Seeing Grace through Earthen Vessels

Posted by Pastor Pat on December 10, 2008

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.”  2 Cor. 4:7

In today’s culture of glitz, glamour, and glory it is easy to forget that we are but “jars of clay” (NIV).  We are clumps of clay waiting to be shaped under the Master’s touch.  It is only as He moves in us and through us to those around us that we echo His voice to others.  As I consider the infinity of God I am often staggered by our “puny” attempts to contain Him through our “monitoring” of other people’s spirituality.  Spiritual fruit is as diversified as the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.  Yet as I consider grace and its embodiment in “fleshly pots” I believe the following seven statements are the kinds of reflections we will see in us and through us by those around us.

1. We must never consider ourselves to be better than anyone else regardless as to where they were born, to whom they were born and to what they were born. In Christ’s Church, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

2. We must never allow ourselves to be, “Neglecting the commandment of God, by holding to the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).

3. We must never “hold to a form of godliness, [but] deny its power” (2 Tim. 3:5).  We can never have Christianity without Christ, religion without a relationship and a ministry without a message.  Jesus Christ IS life.

4. We must never forget “there are many members, but one body” (1 Cor. 12:20). “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). Thus there should “be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Cor. 12:25).

5. We must take delight in reaching the unacceptable with the unconditional love of God. May our enemies accuse us of being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Matt. 11:19).” We must always remember, “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox” (Prov. 14:4). The salvation of sinners and the sanctification of saints is a dirty (though gratifying) work.

6. As “those who belong to Christ Jesus [we] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24). Grace living understands that “the life which [we] now live in the flesh [we] live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave Himself up for [us]” (Gal. 2:20).

7. Let us have a God-like love for each other. Such a “Love is patient, kind and is not jealous; it does not brag and is not arrogant, it does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, it is not provoked, and does not take into account a wrong suffered, it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; [a God-like love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4-7).

I would encourage you to study the Scripture in order to see Him.  Learn to see Him in the imperative.  He is there waiting.  Christ is to be seen all around you in the richness of the diversity within His body.  All those people who do not fit your mold are reflecting Him.  Because of our personalities we have a tendency not to see Him in the diversity…but He is there.  May we have the strength of will to stop forcing “square pegs into round holes.”

By Pastor Patrick J. Griffiths.  For more information see the Waukesha Bible Church series on Galatians.