“Cracked pots”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, June 2, 2023

2 Corinthians 4:1-12 (Forward, p. 35) CEV p. 1207

The word, ‘cracked pot’, as in ‘he’s a cracked pot’, has often been used to describe a person who is rather unstable or questionable mentally or intellectually. It is not at all a complementary term, not at all.

But then there is the old children story, ‘The Cracked Pot.’ A water carrier had two earth-ware pots, one of which leaked badly. The leaking pot felt very badly about itself, that is, until it was revealed to it, that by leaking it had managed, albeit accidentally, to water an entire row of flowers. And so, its alleged imperfections and flaws actually had an overall beneficial effect. And, of course then, the moral of the story is that God can do the same with us—that our imperfections and flaws can be used by God for His greater glory—overall, to bless the world and help it out.

In today’s passage, the apostle Paul speaks of us believers as being earthen vessels, clay pots, and yes, some of us are ‘cracked’, as it were. But, if we leak, we leak the good news of Jesus Christ. We don’t hide it or keep it to ourselves but spill it out where everyone can see it and see its effects. And so, even our difficulties and struggles can work to God’s glory because we continue steadfast, remaining faithful and loyal, continuing with the work He had given us to do, and continuing to trust Him regardless of the circumstances. And, if people don’t (or can’t) see the impact of our lives it is simply that they are kept blind to it by busyness or other attractions, which are essentially the work of our spiritual enemy, the god of this world. But, no matter of this: we will simply keep at our work, keep on spreading the good news, come what may. Amen.

Forward notes: “For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’s sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you” (verses 11-12).

Commemoration: Blandina and her companions, the martyrs of Lyons

“Many of the greatest saints are seen as such because of the way they remain(ed) faithful through suffering. Many times, this deprivation is self-imposed through commitments to hunger, poverty, celibacy, or, in Paul’s case, an apostleship that involved all three.

“Usually when I read about such deprivation, I identify with the writer and equate austerity with holiness. I almost never identify with the Corinthians, for whom life is at work—and not death. Yet only some are called to be apostles or ascetics. But many are called to be those freed up by the work of apostles to enjoy abundance, to thrive, and thereby to image the life of Jesus.

“While I praise God for those like Paul and Blandina who fulfilled a call to carry the death of Jesus in their bodies, I also praise God that many, in part through the faithfulness of the former, get to embody death’s defeat and life’s expanse.”

Moving Forward: “What life is at work in you?”