Gordon McPhee - delivered to St. Edward’s, Beauharnois.
Mark 2: 23 – 3: 6
SHOOT THE MESSENGER - PLEASE!
Introduction:
This morning's scripture reading is from Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth. Besides answering questions, he is also defending the Gospel message he had preached while with them. In his absence people he characterizes as ‘false teachers’ had been maligning the ministry of himself and the missionaries who travelled with him. Paul’s defense is not couched in clever words of theological and philosophical argument, but in the character and manner with which they presented the message of Jesus Christ. They were humble messengers only; Jesus Christ the Master is the message.
However, the message of Jesus Christ is only Good News to some. Paul tells how they have been abused for the sake of the Gospel, “What they did to Jesus, they do to us” he says. But unlike so many of us who, when we must bring unwanted news, disassociate ourselves from the cause crying, “Don’t shoot the messenger!” Paul says, “Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us.” As if to say, “Shoot the messenger,” showing he identifies with Christ, and the message is alive in him. Today we’re going to explore how we carry the message in us so that with our lives we too can say, “Shoot the messenger - please!”
Sermon:
As my dear wife will attest, neither my opinions nor my passions and prejudices are what you need to hear from me today. What I think won’t save you. It won’t set you on the road to healing, or salvation. I dare say, and this is probably the only opinion of mine that’s worth listening to, my own thoughts on right and wrong and how to live have probably done me far more harm than good, as they would also accomplish in those who took my advice. Many will enter your life with great words and excellent advice, and I’d suggest that even some will stand in this pulpit. Fortunately, I’m not alone in suggesting there is nothing I could say, or anyone could say, of themselves that would be of any benefit to you. Paul, that great apostle, said of his ministry, “Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master.”
When he says he is just an errand runner for Jesus, he’s not being self-deprecating; proudly humble as we sometimes think of some people. In the previous chapter, Paul spoke of the glory of the unveiling of the beauty of God in each of his children who turn to face Him saying, “God enters our lives and we become like him.” Paul and those with him are ready to face any trial for the Gospel, they refuse to wear masks, to maneuver and manipulate, keeping everything they “do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God. (2 Cor 4:2, MSG)”
Paul is exuberant and certain about the message they are carrying. But notice how he speaks about it, “It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ. (4:6)” He isn’t speaking of a Gospel of words, a new theology to replace the Torah that if followed will lead to salvation. Paul’s Gospel message is about the people’s lives. The face of Christ lighting up the life of a person overshadowed by despair, lost in the darkness of this world’s wisdom. And Paul could well speak of this, his own life having been redeemed from a well-intended but totally misguided persecution of the early church for, in his mind and heart, the good of Israel and the glory of God. On the Damascus road, Paul’s mind and spirit were filled with the light of Jesus Christ. Though his sight became blind he saw and knew the truth for the first time.
When he says they are carrying “this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of [their] ordinary lives (4:7)” he’s referring to the witness of their whole lives, not just their words. There is nothing glamorous or glorious about our ordinary lives and if there was it would only detract from the life of Jesus that dwells inside us. On my best days, my righteousness is only filthy rags compared to the glory of Jesus in my life (Is 64:6). And I’m afraid I must admit that I easily fall into the temptation to glaze and polish the exterior of my clay pot hoping to show on the outside the Glory of Christ that dwells within. But Paul makes it clear that what should be is that if you only look at me, you may well miss the brightness that is inside this plain clay pot. And that, to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with anything of myself.
The only beauty you should see, and the only beauty worth seeing, is the light of Christ in me, and if you don’t see that, you should only behold a plain clay pot of little worth. Paul says it best, “You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at.”
This is so counterintuitive to everything in our culture. Being a plain, unadorned clay pot is not the way to get ahead. And I’m sad to say that even in the halls of our leading Christian communities the call to put on a good face following the best advice the world has to offer to achieve a vibrant successful community seems the paramount motivation. Music shows, light shows, and upscale vibrant preaching. Clean buildings, clean clothes and the appearance of clean lives so the world sees right up front, on the exterior facade, a glory we tell them is Christ. This was not Paul and I think it should not be us either.
The character of Paul’s witness is this,
“We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles,
but we’re not demoralized;
we’re not sure what to do,
but we know that God knows what to do;
we’ve been spiritually terrorized,
but God hasn’t left our side;
we’ve been thrown down,
but we haven’t broken.”
The witness is what God is accomplishing in them despite the trials and difficulties. What should have broken and shattered these simple clay pots is shown as ineffectual because of the message, the Spirit of Christ that lives within them. God knows what to do and hasn’t left their side, so they aren’t demoralized, and they aren’t broken. They bear witness by this to the Light of Jesus that lives in them and sustains them. If they were simply these plain clay pots, they most certainly would have succumbed.
I find it enlightening that Paul specified clay pots. They were the most common utilities in the ancient world. A throw-away item, easily and cheaply made and replaced. They were used to hold everything, oil, water, dry goods, everything and anything; you never knew what would be in the next clay pot you came upon. but they were brittle and easily broken, so precious things were not carried in them.
There were very expensive stone jars for holding important things like wine or blessed ceremonial water, as at the wedding in Canna where Jesus turned the water into wine. These were difficult to fabricate but also difficult to break, and usually were very beautiful. And one would think Paul would refer to himself and his companions as stone jars carrying the precious message of salvation in Christ Jesus. But like the humble figure of the carpenter from Galilee who was, in truth, the Lord God Creator of Heaven and Earth, Paul paints a messenger of Christ as a lowly clay pot, fragile and unappealing, until you look inside and see the power and majesty that lives within.
Paul tells us why this is, “What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives!” There is nothing about me that you should find attractive or appealing. Not my talent, skills, training or professionalism should make any progress in drawing you to Jesus. Only the light of Jesus that lives in me can touch your soul and lead you to Him who can save you. Yes, I can, and do try, to speak the truth of who Jesus is, and live to serve his purposes for my life. As Paul expresses it, “Our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master.”
It was exactly this that Paul’s enemies were trying to use against him. They argued that the constant suffering that Paul and his companions endured was the result of God’s disfavour, that somehow it showed God was displeased with Paul and the message he brought. But Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were never defeated, never broken despite all they endured and more to the point, he reminded them of what Jesus suffered for them. In a sense asking, “Is Jesus also in disfavour with God because He suffered?” Paul readily identifies with Jesus saying, “Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us.”
I’m not sure if you can identify with Paul when he calls himself an errand-runner for Jesus, a plain fragile clay pot tasked with carrying the greatest most precious message the world will ever know. I think I can. I’m not involved in a great modern church that attracts hundreds, or even thousands of followers. There are no coloured lights and amazing presentations. No far-reaching programs to help you get more involved, and manage your life, your home and your finances. The churches I attend are for the most part simple clay pots that fail miserably at the work of attracting masses of people.
I’m quite sure God is using all these amazing works of Christian Evangelism to accomplish what he wants of them. As Mark records Jesus’ words, “No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath slam me. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. (Mk 9:39-40)” But I’m afraid I just don’t see myself warming up to the program. Maybe I’m not good enough. Maybe I don’t have the speaking skills, musical talent, or pastoral heart that would let me fit in and serve very successfully. I’m not very comfortable around people who know exactly how to succeed in God’s work, because I’m just a plain clay pot, and easily broken.
And from what Paul says here, I think he would feel very similar. The message Paul carried in him, that those who looked and listened for it heard and saw, was Jesus Christ. And all they knew from Paul was that Jesus loved them and had done everything for them. Paul hadn’t done anything; they could look right past him and miss nothing. If they didn’t like the message of the Gospel, if the light of Christ frightened them, they could shoot the messenger. It would simply validate the message they wanted to avoid. And by the same token if they heard the Gospel of Jesus’ love for them and embraced it, they could shoot the messenger and lose nothing, because the message is Jesus Christ, not Paul. So go ahead, shoot the messenger; please.
I’m sure my time at McGill University is going to help me in this work God has given me doing pulpit supply and leading services of worship. But I pray I never begin to embellish this little clay pot of mine. I would never like to think anyone is coming to see or hear me, but rather seeing nothing, there is revealed the glorious light of the face of Jesus Christ.
We all can take great encouragement and comfort from these wonderful words of Paul. They tell us that no one is too simple, too fragile, or too unadorned in the skills and talents of glamour and success, lauded by the world, to fulfill all the wonderful work God has planned for them before they were ever conceived. The light, the power, the love and salvation are all and all Jesus Christ. His face, His glory, His work. And I would dare to say that it is the most unadorned, the simplest most fragile clay pots that Jesus chooses, to do his most precious work of love. I think when God looks for His best messengers, He has a checklist of qualifications and the ones who fail worst are his first choice.
You can never be plain enough, uneducated enough, incompetent or incapable enough to not be the best at bringing the message of Jesus Christ to the world. You’re exactly the kind of clay pot He can use, and it doesn’t matter if, like Paul, they shoot the messenger, the Message, Jesus Christ, will shine through. Hallelujah!!
Amen
