Life Works 016 - A Broken Vessel

Summary

Christopher Shennan shares a message from Psalm 31 about brokenness, hope and healing.

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A Broken Vessel

". . . I am like a broken vessel." (Psalm 31:12)

Reading: Psalm 31:1-12

Introduction:

When we come to the start of a new year, we inevitably look back on some "broken" things. We may have disappointed hopes, broken friendships, unrealized ambitions and fragmented dreams. To use some popular metaphors: "The bubble has burst; We've hit bottom; We've come to the end of the road," at some point in the past year.

For most of us this glum picture is only partial. These "broken things" are merely dark patches on a bright piece of cloth; serious moments in a generally happy melody. For others the situation is more serious: they feel as if they have been put through a meat grinder, or crushed by a wheel on the road of life. With the Psalmist they are ready to say, "I am like a broken vessel. I am like one those Tera Cota pots for plants that has fallen from a height and smashed on a concrete floor. I can't seem to put things together again.

For such as these, as well as those with only a few "broken" things to look back on, I have good news. But first, let me clarify the use of the word vessel (or container) in Scripture:

(i) A Chosen Vessel

"But the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before the gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

" 'For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake.' " (Acts 9:15,16 - NKJV)

(ii) Vessels of Destruction

"[What] if God, wanting to show [His] wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction . . ." (Romans 9:23 - NKJV)

(iii) Vessels of Mercy

". . . and that he might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had prepared for destruction."

(Romans 9:23 - NKJV)

(iv) Treasure Vessels

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us."

(2 Corinthians 4:7 - NKJV)

(v) Weaker Vessels

"Likewise [you] husbands, dwell with [them] with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as [being] heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." ( 1 Peter 3:7 - NKJV)

How do vessels get broken?

1. When there are FLAWS (Fundamental)

Sometimes a pot or vase will break, not because it has suffered any violence, but because it has a basic flaw.

Which of us, when we are honest and expose ourselves to the light of Scripture and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, do not discover some basic flaws in our nature? We cannot handle some situations, not because we have made a mistake, or made an error in judgement, but because there is a basic weakness in our character; a fundamental flaw in the way we look at things.

It is easy to blame others when things do not work out or when conflicts arise, but often there is no need to look further than our own hearts. Our reactions are wrong because our reasons are wrong. Our efforts at peacemaking fail because we lack the basic quality of peacemaking in our inward hearts. A lot of the "broken" things scattered over the landscape of our past lives can be laid at our own door. The villain who has committed the "crimes" of past failure is often the one we behold daily in the mirror.

Unless we come to terms with this, there is not much hope of healing. However, once we acknowledge our own part in the "broken" areas of our lives, then our wonderful Lord can step in:

"The Spirit of the LORD God is upon Me,

Because the LORD has anointed Me to heal the broken hearted . . ." (Isaiah 61:1a - NKJV)

2. When there are FALLS (Accidental)

Sometimes a pot is accidentally knocked off a shelf, and broken. Likewise, some of the scars and cracks, and more serious breaks in our past, are no one's fault. They are accidents.

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.

All the king's horses and all the king's men,

Couldnt put Humpty together again.

Sometimes we get emotionally hurt, or crushed because we were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sometimes an injury or a disease will rob us of a career of some fond ambition. The most innocent of mistakes can lead to the most serious consequences.

3. When there is FURY (Deliberate)

Sometimes people will smash things out of pure anger or frustration.

Likewise there are those who deliberately mean to harm us; those who, out of jealousy or plain vindictiveness, wish to hurt us. There are those with over vivid imaginations who read an offence into the most innocent of our actions; people who are vengeful and unforgiving by nature. There are those who will use slander and gossip to destroy our reputations; sincere but misguided crusaders who will sabotage our best efforts to do good.

4. When in process of FORMATION

(i) Jeremiah -- marred in the potter's hand.

"The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying; arise, 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.'

"Then I went to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.

"And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

"Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

" 'O house pf Israel, can I not do with you as this potter,' says the LORD. 'Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so [are] you in My hand, O house of Israel. (Jeremiah 18:1-6 - NKJV)

Think what a privilege it is to be in God's hand.

(ii) Tearing & healing; smiting and binding up.

"Come, and let us return to the LORD:

For He has torn, but He will

heal us;

He has stricken, but he will

bind us up.

"After two days he will revive

us;

On the third day He will raise

us up,

That we may live in His sight." (Hosea 6:1,2 - NKJV)

(iii) Chastening.

"Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected [us], and we paid [them] respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

"For they indeed for a few days chastened [us] as seemed [best] to them, but He for [our] profit, that [we] may be partakers of His holiness.

"No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness tom those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:9-11 - NKJV)

Conclusion:

There is a stanza of verse that goes like this:

Friendship is like china:

Rich and pure and rare;

When broken can be mended,

But the crack is always there.

That might be true of earthly things, and of earthly friendships. But when it comes to God's supernatural work in us, He takes even the cracks away.
Notes:

God Uses Broken Things

(Author Unknown)

God uses for His glory those people and things that are most perfectly broken. Scripture bears this out.

Jacob's natural strength had to be broken through a life-and-death struggle at Peniel before God could clothe him with spiritual power. (Genesis 32:22-32)

When Gideon's men broke their pitchers, light shone forth and struck terror into the hearts of their adversaries. (Judges 7:19-25)

Mary broke her beautiful alabaster box of ointment and the aroma of lovely perfume filled the house. (Matthew 26:6-13)

When Jesus broke the five barley loaves and two small fish, the food multiplied and became sufficient to feed 5,000 people. John 6:1-14)

When Jesus' body was broken by the thorns, the nails, and the spear, redemption poured out like a crystal stream, which cleanses the sinner and gives him life. (Matthew 26:26)

Naturally our hearts shrink back from the pain of being broken. But it is God's way to fruitful service. He stands ready to bear our pain with us and to mend our broken hearts. We must be willing to be broken for Him if we truly desire to be used by Him.

The Broken Wing

(16, 17th August 1997)

I saw a bird with broken wing
That in its anguish could not sing,
Could not bring its breath to raise
A single note of heartfelt praise.

I saw this creature with its eye
Dimmed with pain, but lifted high,
Beholding sky and visions bright,
As though there were spectres in the night.

For broken bone and bloody stain
Caused hope within its breast to wane,
And rain upon its spirit fear
That flight would cost a price too dear.

But fly once more it did, my friend,
And swoop the valley end to end,
And rend the heavens with its song,
Though healing seemed to take so long.

I thought that broken wings can be
A parable to you and me.
For we, when serving Truth and Light,
Are sometimes wounded in the fight.

The darts of Satan find their mark
And plunge our spirits into dark.
The spark of pure devotion falls,
And seems stone deaf to mercy's calls.

Our wing of praise or prayer is found
With wounds, and, fallen to the ground,
Unsound, we think our days of worship gone,
And find no breast to rest upon.

And yet, if patiently we wait
In hopeful or in restful state,
Soon or late, healing will arise
From God's own heart -- our only Prize.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 015 - Where Did That Come From?

Summary

Christopher Shennan shares an idea that seemed to come out of nowhere!

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Where Did That Come From?

Have you ever had a thought, or uttered a phrase that was surprisingly profound and perceptive? The surprising thing about it was not that it was profound and perceptive, but that it had come from your own brain, and was uttered by your own lips. You were pretty sure you did not possess the wisdom or discernment to even think of such a thing, let alone utter it. You were forced to wonder, “Where did that come from?
Well, something of that nature happened to me not long ago. I was sharing something of a personal nature with a Christian friend. In the course of conversation I said, “You cannot spend hours and hours in the presence of God without some life-changing event taking place.”
I hardly noticed, or realized the significance of what I had said, until my friend commented on it. It had apparently struck a chord with him, though it had fallen almost carelessly from my lips. However, after his remark, the depth and meaning of it suddenly struck me, and I thought, “Where on earth did that come from?”
Thinking about it now the answer is it came from nowhere on earth, certainly not from me. I was not thinking deep thoughts at the time, or trying to be profound. Could it be that the influence of heaven formed the words on my lips and brought them to my attention by my friend’s remark?
I only know that the phrase so casually spoken means something to me now: “You cannot spend hours and hours in the presence of God without some life-changing event taking place.”
Now I am not referring here primarily to prayer, though that, no doubt, is included. You know what I mean? I mean the practice of speaking to God with audible voice or secret desire, then waiting for His voice to speak back to you in your heart, or from the words of Scripture. How precious that kind praying can be!
However, I mean just being in his Presence, consciously aware that you have passed through the veil, as described in the book of Hebrews:
So, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place without fear because of the blood of Jesus' death. We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain—Christ's body. (Hebrews 10: 19-20 – New Century Version)
And in another place: Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God's throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. (Hebrews 4:16 – New Century Version)
How incredible that God invites sinners into His Holy Presence, yet only because the price of our sin has already been paid.
It is entirely possible, however to appreciate the theological reality that we can spend time in the very Presence of our Holy God, yet spend very little time there. What came to me from the profound truth uttered so casually, was how different our lives would be if we availed ourselves more frequently of the privilege purchased for us by the death of God’s Son. “You cannot spend hours and hours in the presence of God without some life-changing event taking place.”
Perhaps you don’t feel the need for any significant changes in your life. I most certainly do.

(Tuesday 6th November, 2007)

I cannot feel you Presence long
Before the Spirit’s power
Begins a transformation deep
Within me, hour by hour.
I may just pray, or listen for
Your Voice to speak to me;
I may just wait in silence
For Your Truth to set me free.

Whenever You draw near to me,
Or is it I to You?
The Holy Spirit’s leading
To things both pure and true.
I find that in Your Presence,
If I wait there, deep and long,
A miracle just happens
And brings my heart, a song.

Perhaps it would be helpful if I shared how I first entered into the Presence of this Holy, Awesome God:
At some other time I may relate something of my upbringing and development before meeting the Lord. For now jus assume I had wandered far from truth and reality, having attempted suicide once, was trapped in a world of lies and fantasy, and was more lost than I even realized at the time.
That brings me to the home of a friend living in Pietersburg, a small town in the Northern Transvaal, South Africa. The year was 1967, and the day, the 29th of August, and the time approaching 3 in the afternoon.
The previous day the Baptist minister had visited my friend and his wife, and took the opportunity to share something of the Gospel with me. I was not very receptive. Nevertheless the minister, Martin Holdt by name, gave brief testimony to the power of Jesus Christ to save sinners. The next day, the morning of the 29th of August, I went to see him, mainly to argue with him concerning what he had said on his visit. He spent an hour of discussion with me, then said, “Christopher, I can’t convince you, and I am not going to try. Only God can show you the Truth.” He gave me a blue clothbound New Testament, and I left.
I went back to my friend’s house. He was at work; his wife had left to attend a ladies’ Bible Study group and I was left alone as the hour of 3pm was approaching. I opened the New Testament and was confronted with the following words:
And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask[a] anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14 – NKJV)
I have always referred to the prayer I prayed at that juncture as a “silly prayer,” but no doubt it was not silly to God. I prayed, “God, I don’t believe that you are there --- that you even exist. And I don’t believe that Jesus Christ died for me on the Cross. But if I am wrong; if you do exist and if Jesus Christ did died for me … I need You!”
What can I say, except that, He came! I sometimes tell people it was like wham bang, to describe the suddenness of it. There was no real noise, of course, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if drums had rolled, and trumpets had sounded. What really happened was that the eyes of my heart were opened, and I knew. I knew that Jesus Christ had died for me, that I was forgiven, and now had a relationship with the living God. I had entered into the Presence of God by no merit of my own. As a gospel song declares:
“I’ve discovered the way of gladness,
I’ve discovered the way of joy;
I’ve discovered relief from sadness,
And happiness without alloy.”

I wish I could say that I have always lived in the conscious presence of God every hour since, but I have not. The journey has nevertheless been a rich one over both rough and smooth terrain, and I have always know how to get back into his Presence when I have strayed. More about that at another time, but let me finish by sharing another of my poems concerning prayer:

In Prayer
(Thursday 24th August 2006 - By Christopher Shennan)

You can storm the gates of Heaven
To get the things you need,
Or seek your neighbours blessing,
And long for noble deeds.
In prayer you can accomplish
What kingdoms fail to do,
And all this power is given
In prayer, my friend, to you.

You can whisper in your closet,
So no one else can hear
But the Lord of Hosts, Who listens,
And wipes away a tear.
In prayer the highest mountain
Is cast into the sea;
Prison walls will crumble,
And set the prisoner free.

You can sit alone in silence,
When not a word is said,
And in this holy silence,
Your inner soul is fed.
In prayer, you’ll find a solace
The world can never give;
In His Holy Presence,
Your soul can really live.

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 014 - Inspired By Evil

Summary

Christopher Shennan explains how goodness can be inspired by anything, even by evil!

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Inspired By Evil

There is an incredibly evil character drawn by Dean Koonts in his novel, The Face. His name is Corky Laputa, an anarchist who is always inventing new ways to sow dissention, mayhem, and death.
I won’t go into detail, but this fictional character has an inventive imagination to commit evil that is staggering. One wonders if the author based his character on a living person, or composed him from several different characters, or dreamed him up from his own fertile imagination. Can such evil exist in the real world? And if it exists, how can it be inspiring to good men and women who make it their aim to please God?
As to the existence of such people there is no doubt. Before Dean Koonts even thought of such a character, the Bible had already described people like him.
They are filled with every kind of sin, evil, selfishness, and hatred. They are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and thinking the worst about each other. They gossip and say evil things about each other. They hate God. They are rude and conceited and brag about themselves. They invent ways of doing evil. (Romans 1:29-30 – New Century Version)
But wait! How can the evil deeds of the wicked inspire the godly? Why, by being just as inventive as they are, only in the cause of good. If you like, you and I can act as an antidote to their evil deeds, by matching their evil with goodness. To use a figure Jesus employed, we can be the salt poured into the wound created by evil men, that will prevent corruption.
We have a choice: We can either bemoan the inventive genius of evil men, or we can match it by our own Spirit inspired inventiveness in the service of Heaven.

(Friday 2nd November 2007)

When I saw the wicked prosper,
And their evil deeds abound,
I shuddered and I trembled;
I lay flat down on the ground.
I wept and sought for vengeance
To fall down from the sky,
And pleaded over and over,
“My Lord in Heaven, ‘Why?’ ”

And then I heard a whisper
From Heaven’s portal gate:
“Why don’t you learn a lesson
From those who’ve learned to hate:
They invent new ways to practice
Their wickedness and graft;
They’ve spread their evil schemes,
They then sit down and laugh.

“You, dear child should listen
To the methods that they use;
The inventive mind employed
To destroy and to confuse.
You, too, can be an inventor,
Not to evil’s service given,
But an inventor of good things
To the glory of God in Heaven.”

Evil cannot always control its own path.
When I was in the army in South Africa, many years ago, we had an NCO who exerted an influence for good in at least one area of my life. His name was Sergeant Burger. How do I describe this man? He was a shade shorter than medium height, lean but sturdy, with a perpetually fierce expression on his face. He would stand and bark at us in the typical mode of a sergeant screaming abuse at his troops. Filthy language could hardly describe what proceeded from his mouth. If he could have communicated effectively by swearing continuously, I’m sure he would have. It seemed to grieve him that he could not, and was forced to use a normal word from time to time to make his meaning clear.
What effect did this have on me? It disgusted me. It sickened me. It birthed a resolve in me to avoid filthy language at any cost. Now this was several years before I came to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ; it was long before my heart began hungering after God. Yet this filthy-mouthed sergeant may have been the one to nudge me on to the right path.
Should not the examples of wicked men stir in us the desire to do exactly the opposite? Should we not see the hurt inflicted on others by those of a twisted mentality as an opportunity to engage in acts of kindness and healing?
It is all too easy to decry the evil deeds of others, while doing nothing to counteract that evil in the sphere of our influence. Every redeemed child of God has it in him or her to counteract the works of darkness by shedding the light of the Gospel. I do not mean by this that we simple preach the Gospel, but that we exemplify the Gospel by giving tit for tat. If you do something bad, then I am going to do something good to counteract its evil effect. I will be the antidote to the poison streaming from your heart. If you invent an evil device, I will, by the the Holy Spirit dwelling within me, invent something good to rob it of its power.
May I repeat the last verse of the poem to stir you to holy inventiveness?

“You, dear child should listen
To the methods that they use;
The inventive mind employed
To destroy and to confuse.
You, too, can be an inventor,
Not to evil’s service given,
But an inventor of good things
To the glory of God in Heaven.”

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.

Life Works 013 - How to Say “I Love You!”

Summary

Christopher Shennan talks about the spiritual lesson he found in the book and movie The Princess Bride!

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How to Say, “I love You!”

I have been reading recently (at the instigation of my son) the book that gave rise to the movie, The Princess Bride. My son said I had to read the book because the movie, as good as it was, left out certain elements that gave the story depth and perspective.

I must warn you, The Princess Bride is largely a parody. It also has a number of comical elements making fun of the “The Prince rescues the Princess” genre. Yet you will be greatly impoverished if you do not catch what I consider to be the central idea of the book, how to say, “I love you!”

The story revolves around the beautiful daughter of a farmer and his wife, and a farm boy named Westley. The daughter’s name is Buttercup, and she treats Westley badly. She treats him little better than a slave.

“Do this farm boy.”

“Do that, farm boy.”

“Polish my saddle till I can see my face in it, farm boy.”

“Scrub the floor, farm boy.”

“Bale the hay, farm boy.”

Whatever buttercup asked him to do, he only ever responded, “As you wish.” He never addressed her in any other way. All he ever said was, “As you wish.” This went on for some time, perhaps years. Eventually the words themselves, and the way he said them, began to take on a different meaning, or perhaps the meaning he had intended all along. When he said, “As you wish,” what he was really saying, was, “I love you.” Willing obedience was his language of love.

Buttercup herself only realized, or admitted, her love for Westley at the end of his stay on the farm. She almost went crazy when she found a noblewoman, in all her finery, had been drawn to Westley’s charms. The realization hit her like a hurricane in full strength (You will not get this impression from the movie; only the book expresses her whirlwind of emotions. It is exhilarating to read her declaration of her love for Westley).

“I love you,” Buttercup said. “I know this must come as something of a surprise, since all I’ve done is scorn and degrade you, but I have loved you for several hours now, and every second more. I thought an hour ago that I loved you more than any woman has ever loved a man, but a half hour after that I knew that what I felt before was nothing to what I felt then. But ten minutes after that, I understood that my previous love was a puddle compared to the high seas before a storm… How many minutes ago was I? Twenty? Had I brought my feelings up to then? It doesn’t matter…I love you so much more now than twenty minutes ago that there cannot be comparison. There is no room in my body for anything but you. My arms love you, my ears adore you, my knees shake with blind affection. My mind begs you to ask it something so it can obey.”

Buttercup goes on to say they her love will lead to the most extreme acts of obedience. You see, just like Westley’s love was expressed in the simple but profound, “As you wish,” so Buttercup’s love led inevitably toward desire to obey her lover’s wishes.

Sure, the story is a parody; a fictional adventure; an overplayed comedy in parts, but it speaks truth when it describes love as more that mere emotion. It paints a picture of love in graphic detail. It presents love as a driving force that travels no other road but that of loving obedience. True love is demonstrative; it longs to act out its devotion in service to the beloved. True love is sacrificial by nature. The language of love is always expressed in terms of, “As you wish.

Westley leaves immediately after Buttercup’s declaration of love to seek his fortune, so he can adequately provide for her. The ship he sails on is attacked by the dread pirate, Roberts, and reports of his death reach Buttercup. Her devastation leads her to declare, “I will never love another!”

In human terms this kind of love can be perverted. True love will never commit evil in service of the beloved, yet its driving ambition is to give rather than to get. True love is not focussed so much on the benefits it can gain, but on the sacrifices it can make.

The Scripture agrees with the central idea of love as expressed in The Princess Bride. Jesus said: "If you love me, you will obey my commands.(John 14:15 – NCV)

And then again in the 15^th chapter of John: This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you. The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.(John 15:12-14 – NCV)

I like the way the King James Version expresses the central idea here: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus Himself laid down His life for his friends, and he clearly expects the same kind of attitude from His followers. You may never literally lay down your life, but if you are a true lover of the Lord Jesus Christ, His attitude of being willing to lay down His life will increasingly develop within you. Short of actually dying, you can give up certain aspects of your life in the service of another. Surely this is what Jesus meant when He told His followers to take up their cross daily to follow Him.

Someone I know found himself so identifying with the deep distress of another, that he asked God to take his life in exchange for theirs. I have tried to express what he felt in the following poem:

I Could Wish

(Sunday 23^rd December, 2007 – By Christopher Shennan)

I could wish the wound that pieced

Your heart had pierced my own instead;

The dark shadow that plagues your mind

Should pass and rest on mine instead.

I could wish my heart could bear

The burdens that you carry now,

To lighten your load, and see you smile,

And smooth the worry from your brow.

I could wish that I could pass to you

The confidence and hope I feel;

Could pass the balm God’s given me,

To ease your pain, and help you heal.

I could wish that I could die

Before my time, that you may live;

That you might rise and conquer fear.

And this, dear child, is all I have to give.

It may not be within my power

To make my wish come true.

But know, dear child, I’m willing

To do these things for you.

Remember, expressing love to others, as far as Jesus is concerned, is the same as loving Him: "Then the King will say to the people on his right, 'Come, my Father has given you his blessing. Receive the kingdom God has prepared for you since the world was made. I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'

"Then the good people will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you alone and away from home and invite you into our house? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear? When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?'

"Then the King will answer, 'I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.'” (Matthew 25:34-40)

Now you and I know how to tell the Lord Jesus that we love Him; we can simply say, “As you wish, Lord.’ As you wish!”

Credits

• The intro is by Steve "Snowball" Saylor.

• The theme music is Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Overture), courtesy of the Rumblefish Music Licensing Store.

• This podcast is produced by Shane Shennan.