2 Corinthians 4:7-9 “Beautifully Broken” Stand Alone

INTRO> Today, I want to bring a very different message than what is normal. With the Baby Dedications and Baptisms, there is a common thing that is being displayed in our service, that you might not be picking up on. I want to give you the context of the passage first, share something very personal with you, then make application.

CONTEXT> 2 Corinthians is one of the most, if not the most personal letters that Paul ever wrote. He is literally defending his ministry to the church in Corinth, they are turn gin away from Paul to false teachers. He is heart broken. Chapters 3-4 he describes what it is like to be a minster of the gospel. There are a few things that stick out:

• • • Paul uses the words “we and us” to describe ministers. That includes Paul, and includes us.
    • The treasure in v7 is what he said v6. It is the gospel and glory found in Jesus.
    • Paul compares and contrast our finite lives with the invite beauty of the gospel with us being “jars of clay”
    • Jars of clay are equivalent today to styrofoam cups and plates today, disposable basically.
    • Weakness is the idea, and theme through the letter. No a fake weakness that gets us God’s power but rather….

Big Idea> God works through my weakness.

APP> Now, what does that actually look like in our lives? What does this actually look like in a persons life?

STORY> I am the youngest of four boys in our family (PIC) My oldest brother John has been sort of like a superhero to me. Me and him are 15 years apart, he has almost been like a father figure in my life. We all are up as preachers kids. John has always been driven, either it’s sports, he went to college on a baseball scholarship, construction, he owned his own, ver successful construction business. John has also struggled in his life, almost like a restlessness and discontentment. Close to about 12 years ago, John hit close to rock bottom. He has developed a drinking problem mixed in with a few other things as well. His marriage was on the rocks and had two kids at the time. He fought his way through and showed his strength and got sober. Then the economy tanked and he lost his business. So john again, flexed his muscles and moved his family to TX and started over. He worked very hard to get his family out of debt, yet while that was happening, his marriage was giving way. John moved back to Columbia and started working in construction again. He worked hard and started drinking again. With a whole mixture of things happening, his marriage ended. But john is a strong person remember. So he kept working hard to make things.

    This past spring i got a phone call from my brother Joe, he was crying and said, “John has been found in his truck with a rifle. He tried to kill himself, I don’t know if he is okay.” We found out some details and John has hit rock bottom and couldn’t take the pressure of life anymore. He drank himself almost to death, grabbed his dear rifle and went out in the woods and was going to kill himself. Through a miracle he called a friend and that friend notified the authorities and John was arrested on held on a 72 hour watch at University hospital. i got in my car, drove to Columbia and was the person who picked John up.

   John has been seeking treatment and as of today he is, _______ days sober. At one of Johns last counseling sessions, he was having a hard time. The pressure was beginning to build back up, and remember John is a strong guy, he can handle it right? Well he realized that he was dealing with shame and guilt of being so broken, that in a way…. getting sober wasn’t just the goal… dealing with life and his soul was the goal. His counselor spoke to him and said, “John I am going to tell you one word and I want you to go home and look it up.” John said, “Okay” The counselor said, “kintsugi”.

*ILL> Kintsugi looks like this in Japanese. 金継ぎ The art began around the 4th century and the story is told that a Japanese emperor dropped his favorite tea cup and it broke. He sent it to china to get repaired. Back then they used a metallic repair mold that made the cup look even uglier. So he had some of his Japanese craftsman repair it but this time to sprinkle gold powder in the filling. (PICS) Now today, it has become an art forum. They will make precious pottery, break it, then fill in the cracks with gold. Making the pottery, more valuable broken, than whole.

“The kintsugi technique suggests many things. We shouldn’t throw away broken objects. When an object breaks, it doesn’t mean that it is no more useful. Its breakages can become valuable. We should try to repair things because sometimes in doing so we obtain more valuable objects. This is the essence of resilience.” 

APP> Now back to the text, do you see it differently now, “to show that the surpassing power belongs to God.” God is not seen in your awesomeness, he is seen in your weakness.

1. Confess your weakness.

• • • Isn’t this what Paul is doing through the whole letter and in this passage? he is saying, “it’s not about me, it about what Jesus is doing through me.” APP> Pride hides the cracks.

2) Use your weakness.

• • • Paul is saying that all of these things that have happened to him are not wasted. That God is doing something with them. APP> God takes broken pieces and make masterpieces.

3) Trust God’s strength.

• • • He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:2931

Big Idea> God works through my weakness.