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Sweetly Broken

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By Larry Short

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

I write for a website called Quora. People visiting this website submit questions about faith, science, and almost every other topic you can imagine. Anyone can respond to these questions, and the more your responses get upvoted as helpful by those reading them, the more you will be asked to provide answers to similar questions.

I get lots of questions, primarily about faith, but also about mushrooms! (Who knew?)

This week someone asked, “What does Paul mean by ‘jars of clay’ in 2 Corinthians 4:7?”

I thought that was a great question, so I began digging into it. I wanted to share with you what I learned, because I think it relates very closely to the challenges we are currently experiencing.

Actually, if you look carefully at that verse, “jars of clay” isn’t the only interesting metaphor there. Perhaps even more important is the phrase this treasure. What is the significance of these two metaphors? And what do they have to do with us here on earth, battling COVID and isolation and social injustice and upheaval and political quandaries and economic problems and everything else that we have been struggling through?

It’s All About the Treasure

As I looked at verse 7 and its context, I realized that Paul first defines this treasure in the verses that precede verse 7. Verse 4 refers to the treasure as being the “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” And verse 5 adds, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” Verse 6 says that the God who declared that the light He created would “shine out of darkness” also has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

“This treasure” is the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news that He loves us and gave Himself for us so that we could live forever with Him! And like any light that God has created, it has to shine out of darkness. Unless impeded (thinking here about Jesus’s words in Matthew 5:15, “Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house”), light can do naught but shine.

Our job, therefore, is to not impede the light that otherwise wants to shine out, overcoming darkness! The problem is, there are distinct similarities between our jars of clay and the basket Jesus refers to. Both can impede light and keep it from shining.

So What Exactly Is a Jar of Clay?

I think the verses that follow verse 7 help us understand what Paul means by the phrase jars of clay. These verses focus on who we are as Christ followers. We are afflicted but not crushed, perplexed but not overcome by despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. Death is at work in us, so that God’s life can be at work in others.

In other words, we are (and forgive the pun) a basket case! But we are God’s basket case.

One thing about jars of clay is that they are fragile. They are made of dirt and are easily cracked and broken.

Another thing about cracked and broken jars of clay is that the light can shine out of the cracks!

Brokenness may not be something we say we aspire to. It hurts to be broken. And in these days of pandemic, social chaos, financial difficulties, and political conflict, I think we are all feeling pretty broken.

But—if we allow it—brokenness is exactly something God can use to shine His gospel light brightly out of the cracks in our lives! As songwriter/worship leader Jeremy Riddle sings:

At the cross, You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees
And I am lost for words, so lost in love
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

Let’s not just be cracked and broken. Let’s be sweetly broken, wholly surrendered!

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RIGHT NOW!

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Jeff Foerster

Hazard! Warning! Attention! These words demand a response. So, too, does the present moment demand a response. Some have begun by giving in to fear—engaging in panic buying (or selling) and similar activity. But this is not the way of Jesus.

This time is a gift. By way of governmental authority, we have been given a “time-out.” However, many of our service workers, especially health care professionals, are working overtime in an environment of exposure. These are our “soldiers” in this fight on the front lines, risking themselves to protect many. They and their families need our support, including prayer.

For the rest of us, we’ve been enlisted to participate by not participating. We’ve been asked to stay home. Restaurants are closed for dining, movie theaters and sports arenas are shuttered, and travel has been inhibited. Some of us are more vulnerable and have isolated from nearly all physical social contact to avoid infection. For most, this leads to more time at home. What to do?

You may have read an article or watched a video describing options to pass the time away. “Stay busy,” they say. Tackle your to-do list, binge watch a whole season, try out a new recipe, give in to anxiety. Okay, so I added last one. Instead, I’d like to offer you a couple of different options:

  • Look out!
  • Do nothing.

Look out for the needs of others. Pray for our nation and our leaders in each area and level of government. They need God’s help. They need His salvation. Also, find others to connect with digitally or virtually, by web or by phone. Use this time even as an excuse to call someone that you haven’t before. Be proactive in asking what needs others have, and seek to be generous. Look for opportunity outside our church body as well. Share what you find with others and remember that your words and actions contain power. Watch diligently for opportunity and share the good news of Jesus Christ with others.

Do nothing. Snatch time from the thief that says, “Stay busy.” Don’t give in to the temptation of passing your time away or filling it with second-best things. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). The translation I linked says, “cease striving.” Stop. Turn as an individual, or as a family, to our Everlasting Father. Sit in silence, pray, read Scripture, sing, walk, and talk. Ask Him what work He is doing within you as you experience this situation. Cast all your fear upon Him, because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:7). Shower Him with praise and adoration, as He rightly deserves. Laugh with Him. Cry with Him. Talk with Him. Wonder with Him. Enjoy Him, right now and forever!

Don’t miss this historic opportunity—this time when God can be seen and experienced with greater clarity because many things such as money and security and routine have been stripped away. A vacuum is created, and I don’t wish for you to fill it just for it to be filled. Don’t long or settle for “blessings” from the Master’s table and neglect the Master himself. This is a time to enter into joy and thanksgiving because of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ! He is the same yesterday, and today, and forevermore. Hallelujah!

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Feeling “Disconnected”?

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By Larry Short, Community Ministry Director

Feeling disconnected? If so, you’re not alone.

It’s a frequent subject of discussion among leaders at Elim: hearing from people, or about people, who simply feel disconnected in the context of our church body.

People generally react to a feeling of disconnectedness in one of three ways:

  • They suffer in silence.
  • They reach out for help.
  • They leave, hopeful to find a place where they will feel more connected.

I think we all feel disconnected at times. If you are feeling disconnected, like people don’t care or you don’t matter or don’t belong, or you can’t figure out how to make a meaningful contribution, or you have trouble establishing meaningful relationships, then our first hope and prayer is that you will reject both options #1 and #3 above and focus on option #2 — reaching out for help!

Is there a simple solution for disconnectedness?

It’s tempting for me to try to offer a simple solution for this feeling of disconnectedness. For instance, as I was thinking about writing this Last Word, two verses were running through my mind:

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)

Also:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Writing in the Gospel Coalition, Pastor Erik Raymond says there are two sources of a feeling of disconnectedness at churches. One is unhealth in the ministry itself, but the other is unhealth in the individual.

What if I’m the problem?

Raymond asks, bluntly, “What if the disconnection we feel is actually the consequence of selfishness?”

Scripture doesn’t talk much about the importance of how we feel in the context of the church body we are a part of. But it does talk a great deal about whether or not we are willing to deny ourselves and commit ourselves to God’s glory and the best interests of His Church and the people around us.

And it also recognizes the primary significance of us willingly committing ourselves to remain “plugged in,” or connected, to the Vine — that is, to Jesus. Whether we feel it or not, that, in reality, is our most vital connection!

When depression settles in

We would hope that if we were always willing to deny ourselves in service of our Master, to follow Him and stay closely connected to Him, we would never feel disconnected from other branches who had a similar focus.

But we all experience loneliness, and we sometimes feel anxiety, depression, or despair.

How we feel is obviously a challenging and complex subject. I am very much an emotion-driven person, so I recognize the power of our emotions. Like many others, I have experienced depression. And I know that when you’re in that pit, it’s very difficult to see any hope for a way out. And for people who are very emotionally driven, there’s a lot that can happen circumstantially to drive us into that pit.

My own bout with depression came at the end of my freshman year of college. I recognized that I was physically worn down, working too hard without sufficient rest. A physical illness then led to a deep well of depression. While I was in that well, I couldn’t imagine a way out, and while those around me sympathized, I was convinced none really knew what I was feeling. I felt very alone.

I’m thankful that over a period of a couple of months, with a change of venue and lots of rest, God Himself brought me up out of that well and met me in my loneliness. But the experience has given me empathy for others who go through similar bouts, some way longer than mine.

So I know from experience there is no simple or easy answer when the disconnectedness you feel is a result of an unhealthy mental state.

When the church causes disconnectedness

It’s also not a simple matter to address disconnectedness if part of the underlying issues are to be found within the church itself. At Elim, we seek to enhance Christian community and a sense of connectedness through focusing on healthy small groups and on outreach and service to others. There are some things we can do programmatically — working to support and encourage small group leaders, for example — but much of what needs to happen simply needs to happen organically because the people in our church are willing to take risks, to step outside of their own fears and insecurities and build bridges to others.

I recently heard a story that I think demonstrates this point powerfully. A group of women were playing a game around a table at a women’s event. One of the observers made a comment to another observer, along the lines of, “That group of women is quite a clique.”

“What do you mean?” the other woman asked her.

“They just enjoy their own company,” the first woman explained. “They are not really open to others like me joining in.”

“How do you know this?” the second woman challenged gently. “Have you ever asked to be a part?”

The first woman admitted that she hadn’t.

“Why don’t you try it and see what happens?” suggested the second.

So the first woman did that, courageously. Swallowing her pride, she walked up and asked if she could join in on the game in progress.

“Of course!” the ladies all said in unison, then scrambled to pull up another chair. The “outsider” took her place, joined in the game, and very soon felt like she was a vital part of that circle of fellowship.

A two-way street

We all need to be looking for those on the fringes and inviting them in. And I know of many people at Elim who do this so well. But disconnection is a two-way street! When you’re the outsider, sometimes you just have to take a risk and ask to join. Or step out and serve another person. Or find that person who looks like you yourself feel, and try to make a connection with them. As simple as it sounds, I do agree that a key solution to loneliness and disconnection is to seek to get connected.

Ultimately, we are each of us in the same boat. I know that even pastors sometimes feel disconnected, as the writer of that Gospel Coalition article shared. We are all solitary branches! But God calls us to connect first to the Vine and then in service to the other branches around us, to become a healthy, functioning part of His Body.

After all, that is how we will spend eternity. We’d best get used to it now!

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Megaphones, Lights, and the Great Commission

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By Bill Naron

The word gospel appears in the New Testament over 75 times. Most of the times this word is used, it is accompanied by words such as preach, publish, and heard. So, is the gospel really a thing that is “lived” out, or is it something to be proclaimed and maybe preached on street corners?

Here is where I would like to challenge our mindset just a little bit, and I would like to give another perspective on this idea. First, let’s define what we are talking about—it is the gospel. The word gospel is defined in the dictionary several ways. The first definition is “the teaching or revelation of Christ.” Gospel is the Good News! It is in its very essence the announcement that Jesus was born and that He performed miracles, lived a blameless life so He could go to the cross and pay the price for our sins, then rose from the grave, defeating hell and death (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Romans 1:16).

This is powerful stuff, but we cannot literally live the proclamation of Jesus and who He is; we can only live in the transformative implications of the gospel. That is, we live differently after coming to salvation because of the work that the gospel does in our lives.

Jesus is the very central point of the gospel. He is the Good News. When we are raised to new life in Christ, we live differently. Paul mentions this in Romans 12, when he says to not be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In John, Jesus talks about how He has chosen us out of the world, calling us to live a life that is set apart from the world. I am presenting that the change in living our lives differently is only the start of our faith journey. We are then called to verbally share the Good News and express who Christ is and how the truth of Scripture has affected our lives.

Therefore, in doing so will onlookers be provoked to question our faith. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” In this Scripture, Peter is not asking us to be prepared to invite people to church on Sunday or even stating that only pastors need to be prepared to give an answer to those who inquire. Instead, he challenges every follower of Christ to be prepared to give a response when asked the reason for the hope that is within him.

We are a people who have been set apart and chosen out of the world; embrace that identity and live into it. You have been chosen to partake in work that is far greater than you could even imagine. You have been chosen to go forth into your community to preach the Good News of Jesus. Understand with clarity that Jesus calls you friend so, therefore, you know what God the Father and Christ are doing. Understand with clarity that you are covered in His righteousness and that the old is gone and the new has come.

So, let us go out to the world that is so dark, and let us be lights. Live a life and faith that is set apart from the world and let us also be megaphones for Jesus. Speak kindly and talk constantly about the goodness of the Lord in our own lives. Then when someone asks about the hope that they see in us, we should also be willing and able to engage in that conversation. This is the Great Commission.

 

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The Gospel Message

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By Tom Chase, Elder Board Chairman

As I sit to write this week’s Last Word, I am struggling to put into words what I believe He would have me write. In part, because I believe the message is still being formed in me. God is stirring in me a newer and greater concern for the lost. He is doing it in the following ways:

First, the Men’s Bible study group has just completed its study of the Book of John. He’s a guy that was with Jesus. He witnessed His life, His person, His death, and His resurrection, and he was and is totally convinced that Jesus is the Savior of the World, the Son of God! John writes:

We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.

(John 1:14b)

Reading through John, it is hard to miss his intent to communicate the truth about Jesus and to give evidence about the One whom he has heard and seen and touch and examined. All these things he didn’t keep to himself, but shared so others (me and you) might be convinced too. He proclaims his purpose in writing:

But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God,
and that by believing
you may have life in his name.

(John 20:31)

Wow! I want to be that kind of guy, too, because I have heard and seen and touch (maybe in different ways) and examined (historically and evidentially) and am convinced that Jesus is the Christ, my Savior, and the Savior of the world!

Second, Brian Shape shared with the elders a video clip from Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller, a group that professionally perform illusions and sleight-of-hand magic. Penn is also an atheist and an advocate for atheism. In the video a “Gift of a Bible,” Penn shares a story of a man who gives him a Bible. Penn appears to be genuinely moved by a person, a rational someone, willing to go out of his way to communicate what he really believes for the benefit of another. His point—and I believe he is right—is that if we really believe Jesus is the Savior of the world and that if it is missed and not accepted, one dies and goes to Hell, it becomes paramount to tell others about that reality. Penn’s says, “how much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell someone.”


Penn’s message is incredibly sobering. It makes me stop and think, What is it that has stopped me in the past? Is it because of social awkwardness or how it would make me look or feel? Is it that I don’t want to be pushy? I will not keep sharing if someone does not want to hear, but that presupposes that I have started the conversation!

I should be talking about the most important thing in my life. I should be consistent to proclaim what is real and true, in a respectful and genuine way. Penn says that one nice guy won’t change his belief that there is no God, which makes me wonder, How many would it take? Then I wonder why the church, as a whole, has been so defensive and less communicative. I cannot tell everyone, but I should be telling (talking about my God) to those in my sphere of influence. The guy Penn describes in the video takes this a step farther and includes a performer from a show he (the believer guy) was incidentally involved in. Lord, make me bolder. Lord, make this true in me, that I would start conversations about You! That all that I have heard and seen and touched and examined and am convinced about You in my life would naturally flow out of me! Lord please make it so!

Third, a close-up view inside the foster care system in our state and our community has revealed a system filled with great hurt and dysfunction. Our system is overloaded and overwhelmed. The truth is that our system is overloaded and overwhelmed because our society is broken, reeling in hurt and dysfunction, and in desperate need of a Savior. We know Someone who can change the heart of man—His name is Jesus. We do have the answer! But to give that answer will require boldness, conviction, and willingness to get involved in the messiness of life with others. Have we been called to do that?

Then Jesus came to them [passionate followers of Him] and said,
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples [passionate followers of Him] of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:18-20)

So, the answer for me is yes! He has called me to do that.

What about you? If while reading this, you, too, have been challenged with a renewed desire to reach those around you, then allow the Lord to develop within you habits to reach those around you!

I know the words of the following song, “Forgiveness” by Michael West reference forgiveness, that is, forgiveness we extend to others.


The Gospel message (sharing Jesus), though, is all about forgiveness, too—restoring one’s relationship with God the Creator. Our call is to love someone enough to share this life-changing reality and forgiveness that could be theirs if heard and accepted. My prayer is something like this:

Show me how to love the unlovable
Show me how to reach the unreachable
Help me now to do the impossible
Forgiveness [extended by Jesus]
I finally want to set it free
Show me how to see what your mercy sees
Help me now to give what you gave to me
Forgiveness [extended by Jesus]

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Our Father Delights in Us!

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By Martin Schlomer, Senior Pastor

“Light up the darkness!” (2 Corinthians 4:6, The Message)

Delight, honor, and repair: these three words are reshaping my heart and relationships. These are three words my Father has spoken over me. In my upcoming Last Words, I’m going to look at each of these three words, one at a time.

This week:

My Father delights over me!

This is the heartbeat of the gospel. Our Father delights over us! This is personally transformational. When I am having a horrible day and my choices reflect the darkness of my own ways, He speaks a better word over me than I deserve. When I sin, He offers forgiveness. When I fail, He gives me His Son, and I get the righteousness of Jesus. He lights up my darkness, and He shepherds me through the chaos! Why? Because He’s my Father. This is what good and gracious fathers do. We are connected.

“Light up the darkness!” Speak our Father’s delight over another person today, tomorrow, the day after, next week. When we do, we bring the presence of hope and beauty into lives silently simmering in uncertainty, loneliness, shame, and chaos. Find something our Father delights in and speak it. It’s transformational for them and for us. I’m the beneficiary. As I pass on my Father’s delight, His delight leaves a residue of joy in my life!

Delight, honor, and repair — three words that are reshaping my heart and relationships. In a few weeks, I’ll share about the concept of honor. Until then, “Light up the darkness!”

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