Last Saturday was commissioning day, where we at Wycliffe gather together as a community to pray for our leaving students and worship all together for one last time. This year, our very own chaplain Revd Will Donaldson preached on 2 Corinthians 4:7 about the reality of ministry and the vocation of all those in ministry. After over a decade in ministry, I have to say it was really encouraging and re-envisioning for me and a reminder of why any of us do what we do. So I would like to thank Will for sharing the text with me so I can share it with you.
Commissioning Day Sermon (and first guest post)
June 18, 2025
Treasures in Jars of Clay
by Revd Will Donaldson
Good morning everyone and thank you so much, Michael, for asking me to preach on this wonderful occasion. It’s a real honour and privilege to do so! Some of you know that I was a tutor here for 6 years from 2007: it’s a joy to be back in my retirement on the chaplaincy team, alongside Jane and Bruce.
What will be your abiding memory of Wycliffe Hall?
- It might be lectures, whether at Wycliffe or in the Faculty, when your eyes were opened and your mind stretched to explore the heights and depths of academic theology
- It might be the Focus mornings or the Study Weeks, with their leaning towards practical preparation for ministry, underpinned by parish placements and missions
- It might be worship in chapel, when you experienced the presence of Christ in the singing, the preaching, the liturgy and the celebration of communion.
- It might be your fellowship group, where you got to know a group of fellow students really well and journeyed with them through the training process, and they were there for you when you needed support
- It might be the enjoyment of belonging to the wider community –
- the chats over coffee in the Common room, or the discussions over lunch,
- or the theological boxing matches in Fight Club (where no punches were pulled!),
- or the more refined formal occasions like Matriculation and formal halls,
- or our community notices on Tuesdays with the drum rolls and the gold awards and – not to forget - the Principal’s jokes (all under the pretext of needing to link things up!),
- or maybe your abiding memory will be the Hall Photo last month that ploughed on despite thunder, lightning and torrential rain! How hilarious was that! And you could spot the people whom Jesus would have called ‘oh ye of little faith’ – they had brought their umbrellas!
There’s one other memory that I hope you will take with you into your future ministries: it’s our text for this morning: 2 Cor. 4.7. - ‘But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us’.
Let me explain why I would love you to embed this in your heart as we send you out…
1. We have been entrusted with Treasure
On 4 November 1922 a door was opened into an Egyptian Tomb in the Valley of the Kings which contained one of the most opulent collection of treasures ever discovered. The tomb of Tutankhamun was opened by the Egyptologist Howard Carter, and he was thrilled to find that the grave-robbers had not got there first and so it was largely intact. As Carter entered the tomb with a lit candle he was asked ‘Can you see anything?’ Carter replied "Yes, wonderful things." He was not exaggerating!
- A stunning Golden Death Mask.
- A Solid Gold multi-layered Coffin,
- Several gilded chariots
- A magnificent Throne adorned with scenes of royal life
- A vast collection of personal items, including elaborate jewellery, clothing, and toiletries,
And so the list goes on, all of this show-casing the wealth and power of ancient Egyptian pharaohs and it still remains the most famous find in the Valley of the Kings.
All of it was brought over to the UK in 1972 and was on display in the British Museum - I queued for a day and a half to get in: and it was the most incredible display of treasures I have ever seen.
But even the treasures of Tutankhamun cannot compare with the treasure that we have been entrusted with in Jesus Christ. He is the Pearl of Great Price, he is the Treasure hidden in the field, he is the beautiful saviour, who shed his precious blood for us, he is the King eternal, crowned with glory and honour, he is the image of the invisible God, and in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.
Paul is explaining all this to the Corinthians in the previous verses of Chap.4, and now he says: we have this priceless treasure, he’s ours to welcome and enjoy every day, bringing the light and warmth of his presence into our lives; and as Christian ministers we are entrusted with this treasure to share with others, through what we preach, how we serve and the way we live. And since we have this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart (v.1). So try and remember that: we have been entrusted with priceless treasure.
2. We carry this treasure in jars of clay
What artefacts from the ancient world Paul is thinking of here?
Some commentators suggest the small pottery lamps that could be bought in the shops at Corinth, cheap and fragile. (This would connect with the Christian ministers being carriers of light into the dark places in v.6). Others think the analogy is drawn from the Roman triumphal processions when the treasures and spoils of war were carried in unimpressive earthen containers. For e.g., following the Macedonian victory in 167BC, 3,000 Roman soldiers followed the chariots, carrying silver coins in 750 pottery vessels. (And we know that Paul is fond of using similes from the Roman processions from 2 Cor.2.14 and elsewhere). And others just highlight the fragility of ordinary pottery vessels in Near Eastern cultures that were used every day for domestic purposes: storing, carrying, cooking, eating, and drinking. They were only expected to last a few years, at the most.
Whatever Paul exactly had in mind, what is common to all of them if the idea of fragility, vulnerability and apparent weakness. This is the Christian minister: no big shakes; no big standing or reputation; always a weak and fallen human being who get ill, become stressed, experience exhaustion, has relational fall-outs and periods of low self-esteem and self-worth. A jar of clay.
Paul is deliberately contrasting himself (and his fellow ministers) with the trumped-up claims of the Corinthian super apostles, who were consumed by their own self-importance. We are the opposite of that, says Paul: jars of clay, fragile, unimportant and disposable.
In Genesis 1 we were formed from the dust of the ground, and to the ground we shall return one day (earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust). And Jeremiah 18 reminds us that God is the master potter and we are the clay – He is lovingly moulding and shaping us into his people, so that we become formed into his likeness. We carry priceless treasure, but always in jars of clay.
Over 40 years in ministry, God has constantly reminded me of this:
- sometimes it has been when feeling right out of my depth in challenging ministry situations;
- sometimes it has been through my mistakes and pig-headedness;
- sometimes it has been through anxieties and stresses over family matters;
- sometimes it has been strained relationships with colleagues and staff;
- sometimes it has been over disappointments and crushed dreams;
- sometimes it has been financial worries;
- sometimes it has been times of poor health or unexpected accidents (some of you know that I fell off a ladder last summer and completely smashed my hip, needing a full hip replacement…interestingly my new hip joint was a ceramic hip, formed from clay!).
But in each of these times, as we have fallen on our knees and said ‘God where are you? We’re really struggling! We need you so much – we can’t do this without you! And God has said to us: ‘Remember you carry this treasure in jars of clay. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness’ (2 Cor 12.9).
There was a striking testimony of this last Sunday morning on BBC 1 - it was ‘a Celebration of Pentecost’ from Gas Street in Birmingham, a packed multi-cultural congregation of people, mainly under thirty years of age. And during his talk, the minister, Tim Hughes, shared the story of how it all began, 10 years ago:
"I remember the first day we ever gathered in this building to pray – there were nine of us. Gathered in this derelict building, we needed to raise a huge amount of money – millions of pounds to renovate it. I remember looking at this group of nine, and then looking at the enormity of this building and thinking ‘we’re doomed!’ How’s this going to work? I was so aware of my limitations - Rachel and I had never led a church before. How could God do something beautiful and extraordinary? But in that moment of desperation, we began to pray: ‘Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us’…and what we have seen is that, as we opened the door, people began to come. As we prayed, people began to give generously. They started to bring their friends and we began to see amazing stories of transformation…many hundreds now whose lives have been changed as they have met with Jesus Christ in this place…God has proved himself faithful, time and time again."
Let’s notice the striking paradox of all this:
Priceless treasure in clay pots!
Eternal glories in frail human beings!
The revelation of Christ to the world through fallen people like you and me
Why has God planned it this way? That now becomes clear in the last part of the verse…
3. Treasure in jars of clay, that God might receive the glory
It’s so that the world can see that ‘all-surpassing power is from God and not from us’. Ahh! Now we see the divine purpose in giving this ministry to weak, frail human beings like us.
Ministry is not about boosting our own little egos, about establishing our reputation, about making a name for ourselves, about building our own little empire, about being known as a great preacher or a dynamic leader or a renowned pastor or a powerful evangelist. Those ambitions are all out of place in Christian ministry for the simple reason that it means we get the glory instead of God.
No, the primary purpose of Christian ministry is the glory of God: that people see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven. We went back recently to Canterbury where I had been at school, and we visited the magnificent medieval cathedral which is not only the focal point of the Worldwide Anglican Communion, but is also now a Unesco World heritage site, visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists and pilgrims every year. We also went after dark and it was beautifully illuminated by flood lights hidden all around the precincts.
Now, it occurred to me that nobody goes to Canterbury to look at the floodlights: sure, they have a very important role and they do a great job, but they are there to point away from themselves to illuminate the beauty of the Cathedral in all its glory.
And ours is a floodlight ministry: hidden away, hardly noticed, certainly not the focus of attention, but doing a vital role of illuminating the glories of our Saviour, and showing that the power and the glory belongs to him, not to us.
Charles Wesley expressed it so well in his wonderful hymn:
O for a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!
My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread thro' all the earth abroad
the honours of your name.
We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Amen
******
Cover photo by Iraj Beheshti on Unsplash
Egyptian treasures: photo by Mary Harrsch on Flickr
Are you 100% sure about that? Last December, Stephen and I headed for Prague for a few days. We were looking forward to Christmas markets, mulled wine, and shopping. Because we had booked a really early flight, we decided to stay in an airport hotel the night before. We hadn’t banked on one thing though: how to get from the bus station at Heathrow to the hotel. We could see our destination towering ahead of us as we exited the coach, but there was no reliable way to get there on foot. Much like Houston, navigating the surface roads of Heathrow is much easier for those in a car. So, we asked for directions from one of the airport staff. She pointed us over to two elevators, sat right next to each other. One had a line of at least twenty people. The other one had none. Those at the front of the queue hadn’t even pressed the button. That seemed strange and indicated that perhaps the people in line didn’t know what they were doing—or weren’t used to London airports. But why was one line so long and the other non-existent? The signs above weren’t exactly clear, but here were two lifts side-by-side, surely they went to the same place? Towards the back of the line was a middle-aged man, surrounded by luggage and family, who realised what we were trying to puzzle out. “Nah, you can’t use it. The other lift doesn’t go down. Doesn’t go to the same place,” he told us. We looked at him quizzically. “Are you sure?” we asked. “ One hundred percent , mate. One hundred percent.” The certainty with which he declared his answer was persuasive. He crowed like he was the CEO of the airport. That lift would not go where the other one was going. He repeated himself again. 100%. Only, he was wrong. We risked looking like fools. We walked to the vacant elevator, hit the button, and—lo and behold!—an elevator appeared that went to the exact same location as the other. The middle-aged man surrounded by luggage was 100%... in the wrong. Utterly and completely. *** Words, words, words, but no wisdom I don’t personally know the man who so-confidently revealed his wrongness. I’ve no idea whether his bluster was out of character from his usual self. But in the moment of our encounter, he acted every bit the ‘fool’ we find in Book of Proverbs: "A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion." (Proverbs 18:2) There is much wisdom in Proverbs 17:28: Even fools who keep silent are considered wise; when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent. It seems to me that we live in a world saturated with words, whether written or spoken. There’s an ever-growing number of websites, social media platforms, podcasts, and so on. Even more so now with AI. Yet for all this verbal abundance, there does not seem to be any more wisdom than there used to be. I would argue with AI, there seems to be less (or perhaps it’s simply exposing our foolishness). Part of me wonders about the virtue of writing a blog, when these are so often half-thoughts, explorations, and ideas: am I just adding to the plethora of opinions that exist on the blogosphere? Last year, I was teaching on how to plan and lead funerals with our final year ordinands. I spoke with confidence about what works and what doesn’t. What the role of the cleric is, how to work with the grieving family, how to craft the sermon, what to do afterwards etc. It felt good to be able to give real, lived experience having worked in a church for a decade. But it was only during the Q&A when I realized something. I realized my confidence was borne of a very specific context: I ministered in a large, Episcopal church in Houston, Texas. Not a small parish church, somewhere remote in England. Did the wisdom and experience I bring still have value in the Church of England, where the Church is an established one? Where those who minister do among many people who don’t dare to cross the threshold of a religious building except in such moments of life and death? Now I happen to think it does; but only with some qualification. For what I realized in that moment is that it’s not quite as readily transferable as I’d assumed. Church cultures are different. Expectations are different. How people respond and react to their local vicar is different! What works in one scenario doesn’t necessarily work in another. Consider Proverbs 26:4-5: 4 Do not answer fools according to their folly, or you will be a fool yourself. 5 Answer fools according to their folly, or they will be wise in their own eyes. Proverbs 26 has a seeming contradiction that speaks to the importance of context. In the situation where you’re faced with someone spouting foolishness, what should you do? Speak or not speak? Engage or not engage? The modern equivalent to v.4 might be to say to yourself “not my monkeys, not my circus” and walk away. But what about the times when it is your circus? When they are your monkeys? What about when to walk away is to leave someone blind to their mistakes and doomed to make more? What if responding might feasibly help someone see beyond their own blinkers and make a different choice? Sometimes v.4 might be the path of wisdom. Other times it’s v.5. But it’s not always apparent which is which. Overconfidence is not just dangerous for making us look like fools or giving bad advice. If we stay in our certitude, we miss the heart of the issue revealed in these two verses: we need wisdom. So where do we find it? *** Does ‘wisdom come with age’? I’ve heard it said that ‘wisdom comes with age’. Ironically enough, this line was used when I was in something of a disagreement with someone much older than me. But claiming moral high ground or superior understanding on the basis of some unalterable characteristic that you have but I don’t, is more indicative of pride than wisdom. If age does come with wisdom, there would be no conflict or disagreement within the human species as we age. If age is the sole arbiter, we should collectively do better as the wrinkles and grey hairs multiply. Yet that’s not what happens. Wisdom, sadly, is not inevitable. It can come with age because of one very simple reality: the more time you’ve had on the planet means you’ve had more opportunity to become wise. Now whether or not you’ve taken those opportunities is quite a different thing! *** Wisdom: a gift that needs seeking Proverbs has an interestingly balanced view of wisdom. It is (1) something that requires active seeking, yet also (2) something which only God can give. Proverbs 2:1-4 talks about the need to exert effort in acquisition of wisdom. It’s not something that just lands on our laps: it asks you to be open to learning and sitting with what you receive (v.1), deliberate and intentional in putting your body in a space to grow in it (v.2), and vocal in your search for it (v.3). In other words: humble, open, and hungry. This passage concludes by likening it to searching for silver or hidden treasure (v.4). Think about that for a moment: do you search for wisdom in the same way you seek out growth in income or asset? From a human wisdom point of view, seeking financial gain for our security and future as we age (and our children grow and go off to college etc) makes good sense. But what if we were to seek wisdom with the very same fervour? What if wisdom had the same significance for our spiritual security and future? What if it is important to our growth in the Christian life and readiness for what may come our way? It’s a gift that needs seeking. But Proverbs tells us it is also a gift that is given. Verse 6 reveals “ the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding .” Our seeking is not the whole picture. Longing for wisdom does not mean we get it. Wisdom is God’s domain not ours. Proverbs 8 illustrates that God’s Wisdom is not something to acquire or harvest. It is not a commodity to be doled out. It is not a consumer good. Wisdom was present when God made the world. Wisdom is a part of God’s self that chooses when to be imparted and when not to be (compare 1:28; 8:17; 9:5, 16) The very fabric of our material world is infused with the mystery of Wisdom. Insight and understanding comes from God and helps us to navigate the complexity of our lives, but this gift is just a glimpse of a much greater reality of the divine Wisdom which exists eternally. This, perhaps, brings us back to where I started. True wisdom is never found in loud proclamations of “one hundred percent!”. Why? Because the one who is wise recognises they have a lot to learn. They know that new information can shift and reframe yesterday’s certainty. Maybe the first step is to stop claiming absolute certainty—to stop the all-or-nothing thinking. Maybe we start with recognising what Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13: we only see in part, know in part, understand in part. And from there, we begin actively seeking that gift which only God—from His Wisdom—can give. Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. 2 She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her servant-girls, she calls from the highest places in the town, 4 "You that are simple, turn in here!" To those without sense she says, 5 "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. 6 Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight." Proverbs 9:1-6 ****** Photo © Copyright Derek Harper and licensed for reuse under a cc-by-sa/2.0 Creative Commons Licence.
What do we do on days when God seems entirely absent? Some thoughts about where I see that in my life today and, looking back, recognising how much has changed.
