II Corinthians 4:1-16

Introduction

                It is our privilege to be with you this morning. I remember when we heard that there was going to be a church planted in La Salle. I had never been here, but knew it was near Winnipeg. I have followed with interest the development of this church and so I am thankful to be able to find out more, to meet you and to share with you this morning.

We completed our ministry in Manitou in July and have been waiting for God’s leading to another place of ministry. In the meantime, we have moved to Winnipeg and have found temporary labor jobs. These jobs provide us with a unique opportunity to live our faith in a context that is quite different from the one we were living in before. Probably a context which is familiar to many of you. For example, a few weeks ago, I was working at a place that was moving stock and shelving from one warehouse to another. I worked together with a number of other people all week long and I heard words and listened to stories that I am not used to hearing. As I was working with them, I was struggling to know how to share my faith with them. I did not want to speak ineffectively, I knew that if I spoke to them as a group, they would not listen and I did not want to be ridiculed,. How was I to share my faith?

                Sometimes it almost seems like Mission Impossible. Remember the movie? In the first scene of Mission Impossible, one of the main characters was listening to a tape and was being given instructions. The voice on the tape said, “your mission, should you choose to accept it …” and then the voice would go on to describe a mission that was nearly impossible to accomplish.

Before Jesus left this earth, he said to us in Matthew 28:19,20, that we were to “go and make disciples of all nations…” Our experience tells us that that is a difficult task, in fact, to us it seems like “Mission Impossible.” When it comes to our mission, many of us have become discouraged and have responded to the statement, “your mission, should you choose to accept it…” with a decision not to accept it. We have seen it as “mission impossible” and although we know we should be more active ourselves, we have chosen to participate in the mission by donating our money and becoming involved in programs in the church, all of which is good, but can also be a way of avoiding personal involvement.

                Please turn with me to II Corinthians 4:1-16. In this passage, Paul describes his mission, his struggles with it, how he handles those struggles and the results of fulfilling his mission. I hope his experience and his words will be an encouragement to us in our mission.

I. We Have This Ministry

                The concept of a mission is a common one in the business world today. It did not take me very long in searching the Internet to find the mission statement of different companies.

For example, McDonald’s Restaurant has this vision, “McDonald's vision is to be the world's best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means consistently satisfying customers better than anyone else through outstanding quality, service, cleanliness and value.”

                “At IBM, we strive to lead in the creation, development and manufacture of the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. We translate these advanced technologies into value for our customers through our professional solutions and services businesses worldwide.”

John Deere has an extensive mission statement including these words, “John Deere is committed to providing Genuine Value to the company's stakeholders, including our customers, dealers, shareholders, employees and communities.” And it goes on.

Businesses are not the only ones with mission statements. For example, I know that LaSalle church also has a mission statement. Darren told me that it was, “To establish a community of believers who are committed to God and to sharing the gospel and their lives with the people around them.”

All of these organizations have a mission statement, but what about you and me? What is our mission statement personally as Christians? Let us look at Paul’s mission statement to try to understand a little more of what our mission might be. Paul begins by talking about this very thing when he says in verse 1, “since through God’s mercy we have this ministry…” Paul had a mission, a ministry and he knew what it was. In fact, as we study Paul’s writings in the Bible, we can very easily find out what his mission was. This morning, I would like to focus on several thoughts out of this and the previous chapter which may help us define our mission.

When U.S. adults where asked in a survey what they most felt guilty about, fully 34% said that they felt guilty about nothing in particular. One writer asks, “Ever feel that no matter what you do, or don't do, somehow, you did the wrong thing?” People are caught in their sin and devastated by their guilt. They desperately need a message which tells them how they can be made right. In 2 Corinthians 3:9 Paul speaks about his ministry as a “ministry that brings righteousness!” It is our mission to proclaim the message of forgiveness and acceptance with God through Jesus.

Remember in the old Star Wars movie when Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are trapped in a garbage pit and all of a sudden the walls start closing in? What a horrible experience that would be. No way out, doomed. The sad thing is that many people in this world feel like that about their life. They are trapped in sin, in bondage to death and to many other fears. Our mission is to proclaim a message of freedom from bondage. Paul speaks about this freedom in II Corinthians 3:16, 17, “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Several weeks ago, there was an article in the religion section of the Free Press. A writer dismissed God because his entire experience had been one in which he saw God as responsible for all the evil in the world. He pointed to all sorts of tragedies - the holocaust, the earthquake in Turkey and so on  and concluded that it was not worth following God. It is sad that even through Christians, people have gotten this message although it is not really what our message is about.  Paul tells us that our mission is a mission which comes to us by God’s mercy in 4:1, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry…”. God has given us life, forgiveness, a relationship with Him, freedom from sin and death, not because of the good things which we have done, but by His mercy. He has demonstrated his love in Christ’s death on the cross. It is our privilege to extend to people a message of God’s grace.

What is our mission? It is to proclaim the message of the way of righteousness that gives freedom and comes to us through the mercy of God. Some form of these ideas is the mission statement of every believer. The question is, how do we express that mission in life? Do you and I live to make known the righteousness available in Christ? Do you and I live to proclaim freedom in Christ? Do you and I live to declare the mercy of God to those we meet?

II. We Do Not Lose Heart Doing the Mission

If you are like me, you find this to be a difficult task, almost mission impossible. What encourages me, however, is that Paul had the same struggle. The great apostle Paul who proclaimed the message of God’s mercy throughout the Gentile world also struggled as I struggle. Otherwise, why would he have said twice, once at the beginning of today’s text and once in verse 16, “we do not lose heart.” He must have experienced times when he did lose heart or at least struggled with losing heart. However, what encourages us is that he did not lose heart and in this text we find first of all some of the reasons why he sometimes became discouraged but also the reasons why he did not lose heart. What Paul writes about here is something that can encourage us not to lose heart and so to fulfill what sometimes seems like mission impossible.

A. We lose heart because no one responds.

1.We Lose Heart

One of the reasons we lose heart is because it is so hard to convince people of the truth of the gospel message. By experience, we discover that many people today do not know the gospel and have no interest in knowing it. Worse is the many people who may know all the facts and yet do not accept God. We find that we experience a cool reception and sometimes even open opposition to our sincere and loving efforts to make Christ  known. To us the gospel is so obviously a wonderful thing, but many people don’t see it and so we become discouraged because of the constant battle to make the gospel clear and known. Paul explains the reason for this discouragement when he says in, 2 Corinthians 4:3,4, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

You see, the problem is that Satan is doing all he can to prevent people from understanding God’s truth and that is why it is so hard to convince people of it.

                How do we overcome that? Well, sometimes we are tempted to sugar coat the gospel to make it more palatable to people. Paul speaks about this temptation when he says, “we renounce secret and shameful ways.” There are some people, and sometimes we are among them, who are tempted to use tricks to get people to believe. Paul mentions two specific types of shameful and secret ways.

                The first is deception. Deception is the stock in trade of some businesses. We get their advertising in the mail. In bold letters on the envelope we read, “You have been chosen to win $1 million.” Then as we excitedly open it and read inside, we find that we have to make all kinds of purchases to have a slight chance to possibly win something. It is bad enough as a method of business but it has no place in gospel proclamation. Do we ever try to deceive people into hearing and accepting the gospel? Perhaps the biggest temptation comes with youth and children’s ministries when we try to get them to come to an exciting program without also informing them that this is a church program. Far from drawing people to Christ, such deception hinders the cause of Christ.

                Another aspect of what Paul calls “secret and shameful ways” is distorting the word of God. Having just come through an election, we have heard all kinds of distortions of the truth made to sound palatable to our ears, but we cannot use such methods in the proclamation of the gospel. People sometimes water down the truth of the gospel in order to make it more palatable to others. The health and wealth gospel preached by many today is just such a distortion. A few weeks ago we were in a branch of the Winnipeg public library and we saw a poster on the bulletin board for a series of programs in a Christian church. The series included nature walks, transcendental meditation, yoga, but no mention of Jesus. A message which does not include a clear explanation of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only means by which salvation has been brought to us is a distortion of God’s Word. So also is what we do when we focus on external things like smoking or swearing instead of an invitation to experience the life of God through Jesus Christ.

2. Overcoming Dark Hearts

                What then is the solution to this difficulty?

a. Speaking Truth

                The solution is to keep on proclaiming the truth. It is really all we have, but it is much! Anything else will be as disappointing as getting all excited about Publishers House Sweepstakes. The text speaks about “setting forth the truth plainly.” The power of the gospel is not conveyed in our gimmicks or cleverness. It is conveyed in the truth of God. And so we must proclaim that truth with clarity, boldness and gentleness. Anything else actually conveys our doubt about the power of God’s truth. The Bible tells us that the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. The truth of God is like a fine dinner and if we try to make it more palatable by deception or distortion, it is like adding ketchup to the best cut of prime rib roast. It adds nothing and takes away from what is beautiful. So our challenge in the face of the discouragement caused by the blindness in the world is to keep on speaking the truth of God even if people don’t accept it as the meal of life that it is. And so we keep on saying that God is the creator even when the whole world believes that it evolved. We keep on speaking about Jesus as the only way of salvation even if the whole world is open to many ways. We keep on pointing to Christ’s finished work of salvation even though most people think it is good enough to rely on their own goodness.

b. Shining The Light of our Lives

                Verse 6 gives us another wonderful perspective which encourages us in our mission. The argument made here begins by reminding us that God is the one who created light. The text reminds us of Genesis 1 when God said “let there be light” and there was light. God has dispelled the physical darkness of this world by a word. Paul uses this as a background to remind us of his own experience. When he was in the darkness of sin and rebellion against God, God met him on the Damascus road and shone the light of the knowledge of the gospel into his heart. Paul was on his way to Damascus to kill Christians when all at once, God stopped him and a bright light shone down upon him and he was blinded. In that moment, Paul saw the truth of the gospel. God has dispelled the darkness of sin from the hearts of people like Paul and you and me. Since God created light and is the one who allows people to see the light of the gospel, Paul says that God has given us, “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” What this line of reasoning does for me is remind me that my life is the light of God in this dark world. God has dispelled the darkness of my own heart and through my life shines the truth of the gospel into the dark world. I cannot dispel darkness, only God can do that, but my life is one of the lights He uses to dispel that darkness. The strategy for us then is to live with love, holiness and integrity so that the light of the knowledge of God always shines through me whether people accept it or not. I mentioned earlier that I had been working in a warehouse recently. I took it as an opportunity to shine the light of God’s truth into that dark place. I did not have an opportunity to speak the gospel, but by my life, by working hard, by not complaining, by trying to be considerate, I hope that my life was a light. At the same time, I was always looking for an opportunity to speak the gospel..

B. We lose heart because we are inadequate.

1. We Lose Heart

So it is simple. Live with integrity and speak the truth. But is it that simple? I am embarrassed when I think of some of the things I have done and said. I have become angry when I didn’t need to. I have hurt people with my words. I know full well that I have sometimes failed to speak when I should and I know that my life is far from a consistent light of the gospel.  Paul acknowledges this struggle when he says, “we have this treasure in jars of clay.” It would be accurate to say, “we have this treasure in old crocks.” The only problem is that this may not be the best imagery since today old crocks are very valuable and the imagery which is to be conveyed here is the opposite. Perhaps a better way to say it is that we have this treasure in “cracked pots.” The imagery may come from the custom in those days when in a Roman triumphal procession they carried the jewels and gold captured after a battle in cheap earthenware pottery. That provides a great image for what is said here. We carry the precious gospel message in bodies and minds that are utterly inadequate to proclaim it. We know our inadequacies all too well. We have all felt these inadequacies. We can’t say things right, we never know when to speak and when to be quiet, we are too afraid to say anything and we are clumsy with our words. The litany of inadequacy is long and frustrating and we understand it all too well.

2. We speak because we believe in the God of resurrection.

The answer to our inadequacy is to recognize that the power of the gospel comes not because of our adequacy or our personal power, but from God. God has deliberately left the precious message of the gospel in our inadequate mouths to demonstrate that the power to change people is the power of God. Paul speaks about his experience of inadequacy and weakness. He writes about being hard pressed on every side, being perplexed, being persecuted, and being struck down. In another place he speaks about pressure on the outside and pressure within. We see the same struggles here – inner struggles and outer struggles. But Paul also experienced the power of the God of resurrection. When he was hard pressed, he was not crushed, when he was perplexed, he was not in despair, when he was persecuted, he was not abandoned, and when he was struck down, he was not destroyed. The God of resurrection demonstrated his power in spite of and even through all the weakness of human experience. Paul says of his own experience in, 2 Corinthians 4:10,  “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. “

And so we can be encouraged in spite of our inadequacy and weakness. We are more than conquerors because of the power of the God of resurrection which is at work in us. As a result, we can keep on speaking and living our faith. We can keep on being what God created us to be. Because we believe in the God of resurrection who has given us life we believe He will also empower us in our weakness to be able to proclaim his word faithfully and will bring life to those who are dead. And so we speak in faith believing that our best efforts, weak and inadequate as they are will be empowered by the God of resurrection to accomplish our mission with effectiveness.

Conclusion

What is our mission? Our mission is to make known the light of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the circles in which we move. We may be tempted to take the option given in the “Mission Impossible” movie… “Your mission should you choose to accept it…” I hope we won’t do that. I hope we will be encouraged to be faithful. The promise of verse 15 is that as we take up our mission more and more people will be reached. We are impressed when Billy Graham reaches millions through his God inspired preaching, but do we realize how many more people are being reached as each one of us makes it our life’s mission to speak the truth of God and to be the light of God in this dark world? God promises that more and more will be reached! I want to encourage what I already know is the truth about this church and the people in it. You are taking up your God given mission. God’s promise is that as you do this,  more and more people will be reached.

This is not just for the Paul’s of this world or the Billy Grahams. Imagine what it would be like if we all lived God’s truth with integrity and if we spoke God’s truth in faith in the God who empowers our witness.