Saint Paul equates our humanity to clay jars (2 Corinthians 4:5-12). So, how do you feel in your clay jar today? What’s the condition of your clay jar?  Is it all pretty and beautiful? Or, is there a lot of dust caked onto it? Does it show its age? How fragile is it? Does it have a few chips or cracks in it already? Maybe, many chips and cracks.

But wait! We carry a treasure in our clay jars, did you notice? It’s not to say the clay jars aren’t important. They fulfill, after all, a vital function – to carry the treasure!

What do we first notice? On what do we focus? The cracks, chips, dysfunction, imperfection of our clay jars? Or, will we look for the light, the hope, the promise of the treasure within?

Whatever our answer, we cannot deny, avoid or pretend away our clay jars as if they don’t mean anything important on our journey of faith. Sometimes the cracks, chips, injustices on the outside reflect the nature and purpose of the treasure it holds inside.

Sometimes the un-exceptional reality points to the truth about God’s “extraordinary power” (v. 7) and points us in the direction of our healing and transformation. After all, we are not disconnected, disembodied creatures existing in cerebral, otherworldly abstractions. The clay jars are just as important – these are the means of grace.

In the Gospel for today, Jesus plucked grains of wheat, mentioned King David eating the bread in the temple, and he healed someone with a broken hand (Mark 2:23—3:6). The clay jars are indeed the entry point, the gateway, into a holy journey of healing, growth and communion with Jesus.

An ancient proverb is told of a servant whose duty it was to draw water from the river at dawn when it was still mostly dark, and carry a bucket-full up a winding, rocky path to the mansion where his master lived. Alas! His bucket had a crack in it. And each time he brought water up the path he lost most of it.

Curiously, the servant noticed his master standing at the door of the mansion watching him every day carry this water up the path, spilling most of it. And yet, the servant was able to see a broad, loving smile on his master’s face. Daily, the servant would drop to his knees when he reached the top. At his master’s feet the servant would express his remorse at failing to do his job, bringing only half a bucket-full of water each time he climbed the path. The master listened lovingly, invited him inside for breakfast, and encouraged him to try again the next day. Which the servant did, faithfully, for the entire season.

When the river froze over, and the last half-bucket full was brought up the path, and once again the servant expressed his shame, sorrow and regret, the master invited him inside to share in a special feast to mark the end of the season and beginning of a new one. On the table spread with the finest breads, vegetables, cheeses and meats, he found bouquets of flowers of the most wondrous varieties and colors.

The servant gasped at the heavenly sight and asked his master, “From where did you find these beautiful flowers?”

“Come, follow me,” the master said, “and see for yourself.” The master led the servant back to the front door just as the sun was rising, illuminating the pathway down to the river. And on both sides of the path the flowers were growing, able to do so because of the water that had daily leaked out from the servant’s cracked bucket.

This story describes how God’s grace works. Grace operates through the cracks of our lives. That’s how the precious treasure we carry spills out.

The new logo and tagline for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada was released last week. The tagline replaces “In Mission for Others” with “Living out God’s Grace and Unconditional Love” (ELCIC, 2024). The logo conveys hope and the never-ending circle of God’s love whose centre is the cross. As in the Gospel today and so often in Jesus’ earthly ministry, grace and compassion fuel Jesus’ action (Mark 2:23-3:6).

The journey of faith puts us in tension with all the forces in us and outside of us that seek to snuff out the light of God’s grace. Yes, these jars are indeed fragile, vulnerable, imperfect and we wonder if they are strong enough, durable enough, to withstand the onslaught. We may even get down on ourselves, concluding we are useless, falling on our knees confessing and even dwelling on all that is wrong in us.

But Saint Paul makes clear that when the treasure does spill out to the world, it is God’s doing not ours. After all, the treasure we hold—the heart of Jesus—is not ours to guard and keep. Its purpose is to shine out to the world through the cracks in our clay jars. Its purpose is to be visible in the world as an act of kindness, a generosity and unconditional gift we give because we first have received it. We may even be doing it without knowing it, or when we least expect it.

These clay jars convey the tender mercies and grace of God which is at the heart of Jesus and in the hearts of all who want to follow. Our healing begins when we experience the grace of God showing through those very cracks and chips in our lives. And that’s the extra-ordinary power the world needs to see. May God’s grace empower us on this journey.