Should Pottery Speak Back?

(Romans 9:20) But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

(Isaiah 45:9) Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making? ’ or ‘Your work has no handles ’

When you think about yourself, what image goes through your mind? Do you picture a model, a sports star, a celebrity, a prophet, a priest, a wise councilor, a superhero, a mighty warrior, a princess, or a rock star? What about a clay pot? I am not even talking about a well sculpted clay figure that is beautiful to behold. I am talking about a base, common pot which you might pour the left over grease into after frying bacon tomorrow morning. It may be counter intuitive and counter cultural to think of yourself as a base and common clay pot, but I would suggest that it is something that is true, necessary and liberating to one's understanding.

Understanding yourself as a clay pot is helpful in so many practical ways as you live your life on this earth. We tend to think of ourselves as people who "deserve" so much that is good. When in actuality, if God gave us what we "deserve," it would be His furious and un-quenching wrath. We deserve God's wrath because we have broken God's commandments.

Isaiah says that you are a "pot among earthen pots!" Both of the above texts picture a lump of clay which would have been pulled out of much larger lump. The lump is just that, a lump. The lump gets plopped down on the Potter's wheel, and starts spinning. The lump of clay gets wet by the Potters hands. The Potters hands gently form and mold the lump of clay until it is formed into the very image the Potter desires. What right would the clay have to look into the eyes of the Potter and say, "Why have you made me like this?" "Why have you made me with no handles?" The answer to the question is that the clay pot has absolutely no right to demand answers from the Potter. The pot was a sludgy lump of unformed substance, good only for holding together the blocks in a wall. But now, the sludgy lump is something formed and useful for someone who may wish to fill you up with some sort of solid or liquid substance.

I find this truth helpful and liberating. I wonder to myself at times why I look the way I do, or why my mind works the way that it does. I am tempted many times to look up at the One who formed me and ask why..but I know I have no right to demand an answer. The Potter is good and wise and filled with love for the vessels He has formed. He has a good purpose for each and every vessel He forms, one may be for honorable use, and one dishonorable. Whatever use I may be, honorable or dishonorable; I must remind myself, "who are you O man to answer back to God."