EmmDev 2016-08-10 [Treasure in Clay Pots (2Cor)] Still Standing

Still Standing

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.      (2Corinthians4:8-9)

Johannesburg's "94.7FM" radio station ran an advert in cinemas for a while. It featured a Parktown Prawn (imagine a cross between a cockroach and a T-Rex!) to the accompaniment of a mother's scream and then various attempts to vanquish him - shoes, doom, a shotgun, a flame-thrower, etc until at last he emerges from his hidey hole whiskers twitching and Elton John's "I'm still standing" playing in the background.

This is what Paul is driving at when he talks about his life as a follower of Christ: No absence of trouble and plenty of examples of grace.

In our modern day middle-to-upper class context we are quite attracted to the "prosperity gospel" that suggests that if we "come to Jesus, all our troubles will be over." Paul's theological framework is the antithesis of that. His framework is that when we follow Jesus, we should not be surprised if we are hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, struck down and susceptible to death. But we should also not be surprised to discover that, in spite of all of these things, we are not crushed, we don't despair, we are not abandoned and we are not destroyed - in fact, we will discover that life - actually the LIFE of Jesus (in all its unconquerable beauty) - will be revealed in us.

We'll still be standing!

Sometimes trouble comes and we are caught up in the "why me Lord?" cycle of self-pity. Paul offers us comfort, understanding and hope:

• The comfort lies in the image of the cracked clay pot and the light that shines from the Treasure within. Our pots may be cracked but the LIFE of Jesus can shine through us.
• The understanding comes from putting trouble in context. When we experience trouble, God isn't "picking on" us - Jesus had trouble, Paul had trouble, the Corinthians had trouble and so why should we be the exception?
• The hope comes from this:
  - With God, hard-pressing doesn't crush us.
  - With God's help perplexity doesn't end in despair.
  - God's unstoppable presence sustains the persecuted.
  - And God's healing restores those who are struck down.

Trouble, in Paul's book, is just a little bit of Jesus' death. The early Christians considered it a privilege to suffer along with Jesus. For no suffering can be compared to the death He died for us.

May it be that Christ's LIFE shines in you even as you carry some of His death in your life-backpack.

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