Recycled Saints
Are We Silly Putty or Clay?
Tools: A Glass Vase
I want to begin tonight by reading a story of the Vase.
A grandfather and a grandmother were in a gift shop looking for something to give their granddaughter for her birthday. Suddenly the grandmother spots a beautiful vase, “Look at this lovely piece of work”, she says to her husband. He picks it up and says you’re right, this is one of the loveliest vases I have ever seen.
At that point something remarkable happened. Something that could only happen in a children’s book. The vase says to the grandparents. “Thank you for the compliment, but I wasn’t always beautiful.” Instead of being surprised that the vase can talk, the grandfather ask it, what do you mean when you say you weren’t always beautiful? Well, says the vase, “once I was just an ugly soggy lump of clay. But one day some man with dirty wet hands threw me on a wheel. Then he started turning me around and around until I got so dizzy I couldn’t see straight. Stop..Stop I cried. But the man with the wet hands said, Not Yet! Then he started to poke me and punch me until I hurt all over, Stop..Stop I cried, but the man said “Not Yet”. Each time I thought he was through, he would crumble and roll me up and began to poke and punch me again.
Finally he did stop. But then he did something much worse, he put me into a furnace. It got hotter and hotter until I couldn’t stand it. Stop..Stop.. I cried. But the man said, “Not Yet”. Finally when I thought I was going to burn up, the man took me out of the furnace. Then some short lady began to paint me, and the fumes got so bad that they made me feel sick. “Stop…Stop..” I cried. “Not Yet” said the lady. Finally she did stop, but then she gave me back to the man and he put me back into that awful furnace. This time it was hotter than before. “Stop…Stop” I cried, but the man said “Not Yet”.
Finally he took me out of the furnace and let me cool. When I was completely cool, a pretty lady put me on this shelf, next to this mirror. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was amazed, I could not believe what I saw. I was no longer ugly, soggy and dirty; I was beautiful, firm and clean. I cried for joy. It was then I realized that all the pain was worthwhile. Without it I would still be an ugly, soggy lump of wet clay. It was then that all the pain took on new meaning for me. It had passed, but the beauty it brought has remained.
Jeremiah 18:1-4
“The Lord gave a message to Jeremiah, He said, Go down to the shop where clay pots and jars are made, I will speak to you while you are there. So I did as he told me and found the Potter working at his wheel. But the jar that he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so the potter squashed the jar into a lump of clay and started all over again.”
You may ask, “Who is this Potter?” It’s Our Wonderful God
But who’s the clay? You and I
Before any beautiful vase or piece of art is created, it first becomes a vision, a design or a picture in the mind of the Potter.
Let’s look at the process the Potter uses in sculpturing a beautiful piece of pottery:
His main ingredient is Clay. Now a potter searches for the right kind of clay. The clay in the ground is not suitable, but clay that is dug out, deep in the ground. Then it is brought to the vicinity of the potter and allowed to set for weeks.
The material is then dumped into a cement-lined tank or a wooden trough and covered with water. When the lumps have softened they are stirred into the water until all have disintegrated and thin slimy mud has been formed. It then sits for another six months before it is ready to be used. The longer it sits the more improved it becomes.
In other words, the clay as it is taken from the ground is worthless. It must be transformed into a useable state and this is a process that takes time and the energy of the Potter.
This is a perfect example of we as sinners. We are worthless in our natural condition, however God is able to see the vessels that we can become, therefore, he begins the process that will bring us to a place of usefulness. He digs us out, dries us up and washes us clean.
The next process of becoming a beautiful vessel is that after the clay has been cleansed and processed, it is lain on a table and beaten with a wooden mallet. The Potter does this to remove any air bubbles that might be trapped in the clay. If he doesn’t, the air bubble will form a pocket that will produce a weak spot and cause the vessel to be fragile and unusable. (This describes the trials, calamities, hurt, sorrow and pains we encounter in life)
The Wheel: Symbolic of the circumstances and situations that life brings our way. Life often seems like a large circle, one trial after another. Sometimes the clay doesn’t like to be shaped and it fights back a bit and wobbles.
But we must remember that the Potter controls the speed of the wheels and they only rotate according to His will. Never forget that God is still in control, regardless of what we face.
Stay on the wheel. Often times we jump off before we are formed into that vessel because we get tired of being on the wheel.
His Hands: While the clay spins around on the wheels, it is never out of contact with the Potter’s hands. He is in constant control. Molding, shaping and bringing the clay along through his guidance. If he were to ever remove His hand, the clay would spin right off the wheel and would be lost.
Because his hand is resting on the lump of clay, the Potter often times sees a flaw and starts over again. As long as the clay is moldable and pliable in his hand, the Potter will reward it and reform it until he is able to produce a vessel that satisfies him.
When the vessel is marred, the Potter does not throw the clay away and start fresh with a new piece and there is a reason for this. He has already invested too much time in salvaging the clay from the soil and preparing it for use. He is a very patient Potter, always seeing the finished work of art before it is actually completed.
The Oven: The temperature must be so hot it burns the impurities out of the clay and creates a new bonded substance. Too much heat to fast and it cracks and falls apart. Sometimes the clay thinks it can’t take any more heat. But the Potter knows the degree of heat to set and also how long it must be in the oven.
When we can sing the song “Have thine own way Lord, have thine own way, thou art the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me, after thy will. While I am yielded _______________________.
There is a difference between being clay and being silly putty. Clay conforms and can be molded. Silly Putty wants to do its’ own thing.
From God’s Hands
It is not you who shapes God; it is God that shapes you.
If then you are the work of God, wait for the hand of the Artist
Who does all things in due season.
Offer the Potter your heart, soft and pliable and keep the form in which
The Artist has fashioned you.
Let your clay be moist, lest you grow hard and lose
The imprint of the Potter’s fingers.
