Message
2 Corinthians 4:1-18
Run Well
We are continuing our series on “Running the Race”.
Today our focus will be on the question of “Running Well”.
As we think about this question I want to bring your mind back to 1983. It was the year an ultra-marathon took place in Australia. A running race from Sydney to Melbourne – 875km.
There were 150 world-class runners at the start, and a toothless 61 year old potato and sheep farmer named Cliff Young.
Heaps of people thought it was joke. Especially because Young was competing in overalls and work boots, without his dentures – because they rattled when he ran. He ran at a slow pace which eventually become known as the “Young shuffle”. By the end of the first day he was far behind the leaders.
But while they slept for six hours he kept running.
He never stopped running.
Five days, 15 hours, and 4 minutes after the start of the race. Cliff Young came shuffling across the finish line in Melbourne. This was almost two days faster than the previous record for any run between Sydney and Melbourne.
The next runner was 9 hours and 56 minutes behind Cliff and only six runners in total finished the race.
This story makes me think of a Scripture passage.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (2 Corinthians 4:7)
No one expected a 61 year old, wrongly dressed, toothless man to have the capacity to run well. And he did that in his own strength.
Similarly in our Christian walk it is possible for us to think that we won’t run well – we are just jars of clay. It happens when we run with the surpassing power of God.
To see what this race looks like let’s read the context of this verse.
2 Corinthians 4:1-18 (read)
This is not a message that sits well with 2019 Australian culture. Where Instagram and Facebook is cluttered with edited, photo-shopped and doctored photos show your best.
And the perfect photo has been made after 30 attempts.
Where self-esteem is the king of the age. And we can’t make people feel bad about themselves – even when they are on Australian Idol and they can’t sing. And where schools don’t give grades because you don’t want kids to feel bad.
Into that culture God comes along and says, “You know what. Let’s have a realistic assessment here”.
You are all jars of clay.
You don’t have a lot to be boastful about.
Physically that is the case. In verse 16 Paul reminds us that Outwardly we are wasting away the Greek behind this phrase means “to rot, to decay, to ruin, to corrupt”. It’s not a positive picture … but neither is ageing.
• When we are 20 we have energy to burn and the strength to match.
• When we get to 30 we discover a few niggles.
• By the time we are 40 the niggles have turned into chronic pain.
• At 50 our stomach loses its ability to stay in our pants.
• At 60 we start to become thankful if we can go into the day with less then 3 pains.
• By 70 well …
As one old person remarked, "Some days I feel like I'm falling apart, and what scares me is that they don't make parts for me anymore!”. We are just jars of clay. From dust we are made, to dust we will return.
But it isn’t just the physical issues. There are also the spiritual issues. Consider the way your mind works.
The angry words you say which cut other people apart emotionally. Wicked thoughts which cause you to reflect on lust, pride, covetousness, and hate. Think about the greed which makes you desire for the praise of men rather than of God.
At some point in the assessment we must confess our helplessness and weakness as we deal with the temptations of life.
That is us … jars of clay.
We are earthen ware, cracked pots, if you will. By our very nature we are fragile. Under the pressures of life we chip … we crack … we even shatter.
When we are running the race this is who we are. This is our identity.
Now, on the surface, you would think that such a description is not a good description. However the reverse is true.
We are jars of clay.
And we should celebrate.
Because, as jars of clay, we have a very powerful ministry. The ministry of cracked pots.
As we run the race we can run well. Because our effectiveness is not based on our pizzazz, charisma, good speech and eloquent presence. Our effectiveness is based on the fact that these jars of clay are full to the brim with a priceless treasure.
Paul here borrows an image from the Roman army. After victory on the battle field the Roman legions would march into the city of Rome displaying the spoils of war. In these victory processions it was customary for plunder like gold, silver, and jewels to be carried in jars of clay. Always the eyes of the people would be drawn to the sparkle and glimmer of the treasure, not the dullness of the container.
You and I are fragile earthen vessels, cracked pots … but the treasure within us is not.
It’s a treasure which comes to us through the power of God.
It’s a treasure which is housed in every believer.
It’s a treasure which we can display always because, even when we are broken, we are not discarded.
Our God, who brought light into darkness at creation, now brings the light into the darkness of our situation … and radiates new life. And when you focus on the treasure your life is completely different.
It’s the treasure that enables us to be strengthened to run well.
Do you feel hard pressed on every side? Like you’re being cornered.
Do you feel perplexed? Not knowing which way to turn.
Do you feel persecuted? Giving your all for God and getting nowhere.
Do you feel struck down? Put onto the carpet by bigger opponents.
Clay jars we are.
Cracked and chipped - we will be.
Painfully aware of our disappointing spiritual journey - we will be.
Frustrated by our limitations and inability - we will be.
Christians who have a sense of weakness, helplessness and overwhelming failure - we will be.
But we still run. We’re not crushed, not in despair, not abandoned, not destroyed … because of the treasure which God has placed in us.
It is a treasure which comes because, before God created the world, He first created a list. It’s a list of His most treasured possessions; and our name is on it.
It’s a treasure we have because, even though we are on the list, we forget our Creator. But instead of rubbing our names out, God rubs our lives with the blood of Jesus.
The treasure comes to us because we are sinners … sinners in the hands of an angry God who took out His rage on His own Son and then focused all His love onto us.
It’s a treasure which is ours because of a cross … a cross upon which we deserved to hang but upon which Jesus volunteered to be the sacrifice for us.
The treasure is the Gospel. The most precious treasure on earth … is within sinful, mortal, frail human creatures. And that means it is always possible to run well.
Think about the Old Testament saints. The Bible doesn't know much about super-stars. The Bible is filled with ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.
Moses – a man who stuttered, a murderer and a coward who lived his best years in obscurity … yet God’s chosen man to end the 400 year exile in Egypt.
Gideon – least of his family from the least tribe of Israel … but the one who lead Israel to victory over a cruel enemy.
David – adulterer, murderer, a poor father … yet a man after God's own heart.
On and on it goes. Jeremiah felt he was too young. Abraham and Sarah felt they were too old. Ruth was a foreign widow with no future. Isaiah was a man of unclean lips.
And then there are the Apostles. Not famous. Not well educated. Not prominent. Not especially promising.
Peter denied.
Thomas doubted.
James and John has anger issues.
They all had questions.
At various times they lacked faith.
At the arrest they all ran.
After the crucifixion they all hid.
They were not elite and well trained Pharisees, Sadducees and teachers. They were peasants, fishermen, tax-collectors, zealots … nobodies.
But they were plan A … and Jesus didn’t have a plan be. Jesus was counting on them.
And Jesus has been counting on us ever since. Think of that roll-call of "cracked-pots … the jars of clay" who have lived on this earth since the church began. You can look at any era of history and find people who, in spite of hardship, found power to live in new ways. They ran well.
Did they doubts? Of course.
Did they question their own ability or the sufficiency of their faith? Absolutely.
Did they think about giving up? More than once!
But the risen One arose in them to give them power in their need, and new life. When the going becomes tough it is not our faith which sustains us … but the One behind our faith who carries us.
So we run well.
The ordinary being given the extraordinary to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.
We run well by showing the treasure. That is a calling with two significant implications.
As individual believers this means our spirituality must not be judged on what we do … but on what God has done … for us.
The most important part of our running is not the piety of our appearance, nor our eloquence in defending our faith, nor our knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures or doctrinal statements, nor the size of our contribution to the church.
The most important part of our running is that we understand that we have nothing, are nothing, deserve nothing, contribute nothing, succeed at nothing … except by the grace of God.
As we glitter and glimmer we are called to let the treasure shine, not the package. For we are just a jar of clay. Chipped. Flawed. Cracked. Sometimes only worthy to be discarded. Yet made valuable because of the treasure within.
For us as a church that means we can get on with ministry before we have everything perfectly organised. As we run together it is easy to focus on what we don’t have.
Not enough money. Not enough youth.
Not enough small groups. Not enough musicians.
Not enough outreach. Not enough space.
Not enough variety. Not enough carparks.
These things are worthy to think about – but not foundational to our existence. The question is not what we lack, but how clear the treasure is for all to see. For we are just a jar of clay. Chipped. Flawed. Cracked. Sometimes only worthy to be discarded. Yet made valuable because of the treasure within.
This is the ministry of cracked pots.
We as individuals we can run well.
As a church together we can run well.
Jars of clay … in the hands of a mighty God.
Prayer
