Why Church Members Are Cracked Pots
Rev Dr Mark Porizky
2/18/07
2
Corinthians 4:7-11
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Membership last week. Eight.
Privilege. There are three
Biblical traits of Church Members I want to highlight this morning.
First, the Church is made up of ordinary people - like us. The
Apostle Paul says, “We have this Gospel treasure in clay jars” - clay
pots - ordinary dirt.
There is a story told of three church members who were attending a
spiritual retreat together. It was one of those retreats where the focus was on
becoming more intimate together in the body of Christ - caring for one another
as Christians.
And the speaker had given assignments to the participants. Before the
next joint session they were to meet together in small groups and share their
struggles as Christians - as human beings - and then pray for each other.
These 3 church members got together and the first one shared that he had
a struggle controlling his temper. And while he publicly maintained control - on
more than one occasion he had anonymously sent scathing and very critical
letters to various members of the church. The second church member shared that
he struggled with finances and greed - he confessed that he had cheated
consistently on his taxes for the last 10 years.
The third church member confessed that he struggled with gossip - and
would be leaving the conference early.
We are all ordinary people trying to move through life - and live in
obedience to God. Paul describes the human condition as “clay jars.” There
are all different types of and grades of clay. Some of you are fine china - you
crack easily - still, you have a very fine texture. Others of us are more like
sun-dried mud - and we crumble the first time we’re bumped. But we’re all
common clay - and that’s why we all have the same problems and limitations. As
someone has said, “We’re all made in the same mold - only some are
moldier than others!”
Its very humbling to be described this way - but its realistic. Paul says
that we are nothing more that insignificant bits of clay. And one of the traits
of church members is that they realize this. They have the trait of humility
towards others and God. Our purpose in being here is not to exalt ourselves - or
defend our rights and positions - but to lift up Jesus Christ and to support
each other in that ministry.
Secondly - Paul says, the trait of a church member is that their life is
with Jesus. Paul says, “We have
this all sufficient power in us - so that people will see that the power for our
life comes from God.”
If the pot is made of dirt - then the value must be what’s inside.
It is no accident that many describe lives without Jesus Christ as empty.
The world today is suffering from what Dr. Carl Jung calls a “neurosis of
emptiness.” He says, “when goal goes, meaning goes; when meaning
goes, purpose goes; when purpose goes, life goes dead on our hands.” This
is what’s happening in so many people’s lives - old and young - a great wave
of emptiness and despair. The result is hollow men and women, who have a facade
of interest, attention and activity, but inside there is nothing but emptiness.
The clay pot is not filled with anything meaning-full.
Even in the church - even here - many come who are empty inside - or find
no purpose or relevancy for their lives. They come because they are drawn by
culture - or friendship and family - because serving in the church gives them a
place of importance or control. But inside they’re empty - because the faith
in and power of Jesus is not in their lives.
Friends, we are created to hold something.
A clay pot is made for holding something. We
were not made to be ornamental, but to be useful. The
reality is that we will either be full of God’s love in Jesus Christ…or we
will be full of ourselves.
Thirdly, Paul says that the church is made up of cracked pots. By the
way, the sermon title not withstanding, that’s cracked pots not crackpots.
Paul says, “We are afflicted in every way - but not crushed,
perplexed - but not driven to despair, persecuted - but not forsaken, struck
down - but not destroyed. At all times, these mortal bodies of ours face the
struggles of life and death just as Jesus did - so that everyone can see the
life of Jesus revealed in our bodies.”
Put simply: The more we crack - the more the light of Jesus shines
through.
Bruce Larson, in “Believe And Belong”, shares this: “For many
years I worked in
“On the other side of Fifth Avenue is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral,
and there behind the high altar is a little shrine of the boy Jesus, perhaps
eight or nine years old, and with no effort he is holding the world in one hand.
“We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we
can say, ‘I give up, Lord; here’s my life. I give you my world, the whole
world.’”
Its hard to admit we’re cracked. We try to glaze over the cracks - to
cover them and hide them from each other - and God. We try to live by our own
self-sufficiency and carry weights in life that God never intended for us to
carry.
But Paul gives four examples of things that often crack us - weights we
are tempted to carry by our own strength.
Afflictions - the normal trials everybody faces - Christian and
non-Christian alike. The car breaks down on Monday morning. Company comes for
dinner - on the wrong night. Sickness strikes your family - heartbreaks come.
Doubts (perplexed) - decisions to be made and not knowing which
way to turn. Anxieties, worries and uncertainties.
Being badly hurt (struck down) - terrible episodes which shatter a
family or an individual and leave us frightened or baffled.
The reality of church member life is that we still struggle with the same
pains and pressures that afflict non-believers as well.
It breaks my heart when all Christians talk about, or believe the
Christian life is about "new
life," or being a "new creation," or "the power of
prayer," to overcome every
affliction and addiction we face. Reality
doesn’t seem to conform to such ideas.
Often Christians who still suffer from some particularly grievous sin are
left to ask why are we so weak? People
outside the church ask, “Why do so many good Christian people," turn out
to be just like everyone else? Divorced. Depressed. Broken. Messed up. Full of
pain and secrets. Addicted, needy and phony. I thought they were different?”
Actually, I find it remarkable, considering the tone of so many Christian
sermons and messages, that any church has honest people show up at all.
With their constant promises of joy, power, contentment, healing,
prosperity, purpose, better relationships, successful parenting and freedom from
every kind of oppression and affliction, I wonder why more Christians aren't
either being sued by the rest of humanity for lying or hauled off to a psych
ward to be examined for serious delusions.
Too often the Christian promotion is about how messed up I USED to be.
And for some that’s true. But what
about how messed up I am NOW? The
pressure is to be a good Christian. To no longer be a cracked pot, to be
different from other people.
Sometimes this is true. More
often it’s not. For instance, the
divorce rate among Christians is no different than the divorce rate among
non-Christians. Friends, we need to
stop pretending that being Christian makes us better people.
What it makes us is saved people, whole people filled with Jesus, his
love and sacrifice for us. It makes
us people who can be honest about what’s good, and what needs work, in our
lives.
If we don’t confess this reality then we will rightly be accused of the
hypocrisy within the world. How many
of us are addicted to food, drink, porn and shopping? How many of us are
depressed, angry, unforgiving or just plain mean? How many of us are a walking,
talking course on basic hypocrisy, because we just can't look at ourselves in
the mirror and admit what we are is a collection of brokenness.
Now, if I’ve depressed you, here’s the good news.
God uses cracked pots! Look
up most of the heroes of the Bible. Isn't
almost everyone in that book a cracked pot? Abraham,
Jacob, Moses, David, Paul. Liars,
Cheaters. Adulterers.
Murderers. But God uses them.
What does it take to be a member? Well,
with the cracks showing, by admitting our own weakness, members let the light of
Jesus shines through us. The light shines reminding us of what God has done for
us. And like the saints of old who
were called “sinners who keep on trying,” well. . .
we fall down, and we get up. We
fall down, and we get up. And the
valuable treasure we have inside - the value of our lives is seen by what gives
us the strength to get back up.
Closing Song
Bob
Carlisle—“We Fall Down”
Cursing
every step of the way, he bore a heavy load
To the market ten miles away, the journey took its toll
And every day he passed a monastery's high cathedral walls
And it made his life seem meaningless and small
And he wondered how it would be to live in such a place
To be warm, well fed and at peace; to shut the world away
So when he saw a priest who walked, for once, beyond the iron gate
He said, Tell me of your life inside that place...
And the priest replied...
We fall down, we get up
We fall down, we get up
We fall down, we get up
And the saints are just the sinners
Who fall down and get up
Disappointment followed him home; he'd hoped for so much more
But he saw himself in a light he had never seen before
’Cause if the priest who fell could find the Grace of God to be enough
Then there must be some hope for the rest of us
There must be some hope left for us
We fall down, we get up
We fall down, we get up
We fall down, we get up
And the saints are just the sinners
Who fall down and get up
Will you pray with me now?
St.
Andrew Presbyterian Church,
Groton,
Web Site: WWW.SAPC-CT.ORG
Office Email: OFFICE@SAPC-CT.ORG
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