“For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:6-9:
“We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” This verse from St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians always stirs up memories of when I was a kid. My Mother was an avid gardener, and she filled our yard with rose bushes, irises, and hydrangeas, plus a few tomato plants that she added every summer. And inside, almost every room in our house had one windowsill that was full of houseplants. So, when Paul mentions earthen vessels, I think of the large collection of terracotta flowerpots that sat outside our backdoor. I had to be careful playing out there because those things were so fragile!
The earthen vessels that Paul was thinking of in his epistle are our human bodies, which are also very fragile. The treasure that every Christian carries in his own earthen vessel is the light of God, which shines in our hearts. But Paul warns us that our desire to let that light shine out into the world can be dangerous. We may find ourselves “afflicted in every way… perplexed… persecuted… struck down.” But the good news is that we also carry within us the life of Christ, which makes us joyful and resilient, so that we are “not crushed… not driven to despair… not forsaken… not destroyed.”
Strange as it may seem, that last part also reminds me of Mom’s terracotta flowerpots. I was a very active kid, and I’m pretty sure I broke or chipped quite a few of those pots. But my Mother always kept the broken pieces and placed them in the bottom of a new pot before she filled it with dirt. She told me once that the small pieces keep the dirt from coming out of the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. That’s pretty much what Paul meant when he said that we are, “struck down but not destroyed.” He was telling us that God sees our brokenness and helps us to pick up the pieces and find a way to make them useful. After all, He created these earthen vessels that we live in, and He breathed His Spirit into them. He knows how very fragile they are, but because of His love for us, He assures us that even if we are afflicted and persecuted, we are never crushed or forsaken. When we bring our broken pieces to our merciful and compassionate God, the recycling process can begin. Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God.
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“Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 GNT
If you sometimes have trouble following St. Paul’s amazing long sentences, as I often do, try reading the Good News Translation (Today’s English Version). Various Christian organizations used to hand out a pocket-sized New Testament on college campuses to encourage kids to read the Good News. My copy was printed in 1972, but Google Play and Apple both have newer versions online in their GNT app.
Liked this one a lot. My earthen vessel seems to be healing.
I remember one time when I was asked to do a reading during Mass at St. Vincent’s Nursing Home, and I made a comment after Mass that St. Paul never learned about rum on sentences!