Devotion: Up to Us, but not from Us (2 Cor. 4:1-7)

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.

2 Corinthians 4:1-7

There are a number of things that fall under the category of “the mysteries of God,” including the sublime teaching of the Trinity, the awe inspiring presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar, the wonderful re-birth of Holy Baptism, the marvelous union of God and man in the person of Jesus, and the humbling realities of Election by Grace. When we do spend some time and energy contemplating the mysteries of God we’re likely to focus on one of these great things. But 2 Corinthians 4:1-7 offers up a mystery that we often overlook, rarely give much thought to, and sometimes treat as something far less than the wonderful mystery that it is. The topic of this passage is the ministry of reconciliation that God has entrusted to us.

Perhaps we don’t treat this ministry as a mystery because we tend to view it as a task — maybe even as a burden. This perspective of the “ministry that brings righteousness” (2 Cor. 3:9) may come from misunderstanding what God wants us to understand when He tells us that the carrying out of this ministry is up to us. It is up to us to renounce the secret and shameful ways of our world. It is up to us to set forth the truth plainly. It is up to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord so that those who have been blinded by the god of this age might be delivered from the darkness of sin and death by the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Because it is up to us, we often approach ministry with the veils of human effort, human wisdom, and human techniques that hide the mystery of this ministry from us. But, just as He breaks through the blinded minds of unbelievers with His grace, the Holy Spirit works to remove these veils from us so that we can see that while it is up to us, this ministry is not from us. “We have this treasure in jars of clay,” His Word declares, “to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

God has purposefully stored the treasure of His love and grace for the world in us who are “jars of clay.” We are weak. We are faulty. We crumble. But the treasure that is in us is the power of God that works His will and stands forever. It is light for those in darkness, truth for the deceived, and life for those trapped in the death of sin. That God would entrust such a treasure to us is an incredible mystery — a mystery that is magnified when we consider that God has placed in us everything that He has given for the life of the world. Not only is there a treasure in us jars of clay, the treasure — the only real and lasting treasure — is in us. There is no doubt that it is up to us to bring this treasure to the world.

As long as we understand that bringing the treasure of Christ to the world is up to us but not from us, we can rejoice in the mystery and be sure that we will not lose heart. But if we lose sight of the fact that it is not from us, the mystery will slip away and and we will resort to approaches, techniques, measurements, and methods that are based on human wisdom and experience. We will determine our success and faithfulness by worldly standards. We will mimic the very things that we should renounce. Deception and the distorting of God’s Word will soon follow. We will think that it since it is up to us that it must come from us and be all about us. We will preach ourselves instead of Jesus Christ. We will fail because we are jars of clay. We will lose heart.

Thank God that He has made His light shine in our hearts! He has shown us the great mystery of His love, even expressing it by putting His treasure in jars of clay. By doing this He shows us that the all-surpassing power to carry out His ministry of reconciling the world is from Him. Yes, it is up to us to do the work of bringing the Gospel to the world.  And it is up to us to endure the Cross as we carry out His mission to make disciples of all nations. But we don't lose heart because of the glorious ministry of the Holy Spirit. Like the wind blowing wherever it pleases, without our understanding and beyond our control, the Spirit works faith when and where He wills assuring us that the power, the purpose, and the glory are not from us but belong to His mystery.