“Glory at Work”

“Glory at Work”
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Paul has been writing about faith, and how it is made complete through the “new covenant” that comes to us by believing in Jesus Christ. And the “old covenant”, the one that came through Moses? In the previous chapter, he writes that unbelievers have “minds made dull”, and that a veil has been drawn across the covenant to dull understanding, and that this same veil has also been drawn across their unbelieving hearts. He continues with the promise that if any should turn back to the Lord, that the veil will be taken away. (2 Corinthians 3:13-16)

The granting of faith is there for all, but it can only begin to work within our lives when faith is completed through trust in Jesus.

Read 2 Corinthians 4:5-7

Our text for today begins with the thought that it isn’t about us – it is all about Jesus. Now for some, that may seem pretty basic! But the truth is, that for many, they believe that faith and trust in Christ is dependent upon their own understanding, and their own wisdom, and their own strength. The problem with this thought is defined in 1 Corinthians 1:25 – “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”

Any effort to compare our abilities to those of our Almighty God has to receive the answer “No Contest!” Paul’s statement, that that the message that he shares with the people in Corinth is God’s and God’s alone, is an affirmation of the basic truth that he wrote to the Church in his first letter.
But this wasn’t always the case for Paul. In those days when he was known as Saul the Persecutor of the Church, he trusted in his own understanding of what the Law of Moses called him to be and do. But on that road to Damascus, during that trip when he was planning to seek out more of those “heretical” Christians, the veil that had been dulling and blinding his heart to the truth of Christ was taken from him, never again to return to his life.

And Paul, the apostle of Christ, now sees his call to be a servant instead of a master. And he talks about the Light of Christ that shines in the darkness of unbelieving hearts. In John 8:12, the Lord says “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Darkness is the way and wisdom of earth, while Light comes from the glory of God being revealed in the lives of humanity – this is the glory that overcomes and dispels the darkness, this is the glory that is the very presence of Christ.

And this leads us to verse 7 – “we have this treasure in jars of clay”. But the “treasure”? The “jars of clay”? And why would anyone carry treasure in such a fragile conveyance? Of course, Paul wasn’t talking about physical items – he was taking about spiritual treasure, and human frailty. But the message doesn’t end with frailty – it is about the power inherit in the treasure of God, and how it strengthens all of humanity who claim that power. Any power or wisdom or truth that any of us may have at our disposal can only come from God. And anything else that may seem to delight and encourage and teach us is only a false hope, and is based in the lies that come out of the world.

Read 2 Corinthians 4:8-12

Paul offers a list of persecutions that the world heaps upon us, followed by the complete opposite effects that the power and glory of God can bring, much to the consternation of earth! Later in this book (2 Corinthians 11:21-33), Paul offers a considerable list of persecutions that he has had to endure during his ministry. He would never be weakened, he would never be led to sin against his persecutors, and he would never long to be the kind of person that his former persona Saul had been. By the power of faith in Christ, and through the working of the Holy Spirit, he knew that the only life that could make any difference for him was that which living in the death of Christ could bring.

The world doesn’t understand or accept that – not with all of their collective knowledge, not with all of their good works, not with all of their phony “truths”, not with all of their know-it-all attitude toward Christ’s faithful – for the world, life can only be that which they presently are living – for them, there is no Godly purpose, no glory, no hope, no eternity. They have rejected the glory that could be theirs, simply because they refuse to allow the “veil of darkness” to be lifted from their hearts.

Paul understood that the suffering that he endured, as well as the persecution that all of Christ’s faithful are subjected to, is merely a reflection of the suffering that Jesus bore on our behalf. And we all know that for our Lord, the darkness of earth’s death could never withstand the light of God’s resurrection truth.

The Christian philosopher Kierkegaard believed that “Christian faith is not a matter of regurgitating church dogma. It is a matter of individual subjective passion, which cannot be mediated by the clergy or by human artefacts. Faith is the most important task to be achieved by a human being, because only on the basis of faith does an individual have a chance to become a true self. This self is the life-work which God judges for eternity.”

--Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Copyright © 2017 by William McDonald

Kierkegaard also wrote in his journal:
What the age needs is not a genius -- it has had geniuses enough -- but a martyr, who in order to teach men to obey, would himself be obedient unto death. What the age needs is awakening. And therefore someday, not only my writings but my whole life, all the intriguing mystery of the machine will be studied and studied. I never forget how God helps me and it is therefore my last wish that everything may be to His honor.

--Søren Kierkegaard, The Journals of Søren Kierkegaard (Oxford, 1959), 224.

The “passion” and “awakening” that he wrote about is exactly what Paul wanted us to know. Christian passion comes from our awakening in Christ. Our awakening comes from the lifting of that dark veil from our lives. The darkness is overcome by the light of Christ’s truth. And the light that enters our lives is the glory that results when we give our Almighty God all the glory that others might keep for themselves.

The life that the world knows has no passion, has no wisdom, has no light, has no strength, and the death that they will all know one day, is a final sentence that proves the fallacy of worldly ways. But when we allow the worldliness that is at work within us to die – Paul implies that we must put sin to death over and over again, day by day and moment by moment, every time it encroaches on our faith – it is then that Jesus’ life begins to work in glorious ways for and through us.

Sin is death, but the death of sin is glory and honor and praise and joy - all for our life giving, sin forgiving, loving beyond measure Lord - Jesus Christ.