Do you remember when you were a child, getting home from school, and being hungry? My brothers and I would always be looking for something to eat. Sometimes Dad would bake cookies, or Mom would leave us something in the refrigerator or under the cake tin that would renew our energy and hold us over until supper.
There is a story about a mother who did a similar thing for her child because she had to work and couldn't be there when the child got home. She came up with a way to always have a snack ready for her. The mother fixed a pretty box and every morning would put something in it for the child's snack. In the afternoon when the child got home, a snack was always waiting in the box.
Over the weeks that followed, the box was used a lot and began to show signs of wear and tear. One time the lid got torn. Another time the decorations fell off. Something got spilled on top of it and made it messy. Over time that box took quite a beating. Did the child care? Did she complain about the horrible box? Nope. There were no complaints about it. Why not? Because each day the mother put into it a fresh snack to renew the child's strength when she got home. So the child didn't worry about how the box looked as long as the snack that renewed her was inside.
Sometimes the outside appearance doesn't really matter or affect anything. It's what's inside that counts .
I. Are you wearing out? Take heart; God renews you daily within.
Our lesson today carries a similar thought. In some ways Christians are like that box taking a beating. In different ways we are wearing out on the outside . But Christians can take heart because God renews them daily within. So, instead of being discouraged by the afflictions of life, in Christ we find ourselves encouraged for everything in life, even the problems.
Paul said it this way in the second half of our text: “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
When God created us, He gave us fresh, new lives. Adam and Eve had even more; they had fresh, new bodies – perfect ones. Their lives and ours were something like that box the mother had prepared for her child's snack before it was all messed up.
But Adam and Eve fell into sin, and passed that condition on to us even before we were born. Then we followed along in sin right behind them. To add to the problem we deny it, try to hide it, or put the blame for our messed up lives elsewhere. It wears us out .
For example, go back to the Old Testament Lesson today. When God had entered the Garden of Eden in the evening to walk with Adam and Eve, He couldn't find them. Of course, since God knows all things, He knew exactly where they were. But they wouldn't show themselves to Him. Instead, they hid from God behind bushes. Now how dumb is that! When they realized they could not hide from the all-seeing God, Adam replied: “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Nakedness never bothered Adam before. Why did it bother him now? Because Adam had disobeyed God. In that sin He had taken the perfect gift of life God had given him and messed it all up.
How often haven't we messed up the life God has given us? How often haven't we denied personal responsibility for sin and like Adam tried to blame someone else for our problems? You can turn upon someone else if you like and blame them for your messed up life if you want, but God knows the truth. No one caused you to disobey God except yourself. James writes (1:14), “But each one is tempted when by his own evil desire , he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, dear brothers.” Our sin has messed up our lives.
And it so readily shows on the outside. Through the years the pains and scars multiply. The hair grows thinner, the strength diminishes. Although you young people may not notice it yet, you are already starting to grow old with the rest of us. Year by year our bodies become older and weaker. They are wearing out due to sin.
Sin's consequences hurt us. But what can hurt even more is the pain that is suffered for telling others about it and trying to point them to the Good News of Christ and His saving Gospel.
Last week Paul said, “We do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord….We have this treasure in jars of clay…But we are hard pressed on every side…perplexed…persecuted…struck down….we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus.”
Some don't like to hear about Jesus. In the Gospel Lesson today they called Him a devil. His own family said He was out of His mind (Mk.3:20f). Paul knew similar things might happen to him.
For example, on his first missionary journey to Asia Minor, Paul and Barnabas preached the Gospel to the people in Lystra and called the people to leave their worthless idols and sacrifices to believe in the Savior. As a result some stirred up trouble for them. They turned the crowd against Paul, stoned him till unconscious, and dragged him outside the city where they threw him in a heap, thinking Paul was dead. But God restored his life. Yet, as long as he lived on earth, Paul suffered similar persecutions for his witness to Christ. Finally his life here wore out and ended with beheading.
But to Paul all of this was nothing except a preparation for the more glorious things to come. He said, “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
Not that the afflictions of life merited the glory of heaven for him. Paul knew better than that. The glories of heaven were won by the Savior in His suffering and death for our sin. Those same glories are yours right now as you hold to Christ in faith (5:1). But before you inherit them in their highest completeness, you will for a time pass through tribulation here where you wear out , so to speak.
Does that put fear in your heart? Does that make you unhappy? Many think they are losing their lives when their bodies fall apart. Others let the afflictions of life get to them. Some wallow in self-pity. Paul called all troubles “momentary” and “light.” Light? Yes, light when compared to the endless weight of heavenly glory. Outer inconveniences and loss of outer pleasures - that's what earthly troubles are. Greater things remain and can't be taken away.
Dear Christian friend, Paul's “clay jar” wore out long ago. But that wasn't his real life, the life that Christ won for Him. God had prepared him for much greater things and He kept Paul safe for them, renewing him daily with such thoughts. You see, it's what's inside here (mind) and here (in the heart) that counts – Christ. .
Are you wearing out because of your troubles? In view of the heavenly glories God wants for you, they are light and momentary. The assurance of the resurrection gives courage and new strength to bear any load in the present. So, take heart, dear friend. God will renew you daily within. He never disappoints those who believe.
II. Are you wearing out? Turn it into opportunity for God's glory.
And as you take heart , do even more. Turn your troubles into opportunities for God's glory. One of the best ways you can do that is to use your witness in faith for the benefit of others.
Paul writes, “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.' With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence. All this is for your benefit so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God!”
Last week Paul showed us how we are little more than clay jars in this life. Remember when I brought the clay pot out and began tossing it around? Some of you winced because you knew very well that no matter how much care I took, there was a very good possibility that I would somehow fumble it and it would shatter into pieces. I've done that with clay pots before – haven't you?
Yet, though Paul compared us to such fragile pots, he also made sure to tell us that we still have a treasure within – Christ and His Gospel – and that keeps us eternally safe. He wrote, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed…so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body.”
The purpose of your life, especially in the troubles of the present time, is to reveal Christ so that others may be drawn to Him in faith for their eternal benefit. Don't you want your friends, relatives, acquaintances, and neighbors in heaven too? Sometimes there is no greater chance to witness to these things than in the troubles of life for when they see how God pulls you through and note the happy spirit that remains with you, they will take notice. And as you tell them that you endure the wearing out only because of the Savior, they will benefit from it now and in heaven. That's how you turn your troubles into opportunities for God's glory.
So you are wearing out outwardly! It's not the outside that matters; that's only temporary. It's What's Inside that Counts.
Fathers, may you enjoy that truth especially today as we celebrate your day in our land. And more, seek opportunities to teach these things to your children for their benefit and God's ever increasing glory. God grant it to us for Jesus' sake. Amen.