DISCIPLES OF CLAY

SCRIPTURE READING

1 Samuel 16: 1-13 (Read from the Bible)

 Isaiah 64:8 

“O LORD, you are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the potter;

we are all the work of your hand.”

INTRODUCTION:

We are living in an insane world of corrupt politics, where congressmen and women, it seems, are spending more time investigating each other than they are doing the business for which they were elected.  I wonder how you or I would like to be on an investigating committee.  Apparently, there are some people in Washington who enjoy that sort of thing.

Suppose you had been on such a committee two thousand years ago, to inquire into the qualifications of those who sought to become disciples of Jesus.  Suppose you had been one of a group with authority to examine the credentials of the men who presented themselves as candidates for discipleship. How would you have voted on them?

Let us imagine we were there on an examination board.

Here comes the first candidate.

He has just come up from the beach.

His fishing boat,

·        drawn up on the pebbled shore has worn seats,

·        patched sails, and

·        the high rudder that is characteristic of Galilean fishing craft.

As you can judge from his appearance,

·        he has just entered middle age.

·        But he is already bald, and

·        the fringes of hair that remain are already gray.

·        His hands are rough and calloused.

·        His fingers are strong.

·        He smells of fish!

·        He is an uncouth person—

·        not at all refined, or

·        cultured, or

·        educated.

·        Blustering

blundering

   clumsy

         impulsive

·        He does not strike us as being material for the ministry.

·        Then, too, his age is against him.

·        Maybe he is too old.

·        Why, he is forty if he is a day.

Does not the ministry demand young men?

Not so. When we need medical attention.

·        we do not specify that the attending physician be in his late twenties. No, we don’t want anyone that young practicing on us!

·        Or when we find ourselves in legal trouble, we do not insist on retaining as our lawyer the most recent graduate of law school.

On the contrary, we seek someone with

·        experience---someone who knows the ropes well.

If he or she happens to know a judge or two, so much the better.

·        But considering a minister, a preacher, we cannot ignore his age---

          and this man’s age is against him.

His ideas will be very hard to change.

          He will be stubborn

                   set in his ways.

He is a rough man, and he has lived a rough life.

When provoked, he is liable to burst into profanity, and his vocabulary is lurid.

Can you imagine this big fisherman as a disciple of Jesus?

He would not be your choice, would he?

No, we’d better send Simon back to his nets.

The next candidates are brothers; they come together.

They, too, like Simon Peter, are fishermen.

They come from the same village, from the same colony of rough, strong men who work with their hands for a living.

But you are not going to hold that against them.   .  . are you?

Let no social snobbishness sway your judgment.

Remember the Lord Himself was a carpenter.

There is no shame in manual labor, and would it not be to a preacher’s advantage to know what it is to do manual labor?

Would it not be excellent preparation for the ministry?

These two men are looking at you.

Their eyes are steady, accustomed to far distances.

They are good weather prophets.

A glance at the sky and a look at the lake, and they con tell you what is brewing.

They know the signs of the sudden squalls that whistle through the mountain passes and come screaming down to make the water dangerous.

They, too, have strong hands and nimble fingers.

They make quite a team, these brothers.

They operate a boat in partnership and they are very successful.

In fact, it is a mystery to their competitors how they always manage to find the fish

·        always catch more than the other boats

·        and how they manage to get better prices for their catch.

This naturally does not increase their popularity among the fishermen.

But it is chiefly their attitude that irritates the others.

·        They are not modest men.

·        They are boastful

·        and through cupped hands they like to shout taunts to the other fishermen hauling on their nets.  They have earned for themselves the nickname “the sons of thunder,” because they are always rumbling about something.

·        The way they feel, they have little patience with people who cross them, and they would be inclined to call down fire from heaven to burn them up.

·        Get rid of objectors!

That’s their motto.

They are ambitious men, and if the stories are true that are whispered about them, they have been brought up to believe that

·         if you want anything in life.  .  .  GRAB IT.

·        Their mother had taught them that to get on in the world you have to push.

They would want to be in the chief places. 

They think they belong in front.

If they became disciples of Jesus, they would naturally want to be His.  .  .

·        chief lieutenants – one on His right and the other on His left.

If we took time to hear all the testimonies from people who know them, our verdict would be unanimous that James and John would simply not do.

So let us pass on to the next candidate.

There is a wild gleam in his eyes—and no wonder.
He is a leader of the Underground.

He seems to be of the fanatical type,

·        impatient

·        nervous.

·        See—he cannot keep his hands still—

     ·        his fingers clench and unclench.

They itch to reach up and haul down the hated pennants of Rome that hang in desecration from the walls in old Jerusalem.  His blood fairly boils when he is forced, by some clanking legionnaire, to make way on the pavement and step into the gutter.

He dreams of the day when the Kingdom shall be restored to Israel, and the promise of the sacred writings that when the Messiah comes He shall restore the Kingdom is his meat and drink.

·        His eyes dance at the thought of the Messiah, at the head of a liberating army,

·        driving the hated Romans into the sea.

Yes, from the hill country, they would come, and from the cellars of the Holy City, they would rise up and bring back the glories of David and Solomon.  He wants, more than life itself, to be a part of that glorious campaign.

But this young man might be too dangerous.

·        He is highly inflammable material.

·        He is likely to become violent, and his impatience will burn him up.

·        He is a great risk—a very great risk

·        We could not take a chance on Judas.

·        We dare not.

·       

Notice how the ladies greet this next candidate.

He will have their vote right away.

We are all drawn to him, and the men, however grudgingly,

·        have to admit that he is handsome.

·        he walks with easy grace.

There is nothing effeminate about him.

 ·        but he is gentle

·         refined

·         every inch a gentleman

Endowed with all the social graces, who could possibly say a word against him?

·        His eyes are like limpid pools

·        His smile melts your heart.

But when he starts the day, it is not to take up the tools of his trade,

               ·        for he has none.

               ·        It is not to yoke the oxen to work in the fields,

·         for he never soils his hands.

·         It is to wander off to daydream.

He is an Aesthetic sort of a man.  He likes to smell the flowers.

·        He is an introvert—a dreamer.

But don’t you know that the work of the Kingdom demands extroverts

·        men who are interested in other people?

Don’t you realize that it is not castles in the sky we pray for—

but the Kingdom of God upon this earth?

·        We have prayed for it—

·        and worked for it, too.

No, Nathaniel is a good man, everybody agrees, but he is simply not the type we need.

We are not doing very well in selecting disciples, are we?

·        But think of the material we have to choose from.

Well, what about this applicant?

He, too, is a fisherman.

Let’s not hold that against him.

If you are not a tradesman, or a farmer cultivating a bit of land, dressing some fruit trees or tending grapes, if you have no sheep or goats there isn’t much else for you to do but fish.

·        For people have to eat, and fish is the best money crop in this part of the country.

This man might have it in him to be a disciple.

He is not impulsive by any means.

He will not be swept off his feet.

He is very cautious, slow to convince.

He must have been born in some little Palestinian “Missouri”

               ·        you have to show him.

·         he demands proof for everything.

·         He’ll take nothing on faith.

Now, this twist of mind and character always slows up the work of any group to which he might belong.

·        He will be like the slowest vehicle in the convoy.

·        He’ll slow down the others to his own wheezy twenty miles an hour pace.

·        He has only two speeds, dead slow and stop.

Can you imagine him as a member of the apostolic band?

·        Always advocating delay.

·        “This is not the time”

·        “Let’s wait and see,” will be his advice.

But the Kingdom is a venture of faith—not of doubt.

It is a matter of perception—not of proof

How could Thomas possibly fit into that picture?

Now, if we were Jews living at the time the disciples were originally chosen, we would boo or hiss as this next candidate enters, for he is a self gratifying money grabbing, pocket stuffing, rip-off.

He has sold out to the army of occupation and is collecting taxes for the Roman government. 

Think about how people think about those shysters who embezzle money from the poor and you have some idea of the feeling that runs against this man.

Tax collectors are seldom the most popular men in any community, and this character is a racketeer to boot.

He has devised his own particular racket and is making many enemies and making himself rich as well.

But that’s not all.

He has been counting money all his life.

Money and evidences of wealth alone impress him.

That’s bad enough, but there’s worse to come

·        He is a genealogist.

·        He is one of those men whose passion is family trees.

·        He will bore you with long recitals of the best families—

·         where they come from

·         whom they married

§        how many children they had

§        ·        and whom they married and so on. . .and on.

Can you imagine such a scoundrel as a friend of Jesus,

·        a statistician walking with the Carpenter from Nazareth,

·        a man who made a god of money?

No, Levi, or Matthew if you like, must be rejected.

What about this next character Andrew?

·        Does anyone know about him?

I have heard it said that he has no personality—what ever that means.

I know that he is Peter’s brother, but I know of no good reason why he should be chosen.

There are others still waiting—

·        Bartholomew

·        Thaddeus

·        Philip

·        and another James

·        a man called Simon from Canaan

They are all interested in becoming disciples, but I know of no particular reason why they should.

·        We would not vote for any of them.

Yet these are the very men whom Jesus chose to be His disciples, that is, all except Nathaniel.

I simply included him because he is attractive and Jesus liked him.

I feel sure you would not argue with me if I suggested that these men had more influence on the course of human history than any other dozen men who ever lived.

Each man was different.

·        Philip looks before he leaps

·        Peter leaps before he looks

·        Thomas was a dogged unbeliever until the last minute

·        Judas sought regeneration through revolution, instead of revolution through regeneration.

·        James and John wanted to get rid of people who differed with them, instead of getting rid of the differences, so that they could get the people.

Had you and I been members of any investigating committee we would have rejected every one of them.

·        Yet, Jesus chose them.

·        WHY?

Mark tells us in his Gospel that Jesus chose them “that they should be with Him and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.”

Well, they were with Him for three years, in intimacy of fellowship.

·        They walked with Him,

·        They lived with Him

·        They heard His incomparable parables.

·        They listened to every sermon He ever preached.

·        They saw with their own eyes each one of His wonderful miracles.

·        They saw the blind receive their sight, the lame throw away their crutches.

·        They saw withered limbs become straight and strong.

·        They even saw the dead raised to newness of life.

All these things they saw and heard. Yet these things did not change these men.

For during the last week of Jesus’ earthly ministry, they were quarreling among themselves.

·        James and John wanted the chief places of prestige in the Kingdom

·         They were jealous of each other.

They were not very brave.

·        When Jesus was arrested they all ran away.

·        After He died, they scattered and went underground.

·        They met behind closed doors

·        No, they were not very brave.

They did not have much faith.

Thomas refused to believe that the Master had risen from the dead

·        until he had proof.

·         He even stipulated what that proof had to be.

Of course these three years did something to them and in them.

·        The fuel had been laid in the fire pit, but it was not lit.

·        The seed had been sown, but it had not germinated.

All the possibilities of change in them had been created, but the changes had not yet happened.

WHAT DID CHANGE THEM?

·        Not the crucifixion

·        Not the resurrection

·        BUT THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AT PENTECOST.

Not until these men were filled with the Hoy Spirit where they changed.

Not until The Spirit had come upon them in power were they changed,

·        Cowardice gave place to Courage

·        Unbelief became a Flaming Faith and conviction that nothing on earth could shake

·        Jealousy was swallowed up in Brotherly Love

·        Self-Interest was killed and became a Ministry to Others

·        Fear was banished, and they were Afraid of No Man

·         no threat, no danger.

AND THEREIN LIES OUR HOPE!

We have not seen Jesus as they did.

·        We never heard the sound of His voice

·         saw the sunlight dance on His hair

·         traced His footprints in the sands of Palestine.

But we have the same opportunity to be changed, because the same Holy Spirit is available to us today.

·        He has been sent into the world to lead us unto all truth,

·         to convict us of sin

·         to be our Helper

·         and our Guide

THIS IS THE DAY OF LITTLE FAITH

·        of few convictions

·        a day when men seem to have no great causes and no great passions

·        So in frustration

·        in disappointment they are inclined to say,

“You can’t change human nature.”

·        It is true that we cannot change human nature.

·        BUT GOD CAN!

It is the modern heresy to think that human nature cannot be changed.

HUMAN NATURE MUST BE CHANGED IF WE ARE EVER TO HAVE AN END TO WAR, AND PUT AN END TO CORRUPTION IN GOVERNMENT.

or to correct the wrong situations that make our lives uneasy and our hearts sore.

Now, Christianity, the power of Jesus Christ,

          the Holy Spirit of God,

is the only force that can change people for good.

·        It is the only power in the world that can change the gears in a man or woman’s life from self-will to God’s will.

·        It is the only power that can give a man the right motives

to do what God wants him to do.

Nothing else can bring him to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and to want most of all to be a part of the answer to the world’s ills, and not part of the problem.

BUT HOW?

All that is needed is your own sincere desire,

          your willingness to confess your trespasses

                   and your selfishness

and to face up to your sins.

When they are acknowledged and you begin to see yourself as God sees you,

and when you ask His forgiveness, the miracle has begun.

For forgiveness can be yours—now—right away—and you begin to be a new person form this moment.

When you yourself have begun to be a new person, then there is hope for your own problem whatever it is—

hope for a solution to the strained relations in

·    your office

·    in our church

·    hope for a better understanding of a new love for your husband or wife

·    a new spirit in your home

·    and a happiness you had thought was gone forever

·    hope for a new meaning to your life and a new reason for living

·    hope.  .  .  hope.  .  .  hope.

·    Don’t give up.

·    There’s still hope.

God hasn’t given up yet, on His world, which is one world, and could be one world of security, peace and brotherhood instead of two worlds of suspicion and fear.

God hasn’t given up on this country, which is His latest experiment in human freedom and opportunity.

·    God hasn’t given up on you.

He can still do great things for you, (even if you are over ninety years old)

He can do great things in you, and through you.

God is ready and waiting and able.

For some of us He has been waiting for over three quarters of a century.

What about you and me?

We are, after all, like lumps of clay.

There are brittle pieces, and hard pieces.

We have little shape or beauty.

But we need not despair.

If we are clay, let us remember there is a Potter, and His wheel.

The old gospel song has it right:

“Have Thine won way, Lord,

Have thine own way.

Thou art the Potter, I am the clay;

Mold me and make me, after Thy will,

While I am waiting, yielded and still.”

That’s it.

We have only to be yielded, that is willing, surrendered, and

 He will do the rest.

He will make us according to the pattern for which, in His love,

He designed us

and it will be good—for our own good—and for His glory.

Do not despair.

If you want to be different, you may.

You, too, can be changed for the better. Therein lies our hope—

and the hope of the world.

We are disciples of clay.

And there is still the skill of the Potter.

Prayer        

Our Lord our God, even at this moment

as we come blundering into Your presence

 in prayer, we are haunted by memories of

duties unperformed, promptings disobeyed,

and beckonings  ignored.

          Opportunities to be kind knocked on the

door of our hearts and went weeping away.

          We are ashamed, O Lord, and tired of

failure.

          If You are drawing close to us now,

come nearer still, till selfishness is burned

out within us and our wills lose their weakness

in union with Your own. AMEN.