Isaiah 64:8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

The work of a potter is serious business. If you've ever watched a potter at the wheel, you know the time it takes to create a clay jar, bowl or pot. The clay must be prepared properly, first removing all impurities that would cause the vessel to crack under the heat of firing. The potter works the clay, cutting, pounding, and kneading in order to remove bubbles. Then he shapes the vessel, working with his hands as the wheel spins. Finally, the vessel is fired to nearly twenty-four hundred degrees. All of this is done to produce a strong usable, high quality vessel.

How blessed we are to have the Master Potter molding us! He prepares us with His Word and sacraments and removes all our impurities through His loving forgiveness. He makes us stronger as we endure the cutting, pounding, and kneading of trials and difficult circumstances.

Then a most remarkable change takes place. He takes us, ugly lumps of muddy clay that we are, and forms us into items of great beauty and usability. He shapes us into exactly what He wants us to be, then He burns His love into our souls.

Undergoing the process of being molded may not always be comfortable, but the end is always worth it. Ask  God to mold you and make you, for when He does, He makes you more like Himself.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 71:3  Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.

In ancient Christian iconography, we see the manger at Bethlehem represented often as a cave carved from rock. This representation looks back to the Psalms and stories of Moses and others being sheltered and protected in a "rock of refuge." Moses is placed in a rocky crevasse so that he could catch a fleeting glimpse of God's glory as God passes by. Elijah, in a cave, is sheltered from the whirlwind but hears God in a still, small voice. The representation of the manger as a cave also looks forward to Jesus' burial - the manger anticipates the tomb.

Our God is a refuge to which we may continually return, says the psalmist. Just like Moses, Elijah, and David, and Mary and Joseph, we may count on God to deliver us, ultimately from that which threatens us. When the rock is the manger, the Lord attends the holy family with shepherds and angels. Even when the rock is the tomb, the Son is resurrected and the stone is rolled away. In God's righteousness, we are delivered.

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Matthew 7:24  Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

In 1834, Edward Mote wrote the hymn "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less." You may know this song, which he intended to describe the "Gracious Experience of a Christian." The same week he penned the words "On Christ, the Solid Rock, I Stand: all other ground is sinking sand" he was met with the opportunity to share them with a dying woman who took great comfort in them.

Whether in fair or stormy weather, we can trust Christ's words from the Sermon on the Mount to be a solid rock for us. And what are these words? To be meek and pure in heart, to not be angry nor objectify others; to forgive others and love your enemies; to pray, to fast, to give alms and to seek after and trust God. To hear these words, and do them, is to build our house on a solid Rock. Christ and his teachings are for us a strong refuge and a steady foundation; all other ground is sinking sand.

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1 Corinthians 10:4 ...and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

The story of Moses and the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is a deep well for Paul as he writes to the Corinthians. For Paul, this journey becomes a template for Christian life: Our baptism is like when they came through the Red Sea; our Communion together is like their manna in the desert and their drinking from the Rock. The Rock from which Moses brings forth water, Paul says, is Christ.

Paul's interpretation is rich - Christ, as the incarnate and saving Word of God, is, of course, present in creation. But he isn't only saying that the Word is in the Rock. The Rock is Christ because it provides living water to those in the desert. It quenches their thirst and offers life to those in duress. As we near Christmas, a time where wish lists of things we "thirst" for are front of mind, it's worth considering what we truly thirst for. Is Christ our Rock? Do we wish for living water, the fulfillment of all our desires? Nothing else will ever satisfy us.

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Colossians 4:6  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Just as God directed that holy incense be salted, Paul advises the Church at Colossae to season their words to one another with salt. In keeping with our reflections upon how salt is used to purify and consecrate relationships, these gracious words are hospitable words. Rather than saying what we may initially think we need to say, our gracious seasoned speech invites others to speak, as well, and u to listen, "so that you know how you ought to answer each person."

Hospitality in speech, or in general, is a deeply Christian, deeply human act. Abraham welcoming the three strangers, Mary and Martha welcoming Christ, Christ washing the feet of his disciples - all of these are acts of hospitality that help us to understand the character of this speech. Mary and Joseph, as they journey to Bethlehem, however, find the inn full and the town unable to welcome them into any comfort. Let us then continue to prepare our hearts and season our speech with salt so that they are gracious and welcoming to each person who comes before us.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

Mark 9:50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

What does peace between people have to do with salt? According to the covenant they made with God, the ancient Israelites are to offer all things to God with salt (see Leviticus 2:13). These offerings of food with salt should look to us not only like a religious ritual but also an act of hospitality, particularly of table fellowship. To "have salt in yourselves" could mean to act in community according to this notion of covenant and hospitality - to be at peace because we are in hospitable friendship with one another.

We may not always think of being at table together, of sharing meals, as an activity in peacemaking or community building, but they often have this function in our society. There is an ancient custom in many parts of the world where bread and salt are offered in welcome or to cement an alliance. Whether it is a holiday dinner, a church potluck or a diplomatic banquet for heads of state, "having bread and salt between us" express the desire for friendship and collaboration as a community. Here, Jesus calls us to put aside our division, to "have salt" and make peace.

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2 Kings 2:20-21 He said, "Bring me a bowl of water, and put salt in it," So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, "Thus says the Lord, I have healed the water...."

Ancient rituals of baptism recall this even older rite of purification performed by the prophet Elisha - by casting salt over the springs of water, Elisha calls upon God to "heal" the water. The images brought together here, purifying salt and life-giving springs of water, resonate through the pages of Scripture and call us to attend to our Christian vov=cation both spiritually and materially. What "bad water" might we be called to help purify? Or where can we see potential to make the land fruitful once more?

We may also be reminded of the literal and very real challenge of polluted and deadly waterways all over the world. Many people worldwide, especially poor and marginalized people, experience difficulty accessing clean and safe water. "Casting salt" over these waters and over future waters requires attending to creation and the poor just as God does. The Lord hears the cry of the poor; blessed be the Lord.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,