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Foundry United Rev. DeeAnne Lowman, Associate Pastor |
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What’s IN Your Vessel Sunday, October 7,
2007 |
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Romans 9: 20-26 |
As a
church we’ve been living in this metaphor of “In the Potter’s Hands” for five
weeks now, and we’ve had real live potters to watch and learn from during our
worship. We’ve learned about the
technique that potters use when they are throwing pots: wedging, centering, opening, pulling the
clay. Jonathan has told us that each
pot has its own distinctive wobble – a wobble that the potter is required to
work with in order to shape the pot. We’ve learned the importance of keeping
the clay moist so that it doesn’t get stuck in the hands of the potter. We’ve
learned that the ancient texts of our scriptures use the word Yatsar to describe both what the potter
does and the potter. The Yatsar yatsars. Our potters have helped us see this process
through to a pot that they have taken off the wheel that has form and
shape. At our
house meetings, we’ve been listening for how the Yatsar might be yatsaring
us, both as individuals and as a community of faith. We struggle with how we
can honor the forming that has been, while being opened to the new form and
shape that our lives might be taking. A
church with almost 200 years of life together has been through many, many
times of re-forming and yatsaring
and we recognize those of the past who submitted themselves to the Potter’s
hands. That is why we need to ask now,
on their behalf and on behalf of those to come – what are we being formed
for? What will our shape be and
become? I’ve
been thinking a lot about the Romans passage lately. Sometimes I wish my form and function were
more glamorous and flashy – like some of the preachers I saw this last week
at the Leadership Conference at Church of the Resurrection in I found
myself really coveting their shape, their form. But what I discovered over the course of my
time there is that it is their shape –
their form, not Foundry’s. Their
form follows their function, which is very clear – “to build a Christian
community where non and nominally religious people are becoming deeply
committed Christians.” Every thing
they have, do, share, make – all of it is to allow the function – the purpose
– to be fulfilled. While I
was there, though, I heard nothing about full inclusion for all persons in
the life and ministry of the church. I
heard nothing about a GLBT fellowship or BWARM. While they are very welcoming
and have practically perfected the art of hospitality and welcoming, I don’t
know if they provide a place of safety and openness to gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgendered people. I
also don’t know that they don’t. That is
Foundry’s function – to actually say
and live out an inclusive, welcoming presence and be a voice for
transformation for our denomination. Our
form allows that function, that purpose, to be active and alive in this
place. More than anything else, this
is the function that I hear most about at our house meetings. The forming that took place so many years
ago now contains an absolute cornerstone of Foundry and its life and
ministry. Another
group of folks that have found a faith home at Foundry are the newest
residents in the 7 zip codes nearest to our church. Our membership classes
are looking younger and younger, reflecting the demographic of the area
around our church. This is different from what we have experienced in the
past, and what our denomination is experiencing as well. We’ve also welcomed
a lot of families with children into our life together. And our Pre-Cana
program brings a number of couples into worship and fellowship. These are all fairly new functions for our
church. We need to continue to listen
and to witness what God is doing through our form, and what it is that God is
pouring out into this vessel. My
alternate text for today is from the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu. “Clay is molded to form a vessel, but it is
on its non-being that the usefulness of the utensil depends. Doors and
windows are cut to make a room, but it is on its non-being that the utility
of the room depends.” The
non-being of the vessel – the “in” IN the vessel. It’s what’s NOT the vessel that is our
function. Form is important. In fact
it is essential. If there is nothing
into which to pour, we can’t transport what’s there to be poured in. That’s why our Planning Committee is
looking at how our governance is structured. Form is important, but not
nearly as important as what is IN the vessel.
It is in our non-being – our emptiness – that God can use us best. It
is in the void of our vessels that God finds the greatest use. It is in our emptiness that God pours into
our vessels dreams and visions. We
can’t bring water to those who are thirsty if we don’t use a vessel to carry
it. What
does this mean for our work – our function, our purpose? It may mean that we need to examine our
purpose, our function – what God is pouring and will pour into the vessel
that is Foundry. That’s why Dean and I
are listening, along with the staff, to try and hear what God might be saying
to us next. Those
who were here when the church was integrated or when the church voted to
become a Reconciling Congregation heard God and allowed Foundry to work
toward emptying itself of prejudice and injustice in order to be filled with
the love and grace and skills and gifts of all those who had experienced
bigotry. It is my sense that God is
speaking again. It is my sense that
God is yearning to fill our vessel with more ministry opportunities and
mission possibilities. It is my sense that if we are to be truly faithful we need
to allow God to wedge us and work out all the things that could cause us to
explode in the fire, like air bubbles in a pot. We need to seek to be
centered, drawing us into a basic form that God can work with. We need to be receptive to how and when God
is opening us up to new forms and shapes.
And we need to be ready to be pulled upward, to a shape that can hold
what God will pour into us. When I
was a potter, the toughest part for me was cutting my pot off the wheel. Was this finished, this pot that I’d
thrown? Was I really ready to cut it
off and place it on the shelf to harden enough so that the pot could be
trimmed and prepared for the kiln? This
may turn out to be one of hardest parts of allowing God to shape us and form
us. Will we be ready to be cut from
the wheel and moved to another place, another purpose, another ministry? As
the world changes around us, as our very community develops and changes, do
we want to be left on the wheel and prevented from being functional – to have
our true potential go unrealized and our faith community unused? Our
utility is not in our fancy markings and delicate edges. It is not in the ornate scribbling on our
sides or the decorations around our top.
Our utility is in our non-being – where the pot isn’t. Where we don’t
exist and the Spirit of God does. The utility of the communion vessel is not
in the vessel itself but from what is pour into and out of the chalice that
changes us and our relationship with God.
It is what is inside the vessel that changes the world. Today
we join with millions around the world as we receive what’s in this cup. In this act, this sacrament, we are united
with all who share in being filled or being emptied for the sake of God and
God’s people in the world. We are being
poured out and poured out on. The hope
for the world is found in the non-being of this cup. The hope for us is in the fullness of this
void. The hope for Foundry is being
poured out and poured out on in this community. Let us be empty, let us be filled. But let
us continue to allow God to speak, God to form, and God to fill. www.foundryumc.org |
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