Stories from a Different Age

One of the most wonderful memories I have of growing up was my father reading to us kids (6 of us) after dinner. Every night as we were finishing up dinner, he would read first a couple of chapters out of the Bible, and then a chapter or two, or three if we could plead with him, from some other book. He picked different books, mostly from missionary biographies, or stories about great Christians from the past, or from various fiction works from authors like C.S. Lewis. I think we went through the entire 7 book series of the Chronicles of Narnia, THREE TIMES. I don't even remember him using particular voices or anything, but I can remember being able to see those stories in my mind's eye as he would read them. From the works of Paul Brand and "Ten Fingers for God" to "Through Gates of Splendor", to "Hammered as Gold", that's how I learned to look beyond my small world to the far corners of the earth that Jesus has sendt us to.

I think that's one of the things I wish I had done with my kids when they were growing up. (*sigh*) A different age.

Hard Pressed on Every Side, But Not Crushed

2 Corinthians 4:7

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."

The passage in 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, where Paul recounts the many forms of suffering that he and his team had gone through -- pressed but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned -- is certainly a familiar one. All of us can relate to Paul's statement at some level or another, though I don't know if there is anyone who has gone through all of these difficulties to the same extent that Paul had. However, it is a great comfort to see how Paul was subject to each of these difficulties and persecutions, but never to the point of breaking. We are reminded of another passage written earlier to the same church, in 1 Corinthians 10:13, where he reminds the church that,

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

However, sometimes I think we forget the opening of the paragraph. Paul's emphasis was not on the deliverance which he had experienced, but rather on the fact that JESUS had intentionally orchestrated these circumstances in order to show to Paul, and to anyone who saw him, that it was not Paul's great strength of character, or Paul's wisdom, or even his ability to deliver the message that was the source of the power of the message he was bringing. The persecution and trouble was not something that Paul had to get through in order to present his message. In a way, the persecution was the message itself. In addition to the proclamation of verse 4 from above, he continues in verse 11:

For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

Paul saw himself as a jar of clay, holding a message of such power and glory that he did not want in any manner to get in the way of it, or to attempt to "borrow" any of its glory for himself. All that he could think of was that the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus be what people saw in him. For the Corinthian church in particular, he could see how his suffering would bring many to a knowledge of Christ, and that it would "cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God."

Of course, Paul didn't work to artificially manufacture this suffering. At times, Christians have tried to create their own suffering, either in Martin Luther's self inflicted beatings, or the dour faces of Christians who believe it is a sin to enjoy anything in this life. Suffering for suffering's sake isn't going to bring any Glory to God, and I don't think Paul was any great fan of suffering itself. Rather, "we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake," and the persecution followed as surely as thunder follows lightning. Some things, such as the storm at sea as Paul was traveling to Rome, were the consequences not of outright opposition or persecution, but rather of other people's poor decisions, and the workings of God's finger on the forces of nature. However, Paul took each of these in stride, choosing to see God's hand behind the circumstances rather than the circumstances themselves. He never forgot that he was jar of clay -- one with an eternal future to look forward to, but clay nonetheless. In a way, it might seem to be darkly humorous that, after recounting all of the horrible things he had gone through, Paul would simply refer to them as "light and momentary troubles," but the secret is in the perspective that he kept:

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Passage at Bible Gateway