After The Work

There was a time when clay jars were commonplace. Pottery was another profession, often made by regular people to hold regular things like sugar, spice, water and alike. Clay jars are more unique now and pottery classes are like many other classical crafts destined for community college credits. It is a shame that in our time the fingerprints of everyday people are no longer on everyday items. Instead they are purchased on amazon made by machines far away from the consumer.

To understand the Apostle Paul’s words about jars of clay, we have to take a time machine back when a clay jar was utilitarian and not a curio. They were often chipped with use and not micro-chipped. The lady down the path probably made them for you in exchange for something you grew in your back yard. Everyday blank slates.

A clay jar wasn’t special in of itself. It had to be painted, but even then they were not special until filled. A jar could hold precious water, or gold, spice, or even scrolls full of wisdom. A jar could hold the fruits of your own labors to be eaten when the snows blew through the fields after the harvest.

Paul was pointing out that there are times we are used up. Chipped. Empty. Even broken and patched with use. They were not lined with gold or displayed with pride upon a shelf. They were left in a corner forgotten until the need arose then filled again. A jar didn’t fill itself, but proved itself valuable when filled again.

Our hearts are like these jars. What is contained within is what is most precious to us. Sometimes they are filled with sadness, bitterness, resentment or pain. We want them emptied but do not know how. Life can chip away at them until they are leaky or we seal them shut to prevent them to be filled again out of fear. Our hearts feel fragile, and we might even feel like we deserve broken jarred hearts.

God reminds us of our value as we were worth dying for. Love. God can make us feel useful again. Purpose. God can patch the clay as the Great Potter can do. God can fill them once again. Faith. When Paul writes of this “treasure in jars of clay” he refers to our brittle hearts that seem to be broken “crushed, hard pressed, persecuted”. The treasure is the Spirit’s presence, a gift that is of greater value than gold.

Second Corinthians 4:7-9 reads “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” The treasure is God. He arrives through faith. He heals through surrender. He renews through holiness. He gives us purpose through our utility for ourselves and others.

A jar passed at a feast takes what is refreshing and distributes it between the guests. When we share this Love that has filled us, we join in a cosmic tradition of love and service in the community of Humanity. The Great Feast of heaven begins today when we share our love with others, but let your jar be healed first. It will not hurt everyday forever. One day you will be whole again, able to pour your love that overflows into another who is parched.