1 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

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

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

(Genesis2:7) Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

We humans have come to see ourselves as pretty invincible beings. When we compare ourselves to the other animals, we boast of our intelligence and how we are the ruling species in this world. And indeed, God did create us as the leading species on this earth. God said in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” Our species has a lot to be proud of. God made us in His image, and made us able to rule all the earth. But with leadership comes responsibility. We were commanded to follow God’s rules in order to maintain a perfect world, but we chose to go against God’s heart which is symbolized in Eve’s intentional choice to disobey God and listen to the voice which told her that she could become like God. Because of this, humans became mortal beings, and, though given God’s breath of life, they would all expire and return to the earth just as all the other animals would.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul compares us to clay pots. God is the potter, and unlike clay vessels made in a factory, God made each one of us uniquely. We are all created as special persons, and we all have unique gifts and many differences. The treasure to which Paul refers is the Gospel. There is one Gospel which the well-known evangelist, Billy Graham, said was summed up in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Though we know this to be the gospel, we don’t all understand it in the same way, and we don’t all share it in the same way. Again, thats because we are all unique individuals.

When we think about our own daily lives, we can consider the containers that we use. Boxes, cans, jars and bags are all different containers which all have individual characteristics and cannot be used for everything. To contrast two types, on the one hand, we have a PET bottle. The bottle is constructed of durable plastic with a cap which can be tightly fastened. For containing liquids, this is a most ideal container since leakage can’t occur. On the other hand, we have a basket. Now a basket is a great container for carrying fruit since the air passes through making it less possible for the fruit to get moldy and rot. So both of these containers are great for what they are created for, but are not good for containing other things. Fruit in an air-tight plastic bottle will rot, and liquid poured into a basket will drain right through it. So as each type of container has its own character and purpose, each one of us has a unique character and purpose for which God can use us.

On one hand, we can feel very proud that God has chosen us to be the vessels through which He can carry the message of his gospel to others in the world, but on the other hand, we are humbled knowing that we are very fragile, broken people, and may feel that we are not worthy of carrying the treasure that God has put into us.

So we have with us healthy levels of pride and humility as we live for God, but we always need to be vigilant so that evil forces do not change our pride into arrogance, and our humility into despair. Proper levels of pride and humility will be realized when we are able to understand where we stand as God’s children. That is the challenge that we are faced with daily as we strive to live good spiritual lives before God.

When I first grasped the truth that God had created each of us out of the dust of the earth, I did not feel very good about it. I didn’t like the idea of thinking of myself as a mass of dirt. And it was quite humbling to read, “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” All the people around me―are they just mere dust? When we look at each other in this room, are we nothing more than dust? Well, that’s not the whole story.  Physically, yes, we are nothing more than dust. We all know that our time to be physically alive on this earth is limited, but being alive means more than just having a heart that continues to tick, or a brain that continues to emit brain waves. From a scientific standpoint, these are the criteria that help to determine whether we are alive or not. But from God’s standpoint, being alive is having God’s breath in us as is shown in Genesis 2:7 where it says that God “breathed into [the man’s] nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” We are considered to be alive this morning because God’s spirit is moving in us; not because our blood is flowing and our bodies are all at 37 degrees.

Now being made of dust isn’t all that bad, because dust may turn to clay, and clay may be molded into many things. This is what God does with us. He makes us into great things. Yes, we are dust, and when we die, our bodies will return to the earth. But with God’s spirit moving in us, we can become beautiful messengers of God’s love for the world.

So we know that we are sinners, and that we are imperfect. We are clay pots made by a great potter, but we have many cracks in us, and can easily be broken. Why would God pick us as a means to bring such an important treasure like His gospel to the world? Wouldn’t it be better if God would choose more perfect beings for the task?

Well, think about how you first were led to Christ or to the church. In most cases, it probably wasn’t some super-charismatic flashy preacher who led you to the church, though I it could be true for some people. Usually the way we are led to the church is by another person. Yes, I know of people who have read the Bible or books by Christian writers who have been led to the church. And, of course, there are those who have been born into a Christian family and the faith sort of grew on them in more of a natural way as they grew up. However, in many cases, people have been led to church by a friend or acquaintance who suggested they come and join in what they were experiencing as a meaningful fellowship of believers and a true way to find salvation. These people are not led to church by perfect people, but by people who, themselves, have been struggling all their lives with trying to live a good life, and trying to find peace and forgiveness in spite of themselves. When we see somebody else with cracks in their clay, but see that they have received the peace and joy that only Jesus can bring, then we know that we, in spite of our cracks, can also have this gift if we are willing to accept it.

Though we study theology as Christians, intellectual study is less important than spiritual life. Theology helps us understand what is happening to us as spiritual beings, but spiritual life is given to us through God’s breath. This is how Adam became a living being. Only because God’s breath or spirit is living in us can we have life, and only because that spirit is in us can we bring God’s truth to others.

Recently, I have been studying the Native Americans. They did not know who Jesus was before Europeans came to North America, and the Europeans felt that they were called to proclaim this Jesus to the Natives so that the world would become a better place. Indeed, the Europeans had a lot of wonderful things to share with the natives, but the way of doing it had to be in tune with God’s heart. The Europeans needed to see themselves as imperfect clay pots bringing the treasure of the Gospel to the native Americans. However, in many cases, they saw themselves as religious experts who had the task of converting the natives as soon as possible with their own system of logic. The Europeans had many things to learn from the natives, but could not open their ears. This hindered building trusting relationships with the natives and having intimate fellowship with them.

We are clay pots formed by the potter who made us from the dust of the ground. Everyone around us is the same. When we acknowledge this, we are able to shed our pride and see that others around us, whose clay pots are empty, could use a little filling. In the same way, when others near us have something in their pots which could enrich us, if we let our pride down, we will be able to receive the blessings that come from the ministry of others to us.

We are no insignificant species on this planet. God made us in God’s image. We are not equal with God, but God gave us the right to be considered His children. 1 John 1:1 says, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” Yes, we, created from the dirt, have been given God’s spirit and carry within us a gospel that can save all the people of the world. We do not say “We are God’s children” with arrogance, but with humble gratitude that, in spite of our sinful natures, God is willing to consider us His children if we accept His Son Jesus as our savior.

Clay pots are vulnerable, and when broken, appear to be useless. But we can glue the shards together and make the pot useful once again―even though it may not look as good as when it was new. This is kind of how we are. We are pots that crack and sometimes break. But God is able to glue us back together and make us strong enough to carry His Gospel treasure to others. Just as with a clay pot that has been fixed, scars will remain. We will continue to see the cracks and chips that show the difficulties we have been through in our lives, and the struggles and spiritual wars we have had to fight. But in spite of those scars, if we trust in God’s Spirit, rather than our own understanding, God can make us even stronger spiritually than we were before we were broken. When other broken people see that we, in our brokenness, can rejoice and carry the Gospel of love and peace with us, they will have an incentive to join us in our journey, and fill themselves up with the treasure that they can in turn share with others.

So today lets remember these things. We are physically all made of dirt. But God took that dirt, turned it into clay, and molded each and every unique one of us in this room. God created us in His image, and we resemble God as his children in this world. As God’s children, we have the Gospel of truth, peace, and joy to bring to others, and we in our “clay pot attire,” can carry God’s great treasure to others. Finally, we are mortal beings in this world, and will eventually have to leave it physically, but we have received eternal life through Jesus Christ and will spiritually live forever.

SUMMARY

We are fragile people. The apostle Paul compares us to clay pots that contain the greatest treasure God has given us. In many ways, we all have become damaged and broken, and have had to be put back together in some cases. Sometimes we may feel that we are not worthy of carrying God’s message because of our imperfections. But God loves us, calls us His children, and chooses to use us to carry the Gospel to the world. Physically, we are made of dust, and will eventually leave this world. But we have been given eternal life through Jesus Christ, and will live forever with God.