God’s Power Shines Through Human Weakness
Daily Scripture
2 Corinthians 4:7-11
Bishop Will Willimon’s most recent book, The Church We Carry, is a plea for Christian unity. The church Willimon grew up in and always thought of as “home” disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church. Yet, despite the pain and ugliness of that process, he still finds hope. Each day, we’ll share a short excerpt from his book.
7 But we have this treasure in clay pots so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. 8 We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we aren’t crushed. We are confused, but we aren’t depressed. 9 We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned. We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out.
10 We always carry Jesus’ death around in our bodies so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies. 11 We who are alive are always being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies that are dying.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
“Only God’s love is steadfast. Legacies are God’s self-assignment, not ours…. Jesus, you have so many ways of reminding preachers of our frailty, vulnerability, corrigibility, contingency, and impermanence. As Paul said, “We have this treasure in clay pots…” *
Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to a community of Christians, many of whom had turned against him (even though he himself had won them to faith!). It was a painful disappointment, after years of struggles as he traveled and shared Jesus in the Roman world (2 Corinthians 11:23-27). Yet he trusted that, if he kept his inner spiritual focus on God’s eternal love, nothing in this world could crush or destroy him.
- Paul spoke of focusing on unseen and eternal things, not on visible things that don’t last. To another group, he wrote, “Think about the things above and not things on earth. You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:2-3). He genuinely saw his life as held safely in God’s hands, untouched by any earthly loss. How much is your focus limited to “here and now”? What helps you grow toward seeing your true life as eternally safe, hidden with Christ in God?
- Paul’s description of himself as a “clay pot” (verse 7) wasn’t false modesty. The image recognized the abiding truth, with which all of us must wrestle with at times, that God is God and we are not. How can learning to see yourself as a “clay pot” help put you in a better position to avoid feeling crushed by any of your human struggles, such as struggling with a difficult teenager, or facing job uncertainty?
Prayer
Lord God, some days all I can see are my failures, my setbacks, and my pain. On those days especially, I really need your grace to show me life as you see it, to show me your reality. Amen.
GPS Insights
Gwyn Thomas
Gwyn Thomas, who serves in donor relations at Resurrection, wrote today's Insights blog. A Boston native. she moved to Kansas City in 2020. Her husband Blake is a Congregational Care Pastor at Resurrection Leawood and a provisional elder in the UMC. Her favorite pastimes include pottery, hiking, frisbee, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her two children and their large orange cat, Tuna.
As if I needed another reminder of how human I am, today’s Scripture brings it right to the surface. Just this week, I’ve let moments of anxiety, sadness, future-planning stress, and overwhelm pull my focus away from Jesus. In those moments, I notice how quickly I respond in a way that’s more abrupt; especially in conversations that feel like they’re adding to my load.
To put words to what’s happening inside my body, I’ve started telling my husband: “I am feeling vulnerable today.” I don’t know where I came up with it, but for me it means that I know any wrong move might press against the cracks already forming. I am simply a fragile clay pot.
And yet, on the days when I feel most vulnerable, someone will tell me how kind I am. Or how confident I seem. Or how something I did or said positively impacted them. It’s surprising that God picks our vulnerable moments to be a light for someone else. Maybe it’s God’s way of reminding us, and the people around us, that perfection was never the promise of life on earth.
I want you to read verse 11 one more time: “We who are alive are always being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies that are dying.”
So today, if someone has resembled Jesus to you, tell them. They may be feeling vulnerable, and your words could be the very reminder they need of God’s awesome power at work in them.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Willimon, William H., The Church We Carry: Loss, Leadership, and the Future of Our Church (p. 144). Abingdon Press. Kindle Edition.
