Lectionary 9B

 2 Corinthians 4:5-12

Between Thursday and Saturday, I participated in the North Carolina Synod’s gathering at Lenoir-Rhyne University. The theme for the Gathering was “We are More”, taken from lines from Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans where he is writing about the suffering of the present day, and asks, rhetorically, how God’s people ought to respond, and whether we should despair. He answers his own question, writing,

“No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:38)

Throughout the Gathering, in worship and in conversation, we reflected on what it means to be more ̶ to be more than us and them, and to be “we”.

 And while I was there, I read the verses we have today from another of Paul’s letters, this time not to the Romans, but to the church in Corinth. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul was writing to help the young congregation there navigate the thorny places where faith and life conflict. Knowing there were conflicts in the community there, Paul wrote to remind them of their unity in Christ Jesus.[i] Our reading today comes from his second letter, and at this point, Paul’s relationship with the believers in Corinth is more strained. (2 Corinthians 2) They have been hosting teachers whose teachings are contrary to the Gospel, and now there are divided loyalties among God’s people. There is an “us” and a “them”.

That’s why our reading begins with Paul reminding God’s people, “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord….” (4:5)

We find our identity in Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Our identity is sealed by the Holy Spirit at the font in baptism. To borrow from Paul again,

⁷ We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:7-8 NRS)

For us, as Christians, Christ Jesus is at the center.

Never ourselves. Never another human being or ideology.

When Paul writes in this letter, “we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7), Christ is the treasure. The love of God, abundant and boundless, for each and every one of us; the forgiveness of our sin and our redemption and sanctification –that happens in relationship with God. It is the treasure that we are given when we are named God’s children. We don’t find it or earn it, but receive it, freely from the God who created us and loves us.

We are the clay jars. We are the fragile, mortal vessels that carry Christ into the world, whose hearts shine on the world that they may know God’s love and mercy. We are the vessels through which God’s love reaches our neighbors, that expansive “we” that encompasses both “us” and “them”.

I was challenged in our conversations to think about who I might name as “us” and “them”, in my own complicity in dividing the world into parts.

It is human instinct.

Just like Pastor Jonathan is dedicated to the Gamecocks, as far back as I can remember, I have watched Duke basketball. Maybe you’ve heard how serious the rivalry between Duke and Carolina is.

Both my mom and my dad went to Duke, and my granddaddy worked at the Medical Center there. We have always cheered for Duke!

But there was a faithful couple in my first congregation who were Carolina fans, and I did learn to cheer for Carolina, as long as they weren’t playing Duke!

In a more serious vein, you may have noticed I am a woman in ministry.

Within the Christian faith, there are siblings in Christ, even within Lutheranism, who do not condone women in ministry and who would not recognize my ordination or allow me to preach or preside at Holy Communion. It is easy for me to “other” those believers and dismiss them as unworthy of relationship. And yet, listening to Paul’s words, I must remember what we heard earlier, “We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord….” (4:5) I don’t have to agree with others or even share the same beliefs to enter into relationship with my siblings in Christ if I begin with God’s love for us all.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy, or fun. It is really hard. Paul tells us,

⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;  

⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.

¹¹ For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. (4:8-11)

Afflicted,

perplexed,

persecuted and

stricken,

all for Jesus’ sake.

I can watch a ballgame with Carolina fans. It’s harder, but not impossible, to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t honor the ordination of women. Harder still to have honest, hard conversations with people whose beliefs are different than mine about who God is, or about how to solve the problems of the world and who should make those decisions.

The kingdom of God is broader than my opinions,

no matter how right I believe I am.

The kingdom of God is bigger than my imagination,

because it isn’t Christina’s kingdom, it is God’s.

If we are going to be “more than” we are,

we must widen our embrace to include those we would other.

To include those with whom we disagree on big things and small.

We must proclaim Christ Jesus, and not ourselves,

that Christ’s light will shine through us to a hurting world.

Let us pray…

Good and gracious God,

Thank you for the abundant and boundless love and mercy that you freely give us.

Thank you for your Son Jesus, in whom we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28)

Show us how to widen our embrace of those who are different from us; give us wisdom and help us love well,

Not because we are the same, not because we are in full agreement, but because we belong to you.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.

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[i] Luther Seminary. EntertheBible.org