But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. | 2 Corinthians 4:7
On Sunday, we looked at the well-known section of Scripture made popular by a late 90’s duel-guitar, Christian, alt-rock band. If you aren’t familiar or need a reminder, here you go:
Paul brings up this metaphor in a larger conversation about what standard we use to measure success. His point is that when we use anything other than the gospel as a means to justify ourselves, we allow circumstances and the moment to have far too much power over us. We ride a roller coaster of emotions; feeling up and down depending on what is going on that day. The idea of having ‘this treasure in jars of clay’ is a reminder that no matter what life throws at us, and now matter how weak and inept it exposes us to be, our value is not diminished. We can face a lot without breaking. Paul puts it this way:
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 manifested in our bodies. | 2 Corinthians 4:8–10
The treasure that we have is eternal life, bought with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. No earthly measure of success or realization of failure can do anything to alter it. When we find out that we do not measure up, all we are doing is finding flaws in the vessel – which leads to more glory being aimed in God’s direction (the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us). Since the treasure can not be affected by even the greatest powers of this world, we can have an amazing hope that goes beyond any tragedy or suffering. Peter echoes something similar when he writes:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. | 1 Peter 1:3–7
The existence of our living hope – which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading – allows us to live in the present without fear of the future. Even more than that, it transforms these various trials, from pointless pain into a part of God’s work of sanctification. No longer do we just need to face it or get over it; all of the pain and struggle of this life has a purpose.
If succeeding at life is what we should be most interested in, then every moment of suffering is stealing from us and getting us further from the goal. Recognizing that the purpose of the time between birth and death is to cultivate a deep dependence on God, makes suffering and struggle a part of the refining fire necessary to produce deep faith. This allows Christians to suffer much differently than the world around us. We are not facing it alone, under our own strength. The difficulties of this life reveal our fragility, helping us not to put our hope in the things created, but to worship our Creator.
One of the ways that Paul says that Christians will handle trials differently is that we will be perplexed, but not driven to despair. I think that this is a helpful distinction for us to recognize. There are times when popular opinion will go against God and where the way that people contemplate and reason will be so mired in sin that it is hard to make sense of. In these times, it is right for us, as Christians, to be perplexed with the decisions being made. As those who have been given a worldview by God, we will not be in alignment with a value system that is focused on the here and now. The further our culture gets from a Judeo-Christian ethic, the more we will find ourselves perplexed.
This can never lead us to despair. Since our hope is in something outside of ourselves and for a fully restored world, we can not get hung up on where things are at the moment. Yes, this is the moment that we live in. The living hope that we hold on to tells us that our inheritance is secure. God has promised it and He will surely do it (1 Thess. 5:23-24). What this allows us to do is operate in this temporary world with the recognition that it is just that: temporary. Rather than allowing this moment to drive us to despair, we should invest in the things that are eternal.
If you want to know more about what those things are, stick around because this is our text for this week’s sermon:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. | 2 Corinthians 4:16–18