Building bridges because we love one another – and because we are loved.
Rev. Dr. K. Nicholas Yoda, Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church, Commissioner to GA226
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. – 2 Corinthians 4:7
Solomon, being credited with writing Ecclesiastes, states that there is a time for everything; more specifically, a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones. And if you are a little child standing at the edge of a body of water, a gaping hole, or the side of a mountain, there is always time for both. You gather stones in order to throw them. Just ask my kids, every time we go to walk on the edge of the creek or a river or even a lake. Perhaps this was the same scenario for a Bedouin shepherd boy of the Ta’amireh tribe in 1947 as he left his flock of sheep and goats in search of a stray amid the crumbling limestone cliffs of the northwest region of the Dead Sea in the Qumran area.
As the story goes, he stumbled upon a cave in the cleft of the hillside and decided to cast a stone into this interior of darkness. His curiosity engaged immediately when he heard the rock shatter something so he retrieved a companion to enter the cave with him to which they found a cache of large clay jars, some with lids still intact, holding within them the treasures of days gone by. This discovery today is considered one of the most momentous biblical findings and is what is often called the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Treasures in earthen vessels (clay jars) – a concentration of riches, often lost or forgotten about until it is somehow rediscovered. Think of it this way. Have you ever been digging through a closet, cleaning out a purse, going through some old papers, or throwing rocks into a cave only to come upon something (anything) that had long since been disregarded? A letter from a friend, a five dollar bill, a red sled named “Rosebud” (Citizen Kane), a lost coin, a lost sheep, a lost son (Luke 15)? The common denominator (again) is something often forgotten and yet found (rediscovered): a treasure in earthen vessels. But is this not what the Apostle Paul is referring to in his second epistle to the church in Corinth where he not only lifts up this thought to ponder but more so a benchmark of active faith?
Listen again to what he writes, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7) In other words, God has an uncanny way of planting within each and everyone of us the Imago Dei that, if released into the world for the betterment of that world, can be the seed that turns into the tree big enough for a bird to make its nest, the faith that moves a mountain, the living water that burst forth into an endless waterfall. The problem, more often than not though, is that we do not see ourselves nor do we see each other as vessels for God’s treasures – God’s awesome power and presence that does not come from us. Instead, we only see earthen vessels (clay jars) that could be fun to throw a stone or two at, in following the advice of Ecclesiastes, that we had gathered for just such an occasion. And, brothers and sisters, if you do not believe me, I would have told you to come and join me and many other Presbyterians at the 226th General Assembly this past week in Salt Lake City. Let me just say that there were more stones thrown that one would like to admit…and if I am honest, I threw a few myself…
But this is something that Paul (formally as Saul) knew a few things about. Even when in one moment he is writing these powerful and potent words to the gathered in Corinth, one has to wonder if there was a constant reflection present on his previous life specifically when he, in holding the coats of the others, witnessed the stones thrown at Stephen whose last words just prior to his death happen to be: “Lord! Do not hold this sin against them.” In spite of this and other assumed instances though, it was Jesus who chose to recognize within Saul what others could not: the Imago Dei coupled with God’s awesome power and presence that did not come from him. And as I have contemplated this in light of this past week, I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that it was with this memory in mind that Paul wrote in utter confidence: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (clay jars or clay pots) so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.”
To return for a brief moment in reference to the General Assembly, I leave you with a story that I witnessed from the front row when I served in another Presbytery to our north in the city of Cleveland. This was something that I have personally returned to many times in my memory banks in order to see in others what the Apostle Paul challenged the Corinthians to remember about each other…
Many years ago when I was serving a church in the Presbytery of the Western Reserve, it was time for us to elect Commissioners that would represent us at the next General Assembly of the PCUSA. This was also a time that we were deeply entrenched in the battle of ordination standards that I mentioned last week and a major vote would be coming to the floor in concern for this. Being a self described theologically progressive and politically liberal area, it was assumed that we would elect a Commissioner who would think like we do, argue like we do, and ultimately vote like we do. Interestingly, when the most evangelical and conservative pastor stood for a possible election, I just assumed that he was on a dead end flight path. That is until one of the most respected ministers (a progressive and a liberal themselves) stood to speak on his behalf.
She revealed that they had fought about this issue for over two decades and only saw one another as an opposing force to their own ideology. That was until one day he called her up waving a “white flag” and asked her to lunch. And as they sat down to break bread, he confessed to her that he had failed to see her as a person and instead only saw her a set of ideas, beliefs, and interpretations that he could not agree with. He had been praying about it and a conviction arose within him to put all of that aside and actually make an attempt to build a bridge to the person versus constructing a higher wall of division. She concluded that she was in fact voting in the positive for him to represent the Presbytery despite the way he would vote. Her reasoning? It was simple. She loved him. She trusted him. He had become her friend.
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (clay jars or clay pots) so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.”
May it be so with all of us…
