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Spiritual Warfare: Jars of Clay 5th Sunday after Pentecost June 15, 1008 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 We’re continuing in our series on Spiritual Warfare today, and it’s an interesting God-incident (not a co-incidence) that we are in this series on Father’s Day. If you were at the Men’s Breakfast last Saturday we talked a little about the Jars of Clay passage in 2 Corinthians. We’re going to turn there today, so I invite you to take out your Sword of the Spirit – which is the Word of God – and turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. We are going to be looking at verses 7-9, so let’s go back to our handy-dandy chart.
2 Corinthians is the 8th book in the New Testament. So, it goes like this: first we have the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that tell us about Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection; then we have the book of Acts which records the history of the early church in light of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; then comes the Epistles – literally ‘letters’ – in which we learn how to live in light of what we learn in the Gospels from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. After Acts comes Romans, and then comes 1st and 2nd Corinthians.
First, to set the context, Corinth was one of the greatest trading and commercial centers in the ancient world. In fact, as far as wealth goes, it was one of the places to live in those times. It’s population was a broad mix of Jews, retired Roman soldiers, philosophers, merchants, sailors, freedmen, slaves, and hawkers of every kind of vice you can imagine. In fact, because of the vices present in Corinth, the very name of the city itself became almost synonymous with evil living. It was so bad, the Greeks came up with a word for it: Korinthiazesthai, meaning lives lived with over-the-top immortality and drunkenness. You might even think of Corinth like Las Vegas, except what happened in Corinth didn’t stay in Corinth – everyone knew all the trappings and sins that took place there. In fact, the trappings and the sins were some of the reasons people liked living in there – fast living, quick money and little morality. It was this population that made up the members of the church in Corinth.
You’d like to think Christians would be outside of that life, but they weren’t. Those worldly influences were in the church. For instance, in the first letter to the church at Corinth, we find there were divisions in the church over which pastor the people followed – some said “I follow Pastor Paul”, others said “I follow Pastor Apollos” and still others said “I follow Pastor Cephas.” Apparently there was only a small minority of people in the church who said “I follow Jesus.” There was sexual immorality among the believers; lawsuits among the believers; some people were getting drunk at the Lord’s supper while others were being kept from coming; and their worship services were so disorderly, no real worship could take place.
In 1st Corinthians, the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write to the church because they were allowing too much of the world in. This second letter to the Corinthians was written because although the majority of the believers responded to the first letter and allowed the Holy Spirit to change them, there was still a small, but very vocal, minority who were tearing Paul (and really, Jesus) down – saying Paul could not be trusted, saying he was twisting the Gospel for his own purposes; and they continued to live the way they wanted. Basically in the 1st letter to the Corinthians, the Holy Spirit told them how they should live and the new life and freedom that awaited them within the boundaries of following Jesus. But instead of listening and being changed, they were so comfortable in their sin and enjoyed it so much, they responded by shooting the messenger, Paul, and continued to make excuses and justify their own sinful behavior.
So our reading is one of the most “famous” passages from this second letter – the jars of clay passage. It has brought about conversations on who we as Christians are, what we are to be about, and even inspired the name of a Christian musical group. But what does being a jar of clay mean? And even more so, how does it apply to our series on Spiritual Warfare, and especially to men today on Father’s Day? Let’s read this together, chapter 4, verses 7 through 9: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
Regardless if you are a father or not, a grandfather or not, an uncle or not, an older brother or not, as a male in our society you – we – can resound with this passage. You know in our society, men, especially fathers – but men in general, are painted usually in either one of two ways: they are either the all-powerful, nothing-can-stop-me-now, look-out-‘cause-here-I-come Arnold Schwarzenegger types; or the lazy, sloppy, I’m-good-for-nothing-but-laughing-at Homer Simpson types. But as I look out over this congregation today, I don’t see any Ah-nolds here, nor do I see any Homer’s, either. But when I look out, and when I look in the mirror, I do see what our text talks about this morning – jars of clay.
In Biblical times, jars of clay were common-place in most households. They were used to hold various items, much like the canister sets so many of us have in our kitchens today. These jars were not valued that highly because they were easily broken and cheap to replace. If a metal jar was dented or scratched it was an expensive replacement. If a jar with inlaid jewels lost one of the precious stones, it was a catastrophe. But a clay jar? No, let that break. It’s not a valued piece of property. It’s the stuff inside that is important.
And that’s what we are, all of us – men and women: jars of clay. Easily broken and on our own not worth much. But with Christ in us? Oh, now that makes the difference in the spiritual battles we’re in.
So men, today, a day set aside to honor us, I know the way most of think: it’s a day to kick back and relax; do no yard work today, unless of course that is how you relax. Do no cooking today, unless of course firing up the grill and putting on some steaks is something you want to do. Housework? HA! We laugh at the mere though. Today is all about iced tea and hammocks, a comfortable couch with a drink in one hand and the remote control in the other. And if you can put the couch and hammock, the iced tea and drink and remote control all in the same setting, you’ve really accomplished something! It’s about food we want to eat, shows we want to watch and a household that reveres us!
Is it, really? Now wives, children, it’s not a bad idea to lift up the men in your lives today – husbands, fathers, grandfathers, uncles, friends. But men, with just a few words this morning in these verses we are reminded of something: just as Paul was raised up for the time and place God wanted him to be, you and I are too. And that is the tie to our series on Spiritual Warfare. You are here for a purpose, and one of your purposes as men is to be the man God created you to be for the battle your family and friends are in. And gentlemen, the way we join in on this battle, is to get on our knees in prayer, and fight like a man.
Remember what we talked about last week. It’s not, one: “Pick up your sword” and two: “Pray in the spirit.” It’s “Pick up your sword and pray!”
Think about this for a moment. Each and every one of us – men and women – are where we are because God put us there. Regardless of your marital status, regardless of the number of people in your household, regardless if you have children or not, God brought you to this time and place for a reason. He brought into your lives the people He wants you to touch – in your homes, in your jobs, in your school, in your neighborhoods. You, my friends, are God’s gift to them to let His light shine in your hearts; to engage in the battle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.[1]
Men especially, think about it. If we cannot or will not engage in the battle for others, especially our families, what are we doing? You can write in the margins of your Bible next to these verses one of my favorite verses, Esther 4:14: “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”
“But wait, Pastor. I’m not royalty. What’s more you don’t know the type of people I have to associate with. You don’t know the attitudes of the people I deal with on a daily basis. It’s easy for you to say all this, you don’t know what the people and circumstances in my life are like.”
You know what? To one extent you’re right. I don’t know what your life is like inside and out no more than you know what my life is like inside and out. But I do know that while you and I were still sinners Christ died for us.[2] I know that you and I are by nature sinful, broken, unclean and without any hope. I know that you and I are lost and condemned creatures. We are jars of clay: easily broken, easily replaced, and not worth much on our own.
That’s why we need the armor we talked about when we looked at the Ephesians 6 passage a couple of weeks ago. On our own we can’t engage in this battle, but with our armor on, with our Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God in us, around us, with us, and working through us, the evil one cannot stand against us or our families or our church. [3]
The good news for us today is that God comes and gives us all, male and female believers alike, the weapons of our warfare. And today, Father’s Day, we’re reminded that God has come to you, too, fathers and grandfathers, to you too, uncles and brothers, to you too, supervisors, teachers, friends and neighbors. He came to you once before in His Son who lifted on His own shoulders your sins and paid the price for them in His own body. He comes to you in your baptism declaring you His child, and He comes to you in His supper declaring you forgiven and clean and put in a right relationship with Him. The relationship we have with Jesus is what we reflect in our daily lives with others. Show me a bitter man, an angry man, a man with a critical and sarcastic driven spirit, a man who speaks rudely and coarsely, and I’ll show you a man who doesn’t have a close relationship with Jesus. Show me a loving, caring Christian man, a man who finds his guidance for his days in the Word of God, a man who recognizes his weaknesses and relies on God’s strength in His Word, and I’ll show you a man who loves his Savior and has had his life completely changed because of it. This relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit is what gives us the ability to stand against the flow of sin – stand against the evil one and his influences – that would seek to erode and tear apart our homes.[4]
The good news is that we jars of clay are filled with the Holy Spirit. He is poured into us just as water is poured into a jar. The faith we have is given to us, the question is whether or not we nurture it. The truth of Christ’s love and the forgiveness of sins is offered to us, the question is whether or not we reject it in favor of what we want or are comfortable with. The loving relationship with our Heavenly Father is offered and is there, the question is whether or not we accept and reflect it to others.
The spiritual warfare we are in is all around us, the question is whether or not we’re going to take up our swords, pray, and engage the enemy in the name of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit. Remember what we said one of the most powerful phrases we have at our disposal is: “In Jesus’ name, NO!”
It can be hard, I know. Remember what we said last week: don’t be surprised if the attacks increase. The devil hates that we’re doing this series, and hates that we’re coming to understand more and more that he does not have the final say in our lives, in our homes and in God’s church.
So in your Bibles in the margins next to verse 8 you can write the following scripture references for each of the attacks Paul experienced and we should not be surprised if we find ourselves experiencing. Next to “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed” write Isaiah 54:10, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
Next to “We are perplexed, but not in despair;” write Isaiah 61:3, God says He will “bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness…”
Next to “We are persecuted, but not abandoned” write Matthew 5:10-12 and 28:20. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Next to “We are struck down, but not destroyed” write Jeremiah 29:11 ”…I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Today is a day set aside to honor the men in our lives, and that’s fine and good. Today is also a day that we jars of clay, men and women, rise up in our weakness, in our brokenness, in our helplessness; as the adopted sons and daughters of God that we are, in the salvation that Jesus has purchased for us, and in the strength the Holy Spirit gives us and be the men and women of God we are in this time and place to pick up our Swords and engage in the battle we are in.
We’re going to conclude this series next week by looking at a seemingly impossible situation God brought His people to when Moses was leading them in the desert, and look at those seemingly impossible situations in our lives (anyone feel like they got one or two right now, or have had some in the past) and what God would have us learn and know from Moses’ experience and go forward into the battles with.
We jars of clay; we saints and sinners, we lost and found. We men – and women – of God.
Amen. |
