Treasures in Jars of Clay

Each spring I gather up all of my terra cotta flower pots to assess what plants I will need to purchase to decorate our back deck and get it ready for the summer. Invariably (because I am a little clumsy) I will drop at least one and watch it shatter on the deck. As I pick up the shards of clay sometimes I notice that even though it appears to just be a broken pot full of potting soil I will find a complete root system that has been growing unseen, inside the pot through the winter.

In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul writes about the ministry God has given us through His mercy, His gospel. To those who are perishing it is foolishness, they cannot understand it and are so blinded by this world, this culture (vs 4) that even though God has made it plain they just won’t see it.

When we heed the gospel of Christ and let it grow in us God creates a miracle. He changes us from the inside out. He makes his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (vs 6). What a treasure we hold! God has given us the answers to questions that people spend lifetimes trying to figure out. Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? Am I loved? I have to remind myself often of the gifts I have been given and that they are not mine to keep to myself. God does not give us this wealth to horde.

In verse 7 Paul writes that we are given this treasure in jars of clay (not titanium) to show that this power is from God and not from us. To me, this is pretty clear. If I have this treasure in myself, my heart, then to make it known to others I must break. I can testify that clay breaks. I see the evidence each spring! When the times come for me to break (oh yeah, it’s going to happen more than once) what do I find and what do those around me see? (vs 8 and 9) When the hard things happen, job uncertainty, the loss of a loved one, an unexpected financial hardship, what is left when my shards of clay are cleared away? Fear and panic or the life of Jesus? (vs 11)

In verse 13 Paul writes “it is written: I believed; therefore I have spoken. With that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.” Ok, this is what I profess. Do I speak it? When I am broken am I letting others know that it is Christ who sustains me? I know I have had some very challenging times in the past in which people have said to me “You are so strong, I just don’t see how you aren’t falling apart right now”. This was an opportune time to share the treasure I had been given by telling them that it was not me who was strong, but Jesus, who was sustaining and comforting me. I would like to say I wasn’t tempted to just not correct them and accept the credit (scary!) but shame on me if I’d had the audacity to allow anyone to believe that strength was in any way my own!

When we break we have the chance to show the gospel to those who haven’t yet understood it. We are walking illustrations of the gospel of Christ. It may seem to those around us that we are wasting away (vs 16-18) but Paul writes that our troubles are light and momentary in comparison with the eternal glory that outweighs them all. It can be tempting to focus on those troubles that we all can see but we are called to fix our eyes on what is unseen, what is eternal. I will pray to be focused on the unseen, the eternal, the next time I am broken, and in doing so, to help others look in that same direction.