Ash Wednesday, Dirt Clods, Potshards, and Jars of Clay

I’m dirt, your dirt, we’re all dirt.  OK, so that doesn’t sound like an uplifting reality, but, trust me, this Ash Wednesday I want to bolster us with this Gospel truth, which may, at first, seem a bit depressing. 

On Ash Wednesday we are reminded of the reality of our sinful and desperately needy predicament.  When God shows us how much we are in need of salvation, then we grow in our appreciation of the Savior (all good and true knowledge begins with knowledge of God as well as knowledge of ourselves – Calvin, Institutes, 1.1.1.). 

The primary reality we are confronted with is the nature of the creation of humankind.  Adam was formed from the dust of the earth: enlivened by the Breath of God (Genesis 2:7), declared into being by the Word of God (Genesis 1:26—ff, John 1:1—ff). Before the fall, Adam and Eve were earthen vessels; after all, Adam is Hebrew for dirt, soil, or ground.  This is good news: we don’t have to earn our existence; we owe our existence to God’s unchanging goodness and grace.  Also, God glorifies himself in us by show that he can take mere soil and create it into his likeness – AMAZING.  After the Fall, when God curses the ground because of Adam, God says to Adam, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:19).  As dreadful as this part of the curse sounds, the good news remains despite the curse, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13—14).  After the fall, now that we are broken jars of clay, we continue to owe our existence to the unchanging love, mercy, compassion, kindness, forgiveness of God in Christ Jesus. 

On Ash Wednesday, I can’t help but reflect upon two passages about jars of clay: (1) Jeremiah 19 and (2) II Corinthians 4.

FIRST, JEREMIAH 19:

The point of Jeremiah 19 is direct, simple, and shocking: through the prophet Jeremiah, God declares war on his people for their disobedience (primarily idolatry and all that flows from idolatry).  In the ancient near east, one country would formally declare war upon another nation by inscribing the name of the enemy nation upon a clay pot, and then publicly smash the pot outside a city gate.  In Jeremiah 19, God orders Jeremiah to buy a clay jar from a potter.  Then, Jeremiah was to take some of the elders of the people to the Potshard Gate, pronounce a curse upon Israel, and smash the clay jar before the elders.  I’m sure that when Jeremiah purchased the post and was leading the elders to the Potshard Gate, people may have been wondering who God was going to declare war upon.  They may have hoped that God was going to restore Judah by destroying Judah’s enemies (although Jeremiah’s previous prophecies should have dispelled that hope).  In stunning dramatic fashion, on God’s behalf, Jeremiah declares war on Judah with a gruesome curse. 

You might be thinking that this is horrible.  You may be wondering how God could be so vengeful as to promise the destruction of his own people by the hand of foreign armies. Maybe you simply don’t like the idea of a God who punishes through military means.  But, I want to assure you that there is good news to be seen in this passage when we consider this text in the light of God’s redemptive plan.  You see, God can’t allow his people to remain in sin.  In waging war on his people, God will win the victory and remove all the idols to which Judah has sworn kingly allegiance.  With all the false idols removed from Judah, God reestablishes himself as Judah’s only true King and Lord (not that he was ever really replaced as king in the first place).  When a king conquers a nation, he usually doesn’t leave the nation destroyed.  The conquering king establishes his rule and glory within that nation.  God is no different: he will not rest until his glory is purely manifest within his people.  Ultimately, with the successive failures of the Jewish nation state, God sends his Son to take on earthly flesh and atone for our sins on the cross.  Having atoned for our sin, as the King of kings, Jesus ascended to the throne of heaven.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is establishing his kingdom, and Hell cannot stand against his kingdom. 

THE JEREMIAH 19 CHALLENGE:

On this Ash Wednesday, are you going to be satisfied with a fast from an earthly pleasure or a fast for a spiritual discipline?  Or, are you willing to ask God to declare war on your life?  Do you dare ask God to shatter the sinful stronghold of your heart?  Do you dare ask God to establish his kingdom in the dark neither regions of your soul?  Do you dare ask God to patrol the highways and byways of your mind?  Think of Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem as a conquering king, he didn’t go to the Roman Army barracks adjacent to the Temple in order to wage war on the Romans.  Jesus went to the Temple (the heart of the Jewish civilization) and he confronted the sins of his very own people.  Will you gladly allow Jesus to make such a Triumphal Entry into your life?

You might be thinking, “That’s all well and good but I don’t want to end up like a shattered clay pot; life already has me a bit cracked up.”  This brings us to the second passage for this Ash Wednesday Reflection.

SECOND, II CORINTHIANS 4:

Confronted by our sin and God’s holiness, we may fear being shattered like a fragile clay pot, however, aren’t we broken already.  Take heart, if God was able to form Adam from the dust of the ground, we can trust that God can reform the pulverized potshards of our lives.  Just as God breathed his life into Adam (a mound of dirt), so too God can breath new life into us (earthen vessels).  Notice how Paul depicts the Christian life in II Corinthians 4: Paul says that he and the Corinthians are treasure filled jars of clay (v. 7).  If you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, though you have been broken, shattered, smashed, and pulverized by sin; the Lord will reform and restore you in a to a whole clay vessel with the privilege of carrying the treasure of the Gospel.  You see, clay pots, jars, or vessels are always made to contain something for distribution (i.e. a clay jar may carry aromatic oil that is to be stored, transported, and sold as perfume).  When God restores us, he doesn’t discard us or shelve us, he fills us with the treasure of the Gospel.  And, by “Gospel” I am not simply referring to a message, I am referring to the reality of the Gospel in our lives, which is the basis for the Gospel message.  The treasure of the Gospel within us is new life to which our lives bear witness.  The treasure of the Gospel within us is the power of Jesus Christ to which our lives bear witness.  The treasure of the Gospel is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to which our lives bear witness. The Gospel is first and foremost an ontological reality then it is a message. So then, using the picture of expensive aromatic oils being transported to market in jars of clay, as a good merchant cares for his vessels and their content, Paul says that God will protect us from breakage because he has placed the treasure his Gospel within us so that we can carry his Gospel abroad.

THE II CORINTHIANS 4 CHALLENGE:

First, are we humbled by the knowledge that we are jars of clay receiving our value from God alone?  Second, though we are hard pressed, perplexed, and persecuted, are we confident that God will guard and protect us?  In other words (summarizing points one and two), do we humbly revel in the honor of glorifying God?  Then, third, with this humble assurance, are we vessels that carry the sweat aroma of the Gospel to world around us?

Taken to together, these two passages illustrate our basic need for mortification (dying away of the old sinful self) and vivification (living a new life in Christ).  And, most importantly, this process of mortification and vivification can only be accomplished by God.  We need God to take the place rightful ruler in our lives.  Put another way, we need to be God-filled jars of clay.

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