Introduction to the Theme for the Year 2003
We have this treasure in clay jars
(2 Corinthians 4: 4-18)

Migration, a complex issue, is having a growing impact on the lives of many people, 
countries and churches around the world. Argentina is one of the countries where there 
have been many waves of immigration that have affected not only the national context 
but also the lives of the churches. The initial project for this year's prayer for 
unity comes from an ecumenical group in Argentina that chose the biblical text and 
theme that arises out of a reflection on the fact that Argentina is a nation built 
by native peoples and immigrants.

Several reasons for immigration might be identified such as famine, wars, and religious 
persecutions. Two stories from Argentina's recent past illustrate these situations and 
show the need for the churches to work together to seek unity in order to respond in 
common witness.

1. A family fleeing from violence emigrates and finds a home in Argentina. 
There they find security but have to face a new culture which they do not understand, 
a language that is not their own, and a history with which they cannot identify. 
Sometimes the local population does not appreciate their presence. This family feels 
happiness and at the same time sadness. They leave behind fear but now they discover 
discrimination. In some cases they have to accept being economically exploited; this 
is the price that they have to pay to protect their lives and raise their children. 
The new country takes them in and rejects them at the same time. They have faith and 
they wait for the light that will guide them in the darkness.

2. A young woman comes to the big city looking for a job.
She grew up in the northern countryside and leaves it for a better future. She leaves 
her family, her friends and now she faces a different kind of society. Her skin and her 
accent reveal that her origins are in the country; probably she also has native blood. 
For this too she has to pay a high price. She experiences the bright lights of the big 
city but also the sadness of loneliness. She is a foreigner in her own country. She 
often feels she is treated as if she has no right to enjoy the good life. She has no 
one in whom to confide but she still has hope that she will find her place.

Such situations led the local group to reflect on how the word of God gives us strength 
in difficult circumstances and even reminds us that all of God's people are pilgrims 
on the way to the kingdom. The Bible presents us with many examples of peoples who 
migrate from place to place for many of the same reasons as the populations of today. 
Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Amos, and Joseph, Mary and Jesus are biblical examples of 
immigrants.

The experience of immigration reveals a world that is divided. The unity of Christians 
needs to be the paradigm for the unity of humankind. Christians possess a «treasure in 
clay jars» (2 Cor 4:7) which is the glory of Jesus Christ the Lord, namely his victory 
over sin, death, persecution and hatred. his treasure is, as Paul says in 2 Cor 4:5-6, 
the knowledge of God's glory that burns brightly in Jesus as he has revealed the depths 
of God's love and mercy for all creation, especially the poor.

The text of 2 Cor 4:5-18 calls us to recognise that we carry a treasure that does not 
belong to us but which has been given to us as a gift from God to strengthen us when we 
are suffering and encourage us when we are sad. We carry this treasure within the fragility 
of our human existence so that it becomes clear that this gift has its origin in God and 
is not of our own making. God invites us to witness to him through our human weakness.

The body of Christ is undivided and for this reason we must overcome the divisions among 
Christians that are a counter-witness to this truth. We recognise that the barriers are 
great and that our own intellectual and physical force is not enough to heal our sins of 
division. The unity of the church must be brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit 
working in us, so that each step toward unity is seen as God drawing us nearer to his 
kingdom.

We need to accept the challenge of the apostle Paul who said that «we believe so we speak» 
(2 Cor 4:13). Not to speak is to hide the visible reality of Christ at work in us, which is 
the basis of the church's action in the world. So with the strength that is given to us, 
we have to go toward our neighbour to share the light of Christ and to recognise that 
together we are in debt to God who gave the life of his Son for the salvation of humankind. 

Biblical Text for 2003
We have this treasure in clay jars
(2 Corinthians 4: 4-18)

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep 
them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of 
God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves 
as your slaves for Jesus' sake. 

For it is the God who said, «Let light shine out of darkness», who has shone in our 
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary 
power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not 
crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, 
but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of 
Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given 
up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal 
flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. 

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture - 
«I believed, and so I spoke» - we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that 
the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with 
you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to
more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose 
heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed 
day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight 
of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot 
be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

ends
(New Revised Standard Version)

ENDS