Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, our rock and our Redeemer.  [Psalm 19:14, adapted]

 

            Think about this canning jar.  It is a plain and simple item.  Would anyone think of using just this plain jar as a cherished decoration in your living room?  Not unless it is a very old one of antique value.  It is fragile.  If I would drop it, it would shatter into countless pieces.  There are many like it as you can purchase them by the case at supermarkets and department stores.  I could line up a bunch of them and, they would all look alike.

 

            What would make this simple canning jar a precious item?  Yum.  Whatever one would put into it.  This jar held some homemade crab-applesauce.  At this time of year I can think of my grandmother’s rhubarb-strawberry preserves.  Now that would make this a coveted item!  No, not the jar, but what is in it.  Go to a county fair in out-state Illinois and look at the canning jars on display.  The treasures in those jars are so well arranged and presented.  All of the tomatoes or plums are the same size and distributed evenly.  Those canning jars are works of art. 

 

            In today’s epistle reading Paul refers to himself and other preachers as jars of clay, really as canning jars.  We can look at all Christians, everyone here today, as canning jars.  And in these jars is a treasure.  And that treasure is God’s word, his promise and plan of salvation for all who believe in his one and only Son, Jesus Christ.  As you and all other Christians walk down the street, you are like a canning jar, no different than the next person.  That is, until you have opened up that treasure that you hold inside, the joy of forgiveness of sins and eternal life that Jesus brings.

 

            Paul writes this second letter to the Corinthians using the Gospel of Jesus Christ to heal the wounds and build them up in God’s grace.  In his first letter, Paul had addressed some severe issues that had developed in the Corinthian congregation, and how to correct them according to God’s will and commands.  Now, in this letter, he builds them up in faith in understanding God’s unending love for them. 

 

            One of the issues was division amongst the Corinthians about which apostle or preacher each group was following.  Paul describes himself, Apollos, Peter, and all the others as jars of clay, as canning jars, if you will.  What makes each one special is not the person but the treasure God sent in each one of them.  And that treasure is the word of God that each man brought to this congregation.  In that way, none of the men were any different or more special than another. 

 

            Earlier in the letter, Paul writes about difficulties he and the others had experienced in their lives as apostles.  Each person can relate to those troubles as you look at your own personal troubles at different points in your lives.  What carried Paul then and carries all Christians today is the comfort God brings in our troubles.  Chapter 1, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  [v. 2-4]

 

            That is the treasure in the jars of clay, the canning jars that you and I are.  That treasure is knowing and trusting the all-surpassing power that is from God, and not dependent on fragile men.  Whether it be me or any other pastor that has served you in your life, or the most eloquent and moving of preachers such as Dr. Oswald Hoffman or the Rev. Billy Graham, it is not the person, the canning jar, but the treasure of God’s word that is sent through them.  In that regard, you are no different in that you have that same treasure in you.  And that treasure is knowing God’s commands. It is knowing that you have broken those commands and cannot save yourself.  It is knowing that God loves you so much that he sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save all who will believe in him for the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting in his name alone.

 

            Because of that treasure that you and all Christians hold in your hearts, you may be pressed on every side by the temptations and pressures of this world, but not crushed.  You may be perplexed, not understanding the why’s and how’s of all of the evil and its ramifications, but you are not in despair.  You may feel persecuted by the world around you, and especially in some of the more subtle persecutions we experience from moment to moment, but God never abandons you.  He is always with you in his word that you hold in your heart, in his spirit that moves within you every day, and in Jesus who comes to you in the bread and wine today.

 

            [v. 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.”  As baptized believers, we carry around in these canning jars the death of Jesus.  We are baptized into his death [Romans 6] as his death is the death of all of our sins, of our “Old Adam.”  If we are joined with him in his death, we are also joined with him in his resurrection.  Christians are “Easter people.”  Christians are alive and vibrant with a treasure that all of the world seeks for but cannot find except in Jesus Christ. 

 

            On the outside Christians are mere canning jars, not unlike any other person.  But the treasure inside is the power of God by his word alone and activated in you by faith alone.  Live by this power that is not yours as your old sinful nature dies and replaced by the spiritual nature that comes in faith and in baptism. 

 

            The canning jar.  Do you remember what we as kids loved to put in those jars on summer evenings.  Lightning bugs.  What a treat it was to run around letting that light shine out of those jars!  And Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  [Matthew 5:16]

 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   [Philippians 4:7]