Introduction
I want to
talk about two things this morning. One is the fundamental rebellion against
God that is part of all of our lives, and two is the shape that our lives
take—not good or bad, but often things that we really want to change. The first
area, our rebellion, requires God’s intervention to help us turn from our
rebellion and be saved. The second area, being the imperfect way we are, does
not need change with anything like the same urgency. Sometimes we need to
embrace the way God made us, whether or not we like it.
The Text (Read Text: 2 Corinthians 4:1-7)
There are at least two basic issues in 2 Corinthians with
which Paul deals. One is that Paul has had to exercise discipline against
someone in the Corinthian church. In chapter two he notes that he was staying
away for a time in order not to make that discipline too painful. So chapter 2:
“1 So I made up my mind that I
would not make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I grieve you, who is left to
make me glad but you whom I have grieved? 3 I
wrote as I did, so that when I came I would not be distressed by those who
should have made me rejoice. … 5 If
anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of
you to some extent – not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the
majority is sufficient. 7 Now
instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be
overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I
urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”
Two is
that the Corinthians were questioning his authority as an apostle. Other
teachers had come to them claiming that they had greater authority and could
show greater spiritual power than Paul. In chapter 11:5 Paul sarcastically calls
them “super-apostles”. Much of this letter is given to showing that God’s
greatness and goodness are most visible in our apparent weakness. That note comes
through in chapter 4.
In the
first chapters of 2 Corinthians, Paul talks a lot about the glory of God, which
is the answer both to those who would allow sin to go unchecked in their lives
and to those who want to talk about how great they are. God is the only one
full of glory. We are becoming like God in his glory through the gift of the
gospel of Jesus. So God’s glory frames all of our conversation about how to
live in this world.
Rebellion
You notice
that way that Paul talks about our rebellion in the passage that we read:
V. 2: We
have renounced secret and shameful ways. (He refers to deceit in ministry--but the application can be broader.)
V. 4: The
god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers …. (leading to rebellion against God).
V. 6: God … made his light to shine in our
hearts …. (leading to the end of rebellion).
I have been reading
through the book of Judges (a hard book for a Mennonite to read). One commentator
observes that the book descends from a setting in which God would call a judge
such as Ehud, who responded and delivered Israel, to a situation in which the
judge was someone like Samson, who cared more about his own pleasure than doing
God’s will. The book comes to a conclusion with these words: “In those days
Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.”
These words describe
our world accurately. A brief survey of the news reminds us of the results of
human rebellion against God. We have enshrined personal liberty above all else,
so that every person tries to be his/her own god. That rebellion is idolatry
and leads only to trouble. The cure for this rebellion and darkness is the
light of the gospel, which shines in the hearts of those who have given
themselves to God in Christ.
The light of the
gospel is the reason that we are gathered together this morning. Jesus took our
sins and rebellion on to himself on the cross, and the light of his
resurrection is the best good news ever to be heard in our world. Have you ever
paid attention to the stories of deliverance, stories that we used to tell in
testimony meetings? Here is a small one from my family. My great-great-grandmother
was Abigail Barnhart Climenhaga. She had a brother named Peter Barnhart. Peter
smoked a clay pipe, a foul-smelling habit that made life miserable for his
family. When people told him he should stop smoking the pipe, he said, “Show me
in the Bible where it says the clay pipe is wrong.” Well, such verses are hard
to find. Then one day during revival services in the Niagara Peninsula of
Ontario, where he lived, God got hold of him, and he went down to the altar to
pray. That night he took out his clay pipe and let go of it forever. On the way
home in their horse and carriage, Peter suddenly said to his wife, “Mary, I
stink!” “Yes Peter”, she replied, “you do.” When they got home, Peter walked
around the house and said, “The house stinks!” His wife agreed. The next day he
went out and bought some carbolic soap and scrubbed down the whole house and
repainted it. And that was the end of the clay pipe. Clay pipes are a small
thing, but God has set countless people free from sin and rebellion. When you
turn your life over to God, Christ cleanses you and makes you new and shines
the light of the gospel into your life. This light then shines through you into
the lives of people around you.
On Friday I met Kirit Debbarma. He is an Indian pastor just north of
Calcutta, India in the state called Tripura.
He described the ethnic and religious conflict that goes on around him
and then said, “That’s why I preach the gospel. Peace between the castes and
ethnic groups of India can come only through Jesus.”
The light of the gospel shining in our hearts is something we should
seek more and more. This requires a constant unchanging focus on Jesus at the
centre of our lives. Only God’s Spirit working in us can do this. And yet we
often obsess about things that don’t matter nearly as much as open rebellion,
while allowing our rebellion to continue unchecked.
The Way We Are
Have you ever noticed how we worry about things we can’t change that
really don’t matter, and make excuses for things we should change that God
wants to take care of? Let me illustrate with my own life. My grandparents went to Zimbabwe in
1921. My grandfather came to be known as “Iskwabayile”. As best as we can tell,
the name refers to the way that he walked: “He walked like a duck.” My parents
went back to Africa in 1946, and my Dad came to be known as “Umgamuli”, one who
struts around as though he is really important”: Another way of saying, “He
walked like a duck.” I went to Zimbabwe in 1972, when I graduated from college.
I met an older woman at the mission where my grandparents had lived. She asked
me, “What’s your name?” I told her. “What’s your father’s name?” I told her.
“What’s your grandfather’s name?” I told her. She finished with: “You walk like
your grandfather.” Ouch!
We were talking about this story with our sons, and one of them said, “I’m
trying not to walk like a duck.” Guess what: you don’t have much choice! You
walk the way that you learned to walk by watching your father. Guess what else:
It doesn’t matter! God made me that way, and it’s okay!
A side note:
Another way of understanding the walk is that it conveys the idea of
self-confidence and the willingness to lead people forward. That’s more
positive than “like a duck”—and it still doesn’t really matter!
How often do we try our hardest to change something about the way we
look or sound or act? We go on diets, exercise frantically, pay for plastic
surgery, and generally put great energy into changing things that really don’t
matter. When I was in college, one of my teachers had a nose that was really
red from the veins in his nose. I remember thinking, “I am so glad I don’t have
your nose!” Now that I am older, I’m getting a similar nose. I asked the doctor
if there’s anything he could do. He said that there is cosmetic surgery that
would restore my nose to its former glory, but it costs quite a bit. Why would
I pay that money?
Now there is nothing wrong with looking our best. It is a good thing to
work out and take care of ourselves. But whether you are an extrovert or
introvert really doesn’t matter. If you wish you were taller (why can’t I be
5’11’ instead of 5’7”?), it doesn’t matter! I have trouble with organization
and remembering what I’m supposed to do next. It is good for me to learn to
make lists, but being disorganized is not sin.
So we take care of ourselves and generally cope with the way God made
us. That’s good. But do we put the same energy into dealing with our real
problems? Do we seek God’s deliverance for outbreaks of temper that hurt people,
or for a tendency to lie that destroys relationships, or for the many other
real signs of rebellion in our lives? Let the gospel act in your life changing
you from glory into glory (3:18), and don’t worry so much about what are really
minor imperfections on the surface.
Here is how Paul describes these surface imperfections:
V. 7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay (or earthen vessels) to
show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” This quality
of “earthen vessels” may mean “redeemed sinful human beings”, but it also brings in the idea of being less than
perfect in all areas—not just referring to our moral imperfection.
We have this treasure of the gospel in our bodies and personalities
filled with imperfections. That’s good! I wonder if in some sense the “thorn in
the flesh” that Paul describes in chapter 12 isn’t something like this. Perhaps
Paul really wanted to become a nicer person to live with, and finally realized
he would always be cranky and over-zealous. God didn’t heal that, because he
didn’t need to. Paul was a clay jar, an earthen vessel.
Another side note:
This is a less likely possibility for Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”. Just saying—Paul
was imperfect, and that was fine with God. We are ‘earthen vessels”.
Conclusion
Let me recap. 1) God wants to change us from glory into glory, removing
our sin and rebellion and remaking us with God’s glory shining in and through
us. 2) We sometimes start to focus on minor issues of personality and
appearance and ask God to change that. God saves us. He takes care of the
fundamental rebellion of the human heart and reconciles us to himself. God does
not change our height or weight or nose shape. We remain ourselves with all of
our imperfections; we remain earthen vessels, jars of clay.
Recently
I read a column by Hilary Price. (I don’t know the original source.) Hilary’s (Charles
Price) is the pastor of People’s Church in Toronto, and she has her own
ministry with People’s Church. (You can read more about them at www.livingtruth.ca)
A water bearer in
India had two large pots, each hung on an end of a pole which he carried across
his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was
perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long
walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half
full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only
one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house. Of course, the perfect
pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable
that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After
two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water
bearer one day by the stream.
“I
am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.” “Why?” asked the bearer.
“What are you ashamed of?” “I have been able, for these past two years, to
deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak
out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to
do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts,” the pot
said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his
compassion he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice
the beautiful flowers along the path.” Indeed, as they went up the hill, the
old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on
the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it
still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the Pot
apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The
bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your
side of your path, but not on the other pots side? That’s 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 walk back from the stream, you've
watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to
decorate my masters table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not
have this beauty to grace his house.”
The flaws that make us earthen vessels or clay pots are not our active
rebellion against God. Setting ourselves up against God is simply wrong and
leads to great harm. But you don’t have to be like anyone else for God’s glory
to shine in and through you. God made you the way you are, and that’s good.
“Embrace your inner duck!”
