"In the Hands of the Potter" -- How Not to Preach to Kill

Over the last couple of months, the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) keeps showing up in my day to day life. A lesson I was preparing at my job. In an exercise at an Abiding Life workshop. Even a daily verse on the radio while driving. I’ve come to realize that when things keep coming to attention like that, it’s God’s way of saying “Listen up, daughter.” For me, what resonates in this story is the idea that Martha is working and Mary is sitting with Jesus.  Martha is upset. May I say, reasonably so. I mean, who likes getting stuck with all the dishes??? Who likes being the only one who seems to see that the carpet needs to be vacuumed??? Who wants to feel like they are the only one taking notice or care of the things that need to get done. (Can you tell I may have a little bit of the “Martha heart”) I know I’ve had a few weeks, where I just wish I could clone myself so that all the things I’m “in charge of” get taken care of. However, Jesus says “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”  I think Jesus realized the reality that there REALLY WAS work to get done, but first and foremost, Mary chose to sit with Jesus and fix her eyes on Him. It’s about the fixing our eyes on Jesus. It’s about HIM being the core and center of what we do. Not fixing our eyes on the work. Colossians 3:23-24 says something similar. “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” The work we do, the lives we lead, the sermons you might preach are not for men or for “works sake”, but for JESUS’ sake. 

So then, God brought this chapter of Power Through Prayer as a reminder yet again. Bounds writes “He [the preacher] has never been in the hands of God like clay in the hands of the potter. He has been busy about the sermon, its thought and finish, its drawing and impressive forces; but the deep things of God have never been sought, studied, fathomed, experienced by him.” How often I have “been busy”! We should be changed, moved, and formed at the feet of Jesus like Mary. Shaped in the Potter's hands.Our eyes have been so focused (whether on ourselves or on another) on “the thought and finish” and the “impressive forces” on how wonderful the sermon was for us, or whether we made a cool enough craft project for the kids. But Bounds says that this type of preaching, whether it be preaching with our lives, preaching with our jobs, or whether that is your job on a Sunday morning, this type of preaching kills. If we are preaching without praying first, we are preaching something that “has no deep insight into, no strong grasp of, the hidden life of God’s Word. It is true to the outside, but the outside is the hull which must be broken and penetrated for the kernel. The letter [the sermon] may be dressed so as to attract and be fashionable, but the attraction is not toward God nor is the fashion for heaven.” The work I do may have flashy lights and sounds, it may have a smooth flow to it, I may be happy the whole day without yelling at my kids once, I may help a homeless person – or maybe it’s like Bounds later describes that the preaching could be “without scholarship, unmarked by any freshness of thought or feeling, clothed in tasteless generalities.” For example, it’s a bad day and words like impatient, exasperated, worn out, unfocused, unmotivated describe my day. In either of these cases, what is at the center matters. No matter how my life, my work, my preaching looks from the outside, if my eyes are set on Jesus, if I’m focused on the “good part” which is Jesus then THAT won’t be taken away. Any of the “busy” work I do will someday pass, but the “one thing that is needed (Luke 10:42)” won’t.

So then what is “the kernel” that I should break through to? How do I not be “busy”? How do I make sure that Jesus is the center of the good or the bad days? Reluctantly and honestly, I almost don’t like how simple the answer is. I feel like there should be a step-by-step program I can follow, or a “10 ways to a more ‘less-busy’ day” Pinterest post that I can read. But the answer IS simple: PRAY. Not fluffy, drawn out, “long, discursive, dry and inane” prayer. But “direct, specific, ardent, simple, unctuous” prayer. “Short praying, live praying, real heart praying, praying by the Holy Spirit”! Full honesty: I’m guilty of praying word-filled prayers, both in private and out loud. Prayers that seem “right” at the time or only praying because I thought I “should”; sometimes what I’d say were eloquent prayers, and sometimes not, but either way, I’ve had many prayers that were only orthodoxy or “letter”-type prayers. They were outside works meant to give a certain persona. I’ve been convicted of this lately though, and the Holy Spirit is working in me to pray meaningful, although often simple and short prayers. What EM Bounds seems to shout out resonates so well with me: “How real we must be!” We are praying to our “great God, the Maker of all worlds, the Judge of all men!” And yet, Oh, how He loves us. Oh, how He WANTS us to call on Him in REAL, FULL, LIVE prayers. It is only with this type of living that “prayerful praying, life-creating preaching, bring the mightiest force to bear on heaven and earth and draw on God’s exhaustless and open treasure for the need and beggary of man!” (Bounds – Power Through Prayer – p 12-13)

I’ve heard from a friend, that when she traveled to Cambodia, people in groups often prayed all at the same time. My experience is always praying out loud, one after another. Their outlook is that the prayers are only for God and not for other people. While I think there is definitely a place for praying with and for someone and encouraging them by praying with them for a need, I have to say I’m extremely drawn to the Cambodian way of praying. For me, it removes the expectations that I’ve placed on myself and I can fully pray to God alone.

Let us be REAL. Let us allow ourselves to be known by the Creator, the King, our Friend.  Let us seek Jesus and fix our eyes on Him and Him alone as the center of all we do.

Let. Us. Pray.