“God does great things through the greatly broken. It’s not the strength of the vessel that matters; it’s the strength of the One that can use it. You are not the sum of your sins. You are the sum of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.”- Max Lucado
“For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.”- 2 Corinthians 2:15 (ESV)
Max Lucado concludes Chapter 12 of God Never Gives Up on You with a humorous story about his three-year-old grandson, also named Max. One day Max and his older (almost six) sister Rosie engaged in their favorite pastime, rock collecting.
All of a sudden, from outside Pastor Lucado’s back door, Max and his wife heard Rosie cry out for help. An emergency. Because little Max couldn’t stand up. Turns out he loaded his pants pockets with rocks. As a result, the weight of the rocks caused his pants to fall down to his ankles. Hence, little Max found it impossible to stand up.
Therefore, Pastor Lucado asks, what:
- keeps you from rising up?
- entangles your feet?
- prevents you from moving forward?
- load pilfers your peace?
In conclusion, Max relates, the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi, sometimes translated as “golden journey,” repairs shattered pottery. By highlighting the cracks. Rather than hiding them. First, the artist uses a type of lacquer to mend the pottery fractures. Next, the artist covers the adhesive with a fine gold or silver powder.
Every crack and cranny serves to tell the story of the piece’s past. Once hopelessly broken, now gloriously redeemed by the artist. Thus, Max observes:
“By the time we reach the end of Jacob’s story, the old earthen vessel is held together by Elmer’s glue and duct tape. Not much to look at, but he made it . . . . Jacob died worshipping. May the same be said of us.”
Today’s question: Do you believe God does great things through the greatly broken? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: the annotated bibliography of God Never Gives Up on You
