Silly Putty?

8-24-97 SFBC

by Ron E. George Jr.

Introduction: The Story of the Teacup. A grandfather and a grandmother are in a gift shop looking for something to give their granddaughter for her birthday. Suddenly the grandmother spots a beautiful teacup. "Look at this lovely cup", she says to her husband. He picks it up and says, "You're right! This is one of the loveliest teacups I have ever seen."

At that point something remarkable happened - something that could only happen in a children's book. The teacup says to the grandparents, "Thank you for the compliment, but I wasn't always beautiful."Instead of being surprised that the cup can talk, the grandfather and grandmother ask it, "What do you mean when you say you weren't always beautiful?" "Well", says the teacup, "once I was just an ugly, soggy lump of clay. But one day some man with dirty wet hands threw me on a wheel. Then he started turning me around and around until I got so dizzy I couldn't see straight. 'Stop! Stop!', I cried. "But the man with the wet hands said, 'Not Yet!' Then he started to poke me and punch me until I hurt all over. 'Stop! Stop!', I cried. But the man said 'Not Yet'.

"Finally he did stop. But then he did something much worse. He put me into a furnace. I got hotter and hotter until I couldn't stand it. 'Stop! Stop!', I cried. But the man said 'Not Yet'. "Finally when I thought I was going to burn up the man took me out of the furnace. Then some short lady began to paint me. The fumes got so bad that they made me feel sick. "Stop, stop!', I cried. 'Not Yet!' said the lady. "Finally she did stop. But then she gave me back to the man again and he put me back into that awful furnace. This time it was hotter than before. 'Stop! Stop!', I cried. But the man said 'Not Yet'.

"Finally he took me out of the furnace and let me cool. When I was completely cool a pretty lady put me on this shelf, next to this mirror. "When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was amazed. I could not believe what I saw. I was no longer ugly, soggy, and dirty. I was beautiful, firm, and clean. I cried for joy. It was then I realized that all the pain was worthwhile. Without it I would still be an ugly, soggy lump of wet clay. It was then that all the pain took on meaning for me - it had passed - but the beauty it brought hasremained."

Is change an option.? Scripture Jer.18:1-6

Jere 18:1 (NIV) This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.Key Verse: Jer.18:6 (NIV) "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Have you picked up your message from the Lord? Where are you supposed to get it ? Down at the Potter's house.The Potter was shaping a pot or bowl on the wheel. The pot was marred or broken..The potter formed another pot shaping it as seemed best to him. Could the Lord not do the same to us?

Two parts to the Story: The Potter and The Clay.

I. Living God who is the Potter: wants to change the clay to become the useful and beautiful vessel that he wants it to be.

1. Has a plan, vision, design, or picture of the final product of our lives. He made a man named Adam out of the Red Clay. What am I supposed to be?

Psalm 139:13 (NIV) For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

2. Has a Power to bring it to pass. He put the clay on the wheel of life and began to spin it and mold it with his hands.

3. Has a Patience and Persistence to make the clay as he would like for it to be ...

II. Living Putty or Human Beings which are the Clay.

1. Has beliefs/decisions about their life and about the living God. This life changing decisions have shaped their lives dependent on what they believe. Adamic nature or Red Clay that is the stuff that we are made of. Will these be changed or added unto? We are moral creatures that can choose for ourselves.

2. Has the Water of life that has shaped their life depending on what they have been led to believe. Water makes us soft and moldable in the hands of the master Potter the living God. Let the Spirit of the Lord make us soft and responsive to the touch.

3. Has to be broken and molded by the living God to become the vessel that we could be. Humility that allows the Lord to work in our lives. Our opportunities can be missed.

Opportunities Missed

There was a very cautious man

Who never laughed or played;

He never risked, he never tried,

He never sang or prayed.

And when he one day passed away

His insurance was denied;

For since he never really lived,

They claimed he never died!

If Will we put ourselves in the hands of the living God? We must be broken.

III. The Potter has a Passion for the putty. He loves the putty so that with his loving touch the putty responds to the touch so that the putty/clay comes out in the most beautiful design that could be.. He remakes the putty in the image that he desires.

v. 6 What can the Lord do with us? What will we let the Lord do with us ?

Change or die? Is change an option? We are "Vessels of Change."

Will we be transformed by the hand of the Lord..

We need the touch of the Master’s hand.

To Change is inevitable but to grow is intentional.