I recently read a peculiar story about a family in Lander, Wyoming that had gone to their local refuse dump to dispose of some unwanted family items that were either busted or greatly abused. As they were emptying there junk into a large dumpster, the man of the home saw something that caught his eye. It was apparently an ornate, antique four-poster bed that had been left there by some other family.
The man called to his wife to have her to look at it as well. After a few moments of discussion they both agreed that it most likely could be stored to its original condition. So, even though it was a bit worn and tattered they began to inquire about that possibility with the management staff of the refuse center. They found that they there was no problem with taking the grand piece of junk home if they would just pay a small fee of a few dollars.
They proceeded to load the headboard, footboard and the wooden rails into the back of their pickup and pull-along trailer. As they were loading the post, which were separate pieces, they began to question the weight of each one. The husband felt they were quite a bit heavier than he had imagined they would be. But they finally got all the pieces loaded and drove home.
When they got home, the husband backed the truck and trailer into his driveway with the assistance of his wife and eldest son. They then proceeded to unload the bed one piece at a time. To their amazement, as their son picked up one end of the first bed-post, the finial at the top worked loose and slipped out of its socket. Thankfully they were standing in the front yard and a nearby hedge broke the fall, catching the post. But suddenly they heard the weirdest noise.
As they turned to look toward the area of the noise, something caught the glimpse of the father’s eye. A few silver coin tumbled to the ground near the base of the bush. After picking up the loose coins he looked in the opened end of the bed-post and to his surprise there were more silver coins inside. With the help of his son, he picked up the opposing end and hundreds of silver, brass and gold coins came rolling out onto the lawn. Many of the gold ones dated back into the 1800’s and almost all of the coins were near mint condition. After close inspection of the other three posts, they, too, were completely hollow and contained equal amounts of coinage.
Amazing stuff one can find at a garbage dump! The finest of treasures in the least likely places! To hear stories like that are always a great thrill to hear! Who knows, next time any one of us goes to the refuse dump, hard to tell what we might find. As my dad always said, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure!
PRAYER
I have found in life that things many times aren’t what they seem to be at first glance. Some things may look one way on the surface, but when you dig a little deeper, things surely change. There comes a time though in life when I think we finally learn that sometimes certain things have to be viewed from a different perspective. And that is not only true about stuff or certain circumstances. It is also true about people in general.
That, I surmise, is the important lesson found in our text this morning from Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth. Yet, he seems to get his point across in a variety of ways throughout this epistle.
Later in the next chapter he writes: “From now on therefore.” In other words, now as citizens of God’s kingdom, “…we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!”
I know some of you are probably wondering just like me when I first read this passage: “How did I once regard the Christ solely from a human or worldly point of view?” Well, I have discovered more recently the answer to that very question: We often, more some unknown reason, first recognize Jesus no differently than His contemporaries in Nazareth. “Isn’t he Jesus, the carpenter’s son?” We see Him as a good man, a great teacher, the finest man who ever walked the face of this earth. After all, He really isn’t much different from any of us, is He? He, too, gets tired, thirsts and hungers. And besides, He died physically just like any other ordinary man.
At of this is definitely true, of course. But yet we lack the complete picture of the Christ. We know for a fact that He came to this earth in a human form, in the flesh, just like you and me. But, also we tend to forget that He came as the Almighty Son of God, sent in the visible, tangible, human expression of the Father’s love. He is the One through whom all that is, was made. He is now seated at the right hand of God and making preparation to return to this earth once again to receive to Him all those who are called by His name and are seeking to do His will, for all of eternity.
Once we are able to begin to view the Christ from this vantage point, we also come to the realization that we must do the same when looking unto other human beings. We start to view them through the eyes of Jesus and no longer see them from a purely human point of view. From that perspective we only see each other on the exterior details of life. You know what I mean? We can see the color of skin, educational level, financial value and the level of societal classification.
But, instead, our concern, as the people of God, is whether a person has been reconciled with God. Does he or she have a new life in the Christ, His Son? That is to be our focus! Like us, do they have God’s wonderful treasure in their clay pots?
Never forget, we are all God’s creation of earthen vessels, molded from the clay of the earth. Some of us, even though we are vessels of honor, are still nothing more than cracked pots! (Please notice, I didn’t say a “crack pot,” I said, “cracked pots.” Also, if you noticed I did include myself.)
It is not what the pot looks like on the outside. It may be a different shape, size or color. The texture may even be radically different. What matters most of all is what is contained inside the vessel. Hallelujah!
As I studied and reflected on this passage of scripture, most likely the umpteenth time since doing this series, I have discovered at least three (3) distinctive principles. I now want to quickly share them with you:
1. Reason to rejoice
2. Obstacles to overcome
3. Realities to reinforce
Paul tells us that God, in the very beginning of creation says, “Let light shin out of the darkness.” Through Jesus, God’s Son, His light shines into the our darkened hearts so that we may experience His glory. Apart from Jesus we are still in the dark, both about God the Father and a His saving grace available through His Son, Jesus, the Christ. Such are those that do not know Him on a personal basis as Lord and Savior of their lives.
Even though we are often told today by theologians of various faiths, no two religions are the same. They try to tell us that the Christian Faith is not the only way in which people might come to God. But, Jesus says it very well. What information He gives us about this issue is this: “I am THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life and no one comes to God the Father but by me.” Now I don’t know about you, but I believe that is plain and simple!
That means religious tolerance is out the window as far as I am concerned! With a statement like that, being “politically correct” when it comes to religion, there is no such idea!
I have chosen to believe in Jesus, the Son of the Living God and I hope that you have, too. And I take heart in rejoicing in that truth and not from arrogance or pride. Even though I may have intellect, I find myself humbled in reverence as I experience the holy awe of God through His mercy and grace. He has allowed my blinded eyes to be opened. He has placed the light of His Gospel of Salvation deep into my heart.
He is willing to do the same for all who will call upon Him. Every human being that will acknowledge his or her sin and cries out in repentance shall receive that same light. He will take your darkened past and illuminate the path of righteousness before you, leading you into eternal life with the Christ.
Paul goes on to instruct: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.”
This tells us that we even though we possess this great treasure, we are still only vessels made of common clay. Clay that has been molded and even fired still is weak and fragile. So, even though you and I may appreciate the treasure we have received through the Christ, we are fully aware at the same time of our frailty and weaknesses. It’s sort of like the more God’s light shines in our lives; the more we become aware of all the blemishes, bruises and brokenness still needing the loving mercy and grace of God.
But still, there is all that “stuff” out there in our world that you and I have to contend with and then learn ways to overcome. There are the pressures of day-to-day living; the afflictions of the physical body; those occasions of harassment and persecution for the faith; all those “things” you and I have constantly thrown in our way. Yet, we need to remember, God is not finished with any of us. He is still working on our lives. And, we need to learn to be patient with others, too, because they, not unlike ourselves, are still a work in progress.
Believe me, this world is not an easy place in which to live. There are all kinds of things and stuff that will come our way to try and test us and to determine if we will be faithful. Through such, God can truly see exactly what we are made of.
It is true that the storms of life will come and the howling winds of the world will blow. But, just like the story of the three little pigs, the material that we build our lives out of will determine whether or not we will survive or if we will be destroyed. So, when the big, bad wolves come calling, will our earthen vessels stand? Or will they crumble beneath the pressure?
We need to remember; the storms that blow our way often occur unexpectedly and arrive at times with horrendous fury. But we need to see these events as God’s gracious opportunities on this side of eternity to closely check the building material we are using to construct our lives. If changes and necessary, make them! If alterations are called for, do them! If renovations are needed, complete them! In other words, make the necessary changes needed to be better equipped for the ravenous wolf or the final storm.
Finally, we need to realize that we live in a culture and during an age that those things that are visible and the focus and measure of reality. There is such importance placed upon personal image and individual fashion; being “cool” or “trendy” or “metro” is much more the devices in which life is measured. These so called qualities outweigh truth and integrity and even at times, moral purity. This is nothing more than a direct result of a generation that tries to model itself upon the trends and lifestyle of Hollywood and allowed its values to be measured by reality television.
More attention is given to what Britney Spears thinks or does than to the words of Jesus, the Christ or even any one of His writing apostles. What happens in the confines of the bedrooms of America has become the measurement of true love. What transpires behind the doors of the courtroom has become the standard of our interpersonal relationships.
Gone are the days of long courtships prior to marriage. In just 6 weeks a bachelor or bachelorette can pick his or her life-long partner. If anyone has a difference of opinion as to the handling of personal property or the misuse there of, just pay a visit to Judge Judy. If your relationship is on the rocks, exploit it on Jerry Springer. If you can’t get along with your neighbor or family member and certainly one of you has to be psycho, Dr. Phil will tell you what to do.
And then on top of all this, we are bombarded with all those nasty little things of reality: a debilitating disease that saps away strength and energy; financial hardships that give nothing but sleepless nights of agony and wonder; a rocky relationship that eats away at your personal joy; burden of guilt over past failures or sin that keep coming to the surface to accuse and point a finger. Let’s be careful, such things can keep a person in the grip of destruction.
I believe that our text for today sums it up very well. We, as God’s children are to place our focus “…not on things that are seen, but on the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient or temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
What this passage underscores for us is that most of what we allow to pass before us as reality is in fact just things that are virtual. They seem to be so real and oft times seem even to be able to feel what we say is either pain or pleasure. Not much unlike the games teens play today on the Wii or Xbox we tend to live in a virtual world. Life is nothing more than a game, but one day, and sooner than we may think, the game will be over and the power chord will finally be unplugged.
Then, those things we imagined to be real and even substantial will totally disappear. Those things in life that we were oblivious to or that we deliberately ignored will have become an inescapable eternal reality check. How we respond to that reality at that time will be determined by how we have related to God the Father, through Jesus, the Christ here and now.
If you think that reality bites, you haven’t seen anything yet! Don’t live in a virtual-reality world! Move beyond that phase and find the light of God’s grace and mercy through the life, death and resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus, the Christ. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you about the reality of the Gospel and how to live that life as a vessel of honor for God.
Amen and amen!
