Treasure in jars of clay

For each UW-River Falls home football game, I have the opportunity to meet with the team prior to their pregame warm-ups. I share with them words of advice as they enter the competitive arena. We have a great relationship, the football team and I, because of my experience as an athlete/coach and their eagerness to reach their full potential.

This morning, I prefaced our conversation with the idea of stepping up to our highest level of living and stepping into our highest potential as athletes and human beings. I wanted to encourage them to live in their greatest capacity. First, we looked at what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

Do you not know that in a race all the runner run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

I love this particular verse because Paul uses athletics as a metaphor to describe our spiritual journey. As an athlete, I can relate to strict training and beating my body. However, this is a notion that most individuals choose to avoid. But would you rather be average at something that is easy, or great at something that is difficult? See, Paul is saying that we are in a race - whether we like it or not - so we might as well run to win. The best things in life don't come easily, right, but what's the point?

Moving forward to another letter from Paul, he addresses the Philippians by telling them that they can do everything through him (God) who gives them strength. In fact, as we read the text, we can insert our own names into this sentence: "I, Kevin, can do everything through him who give me strength." However, the most important part of this sentence is not your own name at the beginning, it's the second half of the sentence. So we don't become arrogant in our own abilities, it's clear that the strength comes from God.

What does that strength look like? Paul paints the picture in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12. He talks about being perplexed, persecuted and struck down. Again, as an athlete, these are adjectives that I can clearly identify with. If I desire to go into "strict training," I will feel the pressures of wanting to give up and give in. Still, there's hope. Paul said that we have "this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (v. 7). Remember the Philippians verse? God gives us the strength and this is how we show it to others.

Our treasure is inside a jar clay. Does this seem odd to you? If I have a valuable treasure, I'm going to store it inside something much stronger than a jar clay. I'm probably going to get a vault in a highly secured location to be sure it's safe, but this irony is beautifully articulated in this verse. We actually need the jar to break to expose the treasure that is inside! Everything will become difficult, but this treasure is a new strength inside of us. Something we were not aware that we possessed. We need to be broken to let the treasure shine.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around with us the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:7-10