Not Our Treasure
Below is my manuscript for my June 3 sermons. Audio recordings of the message at Redeemer and St. Mark may be downloaded by clicking on the church name. I focused on the text from
2 Corinthians 4:5-12, but referenced the lessons from Deuteronomy 5:12-15, and Mark 2:23--3:6.
Let us pray. May the words of my mouth, and meditations of my heart be pleasing
to you, my Lord, my Redeemer and my Rock. Amen.
Grace, peace and mercy to you, from God, our Creator, and Jesus Christ,
God’s Son and our Savior. AMEN.
The church in Corinth was Paul’s troubled child. While he
was there, they were obedient and faithful and devout; and then listened to
anyone and everyone else as soon as Paul left the city limits. A group of
apostles had come to Corinth after Paul’s last visit, and told the church there
to reject Paul and Paul’s teaching.
These
apostles were physically imposing and were gifted orators. They were impressive
to see and to hear. They proclaimed that the gifts of God were available for
everyone – if. They were yours, if you believed deeply enough. They were yours,
if you prayed devoutly enough. They were yours, if you conducted yourself
sinlessly. They were yours, if you trusted enough.
Paul, from his own self-references, was not an impressive
physical specimen and was a more eloquent writer than speaker. So Paul tries to
explain to the Corinthians that God’s love and grace are not reflected in power
and privilege in this world. The things that we as followers of Christ have, and
the works that we do are not to bring attention to us, but are to give the
glory to God.
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we
proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.[1] What we do to help and to serve others is
not to bring attention to us. What we do to help and to serve others is to
share the love God has given us with them. It isn’t about us. It’s about God,
and God’s son, Jesus Christ. It’s about
giving love to others who do not have or do not feel loved.
Dating back to the time of Martin Luther, there has been a
conflict between two theologies, a theology of glory and a theology of the
cross.
The theology of glory believes that God rewards those who
are faithful and devout. To those who truly love God, it claims they will be
rewarded with signs of God’s love.
But the theology of the cross focuses not on what I do, not
on what I have left undone, but on what Jesus Chris has done for me. I am a
sinner, I have fallen short, and I deserve God’s judgment and wrath. But
because the Son of God suffered and died on a cross for ME and for everyone, I
have been given the unmerited gift of grace and forgiveness. I am not worthy,
but I still am saved, forgiven and justified by Jesus Christ.
In light of the Cross, the Sabbath command referenced in
other readings was not given to judge and condemn, but to save. God gave the
commands about how to live in the land that was promised to Abraham and Sarah’s
decedents forty years before those descendants would arrive there. Think about
the full Sabbath commandment; it isn’t just for you, but for your family, your
livestock, but also your servants and slaves (of which they don’t have any) and
also applies to the immigrant in your cities and towns (again, neither of which
yet exist.) The command was given, as Jesus explains, The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath.[2]
The law is to save us from being slaves to our work, and for us to remember for
what are we working.
Similarly, the theology of the cross calls us to remember who is
responsible for our salvation. We are saved through the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, not because of what we do.
The theology of glory puts “I” at the heart. I can do this, I am
responsible for that, I can do what no one else can, things are good because of
me. By the theology of glory putting us at the heart of the matter, it then
means that we are responsible for earning our salvation. We have to be good
enough; we have to be faithful enough; we have to be holy enough. And if we
aren’t, whatever happens is our own fault. If bad things happen, it is because
we failed to please God, we fell short.
One of the points of the theology of the Cross is to be honest
with how things are; we admit when things aren’t good. That is what Paul is
trying to get the Corinthians to understand.
The treasure that we have, the gifts of grace from God, the
gift of the forgiveness of sins, the gift of life after death is a priceless
treasure, But we have this treasure in clay
jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God
and does not come from us.[3]
You don’t
need an elaborate frame to make the Mona Lisa, or Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” be
any more beautiful. Anything elaborate would distract from their natural
beauty. The treasure of God’s love is stored in the equivalent of simple clay
jars. It is stored in us, and lived out in our lives.
In the ups and downs, and downs and downs of our lives, God’s
grace and glory still shine through the darkness. We carry those promises of
God’s love with us, even when we are struggling and suffering. We are always carrying in the body the death of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. [4]
Paul wanted to remind the church in Corinth that they have a
greater promise than the things of this world can offer. We have the promise of
living eternity with the Creator of the Universe, with all of the wrongs of our
lives washed away. If we have that to look forward to, what is there on earth
to be jealous of?
Think of it this way, if you are headed home, to a luxurious
meal of your favorite foods being prepared by the best cooks you know, why
would you stop 30 minutes away to pick up a Big Mac?
If we’ve been given all of this love by God, and we have, and
have been told to use it in service of those whom society has scorned, and we
have, and we’ve earned and deserved none of it, why do we want to draw attention
to ourselves? Why wouldn’t we want to draw attention to, and give glory to God,
the One through whom all of this is possible?
The theology of the cross calls upon us to call a thing what
it is. We are three small churches, a collection of clay jars, mismatched,
discolored, with more than our shares of wear and tear, and chips and cracks.
But we have this treasure, not of our own making or efforts, but given to us by
God. We have more than we need. Why don’t we share it? Why won’t we share it? Besides
our own stubbornness, why won’t we share the Good News with people who
desperately need to know that they are beloved by God?
We
do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as
your slaves for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who said, "Let light shine
out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this
treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power
belongs to God and does not come from us.[5]
Let us pray. May the words of my mouth, and work of my life be proclaim
Christ as Lord, and share the Lord’s love to those who need to know they are
loved. Amen.
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