Congregational-Presbyterian Church



Congregational-Presbyterian Church“We Do Not Lose Heart”2 Corinthians 4:7-9May 3, 2020 This morning we are in the fourth chapter of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians where, in verse one and again in verse sixteen, he says: “We do not lose heart.” Have you ever felt that you are beginning to lose heart? Have you ever said, “I just don’t know how much more of this I can take” or “I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this”? You may be saying something like it today, as you deal with the impact of COVID-19 in your life. Or, you may be saying it in reference to your employment, or your marriage, or your children, or your chronic disease. Regardless of the situation, we have all experienced times when we felt like we were losing heart.The apostle Paul certainly felt like that at times. He knew about discouragement, about being weary and tired, about feeling worn out and lacking the energy to accomplish the tasks before him. He knew about human frailty. I think sometimes we mistakenly believe that biblical characters like Paul were superhuman. Like a super apostle, Paul would swoop into a group of Christians, complete with cape and a capital “P” on his chest, proclaiming: “Here I come to save the day.” Far from it, says Paul, who throughout his letters talks about his human weakness, as he does in the text this morning from 2 Corinthians 4:7-9. It begins with Paul referencing a light. In the preceding verses he has told us that this light that is shining in our hearts is Jesus Christ.We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.?We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.In Paul’s day, fragile clay jars were a dime-a-dozen. They were the Tupperware of the ancient world, inexpensive containers you could pick up cheap in the local market in which to store your household goods. That’s who we are, says Paul, ordinary people living everyday lives, trying to deal with the extraordinary troubles of the times in which we live. Troubles that press us on every side, that perplex us and make us feel like they are after us, that knock us down and tell us, “Don’t bother getting up.”In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade, and he carries the reminders of ev'ry glove that laid him down or cut him till he cried out, in his anger and his shame, "I am leaving, I am leaving" but the fighter still remains.Because we are ordinary people and not super-humans, when trouble comes it hurts. We carry trouble’s scars, sometimes on our body and always in our souls. And we feel like crying out, “I am leaving, I am leaving” but we don’t. We remain because, while we are outwardly like fragile clays jars, there is a treasure within us that helps us to get back up and battle our troubles another day. ?The treasure we bear is not diminished by the vessel we are; rather, the vessel we are is made resilient by the treasure it contains. That treasure is Jesus Christ, and because of him we do not lose heart.While life sometimes knocks us down, it doesn’t knock us out. We remain the children of God, weak and fragile as we are in our human selves, but strong and durable through Christ. As God’s people, we are a lot tougher than we sometimes think, and it is encouraging for us to realize that we can cope with a great deal because of the strength that Christ gives. As Paul declared in his letter to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).We do not lose heart because our confidence is in Jesus Christ through whom we have been saved. We do not lose heart because our assurance is in a heavenly Father who promises to provide us with all we need. We do not lose heart because we know that we will be raised with Christ, leaving behind all the trouble of this world. We do not lose heart because in spite of our outward fragile shells as clay pots, the Lord is daily renewing our inner spirits. Day by day, and with each passing moment, strength I find to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure, gives unto each day what He deems best, Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest.Every day the Lord Himself is near me, with a special mercy for each hour; All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, he whose name is Counselor and Pow’r.The protection of His child and treasure is a charge that on Himself He laid;“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,” this the pledge to me He made.Help me then, in every tribulation, so to trust Thy promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation, offered me within Thy holy Word.Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, e’er to take, as from a father’s hand, One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, till with Christ the Lord I stand. ................
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