season carrying towels on the sideline and that s all we would have thought he was good for. Now that all three have done so well, there s talk that

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1 Purpose on the Potter s Wheel Epiphany Series: The Seven Wonders of the Spiritual World Jeremiah 18:1-6, Isaiah 64:8, Ephesians 2:10, Installment III (Wonder #3: God Uses Me) Last year there were over 35,000 applicants trying to get into Harvard University. How many of these were actually accepted? Just over 2000, and if you re doing the math, this isn t even 6%. Do we think the other 94% were slackers and that this was an easy choice for the admissions committee? Of these 94% were high GPAs, high SAT scores, impressive resumes, and stellar references. The competition was just too high. It s not just with dreaming students who are trying to get into school. This is a fact in all of life. There s about 94% of us who can relate to the feeling of not having the right connections, not knowing the right people, not being in the right place at the right time. How often we live in the world and feel like we re on the outside looking in. After awhile we begin to suspect it all comes down to luck or good fortune. Only a few get the lucky breaks. You would think after the 94% get used to hearing no that they d give up on the idea of achievement. No matter how many rejection letters are received in the mail, there remains the persistent question in the back of our mind. Are we contributing anything that matters to this world? Do our lives make a difference? In the grand scheme, does anything I do even register? We occupy a brief span of history and we d like to think in someway our life made a dent. Over the course of time billions of people have lived, but how many made a dent? This Epiphany season we re examining a series, 7 Wonders of the Spiritual World. Each week we re looking at a foundational truth that represents something fundamental about the Christian faith. The first week we looked at God Loves Me. The second week we looked at God Can Be Trusted. Now this week we turn attention to a 3 rd fundamental, God Uses Me. What a remarkable thought. We go through this world and consider that most never end up on television. Most never end up written about in a book. Fame and fortune escape the majority of the world. Scripture insists that no matter how the world estimates our importance, God places immense value on the contribution we make. In the grand scheme we are created to make a dent. God sets out to place us in the world so that our lives can make a difference. Instead of God doing it alone and instead of leaving it to angels, God creates us human beings to fulfill His purposes. Just this week Ohio State won the national championship in football. Of course, the dominant storyline coming out of this is that they did it with a 3 rd string quarterback. When the season started back in August, it began with high hopes. Their first string quarterback, Braxton Miller was among a handful of players with potential to win the Heisman trophy. He injures his shoulder in August, but enter second string J.T. Barrett. He stepped in and had a phonemenal year, finishing 5 th in Heisman voting, but he blows out his knee in the final game. Enter 3 rd string Cardale Jones who wins the biggest games of the season and played spectacularly. Consider if the first string player didn t get hurt, the second string player would have spent the season carrying the clipboard and that s all we would have thought he was good for. Consider if the second string player didn t get hurt, the third string player would have spent the 1

2 season carrying towels on the sideline and that s all we would have thought he was good for. Now that all three have done so well, there s talk that two of them will transfer out to other schools because none of the three want to remain on the sideline next year. That s not just true for athletics. No one enjoys the feeling of passing through life and just occupying the sidelines. After the game is over, it isn t flattering to come off the field with a uniform that is spic and span. We didn t get a spec of dust. Put me in coach, I want to feel like I ve contributed something toward the victory, that I ve made some kind of difference in the outcome. No one is content to reach life s end from the sidelines. And yet, how often it s the story of life for many people, perhaps for most people in the history of the world. Very few end up falling into opportunity by being in the right place at the right time. Most are a day late and a dollar short as the old saying goes. Most second stringers never have the opportunity to shine and most third stringers never get far enough away from the crowd to even get noticed. How frustrating it must have been to stand on the sideline with the deep sense that you have something to offer, but life hasn t opened the door to step onto the stage. Every day that goes by is a feeling that one s gifts and talents drift by the wayside. Anyone who s been in my office will notice that it is covered with Eva s artwork. It s a museum of her growing up years, including preschool, after school day care, kindergarten, and now first grade. She s loved art from the beginning and she really enjoys that it s put on display. Now when she makes something she will say, You can put this in your office. The idea that something she has designed is put on display is a source of great joy for her. Get that idea firmly in mind, because when the Bible talks about the way God uses us, this is the way it s presented. God is the master artist that enjoys taking us, shaping us, forming us, designing us for the purpose of His enjoyment. The artist finds satisfaction by standing back and looking at what has been designed, taking pleasure in the results. Jeremiah and Isaiah use the image of God as the master potter and we as the malleable clay that s made into something beautiful, designed for God s pleasure. Back in Wilmore, Kentucky there was a pottery house. On bright, sunny days, the owner of the business would bring his wheel right out onto the sidewalk and he d make things as people walked by. It was fun to stop and watch how this work got done. Jeremiah talks about how there s a point in the formation when the clay becomes marred, it collapses, and to the uninformed observer, it looks disposable. Surely it s not worth anything now. The potter must have painfully persistent patience. Despite the clay collapsing, the potter continues to work with it. The object may collapse several times, but a potter is determined to see beauty through. Isaiah will proclaim, We are the clay and you are the potter, our life is completely the work of your hands. This clay just doesn t spin randomly on the wheel and coincidentally take shape. The clay doesn t form itself and is not self sufficient on its own. Consider how Jeremiah and Isaiah became an embodiment of their own message. They both delivered these messages and few if any even listened. Jeremiah was told in advance that he would proclaim for 30 years and never see a single convert. Both Jeremiah and Isaiah were prophets during the dark days of Hebrew history. Neither would accomplish anything that would find its way into a world history 2

3 book. Neither of them achieved anything that the world would consider noteworthy. Think of how many media outlets around the world reported on the Oscar nominations this week. Neither Jeremiah or Isaiah had any reporters clamoring for an interview, no paparazzi chasing for a picture. At least about 6% of those who apply to Harvard get in. The number of those who live in world history who will find themselves on the cover of Us magazine is much smaller. The majority of us live with the suspicion that we hardly noticed by the people in our own neighborhoods, how can a supreme God take our lives seriously? Jeremiah and Isaiah are convinced that our lives are on pottery wheels. We are getting shaped moment by moment by a God who has immense interest in how our lives look for His pleasure. What is getting produced is ultimately for God s delight whether anyone else in the world ever notices it at all. Paul will reinforce the same message in Ephesians 2:10, For we are God s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. What a remarkable thought. According to Paul, the pottery wheel was in God s design even before the world was made. It was God s intention to shape us into something beautiful. The moment of creation is only the beginning. It s everything that comes after when things really get interesting. How can Paul say this? Outside of the Bible, where would we ever expect to read about Paul? No Roman dignitary would have cared at all to meet Paul. He wouldn t have been considered a mover or shaker by Roman definitions. Paul was no ambassador for the government. He was no diplomat. Nowhere in the Roman world was a shrine built to honor Paul. Nowhere was there a bust of his head occupying some museum for all to see. To the somebodies, he seemed a nobody. It s certainly true that even by the Bible s standards, there are many who are called by God, and yet, Scripture doesn t have much to offer about who they were. Consider Jesus had 12 disciples, but notice how the Bible only offers details on a few. We know about Peter, James, and John. We know about Matthew. We know about Doubting Thomas. We know about Judas the Betrayer. We know a little about Nathaniel and Andrew. We don t know much about Phillip. We don t know much about Bartholomew. We don t know much about the one called Simon the Zealot. Outside of one mention of his name, this is all we know of his entire life. According to Paul, there s no greater discovery than seeing God as the author and artist of our destiny. Too often we look back at our lives and we think we could have shaped ourselves differently. It s like the clay looking at itself on the wheel and believing it had the capacity on its own to turn out different. If I d only made different decisions. If I d only had friends in high places. If I d only gotten a different degree. If I d only selected a different career path. If I d only, then I would have found purpose. Unfortunately, here I am, stuck in neutral and life ended up yielding less than it could have. Paul suggests before the creation of the world the pottery wheel was in God s design. A plan is unfolding in our lives. A supreme artist is shaping us with His hands for His good pleasure. This world measures things by what we do. The Bible puts forward a different standard of measurement. For God, it s not what we do, but it s who we are that really counts. 3

4 When we put out something for display, it s usually something that depicts an accomplishment. Here are my ribbons. Here are my trophies. Here are my gold stars. Here are my list of achievements. We size people up by their occupations. What do they do? This is why 35,000 applicants are trying to get into Harvard. The world would have us believe that if we re not among that slim percentage of success that life has passed us by. It doesn t take long before life on these terms becomes survival of the fittest. The work place is a jungle where we are competing for who gets most attention. Such a pursuit doesn t come easy or cheap. Jeremiah says there s a point in the process where the clay collapses. This clay looks defective. The clay on this wheel doesn t possess the best of the genetic lottery. This clay doesn t have the skill set to run with the 6% who get admitted into Harvard. When the clay collapses, the potter could toss it aside and gather some better material. Don t spend valuable time working with inferior products. This potter is relentlessly determined to take what seems the least and fashion it into something beautiful for His pleasure. Paul says even before the clay made it onto the wheel, the artist had already decided that no matter what inferiority was exposed, no matter what flaws were present, no matter if the defects outnumbered the benefits, the artist insists on taking this clay and fashioning it into an object for the artist s pleasure. The purpose of this clay is to become malleable for the artist so that it can be formed into something pleasing regardless of what it s used for. Notice Jeremiah doesn t say the work is valuable because the pottery was then purchased and used by a king for some great cause. It doesn t matter what the design ends up doing even if it ends up doing nothing by the standard of the world. What makes the design great is that it brings joy to the one who made it. In the same way, when we think of how God uses us, the point is not that we define success in the way the world defines it. The point is to remain malleable to God s hands and to allow God to shape us into designs that are pleasing to Him. Who sees the display is irrelevant. What we look like to the artist is what matters most. My name isn t on a sidewalk in Hollywood. I will probably never walk a red carpet with hundreds of flashing cameras. People aren t even going to come and see me when it s free much less pay an expensive admission to see me on a stage or on a screen. Value by the way world defines it is shaped so much by function. Jeremiah and Isaiah never had to hire body guards to fight off all the autograph seekers. There weren t people going to conventions trying to sell sandals with Jeremiah or Isaiah s signature on them. Both of them lived most of their lives in obscurity. Paul could relate. He spent his time talking to cell mates rather than dignitaries. Who cares what an inmate thinks about anything? The pottery doesn t become valuable because of what it s used for. It s not valuable because of what it does. It s valuable because of the joy the artist takes in forming it. It s in that sense that our lives bring glory to God. We allow the artist to shape the design. One prominent Fortune 500 company made headlines by noting that interested candidates didn t need to apply for employment. Don t call us we ll call you. This company is so elevated that they don t even waste time to sift through applications. Let Harvard look through 35,000 applications to choose 2,000 candidates. This company just goes after the best of the best. If 4

5 you don t have an Ivy League MBA they are interested. If you are among the prestigious 6% this company will find you. You won t even need to send a resume promoting your high GPA, impressive references, and honorable pedigree. Greatness stands out in the crowd. Too bad Jesus didn t have a better recruiting process. Tell me why should I hire you? He never could have met a lower group of underachievers. I need disciples who are wise. Unfortunately, the only ones He recruited tended to be incompetent. I need disciples who are courageous. Unfortunately, the only ones He recruited tended to be cowardly. I need disciples who are tenacious. Unfortunately, the only ones He recruited tended to be easily discouraged and prone to take off running when you needed them the most. We were looking for the rare gems, those stellar 6% standouts, but what we got instead was unskilled and unqualified. What brings joy to the potter is not to take something ready made, but the joy is in the formation. The potter takes what has all the deficiencies and finds pleasure in turning it into something fit for his pleasure. The enjoyment is in the transformation. The enjoyment is turning our defects into great beauty. Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Paul proclaim that God could have done the work Himself. He could have gotten the angels to do it. He could have gotten the top 6% to do it. Instead, God s joy is to take what is on the sidelines of life, people who ve been on the sidelines for so long they wonder if they even belong on the team. Take those who are the overlooked and the underappreciated and shape them into something pleasing. We who are on the potter s wheel must change our perspective. It s no longer about what we do or who sees us that matters. There s no greater discovery in life than to realize that God is the designer of our destiny. 5