Cracked Clay Jars - April 8
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 95 [for the Invitatory] and 22; PM Psalm 141, 143:1-11(12)
Exod. 9:13-35; 2 Cor. 4:1-12; Mark 10:32-45
Today’s Reflection
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 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 Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from 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; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 2 Corinthians 4: 5-11
Here we are, on the cusp of Palm Sunday and soon Holy Week: Signs of new life are bursting out all around us! Birds are singing sweetly (and loudly!) in the trees. Azaleas, dogwoods, daffodils, and wisteria are blooming at every turn. Skies are brilliant blue. The bright green new leaves are bursting forth from the trees.
We appreciate the beauty of this breathtaking time of the year all the more because it follows from a wintertime with its grey skies, brown grass, and stark, leafless trees. This morning’s peaceful scene of bird songs and colorful blooms is juxtaposed with the tempestuous stormfronts that bring intense rainfall, flooded streets, downed power lines, damaged and destroyed homes, and fearful hours huddled in our indoor hallways and basement bunkers.
This Sunday, we’ll remember Jesus as he made his way into Jerusalem—at once a triumphant moment, as he rides in on a humble donkey and the crowds wave and throw down their palms to prepare the way for the Lord. People were recognizing who Jesus was and wanted to give him all glory, laud, and honor—but the flip side of recognizing who Jesus was meant the Jesus was processing toward his inevitable death on the cross. Thankfully, we know that there is an ending in which light triumphed (and continues to triumph) over darkness.
When Vincent Pizzuto, an Episcopal priest and professor from California, visited us last month at Saint Stephen’s, his first event was a clergy reflection day. One point he made that Friday morning really stuck with me, which is this: The songwriter Leonard Cohen said the cracks let the light in. But what if we look at our broken hearts in a different way, Pizzuto wondered. What if the cracks in our broken hearts actually let the light out? In other words, what if we shift our perspective to consider that when our hearts and lives are broken open, there is light inside us, whose hearts have been broken, that can then be shared with others through the cracks of that brokenness?
This comes to mind me for this morning as I reflect on today’s passage from 2 Corinthians 4 alongside my life and those parts of it that have been especially difficult and heart-breaking over the past however-many years: “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 Cor. 4: 8-9). These two verses capture well a lot of what I have experienced as a person of deep faith in Christ who has also lived through some deeply challenging and heart-breaking times. God has been a consistent source of strength and protection—and yet he has allowed me, a humble jar of clay that contains the treasure of God’s abiding love, to have a few cracks here and there.
The jar of clay is not crushed, not destroyed—but it is cracked just enough to the let the light shine out so that others can experience how Christ’s light shines out of the darkness. As Paul encouraged his friends in Corinth, “Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart … we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us” (2 Cor. 4: 1, 7).
Becky+
Questions for Reflection
What challenging experiences have caused your heart to break? What are the cracks that let the light of Christ shine forth from you to offer hope and love others?
Daily Challenge
Take a walk or sit outside to be surrounded with reminders of the new life that is breaking forth in nature at every turn this spring. Reflect on how the cycle of the seasons, both in nature and in the church year, point us back to the pattern of life, death, and resurrection both in the incarnation of Jesus and in our own lives.