“Jars Of Clay”
Text: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18 (esp. v. 7)
11-12-2022
In the name of Him who is Lord of the Church, dear friends in Christ. Greetings to you from the saints in chilly northwest Iowa. It truly is an honor to be preaching here at St. Paul Lutheran for Pastor Dudley’s installation service. We go back a long way. We first met when we started our classes at the Ft. Wayne Seminary 29 years ago and we’ve been friends ever since. In fact, I consider Pastor Dudley to be one of my best friends as well as my mentor and spiritual counselor. He has helped me through some pretty tough times in the past and he always gave me sound, Biblical advice. And for that, I sincerely thank you Nathan. As you folks here in Kansas will soon learn, besides his absolute devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, his greatest asset is his lovely wife, Karol. She too has been a marvelous, supportive friend to both me and my wife. I guess what I’m trying to say is that God has truly blessed your congregation more richly than you could have ever imagined.
Anyway, having said all that, I need to fill you in about your new Pastor. Ah, you knew the other shoe was going to drop, didn’t you? Have no fear. I’m not going to pull old skeletons out of Pastor Dudley’s closet. {Trust me, there isn’t anything even remotely embarrassing there.} Rather, we’re going to look at what the Apostle Paul has to tell us in our text from 2 Corinthians 4 about the pastoral ministry. You members of the congregation need to hear it so that you know what to expect of your Pastor. And Nathan, you need to hear it also; as an encouragement, a reminder, and an admonition for fulfilling your duties as a minister of God’s precious Word and Sacrament.
Let’s begin by diving right into the middle of chapter 4. In verse 7, Paul says to his fellow ministers, “We have this treasure in jars of clay.” The treasure he speaks of is the wondrous grace of God which is ours through Jesus Christ. It’s a treasure more valuable than any possession here on earth. And yet, the Lord has chosen to use “jars of clay” to carry and deliver this gift of salvation. The imagery that Paul is using there is the clay pottery that was fired in an oven and used as vessels for holding various things. There wasn’t anything valuable or fancy about it. In fact, it was plain-Jane and very common. After daily, household use, it had chips and probably even a few cracks in it. Paul says, that’s your Pastor. He’s a chipped and cracked pot. No, I didn’t say Pastor Dudley was a “crack pot.” Let me rephrase that. He’s a well-worn jar of clay being used by God.
You may not believe this, but 29 years ago we were young and handsome and in decent shape. Our hair was dark, our minds were sharp, and we had lots of energy for the ministry. But we’ve been banged up a bit over the years. I mean that both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Paul and his fellow ministers experienced this in spades. In verses 8-10 he briefly shows how they were battered and abused while preaching the Gospel. Paul especially was hounded by his enemies wherever he went. But God’s grace was so precious that enduring the abuse was worth it. That’s the kind of Pastor that God has sent to you saints here in Haven, Kansas. It may sound strange, but being in this well-worn condition is okay. It means the vessel was being used and not collecting dust on a shelf somewhere. Any Pastor worth his salt wants to be useful. And that usefulness doesn’t come without these “dings” from being a faithful minister of God’s grace.
Even though it may not be pleasant at times, we bear those dings joyfully. Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. This isn’t whining or an appeal for sympathy. However, you members of this congregation have an important role in all this. Like the Apostle Paul, Pastor Dudley is happy to be your leader. To use military terms, he’s your point man. But just like a formation of soldiers out on patrol, he needs you to protect his flanks. Those assaults will surely come because Pastor Dudley is not shy about speaking the whole truth of God’s Word. Trust me, there will be people who get angry and upset when he convicts them of their sin by speaking God’s Law. They will unfairly criticize and attack him privately and publicly. You Elders especially need to guard him from being blindsided by these evil assaults for simply doing his duty as your Pastor. Check on him regularly to see how he’s really doing. Here’s a novel idea: ASK him and don’t settle for a quick, “I’m fine.” Remind him that you’re standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Along with that, pray for him! And Nathan, you need to let these folks be a shield for you when you’re vulnerable. Don’t allow your pride to get in the way of asking for help. Let them care for and express their loving concern for both you and Karol.
Okay, let’s get back to Paul’s imagery of the jars of clay. Have you ever wondered why God would choose common, everyday men like us for this task? Why would He use cracked and chipped vessels for distributing the treasure of His invaluable means of grace? Perhaps an illustration will help. 42 years ago, my wife and I received a set of Corelle Ware for a wedding gift. By now, those plates and bowls have small chips all around the edges along with plenty of scratches. My wife has a beautiful set of China, and yet, 99% of the time the Corelle Ware is what our day-to-day food is served up on. Why? Because it’s durable even though it’s common and full of dings. And due to that, we’re more focused on the nutritious food that’s being served rather than the fancy dishes. It’s that way with the jars of clay that God uses for serving up His grace to you. Paul says the Lord does this, “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” You see, the important thing isn’t the looks or the slick preaching style of the Pastor. No, it’s the treasure of God’s grace that he’s serving to you regularly through Word and Sacrament. Pastor Dudley will be the common vessel that the Lord uses for the purpose of displaying His power to save.
This treasure of God’s grace is so valuable that Paul warns against any minister who would dare mess with it. The Gospel is sufficient in and of itself. It doesn’t need anything added or subtracted from it. In verse 2 Paul says, “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word…” In modern terms that means your Pastor doesn’t need the latest, greatest evangelism program in order to make the Gospel attractive. Don’t pressure him to open up Holy Communion to folks who are not in fellowship with us in order to make people “like” your church. And don’t be asking him to employ gimmicks to get people in the doors of your church. Nathan, that means your idea for the flaming baton twirlers is out! Seriously, though, don’t pressure him to be like the church down the road that outwardly may seem to be growing by using such tactics. He is to be concerned with your actual spiritual growth through regular worship and digging deeper into God’s Word in Bible Studies. I can guarantee you that Pastor Dudley will not tamper with this divine treasure, but rather, he will teach you the pure, saving doctrine of God.
Now, I’ve used the word minister several times. But do you really know what that word means? Actually, it fits nicely with what we’ve been talking about. A minister is a servant. And that’s exactly what Paul says that Pastors are supposed to be. In verse 5 he says, “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” In other words, Pastor Dudley is a servant of Christ Jesus. He serves you because his Master has sent him to do just that. But listen closely. He’s not your hired worker. He serves you at the good pleasure of God. Treat him as the servant of the Lord and as God’s messenger. Show respect and honor for the marvelous task that the Lord has entrusted to him. And Nathan, I would remind you of the same thing. You are the servant of Christ. Therefore, you’ll have to answer to Him for how you fulfilled your assignment of serving this congregation. So serve Him faithfully as you have in the past and as I’m confident you will in the future.
There’s one more thing you need to know about your new Pastor. He is a broken, frail sinner… just like all of you and just like me. He knows it and it humbles him. This is more than a simple flaw to be overlooked. His sinfulness makes him a leaky vessel that’s unfit to deliver the Gospel to you. But praise the Lord, he’s a repentant sinner that has been redeemed and forgiven by God’s grace through Jesus Christ. The Lord of the Church has healed and purified him, making this battered, jar of clay fit for service. Yes, he will still make mistakes. When he does, go to him out of genuine love and gently correct him. Then, forgive him just as Jesus has forgiven you.
When my oldest daughter got married, in their wedding sermon I told her husband that I was happy to have him as my son-in-law. But I also told him that I was very sad. I was sad because he was taking away one of my best friends. Well, I’m very happy for Pastor Dudley and Karol and this congregation. I know they will be loved and cared for by you folks here at St. Paul Lutheran Church. But I’m also sad because you’re taking away from me one of my best friends. Even though we didn’t live right nearby each other, we were close enough to get together semi-regularly. That will be more difficult now, but it’s okay. I take comfort in knowing that you have lovingly received this common man, this jar of clay, which God will use to powerfully convey His grace to you. Please, take good care of him and Karol. And may he serve you well to the glory of God and for the good of His church. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!
On Saturday, November 12, Pastor Meyer traveled to Kansas to preach at Pastor Nathan Dudley's Installation Service. Pastor Dudley is a friend and seminary classmate of Pastor Meyer.