Communauté et discipulat

Suffering as a Tool for Ministry (2 co 4:7~18)

2014.10.12Rev. Mike Lee

Our suffering does not disqualify us from ministry. It reveals God's surpassing power, shows that we are not alone in our trials, and turns our eyes toward the eternal glory that is unseen.

Our suffering reveals God's power (7-12)

Paul calls the gospel a treasure kept in jars of clay, cheap and easily broken containers. Our bodies are frail and wear out over time, but what is inside the jar is more valuable than the jar itself. Paul describes himself as afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, yet he is not crushed and not destroyed. Like the contestants on American Gladiators who keep going because there is a prize at the end, we endure because the gospel living inside us will last forever. Paul sums it up: death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. The surpassing power belongs to God, not to us.

Our suffering shows that we are not alone (13-15)

Paul writes that since we have the same spirit of faith, we also believe and so we also speak. He quotes Psalm 116:10, which shows that the psalmist also went through affliction and was delivered by God. If Paul could take comfort in the psalmist's suffering, we can take comfort in Paul's suffering too. When my wife struggled through her pregnancy, a stranger who had just given birth sat with her, and her empathy came from having gone through the same things. Our sufferings become a tool for ministry, so that we share how God has delivered us and comfort others as we have been comforted.

Fix our eyes on what is unseen and eternal (16-18)

Paul refuses to lose heart, and he is reminding himself of this as much as his readers. The church, the ministry, and our lives are not ours; everything belongs to God alone, so the glory belongs to Him. Though our bodies waste away, we are renewed day by day, because our troubles are momentary and will pass away. We look not at the things that are seen, which are temporary, but at the things that are unseen, which are eternal. When we focus only on our problems, we fall into discouragement, so we fix our eyes on the cross and bring our burdens to the Lord in prayer.

Apply to Life

  • Let us bring our suffering to God and seek His power in our weakness.
  • Let us share with others how God has delivered us from our sufferings.
  • Let us comfort those who are going through what we once went through.
  • Let us not lose heart, but fix our eyes on what is unseen and eternal.
  • Let us pray together and not try to carry our burdens alone.

This summary was made automatically from the sermon's captions and may differ from the sermon.

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