I know I started this blog series before Christmas so take a second and re-read our passage:

II Corinthians 4:7-18 (The Message)

^7-12If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at.

We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

 ^13-15We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

 ^16-18So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Today I want to talk about verses 13 -15 today and maybe put together a big finally blog next week. I am going to start with a question which may not be the best literary approach but… “Aren’t we?” “Aren’t we keeping it quiet?” Paul says here that “We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life.” I am glad today that my life isn’t weighing in the balance of people sharing their faith. If you are convicted, good, me too. If you are not you are either doing a good job or just forgot how good the news is.

I wonder how much more motivated we would be if our lives do depend on it? Our lives do depend on sharing the news because had no one ever shared it with us our eternal life would have a much different outlook. For me it was my parents who shared their beliefs. And my dad has told me that story of the lady who shared her faith with him. Given the opportunity to speak with her there was someone who shared with her. I share my faith with my son and with others so you can see how sharing can ignite a significant chain of events.

I was listening to a song the other day (Lacrae – Rebel) that had a Mark Driscoll sermon excerpt in the middle. He was talking about being a rebel from his Rebel’s Guide to Joy out of Philippians. He said that if you want to be a rebel try reading your Bible because nobody is doing that anymore. He says that all other rebellious actions are tired. I am currently listening to the entire series which is pretty good, you should check it out.

I think that another rebel move is to share your faith. In the politically correct society that we live in we find it uncomfortable to speak about what we believe. More times than not people have said that they respect me for my willingness to talk about what I believe. There is no guarantee that it will make any difference in their lives but not sharing does guarantee that it won’t.

I want to close with an excerpt from Matthew Henry’s Commentary related to these verses. “…There are unseen things, as well as things that are seen. And there is this vast difference between them; unseen things are eternal, seen things but temporal, or temporary only. Let us then look off from the things which are seen; let us cease to seek for worldly advantages, or to fear present distresses. Let us give diligence to make our future happiness sure.”

 The last couple of mornings I have been caught up on a passage of scripture and have found myself re-reading it over and over. This morning I took a look at it in a few different translations and I chose to share this one (for the Transformers reference… so theological deep). This is a pretty common passage of scripture but there were a few key pieces that grabbed my heart and I wanted to write them down because I know that I will need them again in the future. I will probably have to do continuations of this post because I am not going to write it all today (I would wear out my two typing fingers and you wouldn’t read it).

II Corinthians 4:7-18 (The Message)

^7-12If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at.

We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best!

 ^13-15We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

 ^16-18So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

In verse 7 in the NIV it says that we carry the message in “jars of clay”. This was the first piece of this passage that grabbed. Maybe in part because it is the name of one of the first “Christian” groups that I actually owned a CD of because at that time there weren’t very many good ones. But the imagery here is pretty incredible. As a single guy this probably would have not triggered any thoughts but through my married years I have purchased my share of clay pots.

You know the plain orange pots that are the cheapest ones you can get at Home Depot. I have watched (and even assisted) as my wife has taken those plain clay pots and painted them, accessorized them, and turned them into some really nice patio and porch accents. Continue reading ‘More Than Meets the Eye’