MINISTRY THAT COUNTS FOR SOMETHING
A Sermon by Kelly Wiant Thralls
Market Square Presbyterian Church
August 10, 2008
Isaiah 12:1-6
2 Corinthians 4:1-15, 5:16-21
While we are staying with the Corinthians for three more weeks, we have moved into the 2nd letter to the Corinthians. This letter, however, is a bit more complicated than the first largely because most scholars agree that it is made up of at least two and maybe more letter fragments. They believe this because the style and tone of the letter changes throughout as do the topics. Whole ideas or trains of thought are interrupted and then returned to later. (For example, Paul tells the story of his journey from Asia Minor to Macedonia in chapter 2 (2:12-13). Then the story is interrupted only to resume five chapters later in chapter 7 (7:5).[1]
To understand 2 Corinthians and even why scholars believe this letter is composed of several letter fragments, one needs understand Paul’s history and relationship with the church. In a sense, the letters to the Corinthians are a gift because they are the only record of Paul’s ongoing relationship with a particular congregation. And as you will see, all was not rosy. It was not easy starting a new church.
Some time after Paul wrote the letter that we now call 1 Corinthians, he went to visit the congregation in Corinth. While there, a member verbally attacked Paul and much to this surprise no one stood up for him. No one defended him. So Paul left hurt and humiliated. He had promised to return to Corinth but after that disaster of a visit, he decided not to go and instead sent a letter that was relatively frank or harsh. He called them to task chastising them for not standing up for him and then called them back into obedience to him.
According to Titus, one of Paul’s co-workers in Macedonia, the frank or angry letter had had some success. The majority of the congregation embraced Paul again and disciplined the guy who had verbally attacked him. But at the same time, Paul learned that the Macedonian church under Titus’ leadership had done a spectacular job collecting money for the saints in Jerusalem. Now this collection for a fledging church in Jerusalem was Paul’s idea and very important to him. The Macedonian church thought they were emulating the dedicated Corinthian church in taking up this collection and therefore planned to send a group to visit the Corinthian church.
Now Paul had a problem. The Macedonian church, which thought the Corinthian church was the perfect role model, would learn upon arrival that in fact the Corinthians had lost all zeal for taking up the collection, was barely holding itself together, and many in the congregation were angry or ready to desert Paul.
In order to try to save his own skin as well as the reputation of the Corinthian church, Paul sends another letter to the Corinthians. In this letter, Paul needed to continue mending the fragile relationship between him and the church, especially after not making the promised visit and sending a scathing letter instead. He also needed to encourage them to embrace him more fully as well as to begin taking up the collection for the saints in Jerusalem. Scholars believe that the majority of what we now call 2 Corinthians is from this particular letter (2 Cor. 1-9).
There is, however, one more letter and that can be found in the later half of 2 Corinthians, what we call chapters 10-13. It appears that after Paul sent his last letter about the collection, what Paul calls “intruders” have aligned themselves with some dissatisfied members of the congregation. Some of the Corinthians now want to test Paul with regards to his apostleship. So Paul in this final letter, states that he will make another visit for a showdown in which he can prove his authority.[2]
Today’s passage is likely part of the letter he sent after learning that the Macedonian church planned to visit the Corinthians. So it is part of the letter in which he asks them to embrace him more fully and finally to begin taking up the collection for the saints in Jerusalem.
So I invite you to listen carefully to the text. Listen to Paul’s argument and pleading.
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2 Corinthians 4:1-15, 5:16-21
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It seems there’s always one – one child that will test our patience, one child that will demand too much attention, one child that will wear us out. This summer, the child’s name was AJ.
We were in Penasco, New Mexico, on our annual youth mission trip. This year however, as most of you know, we included adults – 22 of them. We offered a Vacation Bible School to a small community in the high desert mountains of New Mexico. Unfortunately, the Assemblies of God church just down the road, offered a Vacation Bible School the exact same week. So our numbers were small, but each child certainly got a lot of attention.
AJ arrived on the second morning of Vacation Bible School. He would not do as he was told. He sulked. He refused to participate. And then he attached himself to a few youth and adults demanding their complete attention. By the end of the day, the youth and adults were exasperated. Two more days of this child seemed too many.
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In today’s passage, Paul says to the Corinthians, “we have this treasure in clay jars.” I believe this simple phrase is the crux of Paul’s argument in today’s text.
The treasure is the reconciliation of the world to God available through Jesus Christ. In other words, the treasure is good news of new life offered in Jesus Christ. It’s the news that we are forgiven and invited into relationship with God. It is in Paul’s mind the very heart of faith and what we as Christians have to tell and offer the world.
We are the clay jars. Clay is a fragile substance. Clay jars are breakable and often chipped or scratch, just as we humans are sometimes weak, and fragile, and scared.
Paul is reminding the Corinthians that God entrusted the good news of Jesus Christ to human mouths and lives. Remember, Paul wants the Corinthians to embrace him and accept him as their teacher. So he is reminding them that although he is not perfect and in fact has suffered a great deal, God has still entrusted him with the gospel. It is in fact, only God’s strength that gives Paul the authority or the power to preach and to continue as an apostle.
Likewise, the Corinthians are entrusted with the message of reconciliation, the message of hope for the world. They too are not perfect, but God has trusted them anyway. One can see how Paul could easily move from this line of thought to the importance of the collection for the saints in Jerusalem.
Fortunately, God knows we are human. God knows we are sometimes weak and do not do what we ought to. God knows we do not have all the answers or all the skills needed to solve the world’s problems (at least not any one of us). God knows that sometimes, although we try, we fail and even fail miserably. God knows we are still growing and maturing.
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On the second to the last day of Vacation Bible School, AJ was miserable. Everyone had had about enough of the little guy. Late in the morning, he was sitting off to the side sulking. Jane Shaffer, dressed as Trixi the clown, sat down next AJ and began to ask questions. And AJ talked and talked revealing that he had in fact just moved to Penasco. His home situation was a bit complicated so things weren’t easy at home and he knew no one in Penasco. He had no friends.
About this time, Brandon Lee, who is 14, happened upon the scene. He also listened to AJ’s story. Brandon and Jane realized that the reason AJ was sulking and difficult was that he felt like an outsider.
A few minutes later as the children, youth and adults gathered for the closing, Brandon stood up and introduced AJ. Brandon said, “This is AJ. He’s new here and he doesn’t know you all. But AJ is my friend and he wants to be your friend.” AJ stood next to Brandon beaming.
It turns out that all AJ needed was to be noticed and to be introduced to the other children of Penasco. Later that day as he skipped out of the church, he looked at Karen Williams and said, “Now I have lots friends!”
Too often, we think we need to be an expert before we can act. People have told me that they cannot teach Sunday school or lead the young people because they do not know the Bible well enough. None of us do, quite frankly. And I’m not giving any of us a pass or suggesting we don’t need to read or study the Bible. What I am suggesting is that God does and will use us as we are. God does not need to wait until we are Biblical scholars or until we are perfect. For you and I both know, God would be waiting for a long time for either to happen.
Brandon was able to help AJ partly because he himself is young. He is what AJ would consider a big kid – a big cool kid. It matters what the cool kids think. We all know that. Brandon’s words would not have had near the impact if they had been spoken by an adult. This time, it took a youth – one less experienced, one still growing, one so young – to do the ministry of reconciliation.
So it turns out age is no excuse either. We are all entrusted with the treasure, whether we are young or old, whether we are experts or not. It is up to us to act but as Paul reminds us, it is God that gives us the courage and strength. We are breakable clay jars, after all.
Paul reminds us that ministry is left in our fallible, human, imperfect hands. We, such as we are, are the bearers of good news.
If we believe we are too old or wait until we are old enough, we might miss our opportunity. If Brandon hadn’t been willing and open to God’s leading, AJ might not have heard the message of reconciliation that week. AJ may never be able to name what happened with a word as fancy as “reconciliation” but the words of a 14 year old were just that: “This is AJ. He’s my friend and he wants to be your friend.”
Praise be to God for beautiful clay jars like Jane and Brandon and even AJ. Praise be to God for this treasure we carry.
Amen.