Broken Vessel

Genesis 35: 2-3

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and purify yourselves and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

My son and his friend gifted each other an exact coffee mug for Christmas. They decided that whenever they meet, they will bring the cup along and drink lemonade or some juice from their cups. Unfortunately, my son’s cup broke. He carefully picked all the broken pieces together, brought them home and put it up on his desk. He declared that soon he will glue it back together. I broke the news to him that however well he glues it back, he cannot be drinking from that cup as it will not be able to hold any liquid without leaking. Best suggestion I could give him is toss it out and get another one like that. However, my son refused and stuck to his original plan.

Jacob, now Israel is on his way back to the land of his inheritance after spending more than 20 years in Paddan Aram, gaining wives, children, livestock, and servants. He made peace with his father-in-law Laban after running away from him without informing him. He made amends with his estranged brother Esau. God wanted him to go to Bethel where he first encountered God on his run from the wrath of his brother Esau. However, he took a slight detour to Shechem. As he encamped near Shechem, the troubles started brewing.

Dinah, Israel’s daughter was molested by the prince of Shechem. When he wanted to marry her, the brothers laid a condition that the men of the city of Shechem had to be circumcised. As the men were recovering, Simeon and Levi, the sons of Jacob, slaughtered the men of Shechem, looted them and captured their women and children. When Jacob heard of this, he was afraid that the neighboring people in the region, when they hear what had befallen Shechem, would pursue Jacob and his family and kill them.

Jacob and his family packed up their tents and started moving towards Bethel. Jacob knew that unless he arrives to that place that God wanted him to, he will not find peace and rest. Therefore, Jacob hurried to Bethel. Jacob insisted that if he has to enter God’s presence, he must get rid of all the idols and purify himself. He commanded his entire family to cast out the idols, garments and other pagan things from among their midst. As soon as they reached Bethel, Jacob built an altar to God.

One would assume that, Jacob, who now found God, would have a wonderful remainder of his life. He would enjoy the blessings that were pronounced upon him. Unfortunately, things took a dramatic turn. Rebekah’s nurse, Deborah, who may have helped raise Jacob, died. Rachel, his beloved wife, died giving birth to Benjamin. Isaac died at a ripe old age. Reuben defiled his father’s bed by sleeping with one of his father’s concubines. Jacob is a wounded and broken man at this juncture. He has arrived to a desperate point in his life that he realized that he can’t fix the circumstances in his life. He threw himself at the mercy of God.

Jacob, the deceiver, manipulated his way all through his life. He tried to fix problems in his own strength. He, already being a broken man, could not fix anything else. He couldn’t restrain his sons Simeon and Levi from the slaughter of the people of Shechem. His own son defiled his bed. His fixing of his broken life didn’t fix the problems he was going through. He needed God to fix his broken life. Despite his best efforts, Jacob, the broken vessel, continued to leak.

Dear Saints of God, we are broken vessels. We are navigating through this life with broken shards, temporarily fixed. Our best efforts will not fix the broken vessel and make it as it was before. We can’t be useful for the Kingdom in our broken condition. Some where there will be a small defect. All our efforts to put up a cheerful façade on the outside, when we are broken on the inside, will neither help us nor be effective in God’s work. Let us submit ourselves into the hands of our true Potter, who is well able to fix these broken vessels. He is well able to identify where there are leaks or missing pieces. He will make us whole again, harden us just right so we could be jars that can be filled with His Spirit, to be used by the Master for His Glory.