This week we continue last week’s post on vessels. If you didn’t read it, read it now – we’ll wait You can find it here.

Clean Vessel
Over time, a vessel of honour would start to get dirty, and would develop a thick film of scum on the inside, leading to the water tasting foul. Or perhaps the lip or handle would wear away through constant use. In this case the owner, rather than throwing it out and getting another one, would take it back to the potter. The potter would then go through the following process: first he would empty it; he would use stiff brushes to break up the layer of scum; he would fix the lip; and finally, he would return it to the fire of the kiln.

I believe that we, too, can become jaded. Perhaps, through long use, we are feeling worn. Maybe our lips are no longer the accurate espousers of God’s Word that they once were. Possibly the taint of sarcasm pervades everything we say, leaving a foul taste in the mouths of those who would otherwise quench their thirst with gusto. And God’s response is the same as the potter’s: he empties us of all the things that have gone bad; he cleans out the filth, sometimes through (painful) scouring; he fixes our lip(s); he returns us to the fire of the kiln.

If you feel like this is you, be encouraged. The Potter is too careful with his work to simply let it go to waste. He will not suffer it to remain a source of bitterness. And after he has restored you, you may well go on to do even better things than before. Consider, for example, Isaiah 66:20, “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels.” (NIV)

Vessel of Dishonour
You might remember that there were 3 vessels on the stand outside the front door of the Judean house? The third vessel, after the vessel of honour and the drinking vessel to go with it, is the vessl of dishonour. Essentially, this was the Judean garbage can.

Sometimes, when making a vessel, the potter would notice some flaw, some inconsistency that meant it was sub-standard. He would then put this in his yard for sale as a vessel of dishonour. Once purchased, this vessel would sit on the stand by the doorway until full, at which time it would be thrown away and another purchased instead.

Paul makes it clear, in writing to Timothy, that men and women have a choice about whether to be a vessel of honour or a vessel of dishonour.

In a large house there are articles [skeuos] not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument [skeuos] for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

- 2 Timothy 2:20-21 (NIV) (emphasis added)

Broken Vessel
Sometimes a vessel comes out of the kiln cracked. You or I would probably throw such a thing away and start again, but that is not the Potter’s way. Instead, when the day’s work was done, he would head out into the fields to collect mosquitoes, bloated on the blood of bulls and goats. He would then take them back and grind them up, before mixing them with dry clay powder. Together, the blood and the powder would form a type of glue, which the potter would then lovingly work into the cracks, before re-firing in the kiln. He would do this again and again, until the vessel is complete.

This is God’s method, also, for dealing with brokenness. Instead of the blood of bulls and goats, however, he uses the saving blood of Jesus to restore us to wholeness. He works that blood into every corner of our lives, until we are complete.

Vessel of Wrath
Sometimes, however, the vessel will not accept the blood. In such a case, the potter is left with no option but to throw it away – he has invested all that he can in making and then restoring that vessel, but there comes a point where he must say, “Enough!”

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I can leave you with no better challenge than the one Eugene Peterson gives in his translation of 2 Timothy 2:21 (the passage we started with):

Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.

- 2 Timothy 2:21 (Message)

Amen.