A Jog Through 2 Corinthians

Or, finding joy in being a jar of clay. A reading of 2 Corinthians in one sitting is recommended for your near future.

I think that part of the reason these blogs take forever in coming is that I've focused my heart towards the benefit of other people in writing them, as opposed to just treating this like a journal. Hence I feel like I have to get everything theologically and grammatically perfect before I post, because I’m just prideful like that- not to mention some of these have been horribly long. I still hope that my soul spewings can be beneficial to other people, but I hope to condense these blog-thoughts and make them more frequent- if anything, to record the devotional thoughts that flit across my heart in the midst of their chaotic preparation and deployment as I try to keep my head up in ministry. 

That said, this thought may not be all that condensed. I’m preparing to preach on 2 Cor 5 this Sunday and I’m making myself do this as an overview exercise, but this letter has been close in hand and thought for some months now. Initially, because I found the giant Despair ravaging my soul and my affections bound by shackles within Doubting Castle, and presently, because so far I’m finding that simply pulling the key called “Promise” out of my bosom and escaping to my freedom in Christ is easier said than done. Christian, sometimes life sucks… and sometimes it feels like no knowledge of theology or scripture can provide a sufficient answer. Part of this is often a sinful heart issue, and part of this is God kicking the training wheels off your faith. Gradually or suddenly, you find yourself at the end of your rope and God is not there to catch you… it’s a hard thought to swallow that sometimes God designs for you to fall and experience pain for the sake of your sanctification and His glory.

Throughout this process, I've felt so alone. But my head knows I'm not.. I’m not the only one to have suffered at the hand of God, to have had hope falter in ministry, to have been acquainted with despair. Paul describes in 1:8-9 of how he, Timothy, and possibly other fellow workers were so afflicted in heart that they despaired of life itself.  I’m not comparing my troubles to Paul’s, but at the end of the day despair is despair, and it’s a pretty weighty statement coming from this apostle. I am glad to know that sometimes despair happens- it is probably even a guarantee that sometimes in life and ministry Christians will be utterly burdened beyond their strength. (1:8) But I’m not advocating depression beards, and neither was Paul! He follows his confession with pure faith in God. Even if despair is felt and we receive ‘sentences of death’, there is reason to believe that God will deliver us as He has delivered in the past. I cannot say that this deliverance will mean physical salvation from the earthly woes that besiege us in every individual’s case, but we will eventually be delivered through peril nonetheless.

Summary: For you who despair; you’re not alone. Do not kick yourself for struggling with doubts, because they tend to happen when you believe in the unseen. But in order to move on you must pick yourself up from your sackcloth and gird your loins enough to revive your faith. Have faith in the character of God, enough to say that you will hold to believing in who God is even though He may forsake your understanding of His nature. Can you bring yourself to say along with Job, “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him”? (Job 13:15)

Moving on, point 2. Whether or not you will choose to remain in your pit of despair, (probably self-made at this point) there is a ministry at hand. Queue orcs walking in to Saruman’s sulky-pants office. “We have work to do.” From chapter 2-4, Paul describes the ministry of death and begins to contrast it with the ministry of grace, represented by the message of the law and the message of the spirit. I think you can just take ‘ministry’, ‘message’, and ‘word’ to be interchangeable forms of λογος at this point- the point being that there is a distinction between the former ethos of the law and the spirit of Christ post cross, (capital ‘s’ Spirit, literally! ha) that not only gives Christians work to do, but also a hope in doing it, and thereby a reason to live. Part of despair drives questions such as “Why live? Why pray? Why witness?” when faith is shaken, but these thoughts are refusing to face the work that Jesus has set up for us to do. The treasure that ‘jars of clay’ proclaim is that same message as that of the ‘ministry of reconciliation’; namely, that though we may be physically, spiritually, and emotionally buffeted by the cares of this world, we carry within our frail clay-pot selves the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. (4:10) Get ready to have your mind blown- in essence, Jesus likes to use frail pots and even to allow them to be cracked and bruised so that the eternal treasure that the pots hold shine all the brighter through the cracks. Be mad at God if you will, but this is like Salvation 101. The treasure of jars of clay is the gospel: the death of Christ, whereby the life of Christ is made evident in self and apparent to others, for the building up of others. How else can frail jars take such a beating and not be utterly crushed or demolished? They are held together by the life of Christ, and that testimony is as powerful a ‘miracle’ or a ‘sign’ as God needs show our generation to prove His presence. (4:7-15)

Summary: Should you suffer, regain your purpose. Don’t lose heart, your suffering won’t last long- not in comparison to eternity, after these earthly tents fade away. (4:16-5:10) Take comfort in knowing that eventually courage and the power of the Lord will work their way back into your life along with your obedience, and you will be a happy clay pot. :) A shining work of death, which brings life. An ambassador of Christ. He wants to reconcile you to Himself even daily if you would have Him, and He wants to use you as a tool in reconciling the world to Himself as well. Now is the favorable time, get on it.

If I can say that my first point was “You’re not alone” and that the second was “God’s design in the ministry of clay pots”, take this last point as “Grace made sufficient” in looking at Paul’s boasting. Paul kinda boasts here and there in the remaining chapters, and admits doing so, but what is interesting in a recently crushed and despairing man’s seeminly random boasting is the motive that has been renewed. Paul boasts of the things that show his weakness. (11:30) Even when afflicted with a thorn in his flesh, as if things couldn’t get any worse, Paul finds reason for hope. Blessed be our beloved Jesus, that He found fit to record telling Paul, “My power is made perfect in your weakness.” for our sake as well. (12:9) Again, you may find reason to hate God for His tactics, but He doesn't care whether or not you can become O.K. with His ways. He simply says, “My grace is sufficient for you”, and I don’t think He can be any more loving when He says it. I don’t mean to paint the Lord as uncompassionate, although I am describing to you the process by which I’ve had deal with God’s grand escape from the box I had Him in, and His teaching me of who He is for Himself.  1 Peter 5:6 calls for humility in casting your anxieties upon the Lord, because He does care. I can’t imagine ‘anxieties’ means anything other than the what-have-you worry on your heart. It’s all going to be ok, but you are never going to get over suffering, or despair, or disappointed expectations of God if you cannot cope with carrying Him inside you as a jar of clay or find joy in the vocation.

Summation summary:

God loves you so very dearly. Be reconciled to Him! He will draw near and meet you wherever you’re at so long as you draw near to Him as well- one of the dear gals in my youth group texted me with this- “Don’t equate the presence of God with a good mood of a pleasant temperament. God is near whether you are happy or not.” -Max Lucado.

Be reconciled to others! You can't claim to conduct the ‘ministry of reconciliation’ if you do not apply the gospel living within your heart by initiating mends to the relationships around you. Introduce reconciliation to those not reconciled to God! This is God’s design for you, be ye evangelist or no.

Finally, boast in your weakness as it illuminates the power and grace of God. Resolve to make God’s grace sufficient for yourself. Don’t worry, ‘keep calm and 1 Peter 5:6’. Compelled by the love of Christ, you will again find hope and joy in living for Him who died for you, whatever you find your station to be. (5:14)

I am single pro amore Christi. I am a child of God. I am one and whole in the arms of my Savior, and I am perfectly acceptable in His eyes. I am a clay pot, a holy jack-o-lantern with a divine message of reconciliation. I am a sojourner to a heavenly country beyond Jordan. Arrival there will be gain, but the journey in the meantime will mean fruitful labor for me. I am a shepherd, and I am willing to be afflicted still more so that others may have comfort in Christ. God’s grace is sufficient for me. 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

(Phil 3:20, 1:20-21, 2 Cor 1:6)

Sola Scriptura

Sola Gratia

Sola Fide

Solus Christus 

Soli Deo Gloria