Earthen Vessels

     What is an earthen vessel? Paul talks about the treasure we have
within ourselves in the form of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And he refers to the human condition as "earthen vessels". Literally vessels made of clay or earth. He says in 2 Corinthians 4-5-12
4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. 

4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 

4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 

4:8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 

4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 

 4:11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 

4:12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 

     "Death works in us but life in you." This reminds me of Jonah. Why Jonah? Because Jonah was very earthy. If ever there was an earthen vessel it was Jonah. The first two chapters and really the last chapter show what I call the clay pot syndrome. He ran from God, was thrown in troubled waters, was swallowed by a fish, was vomited up on shore, walked a looooong way to Nineveh, and was hounded by God every inch of the way. Death was working almost literally in Jonah, but then the OT was a lot more physical it seems.

          Conversely, if we look at it from the Nineveh's side, we see a different story. Life was working in them.

 Pretend if you can that you are on the streets of Nineveh. You see a stranger walking down the street toward you. You don't know his name and you don't know his background, you really know nothing about him. He stops in front of your house and proclaims in a very loud voice "40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed." If you were in Nineveh his message would have pierced your heart.  You would have been so striken with the word that you would have put on sack cloth. Not only that but your neighbors would do the same. Soon the whole neighborhood is repenting. The king hears about it and he puts on sack cloth and sits on ashes! He orders everyone to repent, no water, no food, for animals, or humans. He has them cry out to God, the God of Israel, Elohim  (Ishtar was their goddess). Now that was an effective sermon! Have you ever heard a baby cry when it is hungry? Or an animal bawling? That city must have been noisy.  God heard their cry and did not destroy their city.  Wow! Now that is real life giving.

   What ever we want to say about Jonah and everyone wants to say something, mostly negative, 120, 000 people were saved at one preaching! A close reading of verse 5 of Chapter 3 we see that the people of Nineveh considered Jonah's message as from God.  They did not even say it was Jonah's message. They believed in God! Jonah had effectively connected them straight to God. He got no credit.  No book signing for Jonah. 

    What can we take away from Jonah? Simple - God's word preached through a human vessel, can produce the power that can transform people. Fred Cradford in his book on Preaching, same title, put it this way "Scripture's portrayal of its own potency challenges us always to remember that the Word preached... accomplishes heaven's purposes. Preaching that is true to Scripture converts, convicts and  eternally changes the souls of men and women because God's Word is the instrument of divine
compulsion, not because preachers have any power in themselves to stimulate such godly transformations."
     In short God is not necessarily hinder by our problems. Christ came in the flesh of our problems. Paul said it best "We have this treasure in eathen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us".