“Aug 21, 2024 - Vessels of Mercy”

Tuesday, August 20, 2024

Vessels of Mercy

Reading:  Romans 9:19-29
    
    So if God reserves the right to have mercy and compassion for his own reasons, we have a lesson to learn.  “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still find fault?  For who can resist his will?’”(Rom 9:19).  Paul banters with his imaginary reader, who questions God’s fairness.  “But who are you , O man, to answer back to God?...Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”(Rom 9:20, 21).  Our disenchantment with God’s actions comes dangerously close to rebellion; we have forgotten our place.  He is the potter and we are the clay.

    Yet Paul’s lesson is deeper than simply arguing that God can do whatever he wants.  He glimpses a bigger plan:  “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”(Rom 9:22-24).  God has suffered long with the rebellion of the Jewish people to bring about a time when he could show mercy to even more.  This new group—“vessels of mercy”—is comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, while those who refuse to believe are excluded.  Rather than breaking his promises, this actually fulfills a number of God’s promises about the salvation of Gentiles (Rom 9:25-26) and only a small remnant of Jews being saved (Rom 9:27-29).  So it turns out that God has been unjust:  he has been far more patient (Rom 9:22) and merciful (Rom 9:23) than justice requires. 

    “Vessels of mercy” is how Paul describes the church, the multiethnic people God has called to himself and justified by faith.  We are not known for our righteousness and perfection, but for being the recipients of rich mercy.  It is all the more startling when we remember that God has the sovereign right to treat us in any way he chooses, yet he has chosen to show mercy to us.  To all who would submit themselves to the potter, there is hope of being saved, blessed, and used by him. 

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One Thing to Think About:  Am I comfortable with the image of God as potter and me as clay?

One Thing to Pray For:  Trusting acceptance that God’s ways are higher than mine

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