SECOND LESSON: John 8:12; 2 Corinthians 5: 6-9

FIRST LESSON: Isaiah 2: 1-5

SECOND LESSON: John 8:12; 2 Corinthians 5: 6-9

November 27, 2016

FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

“Inviting the Light In”

Sermon ©Lisa C. Farrell

Today is the first Sunday in Advent, the season of light. We celebrate Jesus, the light who has come into the world, the light who has come into our hearts and lives. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Paul wrote that God made God’s “light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”

As winter draws in with cold days and dark nights, we need more than ever to experience the light of God in our lives. We have hope, even amongst great political uncertainty, that God will be our light. When we are weary, when we are afraid, God promises to be with us and to guide us through the darkness.

The good news about the light of God is made even more profound by where God has placed that light. God has given us the Spirit of God not just to help us from the outside but to actually dwell within us. Paul says that we have this treasure from God in jars of clay. We are clay! In Greek the words literally mean earthenware vessels, so any form could be intended. Pottery was a part of daily life in the ancient world, and every imaginable form has been uncovered by archaeologists. Although there were upscale versions of pottery with elaborate decorations, most were common everyday items. Everybody used pottery. Even broken pots were often saved and used in poorer households. Clay was used to make chamber pots, bowls, amphora for liquids and dishes for food. A very common practice among the people during times of political instability was to hide coins and valuables in clay jars that were then buried or hidden in caves. The Gnostic gospels were discovered hidden away in a cave in large clay jars. It was such a common practice Jesus described it in the parable of a man buying a field and discovering a buried treasure. When Paul speaks of treasure hidden in earthenware vessels this practice is probably what he is referring to. We are common and ordinary clay containers. There’s nothing impressive about us. But inside of us our owner, God, has hidden a treasure.

Clay pottery is fragile. It is easily broken. Why would God put something so valuable in something so fallible? According to Paul, God uses our frailty to show that the power is from God not us. God gives us “all surpassing” power—extraordinary power. The word power is dynamis from which we get dynamite. This is explosive power, a power that turns our lives upside down and inside out. It is a power that can give us the courage to do things we would never attempt in our own strength.

Having said this, Paul then shifts gears to explain how this power manifests itself. He uses a standard literary form called the cataloguing of deeds. Usually this type of list highlights a person’s exploits and amazing accomplishments! Paul takes the form and uses it in an entirely different way. The four “exploits” he lists aren’t accomplishments at all. They are not things anyone in their right mind would want. He lists hardships. And he says “on every side” and “always”.

First Paul says he is “hard pressed.” This isn’t just a little bit of pressure. This is having the life squeezed out of him. And it’s coming from all sides—friends as well as enemies. Have you ever been there? But despite the fact that he has been hard pressed, he has not been crushed. The jar is cracked, but has not crumbled to dust. The pressure is great but has not overcome him.

Second, Paul says he is perplexed but not in despair. Unfortunately we miss the word play in English. In Greek the two words are very similar. The first means to be at a loss as how to act. The second word means to be completely at a loss and in despair. Paul might go through times of confusion, times when the way is not clear, but he has never been completely and utterly lost.

Third, Paul says he has been persecuted but not abandoned. The word for persecuted means pursued, as in pursuing or tracking down an enemy, a criminal, or prey. Paul was often pursued by his enemies. But through it all God never abandoned him. He always found a way out and a way through.

Finally Paul says he has been struck down, but not destroyed. Even when they did catch up to him and tried to bring about his death, they did not succeed. Few of us stop to think about it, but Paul’s life was under threat for much of his ministry.

What is our reaction to adversity? Most of us give up. If things are hard right now we reckon God isn’t blessing what we’re doing, that we should walk away and do something else. But struggle is often a sign that we are on exactly the right course. The devil doesn’t attack something that’s not a threat! We Americans, however, have bought into a worldly idea of success and imported it directly into the church without thought. The Corinthians clearly did the same thing. A successful church is one that is full, has lots of money, lots of programs, people who are well off and prosperous and everything is easy. This is what we all want. We want to be comfortable. Who wants to struggle? And yet Paul’s idea of success includes such intense pressure he feels like the life is being squeezed out of him, total confusion about what direction to go next, people trying to kill him and being trapped but getting away. Really? Maybe we need to re-evaluate what constitutes a successful church. Looking around I think we meet the criteria.

The great Paul did not have a successful ministry by the standards of many in his day. He was criticized as a poor preacher. He was told he was hard to understand—which may be true. He was described as physically weak. Having survived as many shipwrecks and beatings as he did he was no doubt scarred, and in this society having scars was looked down upon. The congregations he founded were small. They were often filled with controversy and conflict. And Paul’s answer to all his accusers was that we have this treasure in jars of clay. His humanness, his very weakness, is what reveals God at work.

Paul looked to the God who worked within him to give him strength and guidance. He invited the light in. He made space for God. God wants to dwell within us, but often we only let God have only a small portion of our lives. We say, okay God, you can have the front vestibule, but I’m keeping the living room for myself. Or we let God into the living room, but don’t let God anywhere near the bedroom. We’re like hoarders with rooms full of junk we don’t want anyone to see. God loves us and wants to make God’s home in us. And we have to let the light in in order to let the light out. We can’t give what we don’t have. Many of us are afraid to do this. We think we have to be perfect in order to let God in. If we let God in before we’ve cleaned house, God might find some really nasty things living in the corners. We imagine that once we’ve cleaned things up a bit we’ll let God in. But we aren’t capable of doing this cleaning work ourselves, and God knows everything anyway. In the song Anthem the late Leonard Cohen said,

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack, a crack in everything

That's how the light gets in.

God knows we are cracked, chipped and broken clay vessels, and has decided to put God’s power and grace in us not despite this fact, but because of it. You would think God would have the sense to choose more expensive containers, but no, the common ones will do just fine.

This Advent let’s let the light in. Let’s be crackpots for God and not take ourselves so seriously. God is mercy and love. God’s ideas of success are not the world’s. We’re where we are meant to be. We don’t need to panic if we’re not succeeding by the world’s standards. The world’s standards are a bit off. It’s eternal life not life on the Main Line that should be our guide for living. Above all we can trust that the light of God will not harm us. Instead it will heal us, and allow our imperfections be used to bring healing to others. Amen.

Isaiah 2:1-5

1This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established

as the highest of the mountains;

it will be exalted above the hills,

and all nations will stream to it.

3Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the temple of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us his ways,

so that we may walk in his paths.”

The law will go out from Zion,

the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4He will judge between the nations

and will settle disputes for many peoples.

They will beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nation will not take up sword against nation,

nor will they train for war anymore.

5Come, descendants of Jacob,

let us walk in the light of the Lord.

John 8:12

12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

2 Corinthians 4: 6-9

6For 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 God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

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