Paul will provide even more insight into this.

In verse 5, Paul is taking the focus off ourselves and onto Jesus.

Now here’s the thing. The Corinthians would have looked at Paul in all his brokenness and frailty, and thought, God can’t be working in him.

But Paul’s saying, it’s not my strength that I preach. I don’t have any power to save. So don’t look at what’s happening to me. Look instead to Jesus.

We don’t preach ourselves, but we preach Jesus Christ as Lord.

And I for one am very grateful for that. Because at the end of the day, I have absolutely nothing to offer you, other than that which God has given me. My life is no better than yours. I don’t have any inherent power. All I offer is Jesus Christ, the one that saved me, and can save you too.

Jars of Clay

Now to understand this more fully, Paul gives us an intriguing image.

The image is of a clay jar. Now the important aspect of this is that a clay jar is just an ordinary, everyday object. There is nothing special about it.

You see, clay is a very accessible material that just comes from the ground. While a potter can be very skillful and make it into something very beautiful, it is still just clay. You see, one of the properties of clay is that it becomes brittle. It is easily broken, or cracked or chipped.

Now, here’s the thing - and this may well prove a big blow to your ego - you are that jar of clay.

Now I should be clear - Paul actually says that we have this treasure in jars of clay. But as the implication is that because this treasure, that is the gospel, is what has been given to us, I think its fair to say that Paul is calling us jars of clay.

And just in case you don’t get the implication of what he’s saying, he clarifies it for us in scary detail in verses 8 and 9.

He explains how they are hard pressed on every side. How they are perplexed, persecuted and struck down.

And if I jump ahead to chapter 11 we see Paul describing some of his own dangers that he has faced.

Let me just read some of that for you now:

2 Corinthians 11:25–27 NIV (Anglicised, 2011)

Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.

Now what you’ll notice is that Paul isn’t just saying this to complain. And he’d not saying it in someway as to kind of acknowledge the truth in some sort of embarrassed way - rather he is actually boasting about it.

The fact that we carry our treasure in jars of clay is not something to be ashamed about. Rather we should be proud.

And the reason we should be proud is because is shows the all-surpassing power that is from God.

When we are just jars of clay, there can be no doubt. The power does not come from us. It comes from God and God alone.

Now this might sound like a strange concept. In fact, I get the distinct impression that it was a very strange concept for the Corinthian Christians, and it’s the reason that Paul goes on and on about his troubles so much in this letter.

So here’s the thing. In our weakness and frailty, God’s great love is highlighted. Because it is not about us. It is about God.

Mission

Now, I want to suggest that there is something liberating about all of this.

You see, it is easy to become ashamed about our weaknesses. It can be tempting to want to put a cover over our frailty.

But do you know what? You can use those frailties to highlights God’s great work in you.

Now we might not be ready to stand up and say - ‘Hey everyone, look at all my weaknesses!’

But as we get to know one another, don’t put on some facade like you’ve got it altogether. In a safe way, let yourself be a little vulnerable, because as you do, others will see God in you.

When all they see is the facade, God becomes obscured to them. We’re letting the ‘god of this age’ shape who we are.

I call it liberating to take away the facade because, even though it can feel awkward letting it down, but as we do it actually becomes easier because sometimes pretending to have it altogether can be exhausting.

But it takes a big shift in the way we think.

You see we’re taught from a young age - you need to be strong. You need to get it altogether. Don’t show any weaknesses. But this is where we start to become blinded. Because we think that somehow we’re going to find the strength in ourselves. But as Christians, we need to recognise that it is not strength in ourselves, but strength in God.

So instead of being strong, we need to allow God’s strength to flow through us. Instead of keeping it together, allow God to use the pieces of our life for his glory.

You see, before when I referenced verses 8 and 9 where Paul spoke began to speak about his weaknesses, I only quoted the part where he spoke of the trouble. If you were following along in your bible you would have realised Paul said more.

You see, each time he spoke of a trouble, he added a very important ‘but’.

We are hard pressed, but… not crushed. Perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not abandoned. Struck down, but not destroyed.

You see, while we are jars of clay, we still have strength, but it is God is us.

We need to let people see this.

This month we are talking more about mission. And the very important thing we need to recognise about mission is that it is not our mission. If you are doing your own mission, then it isn’t Christian mission.

Rather it is always God’s mission.

And God’s mission can be highlighted through our own weakness, not through our strength.

Conclusion

So on this morning when we celebrate our mothers, I want to come back to where I started. Because in our mum’s we can start to see a glimpse of what I’m talking about.

That glimpse comes in the way that mothers are able to make something beautiful out of troubled times.

You see, we don’t like hard times. They’re not nice. If they were, they wouldn’t be called troubled times.

But as Christians we shouldn’t be scared of them. In fact, not only should we not be scared of them, but we should use them as a means of highlighting God’s goodness.

This is particularly true during this pandemic. Things have been turned upside down.

Sure, here in Australia we have been spared the worst of the virus itself, but the affect felt from the shockwaves that it has caused has been real for all of us.

And so we can cower and wonder - why God? Or we can stand and show others that God hasn’t forgotten us. Far from it, he is working powerfully. And rather than letting the god of this age blind those around us, let’s instead shine the light of the gospel.

As Paul says in verse 12, “so then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you”.

May this be true of us as well.

As we recognise that we have treasures in jars of clay, we can share the good news through our weaknesses.

Let me pray...