My Identity: A Vessel
Notes
Transcript
8 Yet Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we all are the work of your hands.
God’s Role
God’s Role
When a potter is about to make a vessel you must not imagine that he takes up the mere clay and puts it on the wheel and then leaves it to chance as to what shall be made of it. No, he has his plan. Before he sits down to the labor, he knows what kind of vessel he is about to make.
So it is with our Divine Potter who is in heaven. He takes the poor sinner as a mass of clay; he puts him on the wheel, and as that wheel revolves the potter looks and sees in that clay a future something that does not appear to the vessel, but only appears to the great Workman’s eyes. We may truly say of each of us who know the Lord that “what we will be has not yet been revealed” (1 John 3:2), and what we shall be never will appear until we shall see Christ as he is and be like him.
The Potter, however, knows what we are to be. Our Father who is in heaven will not be deceived at last as to what he will make of his people. He has a plan, and that plan I think I may read to you in these few words—he will present us “not having a spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph 5:27).
Charles Spurgeon, 300 Sermon Illustrations from Charles Spurgeon, ed. Elliot Ritzema and Lynnea Smoyer (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2017).
In Broken in the Right Place, Alan Nelson describes a scene from the book A Layman Looks at the Lord’s Prayer.
The author talks about watching a potter mold a lump of clay. On the shelves in his workshop stood gleaming goblets, beautiful vases, and exquisite bowls. The potter went to an odorous pit in the floor and took out a lump of clay. The smell was from rotting grass, which increased the quality of the material and made it stick better. The potter patted the lump of clay in his hands into a ball. Placing the lump onto the slab of stone with seasoned skill, the potter sat down on his wobbly little wooden stool. Already the master potter could envision the work of art this lump of earth would become. Whirling the wheel gently, the artist caressed the spinning mound. Prior to each touch, he dipped his hands into the two water basins flanking each side of the wheel. The clay responded to the pressure applied by his fingers. A beautiful goblet arose from the pile, responding to each pinch and impression.
Suddenly the stone stopped, and the potter removed a piece of grit. His seasoned fingers detected the unpliable aggregate. The stone spun again, allowing him to smooth out the former lodging of the grit. Suddenly the stone stopped again. He removed another hard object from the goblet’s side, leaving a mark in the vessel. The particles of grain within the cup resisted his hands. It would not respond to his wishes. Quickly the potter squashed the form back into a pile of clay. Instead of the beautiful goblet, the artisan formed the material into a crude, finger bowl.… When we resist the Master Potter’s hand, we run the very real risk of becoming less than we could become.
Our Role
Our Role
20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable.
21 So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.
22 Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
A Vessel Should Be Clean, Not Perfect
A Vessel Should Be Open, Not Closed