Historical series, 11. 2 Cor 4:5-18. Preached at a 2003 conf convention in the Saskatchewan synod

Hamarson, Cynthia G.

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 32Issue 1 Cultural Reception of the Gospel Article 125-1-2007We are earthen vessels carrying God's treasureCynthia G. HamarsonFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Sermons is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationHamarson, Cynthia G. (2007) "We are earthen vessels carrying God's treasure," Consensus: Vol. 32 : Iss. 1 , Article 12.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol32/iss1/12HISTORICAL SERIES, 11We Are Earthen Vessels Carrying God’s TreasureCynthia G. HalmarsonBishop, Saskatchewan Synod,Evangelical Lutheran Church in CanadaEdmonton, Alberta(The Rev. Cynthia [“Cindy”] Halmarson is the third Bishop of theSaskatchewan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church InCanada, having succeeded Bishop Allan A. Grundahl in thatministry in 2002. Prior to that she had served as the Assistant to theBishop of the Saskatchewan Synod , 1994 to 1996, and as theAssistant to the National Bishop of the ELCIC, 1996 to 2002. Bornand raised in Bristol, Connecticut, U.S.A., she moved to Canada in1978 and graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary inSaskatoon. This sermon was preached at a 2003 ConferenceConvention in the Saskatchewan Synod.)Text: 2 Corinthians 4:5-18Grace and peace to you in the name of the Triune God.St. Paul gives us our theme today. Paul is writing to a splinteredand quarrelsome church in Corinth. He uses the image of earthenvessels: clay jars, fragile, porous, easily broken. He speaks of trials,affliction, and persecution. Of being struck down but not destroyed.Clay pots. Cracked pots. Carrying the treasure of the light of the gloryof God in the face of Jesus Christ. Clay pots. Cracked pots. A goodtheme for us at this time.We gather today as a Christian community humbled by our lossof status in society. There was a time when the churches assembledwere the community. Those were the days of temperance and bluelaws, days when the morality of the citizens was dictated by themorality of the dominant religious group, the Christian Church. Indays past the census count never revealed non-Christians in our area,and precious few admitted that they belonged to no church. Todaysynagogues, mosques, and temples are listed along with Christianchurches in the “Church Organizations” section of the Yellow Pages.Bahá’í, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh might be listed in your Yellow125Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2007Pages, and some may be unlisted if their numbers are small or theyfear persecution. Our community has grown diverse in its breadth ofreligious expression and practice.Those who established the Christian Churches in Saskatchewancame by immigration through the United States or directly fromEurope. There was a time when European immigrants dominated thepolitical and social landscape. Read the history and discover ourprovincial roots in the settlers from Great Britain, other Europeancountries, and later the Ukraine. Today we share our communitieswith people from cultures the world over, including First Nationspeople who were here before the Northern Europeans came. Localfestivals celebrate the food, dance, handicrafts and stories of many ofthe cultures which live around and among us today. A look at businessand professional directories will show a rich diversity of namescoming from every continent and many, many countries.The dominant ethic used to be Judeo-Christian. The Bible wouldbe quoted in courts, schools, and city hall. Children would learn theGolden Rule as a Christian principle to guide relationships withothers. Because the Christian Church bore so much social andpolitical weight, its members and leaders could expect to governpublic opinion and dominate the ethics in civic and social life.It seems that today the ethic has changed. While Christian peoplestill learn about such biblical values as justice, compassion, andmercy, the world around us – including our own country – seems tobe guided by values such as growth and profit. As our world shrinkseven small towns in the middle of the Prairies are linked to businessinterests undergirded by multi-national corporate connections.As the community of Saskatchewan we are enriched by adiversity of peoples, cultures, and religious expressions. As aChristian community we are humbled to accept the reality that wedon’t dominate political life. No longer can we flex our faith-motivated muscle and fix the laws of our land. Sunday shopping andsports, casinos and VLTs (video lottery terminals – Ed.) and lotteries– these are a few of the moral issues that vex us as Christian people.We are truly humbled. The Christian Churches are no longer thearbiters of society. We have lost our entitlement to power andinfluence. We are clay jars, fragile, cracked, and under pressure.Cracked pots. Crackpots, some would say! Who would have guessed50 years ago that the Churches would fall so far from glory?126 Consensushttp://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol32/iss1/12Look at us gathered here today, a rag-tag remnant of the faithful.As St. Paul said to the Corinthians, we have nothing in us but thedeath of Jesus.If the 20th century was “the Christian Century,” it is clear that the21st century is shaping itself up to be something entirely different.One hundred years ago there was a great fervour to spreadChristianity across the globe. We were going to bring the gospel fromEurope and North America to far-flung countries and cultures, and towitness to all and sundry in their own language the glory that awaitsthose who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. We were passionate aboutthis mission, spurred on by Jesus’ own words: “Go therefore andmake disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them.” In theChristian Century the World Council of Churches was born.Missionary societies gathered billions of dollars in offerings and sentthousands, maybe millions, of missionaries to Africa, Latin America,and Asia. Today the fastest growing segment of the Christian Churchin the world is in Africa. Even Lutherans are adding to their numbersin African churches!But we must acknowledge at the same time the growth of otherworld religions and the great window that stretches from northern Africaacross Asia in which the Christian Church is but a nominal presence.Have we failed? Have we failed in world mission? Have we failed inwitnessing to Jesus Christ here in our own familiar communities?It is as St. Paul says. We have nothing in us but the death of Jesus.As Christians in the world today we carry no glory, no inherentinfluence, no power. We carry in our body nothing more than the firstwitnesses carried, that Jesus was crucified, died on the cross.We have nothing but God’s own Son, crucified and forsaken. Aswe read in St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Jesus is the one whowent forth to teach and preach not on the strength of his equality withGod, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. The Jesus towhom we witness left behind the glory of God to live and ministeramong us, to eat with the sinners, touch the unclean, and befriend theoutcast. We have nothing to give to the world but Jesus who died forall. On the cross. No power. No mustered up enthusiasm. No fix-it-allenergy. Just the cross.And for Jesus it was enough. It was enough to become thesuffering servant for the world. It was enough to give his life for thesake of the world God loves. Jesus said, “Those who want to saveWe Are Earthen Vessels 127Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2007their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, andfor the sake of the gospel, will save it.” As a Christian Church we carry in our body the death of Jesus. Andit is enough for us to believe that Jesus died for all, and enough for usto witness to Jesus who died for all. Because in the death of Jesus is thelife of the world. Jesus’ death is God’s promise for the world, God’spromise to be with us as weak and powerless as we are … so weak andpowerless that we can’t help but sin against God and others.In the life of Jesus God joined us in our life. And in the death ofJesus God took on our death and turned it to new life – life lived inthe forgiveness and grace of God. We have received the witness of thewomen at the tomb, of apostles who spread the word, of St. Paulhimself who encouraged the early churches and all the faithful downthe ages who have told us the good news of Jesus’ death andresurrection. The death of Jesus is the life of the world. ThroughJesus’ death we can see God’s love shining in the face of Jesus Christ,bringing people to faith and giving hope in the midst of weakness andbrokenness. Cracked pots, yes. Crackpots, maybe. Forgiven andloved by God, certainly! We have this treasure, the treasure of God’sgrace and love in the clay jar of Jesus’ death, who was broken for usand whose death gives life to the world. This is good news!So we do not lose heart. The death of Jesus in us becomes life inothers as we tell and live what we believe. You and I, we who have heardthe good news, we follow where Jesus has already led. We believe, andso we speak, and do, and live, because we know that the death of Jesusis life for the world. Like Jesus we empty ourselves. We don’t proclaimourselves, our strengths, our denomination, our power and influence insociety. We empty ourselves as Jesus did, not counting on our dominanceand political weight, but taking the form of a servant to those who arealso broken, weak, and in need of God’s grace, mercy and love. Asservants we have a multi-faceted ministry in our community.We Christians have a ministry to those who have not heard thegospel. We believe and so we speak to our neighbours about thegospel with its promise of forgiveness and grace. We proclaim fromour pulpits, teach in our Sunday Schools, and talk to our neighboursabout the good news we have experienced in the face of Jesus Christ.This is a part of our ministry, a ministry of witness and invitation.We have a ministry of hospitality. After all, we have nothing butthe death of Jesus in us. We can afford to be hospitable. More than128 Consensushttp://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol32/iss1/12that, we are compelled to be gracious to the stranger in our midst.Believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can speak with hospitalityand warmth with neighbours of other faiths. Humbled and emptied,we can learn to see as guests those who live with us in ourcommunity, seeking their friendship and discovering our commoncall to a ministry of justice, peace, and well-being for all.We also join with other Christian Churches and with persons ofother faiths in shared ministry for the sake of the poor andmarginalized in our community, working for justice, peace, and well-being for all. Because we believe, we live what we have received:compassion, grace, mercy. Out of the death of Jesus in us, ourcommon ministry becomes life in others, life as concrete as shelter forthe homeless, food for the hungry, education, meaningful work, and asafe place for all to live. Can we find ways to work together asneighbours and friends to achieve wholeness and abundant life for all?As a body carrying the death of Jesus in us, we are a servingpeople, praying for and working for others, open to learn their needs,open to put their needs before our own, becoming servants of othersfor their sake. We believe and so we speak. Inviting others to knowJesus, to join us in being raised with him. Being hospitable to ourneighbours. Working together for life abundant for all.Today we gather as cracked pots, bearing in us the death of Jesusfor the sake of the world. As we pray together, and as we go from thisplace, we go emptied of ourselves, emptied of our power, emptied ofeverything but the death of Jesus. By God’s grace our Church will bea witness to our community that we proclaim not ourselves, but JesusChrist as Lord, and ourselves as servants in his name.Pray for the ministry we share as witness of his death for us andwitness to the life he gives to the world. Pray that our eyes will beopened to see the ones Jesus came to love, that we will see theabundant life he came to give to all people, and that each one of uswill find our individual and common ministry that makes the death ofJesus to become life in others. Amen.We Are Earthen Vessels 129Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2007

We are earthen vessels carrying God\u27s treasure

Scholars Commons

Consensus
Volume 32
Issue 1 Cultural Reception of the Gospel Article 12
5-1-2007
We are earthen vessels carrying God's treasure
Cynthia G. Hamarson
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus
This Sermons is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an
authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation
Hamarson, Cynthia G. (2007) "We are earthen vessels carrying God's treasure," Consensus: Vol. 32 : Iss. 1 , Article 12.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol32/iss1/12
HISTORICAL SERIES, 11
We Are Earthen Vessels Carrying God’s Treasure
Cynthia G. Halmarson
Bishop, Saskatchewan Synod,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Edmonton, Alberta
(The Rev. Cynthia [“Cindy”] Halmarson is the third Bishop of the
Saskatchewan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In
Canada, having succeeded Bishop Allan A. Grundahl in that
ministry in 2002. Prior to that she had served as the Assistant to the
Bishop of the Saskatchewan Synod , 1994 to 1996, and as the
Assistant to the National Bishop of the ELCIC, 1996 to 2002. Born
and raised in Bristol, Connecticut, U.S.A., she moved to Canada in
1978 and graduated from Lutheran Theological Seminary in
Saskatoon. This sermon was preached at a 2003 Conference
Convention in the Saskatchewan Synod.)
Text: 2 Corinthians 4:5-18
Grace and peace to you in the name of the Triune God.
St. Paul gives us our theme today. Paul is writing to a splintered
and quarrelsome church in Corinth. He uses the image of earthen
vessels: clay jars, fragile, porous, easily broken. He speaks of trials,
affliction, and persecution. Of being struck down but not destroyed.
Clay pots. Cracked pots. Carrying the treasure of the light of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Clay pots. Cracked pots. A good
theme for us at this time.
We gather today as a Christian community humbled by our loss
of status in society. There was a time when the churches assembled
were the community. Those were the days of temperance and blue
laws, days when the morality of the citizens was dictated by the
morality of the dominant religious group, the Christian Church. In
days past the census count never revealed non-Christians in our area,
and precious few admitted that they belonged to no church. Today
synagogues, mosques, and temples are listed along with Christian
churches in the “Church Organizations” section of the Yellow Pages.
Bahá’í, Hindu, Jewish, and Sikh might be listed in your Yellow
125
Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2007
Pages, and some may be unlisted if their numbers are small or they
fear persecution. Our community has grown diverse in its breadth of
religious expression and practice.
Those who established the Christian Churches in Saskatchewan
came by immigration through the United States or directly from
Europe. There was a time when European immigrants dominated the
political and social landscape. Read the history and discover our
provincial roots in the settlers from Great Britain, other European
countries, and later the Ukraine. Today we share our communities
with people from cultures the world over, including First Nations
people who were here before the Northern Europeans came. Local
festivals celebrate the food, dance, handicrafts and stories of many of
the cultures which live around and among us today. A look at business
and professional directories will show a rich diversity of names
coming from every continent and many, many countries.
The dominant ethic used to be Judeo-Christian. The Bible would
be quoted in courts, schools, and city hall. Children would learn the
Golden Rule as a Christian principle to guide relationships with
others. Because the Christian Church bore so much social and
political weight, its members and leaders could expect to govern
public opinion and dominate the ethics in civic and social life.
It seems that today the ethic has changed. While Christian people
still learn about such biblical values as justice, compassion, and
mercy, the world around us – including our own country – seems to
be guided by values such as growth and profit. As our world shrinks
even small towns in the middle of the Prairies are linked to business
interests undergirded by multi-national corporate connections.
As the community of Saskatchewan we are enriched by a
diversity of peoples, cultures, and religious expressions. As a
Christian community we are humbled to accept the reality that we
don’t dominate political life. No longer can we flex our faith-
motivated muscle and fix the laws of our land. Sunday shopping and
sports, casinos and VLTs (video lottery terminals – Ed.) and lotteries
– these are a few of the moral issues that vex us as Christian people.
We are truly humbled. The Christian Churches are no longer the
arbiters of society. We have lost our entitlement to power and
influence. We are clay jars, fragile, cracked, and under pressure.
Cracked pots. Crackpots, some would say! Who would have guessed
50 years ago that the Churches would fall so far from glory?
126 Consensus
http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol32/iss1/12
Look at us gathered here today, a rag-tag remnant of the faithful.
As St. Paul said to the Corinthians, we have nothing in us but the
death of Jesus.
If the 20th century was “the Christian Century,” it is clear that the
21st century is shaping itself up to be something entirely different.
One hundred years ago there was a great fervour to spread
Christianity across the globe. We were going to bring the gospel from
Europe and North America to far-flung countries and cultures, and to
witness to all and sundry in their own language the glory that awaits
those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. We were passionate about
this mission, spurred on by Jesus’ own words: “Go therefore and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them.” In the
Christian Century the World Council of Churches was born.
Missionary societies gathered billions of dollars in offerings and sent
thousands, maybe millions, of missionaries to Africa, Latin America,
and Asia. Today the fastest growing segment of the Christian Church
in the world is in Africa. Even Lutherans are adding to their numbers
in African churches!
But we must acknowledge at the same time the growth of other
world religions and the great window that stretches from northern Africa
across Asia in which the Christian Church is but a nominal presence.
Have we failed? Have we failed in world mission? Have we failed in
witnessing to Jesus Christ here in our own familiar communities?
It is as St. Paul says. We have nothing in us but the death of Jesus.
As Christians in the world today we carry no glory, no inherent
influence, no power. We carry in our body nothing more than the first
witnesses carried, that Jesus was crucified, died on the cross.
We have nothing but God’s own Son, crucified and forsaken. As
we read in St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Jesus is the one who
went forth to teach and preach not on the strength of his equality with
God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. The Jesus to
whom we witness left behind the glory of God to live and minister
among us, to eat with the sinners, touch the unclean, and befriend the
outcast. We have nothing to give to the world but Jesus who died for
all. On the cross. No power. No mustered up enthusiasm. No fix-it-all
energy. Just the cross.
And for Jesus it was enough. It was enough to become the
suffering servant for the world. It was enough to give his life for the
sake of the world God loves. Jesus said, “Those who want to save
We Are Earthen Vessels 127
Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2007
their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and
for the sake of the gospel, will save it.” 
As a Christian Church we carry in our body the death of Jesus. And
it is enough for us to believe that Jesus died for all, and enough for us
to witness to Jesus who died for all. Because in the death of Jesus is the
life of the world. Jesus’ death is God’s promise for the world, God’s
promise to be with us as weak and powerless as we are … so weak and
powerless that we can’t help but sin against God and others.
In the life of Jesus God joined us in our life. And in the death of
Jesus God took on our death and turned it to new life – life lived in
the forgiveness and grace of God. We have received the witness of the
women at the tomb, of apostles who spread the word, of St. Paul
himself who encouraged the early churches and all the faithful down
the ages who have told us the good news of Jesus’ death and
resurrection. The death of Jesus is the life of the world. Through
Jesus’ death we can see God’s love shining in the face of Jesus Christ,
bringing people to faith and giving hope in the midst of weakness and
brokenness. Cracked pots, yes. Crackpots, maybe. Forgiven and
loved by God, certainly! We have this treasure, the treasure of God’s
grace and love in the clay jar of Jesus’ death, who was broken for us
and whose death gives life to the world. This is good news!
So we do not lose heart. The death of Jesus in us becomes life in
others as we tell and live what we believe. You and I, we who have heard
the good news, we follow where Jesus has already led. We believe, and
so we speak, and do, and live, because we know that the death of Jesus
is life for the world. Like Jesus we empty ourselves. We don’t proclaim
ourselves, our strengths, our denomination, our power and influence in
society. We empty ourselves as Jesus did, not counting on our dominance
and political weight, but taking the form of a servant to those who are
also broken, weak, and in need of God’s grace, mercy and love. As
servants we have a multi-faceted ministry in our community.
We Christians have a ministry to those who have not heard the
gospel. We believe and so we speak to our neighbours about the
gospel with its promise of forgiveness and grace. We proclaim from
our pulpits, teach in our Sunday Schools, and talk to our neighbours
about the good news we have experienced in the face of Jesus Christ.
This is a part of our ministry, a ministry of witness and invitation.
We have a ministry of hospitality. After all, we have nothing but
the death of Jesus in us. We can afford to be hospitable. More than
128 Consensus
http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol32/iss1/12
that, we are compelled to be gracious to the stranger in our midst.
Believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can speak with hospitality
and warmth with neighbours of other faiths. Humbled and emptied,
we can learn to see as guests those who live with us in our
community, seeking their friendship and discovering our common
call to a ministry of justice, peace, and well-being for all.
We also join with other Christian Churches and with persons of
other faiths in shared ministry for the sake of the poor and
marginalized in our community, working for justice, peace, and well-
being for all. Because we believe, we live what we have received:
compassion, grace, mercy. Out of the death of Jesus in us, our
common ministry becomes life in others, life as concrete as shelter for
the homeless, food for the hungry, education, meaningful work, and a
safe place for all to live. Can we find ways to work together as
neighbours and friends to achieve wholeness and abundant life for all?
As a body carrying the death of Jesus in us, we are a serving
people, praying for and working for others, open to learn their needs,
open to put their needs before our own, becoming servants of others
for their sake. We believe and so we speak. Inviting others to know
Jesus, to join us in being raised with him. Being hospitable to our
neighbours. Working together for life abundant for all.
Today we gather as cracked pots, bearing in us the death of Jesus
for the sake of the world. As we pray together, and as we go from this
place, we go emptied of ourselves, emptied of our power, emptied of
everything but the death of Jesus. By God’s grace our Church will be
a witness to our community that we proclaim not ourselves, but Jesus
Christ as Lord, and ourselves as servants in his name.
Pray for the ministry we share as witness of his death for us and
witness to the life he gives to the world. Pray that our eyes will be
opened to see the ones Jesus came to love, that we will see the
abundant life he came to give to all people, and that each one of us
will find our individual and common ministry that makes the death of
Jesus to become life in others. Amen.
We Are Earthen Vessels 129
Published by Scholars Commons @ Laurier, 2007


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We are earthen vessels carrying God\u27s treasure

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