(please note I will be away on Sunday, June 12 so there will not be a post)
The reading
2 Cor 4:1- 15
Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in
this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that
one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the
open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone
in the sight of God. 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 we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and
ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, “Let
light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be
made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from
us. We are afflicted in every way, but
not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down,
but not destroyed; always carrying in
the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible
in our bodies. For while we live, we are
always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may
be made visible in our mortal flesh. So
death is at work in us, but life in you. But just as we have the same spirit of
faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also
believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord
Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his
presence. Yes, everything is for your
sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase
thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
The message
When we were
growing up, my brother and I would each get a Hess truck every Christmas. Over
time, we learned to recognize the rectangular boxes sitting under the tree and
we instantly knew what they were. We
also knew that we would have about 20 minutes to gently play with them before
they were wrapped up, placed back in the boxes and put into a safe place for
storage. The trucks were sort of toys but mainly a collectable or investment,
meant to be held onto and kept boxed in prefect condition until they were each
worth a small fortune. We also collected baseball cards and comic books for a
while. As we grew up, we would look through them every few months and try to
put them into some sort of order. With the help of pricing guide, we would pick
out what we thought would be really valuable someday, the rookie or early cards
of players that we recognized the names
of and comic books that had first appearances or early numbers. Those select cards and books would be put
into plastic cases and special boxes meant to keep them even more safe and help
them remain in good condition. Again, the idea was to keep them protected and
perfect until each of them were worth a small fortune. We had big dreams. We were part of that
generation of kids who grew up hearing about old baseball cards, rare comic
books and other collectables being sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars
and obviously, we wanted our cut of that.
Eventually we learned that the storage room packed with stuff would not
be our key to fame and riches. There were two problems: First, collectables are
only really worth what someone is willing to pay for them. Book values were one
thing but finding someone who actually wanted to buy it for anything close to
that amount was another. The second thing was that everyone heard those same stories
of people making a fortune with cards, comics or even Hess trucks so everyone kept
everything. The value of those well known, high auction cards and books was in
the fact that there were not a lot made and most kids destroyed them by playing
with them or just threw them out when they got bored. They were very rare. Our treasures were not.
It seemed like everyone had 5 of them.
Today, in our
reading from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he also talks about
treasure. Paul starts Chapter 4 with a
summary of his defense which he outlined in the past 2 chapters. Some of Paul’s
opponents in Corinth accused him of peddling or selling God’s word. They said
he was trying to convince people that Christ is Risen from the dead for profit,
that his message was veiled so he could sell a secret word or so that people
would exchange gifts and money for insider information, spiritual blessings or power.
To this accusation, Paul responds by
pointing to God’s grace and God’s role in their ministry of telling people
Christ is Risen from the dead for the forgiveness of sins and salvation of all
people. Paul says something I missed when I first looked at this text and you
might have missed now in your hearing. Paul tells them “but we have this
treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary
power belongs to God and does not come from us”. There is something important to realize about
clay jars. They were very useful for storage, for keeping things safe and
protected from the desert elements. The problem with them was that they were
fragile and if they broke, they could not be repaired. A broken clay jar was garbage. At the time
the jars were created and fired in a way that made patching or fixing them
impossible.(duck tape had not been invented yet) Anyone who ever broke one and
had to throw it away, knew that. Only a fool would store something valuable in
one. (Even today in museums, most of the
clay pieces in the ancient greek and roman collections are broken or simply
fragments found in trash heaps).
In response
to the claims that Paul was selling this new faith and trying to profit off the
good people of Corinth, he tells them “we have this treasure in clay
jars”. Paul and his fellow missionaries
did not show up in Corinth with magic trinkets and pretty objects. They did not
perform a magic show or make great promises of wealth and power to whoever
converts. They showed up with this news
of God’s love in rather poor containers. The news was carried by people who
were just like everyone else, complete with sin, doubt, mistakes, and moments
of anger, (many of which Paul directed at them). The news of Christ’s death and resurrection
was the story of the arrest, trial and public execution of an oppressed jewish
teacher, who couldn’t even really influence his closest followers (one of them
betrays him). There were lots of more
amazing stories that could have been told. It was told to all people, rich and
poor, old and young, local and outsider, priests and non-believers, the
powerful and peasant. It would have been
more profitable to only speak to the rich. It was told by broken people, who
doubted, argued, persecuted the church, sinned and suffered. There were lots of
more amazing people who could have told it. If Paul were making this up for his
own profit and glory, he could certainly have done a better job.
The stoics,
a greek philosophical movement at the time in Corinth, would often share a list
of hardships, suggest that means we are powerless against the world and we
should be indifferent to suffering. Paul
shares a similar list, We are afflicted
in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down,
but not destroyed; At this point,
Paul differs from the stoics. The fact
that they were such poor travelers and always in trouble, constantly on the
edge of being destroyed but still speaking, still telling the news of Christ’s
resurrection was proof that this was God’s news and God’s work. How could a man
who survived so many shipwrecks and arrests, who pressed on despite ridicule,
sickness and persecution, be still going. How could women be such a significant
part of movement that was growing in societies that did not value or respect
them on so many levels. If Christianity
was make believe, they could have certainly made believe a better story. If
Paul was trying to exploit and cheat the people of Corinth, he could have come
up something better. Instead, he preaches Christ crucified and people broken,
he points to God’s redeeming grace. Paul does not change God’s word to make it
easier to accept or seem more awesome, Paul gives away God’s word. Paul does
not protect it by hiding it away until the perfect moment or hold it back to
make it seem more valuable (there were groups like the Gnostics that did deal
in secret knowledge). .
The other
interesting part about these clay jars is that God’s word is not supposed to be
contained. God’s word is not something we need to keep safe, to play with for
15 or 20 minutes and then put back in the box or needs to be placed in a
plastic case to keep safe and wait for it to appreciate in value. No we are
entrusted to take God’s word and give it away, to share it openly and freely,
with joy. We are not gatekeepers deciding who is in and who is out, who can
enter and who has to leave, we are sort of like those sort of annoying automatic
doors that open whenever someone passes by. This building (all churches really) are like
those clay jars, fragile but containing great treasure. For the past few years here at church, we have
started to clear off the table (also called the altar) after communion. For me, this is a visual reminder that the
gifts of God do not just sit here waiting for us to come back next Sunday, the
gifts of God go out with us, shaping our hearts, minds and actions.
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