Third Presbyterian Sunday Morning Bible Study - July 19, 2020

Below is the Bible Study written by Jim Rudiger for his Sunday School Class which meets at Third Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia. It's based on 2 Corinthians 4:5-18.

What do you do with a cracked cup or drinking glass?  How about a cracked flower pot?  I said a cracked flower pot not a crack pot.  If the cup has some sentimental value, you might repair it.  I have a cup that belonged to my grandmother.  It would never excite anyone on the Antiques Road Show but knowing that it belonged to my grandmother makes it very special to me.  Some years ago, it was accidentally knocked off the table and the handle broke off.  There was no question that I would glue it back on and put it in a safer place.  On the other hand, if a drinking glass is broken, it goes in the trash.  We might do the same thing with flower pots.  A leaky flower pot doesn’t exactly fill the bill for holding plants.  Besides, flower pots aren’t that expensive and can be easily replaced.  However, a cracked flower pot can be useful if you break away more of the pot to make a small entrance.  If you put that pot on hr ground upside down, frogs will hop in there and turn it into a frog condo which will take care of a lot of annoying bugs in the garden.  So what determines what we keep and what we throw away?  It’s value to us personally.

So, the cups, plates and glasses that are broken and can’t be used anymore, are discarded.  They have little value to us today.  But, you know what?  Archaeologists thrive on discarded junk like broken cups, clay pots and dinner plates.  They search wells and dumps to piece together the pots and cups that were thrown away centuries ago and from these broken bits of clay, they can determine how those people lived back then.  It tells us what they used in their every day lives.  Even the time period in which they were used.  What we throw away tells people a lot about us.  What would people say about you if they went through what you throw away?  

Throwing away stuff is difficult for people who never throw away anything!  For years right up to the present day in my closet is the tux and dinner jacket I had in college.  That's over 65 years ago.  The white dinner jacket is a sickening yellow now and the tux would make me look like Pee Wee Herman if I could get a leg in the trousers.  Jackie was always on me to get rid of the old unused clothes in my closet, so, I finally took some of them up to the CHKD store.  With tears streaming down my cheeks I patted them one more time and nodded a gentle “Good bye” as my green leisure suit found a new owner. To this day I still look to see if the homeless guy sleeping in the card board box is wearing a yellow dinner jacket.

In today’s study Paul talks about valuing things - everyday things as well as spiritual things.  We know from last week that Paul wasn’t immune to personal attacks.  He was undermined by a guy in the Corinthian church who accused him of trying to enrich himself or to promote his own self interest rather than God’s.  Paul defended himself and in particular, defended his contention that he was an apostle since even his call as an apostle was being questioned.  What does “apostle” mean?  One who is sent on a mission.  After Paul met Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul considered himself as someone who was sent on a mission by Christ, therefore he met the definition of “apostle”. 

To Paul there were three things that should concern a true apostle:

1. Serving Christ.
2. Serving the body of Christ, which is the church.
3. Seeing that others come to know God through Christ.

And these three things should be the mission statement of every church today.  To do these, apostles would suffer and even die for their faith.  For Paul, a true apostle will always put God and others first.  His last concern would be for himself.  The important value was the service performed not who did the service.  And this is what he argued had been his life when he was there with them.  Service to them and God with no regard for himself.

2 Corinthians 4:5  For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake.  

This a continuation of last week’s problem and  Paul is still defending himself against the accusations that had been made.  Remember, the guy who had led the people in questioning Paul’s authority had been punished and appeared to have repented and the congregation was on Paul’s side.  So why is Paul still defending himself? No matter how much it is proved that you are innocent, once an accusation is made, it will remain with some people as a possible truth even if the accusation was proven to be false.  Even though Paul was acquitted of the unfounded accusations, he was savvy enough to know that there would be some who still harbored doubts.  You know, the “where there is smoke - there is fire” guys.

So Paul tells them that he isn’t trying to promote Paul.  What don't they do?  We don't proclaim themselves.  Who is this "we"?  Paul and his missionary team who is working hard to save the Corinthian's hides.  You see, accusing Paul is accusing the whole team.  If they don't proclaim Paul, who do they proclaim?  They proclaimed Christ.  Christ is his and their savior, but He is even more.  We proclaim Jesus as who?  He is Lord.  What did it mean back then to call someone Lord?  He is their Master.  The master to whom he and they belong.  Paul says that this is what they have to realize.  Never once did Paul ever tell them to call Paul Lord, only Christ is Lord.  He goes on to say that with Christ as Lord, Paul and the team became what? The Corinthian's slaves.  The people who said Paul was trying to get people to elevate him didn’t recognize the fact that he wanted to be their servant.  He even volunteered for the job.  He was there to serve and not be served.  That is how Christ saw it and that is the way Paul saw it.  If it would bring them to Jesus, Paul was ready to sacrifice his life.  So, is this a man who wants to glorify his own life?  Paul is committed all right.  Committed to giving his life to glorify God.

2 Corinthians 4:6  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.

Where does God say “Let light shine out of darkness”?  In Genesis during God’s creating of the universe.  Paul says, “Don’t you realize what has happened?  When God created everything, He started with light.  Now God has put a new light in our hearts.”  What is that new light?  Christ.  Now, there is a new creation and a new light; a brighter and greater light for all of the world.  And this new light is found in the face of His son, Jesus. 

Perhaps Paul is thinking about his first encounter with Christ.  Do you remember what happened to Paul on that road to Damascus? Paul was struck down by a blinding light.  In fact he was blind for several days.  You see, even though Paul regained his eye sight, that light continued to glow in his heart and was reflected on all he came in contact with, including the people in Corinth.  They can testify to the light that shown in his eyes when he spoke of Jesus and Jesus’ love for them.  And this was important.  Neither he nor any of the other apostles is the light.  They only reflect the light.  They are like mirrors held up to the sun.  There is light and warmth but it is merely a reflection of the glory of Christ in them.

2 Corinthians 4:7  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.

Paul changes gears and what does he start to talk about?  Clay pots, a very common thing found in every home back then - as common as plastic Coke bottles and aluminum cans are today.  These pots were cheap.  At the Corinthian Dollar Store, they only cost 50 cents.  How did they use their clay pots?  They were used for a lot of different things.  They could be used to store water or wine, grain, vegetables and sometimes even valuables.  After all, who would suspect that anything valuable would be hidden in something so cheap and easily broken as a clay pot?  Where is a good place to hide your valuables?  Somewhere where a crook would least think they would be.  Could be in your mattress, buried in the backyard, or, the piece de resistance, putting it in a plastic bag and hanging it in the toilet tank.  And don’t anybody come over and check my toilet tank.

What is the treasure that Paul is talking about?  The power of God. The Good News.  The Gospel.  What is the clay jar?  Us! We have this great treasure, the power of God behind us and it is housed in these mortal bodies.  No matter how wonderful God’s gift of life is to us, we are humbled by the fact that as humans, our bodies are subject to aging and things over which we have no control.  Every day we read about rich powerful people who cannot use those riches to stop the natural process of getting old.  They can get face lifts and liposuctions but eventually the body just wears out.

We talk a lot about the power of man and about the forces that we now control - atomic energy, DNA, genetic engineering.  But the thing that most characterizes man isn’t his power, but his weakness.  Heart attacks, cancer, aching knees all define our existence.  A scientist once said that man with all of his power faces the fact that a drop of water or a breath of air can kill him.  Even now, the world is scared to death about the corona virus.    God takes this precious treasure, His power, and stores it in the most common, fragile and weak container possible, our bodies. 

Last week we talked about a Roman Triumph for a victorious general.  But there were two things included in that Triumph to keep the general from getting a big head from the honor.  First, while the general rode in his chariot with the slave holding the crown of Jupiter over his head, the crowd roared with praise for him.  But in that praise would be those who would yell, “Look behind you because even you will die!”  As great a general as he was, he wouldn’t defeat death.  Second, at the very end of the parade would come his soldiers singing songs about his victory, but, in between songs of praise they would yell dirty remarks impugning his manhood and his ability to make love satisfactorily along with other insults.  It was important even in a Triumph, to let the man being honored know that he was still a human being.

So, why does God put this great treasure in such inadequate and unworthy containers?  What does the last part of verse 7 tells us?  So that the credit for what happens when the treasure is shared, does not belong to us imperfect vessels, but to God alone.  You see, we and Paul are the containers for the life giving waters that are given to the thirsty - the unbelievers.  We are not the source of the water.  God is!  The life saving effects of the water come from God, not the jug that was used to bring the water.

2 Corinthians 4:8  We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;   9 persecuted  but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that, the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.  11  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.

So what is this Christian life that we have committed to?  Paul tells us that our weaknesses, mingle with God’s glory, effect us in contradictory ways:

(1) We are inflicted in every way, but not crushed. How? There are pressures on us. But we are never so cornered that there isn’t a way out.  Our bodies may be confined and hobbled with conditions that limit us, but, there is always an escape route to bring us to God.

(2) We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.  How? Sometimes we are at our wits end, but we are never at our hope’s end.  Sometimes we struggle with a problem and don’t know what the answer is.  Even though we don’t have the answer right now, we are confident that God will give us the answer if we continue to work on it and seek His guidance.  Have you felt sometimes like, “Where is this all going to end?”  Haven't you felt that way about the virus?  There doesn’t seem to be any way out and no solution seems to work.  The silver lining is looking pretty thread-bare.  When we look back at those times through the security of years, we can see the thing that resolved problems so we could go on with our life.  It is then that we need to reflect on the solution and recognize God’s hand in bringing about that solution.

(3) We may be persecuted, but we won’t be forsaken. People may persecute us, give up on us,  turn their backs on us or abandon us, but God won't.  Those who gave their lives for Christ usually found the last hardest time on earth was their sweetest time with the Lord.  Friends may forsake you when things go bad, but, God is the most loyal friend you could ever have.  He will stick by you in stormy weather as well as fair weather - through thick and thin.

(4) We might be struck down but not destroyed.  Another way of putting this is, “We may be knocked down, but not knocked out.”  In the movie Rocky, Rocky is beaten up for nearly the whole film.  He staggers around the ring, bloody and tired.  But he doesn’t throw in the towel.  His opponent, Apollo Creed, begins to wander what it will take to get this guy to quit.  Rocky never gives up and in the end, although he isn’t declared the winner in the fight, he knows he has won because he stuck in there and didn’t give up.  That is the picture Paul paints for us Christians.  The world may knock us silly at times and try to get us to stop proclaiming Christ as our Lord, but we have to continue fighting for there is a victory awaiting us. 

But life was simpler back then.  Can this really happen today?  Ask the Christians in Iraq.  It would have been easy for Rocky to give in and not come out for the bell.  Nobody would have faulted him for that.  And sometimes it would be easy for us to stay in the corner and not be continually criticized for holding on to our faith.  The world will shower us with honors if we turn our backs on Christ or support immoral life styles.  We would be labeled as enlightened or, better yet, open minded and fair.  To march under Christ’s banner will never be easy, because the world will always be opposed to us for following Christ and not the world .

2 Corinthians 4:13  But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture---"I believed and so I spoke"--- we also believed, and so we speak,  14 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.  15 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.  16 So we do not lose heart.  Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,  18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Paul tells the Corinthians to listen closely because he is going to share with them the secret of his own life.  Any man who wants to share in the life of Christ must be prepared to share in the risks of Christ.  He must be with Christ in the bad times if he wants to be with Christ in the good times.  And the bad times might mean the ultimate commitment - ready to die for Christ.  Paul knew that the unsophisticated truth about the Christian life is “No Cross, No Crown.”  Knowing this truth, that he might have to give his life for Christ at any moment, Paul relied on the power of God.  And how was this power manifested?  God was able to raise Christ from the dead.  God and God alone was able to do that. Paul could speak with courage and without thinking about his own safety, because if he were killed, the same God who raised Christ can and will raise Paul.  That power that was there for Paul then, is there for us now.

Yes, but, even though Paul knew that God’s power can raise him from the dead, how could he live with the pain and suffering that comes with fighting the world?  Paul says, he endures it because it isn’t in vain - it’s not for nothing.  You see, it doesn’t just involving him.  There is a bigger picture.  Through his pain and suffering others come to see how Christ must have suffered on the cross.  This is the strength that he draws on.  He was convinced that what was happening to him was happening, literally, for Christ’s sake and this allowed him to face and bear anything that was thrown at him because he wasn't taking on the world alone.  For this reason, he wanted others to know the safety and security in having Christ as their Lord.

How do we find the strength to endure?  It is said that after we are born, the process of dying starts.  As we get older, our strength fades away.  But even though our bodies are weakening as we age and this is the amazing thing.  Our bodies are growing weaker, but our souls  are growing stronger!  In fact, I’ll bet my soul right now is growing a thick head of hair.  Just think about this. At the end when our bodies are the weakest, our souls will be the strongest.  All of the suffering and bad times that have wreaked havoc on our bodies have been the very vehicles for exercising and building up our spiritual muscles.  The years may take away our physical beauty but it only enhances our spiritual beauty.  If you could hold up a mirror to your soul right now, you would see a vibrant beautiful person in the prime of it’s life.  We can endure this life because we are growing closer and closer to God and there is where the "good old days" will be.

For Paul anything that he suffered in this world would pale beside the glory he will experience in the next world.  You see, God will never be in our debt.  He will give us all that He has promised and then, you know what?  He is going to give us even more.  That, we can depend on.  There won’t even be the slightest regret about our suffering when we see what God has in store for us.  Have you ever heard of complaint desk in heaven?

So what is to be said about this Christian life that we are all a part of?  Do we measure up?  Are all of these imperfections that we recognize in ourselves going to make us unsuitable clay pots?  Sometimes we look at ourselves and don’t see anything there that God can use.  We aren’t great preachers like Billy Graham.  We can’t sing God’s praises like Amy Grant. We can’t sacrifice our career like Mother Teresa.  Are we worthy vessels for God's power? Let me tell you a story. 

There was a water bearer in India whose job was to bring water up to the master’s house from a stream a mile away.  Every day he walked down to the stream with two large clay pots and filled them with water.  One pot was perfect and never lost a drop of water.  The second pot had a crack in it and as the bearer carried the water back to the master’s house, about half of the water leaked out.  Every day the servant lugged these two pots down to the stream, filled them and then lugged them back up to the house, and every day, the cracked pot was only half full when he got there.  Now this went on for two years.  The cracked pot felt so bad about the bearer's wasted energy, it became depressed.  The servant was working so hard and when he got home, there was less water than he started with. 

Finally, the cracked pot couldn’t take it any longer and spoke to the servant by the stream, “I am so ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.”

“Why?” asked the servant.  “What do you have to be ashamed of?”

“For the last two years, I have been able to deliver only half my load because of the crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to the master’s house.  Because of my flaw, you have to do all of this work and don’t get full value for your efforts.”

The servant was touched by what the cracked pot said.  He told the pot, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Sure enough, as they went up the steep path back to the master’s house, the cracked pot saw beautiful wild flowers warming in the sun along the path and it made the cracked pot feel a little bit better.  The crack even began to look like a smile.  But, when they got to the master’s house,  again he had only half of a pot of water.  The pot again apologized for his failure to deliver a full pot of water.

The servant asked the cracked pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers along your side of the path but none on the other side?  That is because I have always known about your flaw and I took advantage of it.  I planted flower seeds on your side of the path and every day while we walked back from the stream, you watered them.  For two years, I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the master’s table.  Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty in his house.”

You see.  The imperfections we see in ourselves are an opportunity for God to be creative.  After all, that is what God does best - be creative.  He takes our cracks and brings beauty into the lives of others and lets them know that God loves them warts and all.  Remember, if God was looking for perfection, he wouldn’t have created humans.

Prayer: Thank you, Father, for suffering with us and keeping us close to you in the hard times.  Take our imperfections and use them to your glory.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen