11-10-2022

Good Morning All,

      Isaiah 64:8; “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

     Many years ago, back before satellite TV when you used to get two or three channels, we used to watch a lot of PBSS.  On Saturdays they used to show most of the craft and how-to shows.  There was one that I watched a few times called “The Potter’s Wheel.”  The host of the show used to make pottery out of clay by throwing the lump of clay on this spinning potter’s wheel and then, using a lot of water, he would mold and shape whatever the project of the day was.  It might be a bowl or a vase or a set of coffee cups; you never really knew what it was going to be. 

    Then one show, they showed his shop where he stored the finished products.  He had thousands of bowls and vases and coffee cup sets.  Some of those items were over ten years old.  I always thought that if I were a bowl, I would be that bowl; the one that was ten or twelve years-old sitting way in the back in the dark collecting dust.  Not real useful, just sitting there collecting dust.

    Sometimes in our faith walk we feel that way.  We watch as others in the church can sing in ways that has to be the way angels sound.  We listen to the organist make the organ sound like a symphony.  We listen to the preacher and cannot imagine standing up in front of a group of people and talking like he does.  We just feel like that bowl that sits there and collects dust.  We feel useless and of no value.  But that is only the devil whispering in your ear.

    The truth is that God gives all his children gifts and talents; those gifts and talents are just different from other talents.  He shapes us into the vessels that he needs and wants us to be.  Some can sing like angels or speak with ease or play a musical instrument with all the skill of the greatest musicians.  For some the talents and applying them to service to God is easy but for some of us we need to look a little harder.  We only need to realize that God wants us to do works which give glory to him and serve the needs of our neighbors. 

     Maybe you like to sew, there are organizations that remake clothes for veterans who have lost limbs and need their clothes altered.  Maybe you like to fish and hunt; there are dozens of boys and girls who need time with a loving Christian to share that hobby.  Maybe you are a pretty good mechanic; there are families who can’t afford to always take their car to the shop and could use a little help now and then.  Maybe your talent is having experienced what the next person is going through, and you can offer comfort and support and even a little guidance.  Maybe your talent is “knowing who to know.”  You know someone looking for a job and you know someone who is looking to hire; connect those two people.  You can offer to babysit, or go to visit shut ins.  You can mow lawns.  You can plant a bigger garden and give the produce to someone in need.  You can mentor someone who is trying to get started and needs some advice. 

    In all these things, and many more, we are the clay that God molds and shapes into the bowls and vases that he knows that he needs.  We just need to stop listening to the whispers of the devil and instead listen to the call of the Spirit and answer as Isaiah did,” Here am I, send me.”

Father of grace, you mold and shape us into the disciples that you need and want us to be.  Help us to look and to see the works which you have laid out for us and give us the courage to follow that path.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret