Closely examine the featured photo for a minute. There are about two dozen jars or vases. Just as people are, they are different sizes, shapes, colors, no doubt crafted for different purposes. But what good is an empty vessel? Why buy a crib or cradle for your home if you do not plan to have a baby? Why have photo albums without photos, or a spice rack in your kitchen without spices?
And then, what do you put in these vessels? Some people put sugar in glassess so as not to attact ants. Other people put flour or corn meal in glass containers, or pasta or herbs, or salt, coffee or honey or maple syrup as well. Air tight, vacuum-sealed jars are also used to store preserves or vegetables to keep harmful microbes such as botulism or clostridium from contaminating them.
Medicines and medical solutions (ointments and unguents) are sold in bottles and some of these are as toxic as they are helpful if taken in the wrong dose or improperly administered. And then there are poisons.
Consider the photo below, taken from an old pharmacy. Who among us would allow our children to play in such a place? The labels may be indistinct or missing. Perhaps the preparation has spoiled over the years? And who knows what the effects might be? If a glass concerns Digitalis, it might stop your heart? If Methanol, you may be struck blind if you survive at all.
God has made each of us into vessels. The Biblical word for vessel is σκευ̂ος. It can refer to kitchen implements, household goods, ships or persons. For example, in II Corinthians 4:7-10 we read:
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (σκευ̂ος), that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”
The New International Version translates σκευ̂ος in this passage as “clay pots.” In the illustration below, we see the hands of a potter shaping a clay pot. The hands could be representative of the hands of God, and the pot might be you. Either way, God forms us, our souls, certainly our bodies. To Jeremiah, God said:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
David agrees (Psalm 139:13):
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. . .”
Now, you might say “Ok, God made us in the sense that He created amino acids, proteins and enzymes, nitrogenous bases, genes and chromosomes, etc. Now, He just sits back and lets evolution and natural selection do its thing.” That’s known as Deism. But who is to say that God’s finger, His hand, did not touch, mold you a certain way you while you were in your mother’s womb? You may have received a special gift from Him; a physical trait or birthmark, an artistic talent, something that would made a tremendous difference to someone you’d meet many, many years after your birth (and you might not have even been aware of it.)
The original points in this post are (1) that God made us to be be vessels, and (2) that vessels need to be filled. So, to continue, what are you filling your vessel with? Hatred? Lies? Gluttony? Pride? Porn? Unbelief? Adultery? Witchcraft and the occult arts? Drug use? Theft? “According to a 2009 study by the Jesuit scholar Fr. Roberto Busa, the most common deadly sin confessed by men is lust and the most common deadly sin confessed by women is pride” (Wiki).
Or, you can fill your vessel with Christian virtues, the fruits of the Spirit, such as “. . . love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galations 5:22, 23.) When a person repents and asks Jesus into his or her life, one of the virtues that first begins to appear is love. From a love towards God, we learn perhaps goodness and gentleness. Other virtues such as patience or self-control may take years to bear fruit and at the cost of a good deal of pain and frustration. Many Christians have sexual sin or hatred towards some racial or religious group that they cannot shake for much of their lifetime. They cry out for help on Twitter. How many times have some alcoholics climbed on the bandwagon only to fall off again, to the bitter scorn of their families? While grace and forgiveness and salvation, itself, is free and we cannot nor should not try to save ourselves, virtues are a sphere where it may be useful to attempt something. We read in Isaiah (1:16, 17) where God tells His people to get their act together:
“Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”
Choose new friends if your old crew is strung out on meth or weed. Go to rehab or ask for help if you have a drinking problem. Stop watching Buffy or reading novels on vampires, werewolves and witches. Don’t pay attention to horoscopes. Stop stealing from your boss.
God has a special place in His heart for widows. The Hebrew word for “widow” or “the widow” is אַלְמָנָֽה׃. Most often, this refers to someone whose husband has preceded them in death, but there are exceptions. Consider the passage in II Samuel 20:3:
“And David came to his house at Jerusalem; and the king took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them in ward, and fed them, but went not in unto them. So they were shut up unto the day of their death, living in widowhood.”
Using this context, we can see millions of more huting people (women whose husbands have abandoned them) who may easily fall within the spirit, if not the letter of this word (widow.) In a broader sense, we can see that God wants us to be positively engaged with outcasts in our society. Outcasts like who? Undocumented aliens? Muslims living in America?
In Indonesia in the sixties, just before the great revival there, Christians had been persecuted by communist factions. When Suharto became President, the winds shifted again and the communists were now the prey. Payback time. Some might call it karma. The only ones willing to help them (I.e., the communists) at that point were the Christians they once persecuted! This isn’t to say that God loves communists, but He does expect Christians to behave decently towards other people, even if we feel we’ve been wronged by them.
News headline: “More migrants dropped off outside vice president’s home in freezing weather on Christmas Eve.”
“CNN — Several busloads of migrants were dropped off in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ residence in Washington, DC, on Christmas Eve in 18 degree weather late Saturday. An initial two busloads were taken to local shelters, according to an administration official. More buses arrived outside the vice president’s residence later Saturday evening. A CNN team saw migrants being dropped off, with some migrants wearing only T-shirts in the freezing weather. They were given blankets and put on another bus that went to a local church. . .”
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/24/politics/migrants-dropped-off-vice-president-christmas-eve/index.html
We can’t take everyone in the world into the U.S., I understand that. We can’t even take one in a thousand or one in one hundred thousands of almost 8 billion people as residents. We don’t have the space, the resources, etc. So, Congress needs to come up with a plan, and the President needs to enforce it. The solution is not to dump people who can’t speak English on to the freezing streets of Washington as if they were sacks of flour or pieces of firewood and say “Good riddance” or “Let’s go, Brandon!” These are human beings, not pawns in a battle of chess between Republicans and Democrats. God will not bless this inhumane approach to the problem and may very well judge America harshly.
Sometimes, the Holy Spirit gifts you in a way that you have something in your vessel that is in great demand to others, whether love, healing, or compassion. People in need reach out to you, much as they did to Jesus. They can very quickly drain you of your gift. Then, you are an empty vessel. You need time to recharge, replenish yourself. This might mean quiet time, time away from others, etc. If not, you’ll burn yourself out and your ministry and your family will suffer.
So, this Christmas, ask yourself what sort of vessel you are, and what lies deep within your heart? Are you a vessel for God’s honor or for dishonor? And please take care of yourself.