Stumbling on Golden Roads – The Great Potter

Jeremiah 18
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

Jeremiah 19
This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle……
……..Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired.

Luke 15:20-24
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Here are two passages, spanning across the testaments, depicting the brokenness and weakness of man and the response of God, the Father.

I cannot help but find a thread flowing through from Jeremiah to Luke of the radical grace of God. They echo the bigger story told across the bible. God’s battle for his people to return to communion and partnership with him, our persistence to do it our way and God’s love breaking through it all, reaching its climax in Jesus and the crucifixion.

Across Jermiah 18-19, we are faced with a ‘great potter’, an image of an almighty creator, able to build up, destroy and repair. The people, the clay, are operating, arrogantly, in separation from their potter. The clay jar from the potter is taken as a symbol of what God will do to Jerusalem, and it is smashed before the elders and the priests. This is followed by an almighty warning from God, through Jermiah, of the devastation and separation from God and his people. Whilst not strictly related, this heart wrenching passage, mirrors to me a ceremony common in ancient Jewish culture called ‘Kezuzah’ (“cutting off”). This ceremony took place when a rebellious son would return to his father, after they had dishonoured and disgraced the family. During the Kezuzah ceremony a pot would be publicly smashed and this represented the ‘cutting off’, complete separation, between the son and the father. They were ostracised out and this was the end of reconciliation and relationship.

We see ourselves in these stories. We see our brokeness, shame and sin. We see a pot broken for us. Sometimes, we even feel like we are the broken pot.

As I reflect further on the image of pottery, I recall an image a lady had for me in church once. I was at a point, feeling broken and too messy for God. I could not see how his grace could extend to me. She came to me, lay hands on me and prayed. She had a picture, which she shared, of a beautiful pot (a vessel), that had been smashed into many parts. Scattered across the floor and broken. She said she could see God picking up the pieces and was melding them back together with gold paint. I wept as I felt God literally scooping me off the floor.

Many years later, I have held this image close to my heart and recently discovered that there is a name to this art. It is called ‘Kintsugi’.

“This is a Japanese art that repairs broken pottery with gold, rendering a new piece that is more exquisite than it was before the break. It literally means to join with gold.”

I hold onto this picture, and it has carried me through many moments of shame. I am reminded that God repairs us, his people, and makes us better than before. The beautiful thing about Kintsugi, is not to hide the cracks and ‘flaws’ but to use them for good. They are even highlighted by the gold. This is God’s heart for us. Our brokenness is used by God, lavished in gold. I have found my own pain allows me to be more compassionate and gentle with others. My own broken heart has allowed my heart to soften, and be broken by Jesus for things outside of myself. A heart broken by Jesus for the suffering and ‘poor in spirit’ (Matthew 5:3).

“Men and women who are truly filled with light are those who have gazed deeply into the darkness of their imperfect existence” – Brennan Manning (Ragamuffin Gospel)

God has our brokenness in his hands and with the sacrifice of Jesus knows what to do with us. We must not disregard ourselves.

Let’s meditate on the story of the prodigal son. What should have happened, was the ceremony of ‘Kezuzah’ from the father. The prodigal son had smashed his own pot. In the Jewish culture, you would only receive your inheritance upon the death of your father. In asking for his inheritance early, the son was essentially saying to his father “you are dead to me.” Let that sink in. “You are dead to me.” These piercing words, perhaps make you wince and cringe. Yet i’m reminded of our response to God throughout the bible, we reject and turn away from God. In our darkest moment, humanity crucified the living God. We have said these words to God, if not explicitly, in our actions and in our heart. We think we know better and we want to do it our own way. All our acts of sin, are sins first and foremost against God himself. As David proclaimed in his great downfall:

Psalm 51:4 “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight”.

For the prodigal son, he had squandered his inheritance and in his shame disregarded himself, put himself in the ranks of his father’s servants, or even less than. He was prepared to remain broken, begging and to live in his shame.

Luke 15: 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

Yet, look at his father’s response. Whilst you read this, picture your father in heaven, the great potter, working with you, the broken pot, through the art of Kintsugi.

Luke 15:20 “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

This is a picking up of his son, an embrace of warmth. No questions, no doubt, just love. We see dripping gold over the son from the father. I see them as kisses of gold. Precious, pure and holy.

Luke 15:22 “The father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet”

Our father dresses us in riches, paints us with gold and lavishly pours out his blessings onto us. We feel dirty and messy, yet we are clothed in royal robes.

I return to the umbrella theme of this series, ‘stumbling on golden roads’. We are reminded that some of us have felt like broken pots, smashed our own pots or had others smash them for us. We have felt cast out, not good enough and too ashamed to approach our great Heavenly Father. This Holy Week we meditate on the greatness of God’s story, the gospel (good news!). We circle back to Jeremiah, where in God’s justice a vessel was smashed, and the people punished. Yet, we celebrate the fulfilment of God’s love for us, the fixing of the pot, through the greatest act of love. God’s love never abandoned us. Our sin is never too great for the even greater love of God. The sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ triumphs over death. The bible is a great love story, the most radical and beautiful love, incomprehensible and unfathomable, yet freely available.

One of my favourite lyrics encapsulates the sense of God’s love for us, as revealed in the bible.

“Phrases

I’m lost in conversation with the pages

Each one a love story for the ages

Let your word inhabit all my praises”

The word is a great love story, written for us, his broken people. The story of the potter, building, breaking, restoring and repairing.

How is God repairing you today? Where is God’s gold paint in your life shining through? What is he turning for good? Are you carrying yourself in the beauty of the piece of art that you have been made to be, or are you still left feeling shattered on the floor?

As I finish, I invite you to meditate on God’s continual, never shaking love for you, that has been there from the beginning of time. Before we even had our first breath, Jesus was ready to do his work and God’s love was there.