28 July 2016 - the potter verse

The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea,
which collects fish of every kind.

The net is cast widely. When it is cast there is some sense that there are good fish to be caught. But there is no certainty that everything over which we cast it is ultimately worth catching. It is cast generously. Just as the sower sows the seed on all sorts of soil so too does the fisherman throw his net over all types of fish. Only once they are hauled ashore do they need to be separated. For us this means that we can't be hyper rational about those with whom we share the gospel. We can't think only of the people likely to make a good catch. We can't think only of the soil likely to bear good fruit. We must be generous, just as the Father is generous with us.

After all, who are we to judge what the potter is doing with his clay? His criteria are much different than the ideas and aesthetics we bring with us about what a good Christian is or ought to be. We see clay and judge its potential.  But in the hands of the potter the limits we imagine are not limits at all. We see, perhaps, damaged goods. We see clay already fired in the kiln of life, inflexible, unchangeable, set, and destined. Sometimes we even look at ourselves this way. But by the LORD all clay can be molded.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (see Ezekiel 36:26).

Even if the fish don't look catching or the soil doesn't look worth sowing let us be generous. Even if we ourselves don't seem worth catching or worth the waste of seed let us trust in the generosity of our God. We are still being hauled ashore. It is not until the end of the age (or our age) that our destiny is fixed.

Thus it will be at the end of the age.

The LORD's ability to mold us explains why he is able to make use of things both old and new. Things that seemed fixed in the Old Testament find a new and definitive meaning in the messianic age. Even creation itself takes on a new and fuller meaning at the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Clay which we are pretty sure is as hard as it gets turns out to be soft and malleable in the hands of the potter.

Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God.
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.