Our Treasure – 2 Corinthians 4:1-15

As we get older this body that we have been given reminds us of the fragility of our life.  While not every ache or pain, not every medical event that we encounter will bring this life to an end, each event reminds us that we are not invincible. Yet we probably still try to do things today the way we did 20, 30, 40, maybe even 50 years ago.   Don’t look in a mirror and your brain can make you believe that you have never changed from the moment that you first believed you could take on the world and do whatever you put your mind to.

In our passage today from 2 Corinthians Paul compares our bodies to clay jars. In his time the clay jar was the equivalent of our glass jars.  They were sturdy and could hold almost anything but if dropped or banged sharply they would shatter and the contents would end up on the floor or wherever they might fall.  Of course he – like Jesus – never takes his comparisons to the nth degree.  It’s enough for us to have the image of a clay jar as a fragile container and yet one that holds a vital commodity.

For Paul it is important that people understand that his body is not impervious to the afflictions of life for if people saw Paul and other Christians inhabiting bodies that nothing could harm, they might come to believe not in the message of Paul concerning Jesus but rather see Paul and other Christians as immortal.  We need to remember that Paul was living in a time and place where many gods were worshipped and new believers were being drawn from other beliefs to Christianity. IF people were to lose their focus on Christ, the message of the Gospel would lose its impact and the people would simply have traded one set of gods for another.

Paul reminds his readers that the ministry that he and others are engaged in is only happening because of the mercy of God who has been willing to entrust Paul and others to spread the message brought by Jesus – the Good News of forgiveness, love, and mercy from the Creator of the universe and all that is in it.  Paul then reminds his readers that he and those who share this ministry do so without resorting to trickery or false statements.  They are bound to speak the Word of God and do so with a clear and open conscience.  They are not afraid to speak the truth and will do nothing but speak the truth that they have received.

Paul then states that they do not proclaim themselves – in other words, they do not promote themselves or their individual truth – but they proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and themselves as servants - or slaves as he puts it – for the sake of Jesus.  Paul’s whole motivation for sharing the message of God in Christ is not for personal gain or glory.  He will not shy away from speaking the truth of what he has received because it is only through the mercy of God who met him on the road to Damascus and changed his life. Paul dedicated his life to God in a whole new way and that mercy would never be forgotten for as long as he lived.

The true life that humanity was designed and destined to live is revealed by God through the light that is Jesus Christ and it is this light shining out of the darkness that shows us the way that we are to live.

And so it is Paul’s hope and prayer that those who hear him speak and who read his letters will come to understand that what he shares is the treasure of the good news of God as revealed through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It is this treasure that fills his mind, his body, his spirit, and it is this treasure that fills the shell of his clay jar – his body.  Is that body subject to affliction? Yes!  Can that body be crushed by such affliction? No! Can that body be perplexed? Most definitely! Can that body be driven to despair? No! Can that body be persecuted?  Yes! Can that body be forsaken? Ultimately, no! Can that body be struck down? Yes! Can that body be destroyed? Perhaps to the outward appearance the answer may be yes but Paul would say no for what is in the body is not what appears on the outside of the body.

Inwardly Paul and others carry the body of Jesus who was subject to affliction but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted yet not ultimately forsaken; struck down and yet not destroyed. But that body of the crucified Jesus is not the end for there was a resurrection and there is new life and it is that life that it made visible by Paul every day through his body.

The intermingling of death and life was reality for Paul. He lived every day knowing that it could be his last yet his faith was so strong, his belief in the mercy and forgiveness of God so real, that he would not be persuaded to turn aside or abandon the ministry he had been given.

Paul believed with all his heart, mind, strength, and soul that he and all those faithful to believe and live the message of Jesus would one day be raised from death and brought into the presence of God.

These bodies we inhabit are like clay jars. They serve a purpose and one day they will crumble, but the life that they contain will find new life in a new body.  Paul loved the clay jar that held his life and he loved how that clay jar was able to move and function in the world and be a vehicle to reach so many people with the word of God.

May we give thanks to God for our clay jars knowing that in spite of their fragility, they enable us to be held together in such a way that our hearts and minds and spirits can find the strength to be the people of God in our time!

AMEN