Paul is trying to explain his ministry and all of the hardship he has encountered to the Corinthians. By reading all of the Corinthian letters, it seems that perhaps Paul was bring criticized for being egocentric -- if you read some of his writing, it sorrrrrrta makes sense why. So, he spends a good chunk of 2 Corinthians trying to explain that, when they thought he was bragging about all the hard things he went through, it wasn’t to raise himself up or to make them feel bad for him, but rather, because He is trying to magnify Christ’s power next to his own weakness.

Sidebar: I like this because Paul, the apostle who wrote such a huge portion of the New Testament, was misunderstood on occasion. Paul, this bold apostle who gave us so much language for understanding Jesus, had to clarify his own meaning. This, on its own, is a helpful hermeneutical lesson: sometimes when we read letters written to certain congregations, it’s easy to make undue assumptions about tone and context. We owe it to ourselves and to God, honestly, to be willing to get the background info.

There’s this quote we’ve all heard (attributed to Leonard Cohen, Rumi, and a handful of others...not really sure here): “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

But I think Paul is kinda saying the opposite (although both could be true): we are all broken, and that’s how the light gets OUT.

God made light to shine in the darkness, and God made it so that the light of Christ can shine from OUR darkness.

We are dealing with a lot -- collectively, individually, externally, internally. That is the reality of life in a world where people have free will, and where we make mistakes, of which the consequences can last for generations.

You are a clay jar, lovingly crafted by a potter with a plan.

You were made to hold water, not be water. To hold light, to let light shine through. You are the conduit for glory, not the source of the glory.

God uses the contrast of our need and His power to change others’ lives.

So your sin, your struggle, your pain -- when you open up and share the brokenness in your life, God’s power is made known. If you only share the good, and you only share the victory, your need for a Savior never really shows. When we share the hard things that God has miraculously brought us through and redeemed for good, that’s when the light gets out.

Vulnerability is powerful: not vulnerability for its own sake --  vulnerability that points to strength outside itself. This is how we get to participate in the complicated, glorious process of resurrection proclaimed and living water consumed.

God, I want to stop clinging to a perfectly curated image, where I am never in need and never lost. Help me find joy in proclaiming my weakness next to your strength, in the vulnerability of sharing how very much I depend on you. Thank you for storing treasure in clay jars, and for making light shine through their broken places. Amen.