January 18, 2009 - Pastor Tim

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP!

2 Corinthians 4:1-18

Cindy and I had driven by it lots of times already in our short time in Idaho, but had never taken the time to stop until a couple of months ago when a friend of Cindy’s from Kansas City had come our way and we were taking her up to the mountains that we’ve come to enjoy so much. It’s just outside Horseshoe Bend on the left-hand side—and it ended up having some real interesting items, not the least of which are their chainsaw carvings. You can buy large wooden bears, totem poles, eagles and more that have essentially been carved out of the wood with the principle tool being a chainsaw! That’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?! I understand that they also use finer instruments in doing the finishing work, but it’s intriguing to think of art being done with a chainsaw.

Ever felt like God was taking a chainsaw to your life? Most of us know all about God having a plan and purpose for our lives—and we believe it and even stake our lives on it! But sometimes…and for some people “sometimes” may seem like “most of the time”…God chisels away at our lives not with fine little tools but with life events which may resemble chainsaws in the scope of magnitude and the fear it generates.

I think one of the things so many have appreciated about the New Testament writings of the Apostle Paul is that it’s clear that Paul understood the very human dimensions of what we experience as we endeavor to live our lives for Jesus Christ in a very imperfect world. He knew what it was like to face incredibly difficult challenges in life. As we continue in our series from 2 Corinthians, let’s turn to chapter 4—

[Read 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, NIV]

Though Paul was a mover and a shaker, he was realistic enough to recognize that his hard work and the resistance and persecution he often experienced along the way had all taken their toll on him physically and otherwise. But that wasn’t the end of the story. He has also experienced the ongoing renewal of spiritual strength. It was as though the more he gave of himself for the sake of the Gospel, the greater was his spiritual resilience.

But some of us never seem to get past the exhaustion and the discouragements of life—and we easily get stuck at the point of defending the legitimacy of our discouragement. We see our own limitations and imperfections and often fixate on the imperfections of others. The problems in the world and in our own personal lives seem foreboding. And the indifference of some people with whom we are sharing the Gospel makes us wonder if what we’re doing is truly worthwhile.

It frustrates us when people in the world aren’t nice and don’t play fair—though I’ll tell you that I’ve come to the point where I don’t even expect that out in the world…I’m just grateful when I see Christians act like Christians! I’d be lying to you if I didn’t acknowledge that even pastors get discouraged when as shepherds of their flocks they come to the harsh reality that some sheep bite. And for those who are wearing themselves out seeking the perfect church, there is for us all the harsh reality that no church is perfect—at least we know that it could never be perfect once you or I walked through its doors!

It’s also easy to become discouraged by all the aggressiveness of evil in our world. Nothing seems to be off-limits! We live in a world of fast-moving cultural change that is indifferent to the New Testament call for us to turn away from sin in order to follow Jesus. Phil Weeks made the observation in our Men’s Group last Wednesday evening that we’ve gone from “love the sinner; hate the sin” to “love the sinner; accept the sin.” Even churches have dropped any mention of “sin”—and I was even told by one pastor that they don’t believe in “sin” at their church and that the closest thing they would understand to being “sin” is “intolerance.” Can you believe, for example, that as Americans we have moved so far from biblical teachings that one of the most hotly debated issues in our country today is the determination to allow men to marry men and women to marry women—and we believe that such is a violation of God’s design and His laws are labeled narrow-minded bigots! The advance of evil in our world is frightening and unsettling!

But what scripture makes clear is that it’s always been that way. Paul had experienced such a dominance of evil in his world too—and yet he wrote to his friends that in spite of it all, “we do not lose heart” (vss 1 and 16). And in this particular chapter of 2 Corinthians he gives us the reasons why he could not give up and throw in the towel and give in to discouragement and despair.

When I was thinking of a title for this sermon, I was drawn to the phrase made famous by the great British statesman Winston Churchill. What’s often been told is that when he was asked to give a speech before a group of students at a school he once attended, he simply got up and said, “Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, give in. Never give in. Never give in. Never give in” and that then he sat down. I guess that what’s historically accurate is that he delivered far more of a speech than just that, but it was obviously those few words that made the biggest impact. And when I think of Paul’s words to us today I can’t help but summarize it in words a little more to my liking—“Never, never, never give up!”

Why? Surely there are a lot of legitimate reasons for you and me to become discouraged in life and even in serving the Lord. Why should we never, never, never give up? Why not lose heart as followers of Christ in an ungodly world? Why not give up? Why not get discouraged when even the church world is not perfect? I believe Paul’s words to us today can help us.

We don’t need to lost heart because God is great! He is the real treasure. He is the eternal wellspring of power. Paul spoke in such graphic words—

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Paul knew that the real treasure in life is Jesus Christ and that he (Paul) was merely the vehicle of carrying that treasure to others.

He set up a paradox here—the difference between the indescribable value of the Gospel treasure and the apparent worthlessness of the Gospel’s minister. He’s not despairing of the life of the Christian or the one who is committed to ministering to others in the name of Christ—but he’s contrasting the relative insignificance and unattractiveness of the bearers of the light with the countless worth and beauty of the Light itself. We don’t have to be great and mighty…because God alone is that! We don’t need to lose heart because “this all-surpassing power is from God”—it’s not from us…it never was!

It’s not a clay pot, but I think the principle still relates. It’s glass. I’m sure it’s not crystal or anything special…except for the fact that it came from my grandparents’ home. It’s just a little square box with a lid—and for lots of years I’ve used it in my office to put out candy or nuts of some sort. Since I’ve been here, it’s mostly had M & M’s in it. I buy the package for a few bucks at Walmart and it lasts quite a while. But it’s never been the delicacy of the glass or even the contents of the thing that makes it significant to me. It’s a reminder often of two people who loved Jesus and who loved me and who had such a wonderful role in my life until they both died within 8 months of one another during my college years.

And sometimes I take a good look in the mirror at myself—and when I get over the scare of it all (!) I get to realizing once again that it’s not the body—the container, if you will—that makes me anything special at all. It’s Who I belong to…it’s all about the One who has held me in His hands…the One who takes an otherwise flawed container and by His Presence brings value to my life. Just like skin that is scarred here and there and that’s getting a little wrinkly with the years…my life’s been weathered by mistakes and failures. But the amazing thing is that the treasure I bear is not diminished at all by the container. In fact, my life is made valuable by the treasure I’ve found in Christ.

So regardless of what circumstances I go through, I don’t need to lose heart because God is great! He’s the real treasure. It’s not about me; it’s about Him. And He holds all-surpassing power…so why should any child of God get down in the mouth and discouraged?! Have we forgotten Whose we are?!

We need never give up because God’s strength is sufficient for us regardless of what we go through. Paul was encouraged because life hadn’t thrown more at him than he was able to handle with the help of the Lord. The honest truth is that we can cope with a whole lot of stuff in life as we learn to depend upon the strength that Christ gives.

I love Paul’s words—

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

He was “bewildered…[but] never at…wits’ end” (NEB). He was “at a loss, but never totally at a loss.” He was hounded by the enemy, but not left to the enemy’s mercy. He was knocked to the ground, but never permanently “grounded.”

Have you followed the story at all this week about US Airways Flight 1549 that pilot Sully Sullenberger “crash landed” into the Hudson River in New York? He had just lifted off from LaGuardia Airport and hit a couple of birds that disabled a significant part of his engines. Fearing that he could not make it as far as another landing strip, he saw his opportunity with the river below, and, as some say, almost used the river itself as a landing strip. There were 155 people on that plane, and not one was killed or even seriously injured. It was amazing! Might we add to the Apostle Paul’s words, “We were forced down, but never crashed”!

When I said a few moments ago that we need never to give up because God’s grace and His strength are sufficient for us regardless of what we go through, some of you were likely reminded of a verse that’s found later in this letter Paul wrote to the church in Corinth—2 Corinthians 12:9—where we find the words of the Lord to Paul:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

It’s a great promise that many of us have learned to lean upon, and one that we’ll center a message around in a few weeks. But it’s what Paul was saying here too—as followers of Jesus Christ, we need not lose heart because He is all-sufficient for any challenge He allows us to face. How wonderful to know that we don’t face any of the challenges of life alone!

I’m afraid that when we hear Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 that we in our humanity tend to place the emphasis on the wrong words. I’m afraid we tend to read—

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

Perhaps how we’d best it read it is the way I believe Paul meant—

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

It makes all the difference, doesn’t it?! Paul was writing here with a sense of celebration! Even though life had knocked him down, it hadn’t knocked him out—and Paul was rejoicing over it and wrote these words to his friends in Corinth so that they too would be encouraged with the help of the Lord throughout life.

Across years of life and ministry, I’ve watched some of God’s people deal realistically and triumphantly with tragedy, illness, death and losses of all kinds. I’ve stood by some of them during times of almost unbelievable stress with the assurance that they would not be abandoned by Christ. And with time, and with patience, and with lots of love and encouragement from other believers, I’ve seen them persevere and come out on the other side of such difficulties with stronger faith in the Lord and greater confidence in life.

The Christian author J.I. Packer wrote,

We should not be upset when unexpected and upsetting and discouraging things happen. God in his wisdom means to make something of us which we have not yet attained and is dealing with us accordingly. (J.I. Packer)

And with Him by our side and with the strength that He gives us, we should never give up!

We don’t need to lose heart because God renews our spirits every day. It’s a day by day thing.

Paul was encouraged by God’s ability to renew his spirit when circumstances got him down. Though Paul was confronted with the threat of death and even the reality of the limitations of the human body and his own mortality, he could still write—

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

Paul’s strenuous and challenging schedule had taken its toll on his body and his spirit, but he said that through God’s Spirit he daily experienced renewal. This helped him to face life here and now and gave him hope even about death

Again, I like how the paraphrase of Scripture called The Message translates this word from Paul—

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. (2 Corinthians 4:16, The Message)

We must never give up, because God is renewing our spirits every day!

I suppose in some ways it’s like our longing for spring when we get sick and tired of winter weather. How many of you are ready for spring yet? I’m guessing those in the Midwest are ready for spring this week! I checked on the weather report yesterday when I was finishing up my sermon to see what the temperature was where our daughter Kara and son-in-law Josh live near Cleveland, Ohio and it said that they were currently at 1 degree outside—and that wouldn’t have taken into account wind chill!

Several times in recent weeks I’ve looked out over our lawn and over some of the new bushes and trees I planted in the fall and I long for spring weather. I’m anxious to see my grass green again. I’m anxious to see tulips and daffodils blooming. I’m anxious to see buds on the trees. And though we still have a couple months of winter left, we can be assured that spring will come.

In much the same way, we can rest assured during the difficult days of life that God is constantly restoring and reviving and renewing our spirits day by day. We don’t ever need to give up.

As Christ-followers, we need not lose heart and give up because the truth is that things look altogether different through the eyes of eternity. Paul was encouraged about his own life and ministry when he realized that God had a different view of such things—what I’ve often called “eternity’s perspective.” I believe that’s what Paul was referring to when he wrote—

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

It’s awful easy for us to be spiritually near-sighted, isn’t it? And while we sometimes get glimpses of what God sees, He’s the only One who really gets to see things as they truly are. We live in a microwave kind of world—we want what we want and we want it now! Patience probably isn’t much of an American virtue. With time, God has a way of reversing judgments and eternity has a way of telling us what was valuable and what was permanent and exposing that which was temporary and useless all along. So we dare not lose heart in the thick of life, because God sees our circumstances through a completely different set of lenses than we do!

Some may hear the words, “Never, never, never give up!” and imagine God standing over us like a Gestapo, ordering us to keep going. But I believe it’s far more accurate to envision God and His saints, like fans cheering on a runner in a race, encouraging us to keep going. I’ve always been taken by the words found in Hebrews 12:1—

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1)

My heart is encouraged when I think of great people of God like Stephen and Paul and Peter in the New Testament, and men and women throughout the ages whose life stories are ones of perseverance and courage. My heart is warmed as I reflect on people of great faith whose lives I’ve witnessed personally—mostly ordinary people, but people who had learned the lesson well through great heartaches and challenges in life that we need never give up in our trust in the Lord. He is great and we can depend upon Him. He won’t give us more than we can bear, as long as we lean on Him. He renews our spirits day by day, and helps us dare to believe that our temporary circumstances of life are going to look altogether different through the eyes of eternity. Therefore I have hope—and I offer you that hope today!