August 30, 2010

8-30-10 Monday, 8:00 am Springfield

Audrey made it home safely last night from LA, and two other Wesley families were picking up travelers there at the airport. It was so good to see her after 10 days of her being with Bethany and assisting with her move and transition to her senior year of college. Today I am looking forward to some rest and recreation, and I will be doing some planning and preparation for the staff retreat tomorrow – Wed.

II Cor 4:1-12

Verses 5-6 “You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Pastors and teachers always must balance how much to include their own story as we preach that Jesus Christ is Lord. In these verses Paul describes this healthy tension of knowing the glory of God through the light shining in our hearts, and yet not going around “preaching about ourselves.” I struggle with this balance every week. Guide me Lord as I preach and teach at Wesley and in each place your hand leads me.

In verse 7 Paul describes how even as we have this light shining in our hearts, “we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.” Other translations will say cracked, or broken clay jars, implying that the light shines out through the cracks or the brokenness. Henri Nouwen used the term “the wounded healer”. I am sometimes frustrated with the fragile clay, or the cracks in this the vessel that is Bruce Baxter, and it is so good to remember that this is to God’s glory and His purposes.