The ringbearer and the treasure

Today: 2 Corinthians 1-4

Have you ever watched a ringbearer at a wedding?

A ringbearer is a small boy, typically under the age of five. At home, his mom doesn't let him carry a cup of juice across the family room floor. Before he arrived at the ceremony (and his mom cleaned him up), he rolled around in the mud of his backyard, let his dog lick his face clean and carried a frog in his back pocket. He's a kid!!! But one girl in a beautiful white dress has trusted him to carry her most precious gift in all the world.

I've never been a ringbearer (or a flower girl for that matter!), but I've carried around some pretty amazing treasure. So did the apostle Paul, as we learned in today's passage:

Remember, our Message is not about ourselves;

we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master.

All we are is messengers,

errand runners from Jesus

for you.

It started when God said,

"Light up the darkness!"

and our lives filled up with light

as we saw and understood God

in the face of Christ,

all bright and beautiful.

If you only look at us,

you might well miss the brightness.

We carry this precious Message around

in the unadorned clay pots

of our ordinary lives.

That's to prevent anyone from confusing

God's incomparable power

with us.

You and I, like a ringbearer at a wedding, are ordinary people entrusted with some extraordinary precious cargo--the treasure of God's Message, the light of His love and the truth of His story. Let's carry it well.

Tomorrow: 2 Corinthians 5-9